Velveeta Potato Bites

Anything with cheese & salsa in the ingredients sounds yummy to me.

We came across this on the Kraft site and hoping it will make an easy but tasty new appetizer.

Velveeta Potato Bites

Kraftrecipes.com

2 lb. baking potatoes (about 6), peeled, cut into chunks

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1 egg beaten

¼ tsp black pepper

¼ lb. (4 oz.) Velveeta, cut into 24 cubes

1 pkt. Shake n bake extra crispy seasoned coating mix

1-1/2 cups Salsa

Cook potatoes in boiling water in large saucepan 15 – 20 minutes or until tender; drain. Cool 10 min. Mash potatoes until smooth.  Add onions, egg & pepper; mix just until blended.

Heat oven to 400F. Empty coating mix into pie plate. Roll potato mixture into 24 balls, using about 2 Tbsp. for each.  Insert 1 Velveeta cube into center of each ball, completely enclosing Velveeta.  Add to coating mix; turn to evenly coated.  Place on rimmed baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. 

Bake 14 to 16 minutes or until heated through.  Serve with salsa.

Tupps Tidbits ~ make sure you fully enclose the cheese so it does not seep out, substitute 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives for the green onions

We choose to make ½ the recipe for the two of us & along with grilled chicken & veggies for a meal.

These turned out perfect & extremely tasty.  Sean thought it could use a little bacon extra flavor…next time!…..DEFINITELY A KEEPER!

Ancho Chili-Spiced Tilapia

This looked like a quick heart-healthy meal with lots of spice for light, flaky tilapia. We found this recipe in the Taste of Home, Simple and Delicious magazine April/May issue for 2013 and thought we would give it a try!

Ancho Chili-Spiced Tilapia

-simple & delicious test kitchen

½ tsp salt

½ tsp ground ancho chili pepper

½ tsp cayenne pepper

½ tsp dried oregano

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp ground cumin

4 tilapia fillets (4 to 5 oz. each)

1/3 cup reduced-fat chipotle mayonnaise

1 tsp lime juice

¼ tsp dried oregano

Combine the first six ingredients; sprinkle over fillets.  Cook fillets in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Meanwhile, combine the mayonnaise, line juice and oregano in a small bowl.

Tupps Tidbits ~  make sure to watch the fish... it is easy to over cook

One word comes to mind – SPICEY!  If you are looking to add some spice in your life or clear the nostrils this dish is effortless & delicious and does the trick.  It was a little too salty & too spicy for us, so we would change that next time.  DEFINITELY A KEEPER!

Chipotle Ranch Chicken Tacos

Here is a new spin on taco night or an idea for a no-fuss Cinco de Mayo celebration. We found this recipe in the Taste of Home, Simple and Delicious magazine April/May issue for 2013.

 

Chipotle Ranch Chicken Tacos

-simple & delicious test kitchen

Combine 2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken, 2 cups frozen corn (thawed) and ¼ cup pico de gallo in a microwave safe dish.  Cover and cook on high for 1-2 minutes or until heated through.  Spoon chicken mixture into 8 taco shells.  Top with 1 cup each shredded Monterey Jack Cheese & coleslaw mix, 6 thinly sliced radishes, ½ cup chipotle ranch salad dressing and 3 thinly sliced jalapeno peppers.   Makes 8 tacos.

 

Tupps Tidbits ~ good way to use up left over cooked chicken

It is nice to keep spring weeknight dinners quick and easy and this one is DEFINITELY A KEEPER! It offered a wonderful change to your traditional tacos.  

Jenn’s Ham Chowder

With Easter, we thought this might be a good meal to use up any left over ham.  It sounds warm and comforting on a rainy April day.

Jenn’s Ham Chowder

jenn@eatcakefor dinner

1 Tbs. butter

1 Tbs. olive oil

½ cup onion, finely chopped

3 carrots (about 1 ½ cup), chopped

3 large potatoes, peeled and diced

Garlic, minced

1 ½ -2 cups leftover spiral ham, chopped

1 can low-sodium chicken broth

4-5 cups milk

4 Tbs. cornstarch dissolved in ¼ cup water

1 can corn, drained

2 tsp. Italian seasoning

Salt & pepper

1 1/2 - 2 cups Cheddar cheese, grated

Heat butter & oil in large pot over medium heat.  Add the onions, chopped carrots & diced potatoes.  Saute for about 10 minutes or until onions and potatoes are slightly translucent.  Add the garlic & ham & cook another minute or so.  Add one can of chicken broth & bring up to a boil.  Boil until potatoes & carrots are tender.  Add milk & stir to combine.  Dissolve cornstarch in water & add to pot.  Add the can of corn & season with Italian seasoning, salt & pepper (you might not need salt depending on how salty your ham, broth & corn are).  Stir to combine.  Cook until thickened, stirring occasionally.  Last, added shredded cheese & stir until smooth & melted.  Serve with sliced baguette. Serves 5-6. 

