Twice Baked Cauliflower

1 head cooked cauliflower
3 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper, to taste
cheddar cheese, shredded
4 strips bacon, cooked & crumbled
Chopped green onion
sour cream

Butter, salt & pepper the cauliflower. Place in an individual-serving baking
dish, then top with the cheese. Microwave until the cheese is melted. Top
with bacon and green onions. Top with sour cream. Try not to drool as you
eat....

Bang Bang Shrimp

This is a 'copycat' recipe of Bonefish Grill's Bang Bang Shrimp, which is amazing!
I omitted the lettuce with this recipe. I felt that the lettuce and cabbage together were a little overkill. Also, I would 1/2 the sauce recipe. There was WAY too much sauce.

• 5 tbsp light mayonnaise
• 3 tbsp Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
• 1 tsp Sriracha (to taste)

Shrimp:

• 1 lb large shrimp, shelled and deveined (weight after peeled)
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp canola oil
• 3 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
• 4 tbsp scallions, chopped

In a medium bowl, combine mayonnaise, Thai sweet chili sauce and Sriracha. Set aside.
Combine lettuce and cabbage and divide between four plates. Set aside.
Coat shrimp with cornstarch, mixing well with your hands.
Heat a large skillet or wok on high heat, when hot add oil. When oil is hot add the shrimp to hot pan and cook tossing a few times until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Remove from pan and combine with the sauce coating well.
Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 1/4th or recipe • Old Points: 5 pt • Points+: 5 pt
Calories: 215.7 • Fat: 7.6 g • Protein: 23.8 g • Carb: 11.9 g • Fiber: 1.0 g • Sugar: 6.3 g
Sodium 443.9 mg
Adapted from SkinnyTaste.

Olive Penguins

My kids love these. I saw them on Taste of Home- but the recipe called for minced onion, horseradish, salt... all kinds of things. I did it with plain ol' cream cheese . Seriously mine were 3 ingredients compared to the 11 ingredients on the recipe. Anyways, that was my inspiration :) To see the full recipe you can click here.

• Cut a slit from the top to bottom of 1/2 of your olives. Carefully (to not tear your olive) pipe your cream cheese into the middle of the olive. Cut a small triangle out of each carrot slice; press triangles into the other half of the olives for a beak. On each notched carrot slice, position an olive so the white chest is lined up with the notch. Place the beaked olive, hole side down, over the 'body' olive so the beak, chest and feet are aligned. Carefully insert a toothpick through the top of head into body and carrot base. You can wrap a green onion or pimento around the neck for a scarf if you want.

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

These are AMAZING! It made about 2 dozen of them. I wish I could've eaten them all. They are SO GOOD!! We will have these often!!

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 c green salsa
1T fresh lime juice (I didn't have any limes- I used lemon juice)
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic
3 T chopped fresh parsley
2 T sliced green onions

3 c shredded cooked taco chicken
2 c grated pepperjack cheese

small flour tortillas
cooking spray

Heat oven to 425.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add remaining ingredients. Stir until combined well.

You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

Heat tortillas for about 20 seconds in the microwave, 5 at a time.

Place 1/8 c of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.

Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.

My tips: We dipped them in sour cream and guacamole. Of course you could dip them in salsa, too... I'm sure that would be yummy! I altered this recipe quite a bit. You can see the original recipe on Our Best Bites.
**Adapted from Our Best Bites

Pepperoni Pinwheels

This is one of my kids' new favorites. And one of mine since it's so easy :)

• 1 tube refrigerated pizza crust
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup chopped pepperoni (I used minis)
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 16-in. x 10-in. rectangle. Sprinkle with cheese and pepperoni. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side. Cut into 2-in. slices. Place cut side down on a lightly greased cookie sheet; lightly press down to flatten. Bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with spaghetti sauce.

Aunt Elizabeth's Caramel Crackers

1 box of Club Crackers
2 sticks of unsalted butter
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 cup chopped Pecans
1/2 cup sugar

Melt butter in a pan, I use a heavy one. Add sugar, and vanilla. Bring to a boil and stir until the sugar has melted. Keep stirring and add pecans. When the mixture is smooth remove from stove. The crackers need to be laid out on a foil lined cookie sheet. Put about 1 tsp of mixtue on each cracker. Bake in oven on 350* for 2-10 minutes. You need to keep an eye on them. When they cool you can break them apart and they are ready to go!!!

This recipe was shared by a lady from our church. She brought them to a church function and they were awesome!!

Creamy Crab Dip

* 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
* 1/2 cup sour cream
* 1/4 cup mayonnaise
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 2 tablespoons white wine or chicken broth
* 2 tablespoons grated onion
* 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
* 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 3 drops hot pepper sauce
* 6 ounces premium crabmeat, drained
* 4 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, divided
* 1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted
* Paprika
* Assorted crackers

In a large heavy saucepan over low heat, combine the first nine ingredients. Cook and stir until cream cheese is melted and mixture is heated through. Stir in crab and 2 tablespoons parsley; heat through.
Transfer to a serving bowl; sprinkle with almonds, paprika and remaining parsley. Serve warm with crackers. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 3-1/4 cups.

This is really yummy! And, it is not 'crabby' at all-- I would actually even add a little more crab than the recipe calls for.

Cheesy Meatballs

Cheesy Meatballs
3 cups finely shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup biscuit/baking mix
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pound lean ground beef

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 1-in. balls. Place meatballs on a greased rack in a shallow baking pan. Bake at 400° for 12-15 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink; drain. Yield: about 4 dozen.

***My directions: I had a pound of ground beef already cooked- so I just mixed everything together with 2/3 cup water. Then I baked them for the same time/same heat. My kids LOVED these! They looked a little like cookies, though :) ***

Easy Egg Rolls

Easy Egg Rolls

1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained (or chicken or pork)
1 package (16 ounces) coleslaw mix
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 scallions- chopped
15 egg roll wrappers (1 pkg)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Vegetable oil for frying

Directions:
In a bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Place a heaping tablespoonful of meat mixture in the center of one egg roll wrapper. (Keep remaining wrappers covered with a damp paper towel until ready to use.) Fold bottom corner over filling. Fold sides toward center over filling.
In a small bowl, combine flour and enough water to make a paste. Moisten top corner with paste; roll up tightly to seal. Repeat. In an electric skillet, heat 1 in. of oil to 375°. Fry egg rolls for 3-5 minutes or until golden brown.
(Chicken is my favorite)

Peanut Butter and Jelly Crackers

These are a huge hit in our house! And they are SO easy. They are also always a big hit at parties... it's funny how many adults really do like peanut butter and jelly :)

Ritz Crackers
Peanut Butter
Jelly- your favorite flavor

Spread about 1/2 tsp of peanut butter on the cracker. Top with about 1/2 tsp of jelly- not spread. Enjoy!

Artichoke Pesto

I served this pesto on slices of grilled ciabatta bread and it was fantastic! It would also be wonderful on pasta! (I will try it tomorrow with the leftovers :))

1 (8-ounce) pack frozen artichoke hearts, thawed (I couldn't find frozen-so I just used a jar of marinated artichoke hearts)
1 cup fresh parsley leaves, packed down
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2/3 cup grated Parmesan (2 teaspoons per cube)

1 (12 to 16-inch) ciabatta loaf, cut into slices
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

In a food processor combine the artichokes, parsley, walnuts, lemon zest and juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Run the machine to finely chop all the ingredients, stopping the machine a few times to scrape down the sides. Then, with the machine running, drizzle in 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil. Mix in the Parmesan. Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Drizzle the ciabatta slices with the 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil. Grill until toasted, about 5 minutes. Spread the artichoke pesto over the toasted slices and serve. If you want to freeze the pesto, omit the parmesan cheese, then freeze the pesto. Then when you're ready to serve it, thaw the pesto and add the parmesan cheese. Voila!

Alfredo Ham 'n Cheese Pizza

This is one of my kids' new favorites!! They each ate like 4-6 pieces! This is the recipe- but I didn't follow it exactly (do I ever??). I just used these ingredients and made it like a regular pizza- I know I used more/less of each of the ingredients :)

* 1/4 cup Alfredo sauce (your favorite)
* 5 pita breads (approximately 6 inches- I used flat bread)
* 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese
* 1 3/4 cups cubed fully cooked ham
* 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
* 1 tablespoon minced chives

Spread Alfredo sauce over pita breads. Top with Swiss cheese, ham, mozzarella cheese and chives. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Garlic Pizza

If you cut this pizza into thin wedges, it's fantastic as garlic bread!

* 1 prebaked pizza crust
* 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 1 cup mayonnaise
* 1/2 small red onion, chopped
* 3 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
* 1 tablespoon dried oregano

Place the crust on a pizza stone/pan or just a cookie sheet. In a small bowl, combine the Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, onion, garlic and oregano; spread over crust. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cut into wedges. Serve warm.