Tupps Tidbits ~ when adding milking, heat slowly to avoid scorching

We both thoroughly enjoyed chowder.  It was thick and filling on a damp rainy day.  We recommend enjoying it on an April “showers” day while dreaming of the May flowers…..DEFINITELY A KEEPER!

Golden Parmesan Potatoes

We found this recipe in the – Best of the Best from Minnesota Cookbook.  It offers selected recipes from Minnesota’s favorite cookbooks.  Earlier in the year, we had made the tasteful Peaches and Cream Muffins out of it.  We are hoping this is a prized one as well.

Golden Parmesan Potatoes

~First United Methodist Church Cookbook

6 large potatoes

¼ cup flour

½ cup Parmesan cheese

 ¾ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup butter

Peel potatoes & cut into quarters.  Combine flour, cheese, salt and pepper in bag.  Moisten potatoes with water and shake a few at a time in bag until coated with cheese mixture.  Melt butter in 9x13 inch baking pan and place potatoes in pan.  Bake at 375 for about an hour.  Turn once during baking.

Tupps Tidbits ~ if they are large pototoes they might not cook all the way thru if you cut in quarters, I recommend cutting them smaller (we used red potatoes)

Easy to make, good but them were nothing extra special. It did put a spin on your plain roasted potatoes.  We would probably make these again.  DEFINITELY A KEEPER!

Ham Balls

Several of us have made homemade meat balls but have

you ever heard of Ham Balls?

My co-worker’s grandma was the head cook in their school system. Grandma “Ham Ball” came up with this recipe and made them for “her kids”…hundreds of them including her granddaughter.  Lucky for us, this Missouri dish made its way to Rochester, MN.  Let’s try Ham Balls!

Ham Balls – Karla “Ham Ball” Hamilton

3 lb. ham loaf (Fareway Foods)

1 sleeve graham cracker crumbs (preferably…Cinnamon Grahams)

2 eggs

1 ½ cup Buttermilk (reg. milk ok)

Sauce:

¼ cup cider vinegar

1 Tbs. dry mustard

1 can tomato soup

¾ cup brown sugar

Mix meat, graham cracker crumbs, eggs, and milk.  Roll or use scoop to shape into balls the size of an egg or small scoop of ice cream.  Place on cookie sheet lined with foil and sprayed with Pam.  Mix sauce and pour over ham balls.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Turn on custom broiler and finish at 420 degrees for another 10 minutes.  Total cooking time is 1 hour. Makes 2-3 dozen. 

Tupps Tidbits ~ we bought our ham loaf from Fareway Foods, but you could make your own loaf by grinding ham with pork loin at a 2 to 1 ratio

Even though we have never heard of ham balls, looking into it, we did find similar ham ball or ham loaf receipes.  This is definitely not a secret recipes, but usually unknown to Minnesotans.  DEFINITELY A KEEPER!

Thanks “again” Karla for recommending and sharing.

Chicken Melt Sandwich

Several restaurants/grills offer a chicken melt.  And if you have a favorite, like the one at Leo’s Sports Bar in Mazeppa, MN you might want to try & adapt a homemade version.  This is a copy cat recipe …developed by a home cook (Tupps) to taste similar! Sometimes it's difficult to exactly duplicate a restaurant recipe at home without all the amenities of a commercial kitchen, but this recipe does its best to copy the same flavors & visual appeal as Leos’s!

Chicken Melt Sandwich ~Leo’s Sports Bar

Recipe& Directions (our best guess):

Step 1:  Chicken Melt Ingredients: 

Boneless, skinless chicken breast, slices of rye bread, white American cheese slices, canned mushrooms & onion

Step 2:  How to make a Chicken Melt: 

Grill the chicken over medium heat until cooked, while the chicken is cooking, slice the onion & sauté with mushrooms.  Butter 1 side of each slice of bread & when the chicken is cooked, assemble the ingredients on the rye bread.  Put the sandwich in a frying pan on medium for 3-5 minutes per side or until golden, grilled brown.

Step 3:  Chicken Melt Variations:

 A chicken melt can be varied for different flavor and taste by changing the method of cooking the chicken, the type of bread, or the topping ingredients, but I think we did our best in the copy cat of the Leo’s Chicken Melt!

Tupps Tidbits ~ layer the sandwich, bread, cheese, mushroom, onion and then chicken, so that when the cheese melts it will hold the onion and mushrooms in place

DEFINITELY A KEEPER whether we eat one at home or at Leo’s!