HEALTHIER SNACKS FOR NEW YEAR'S DAY 2017

I did a recent post for Honey Hot Wings that were baked - big hit with hubby so those will be included in the "healthier" snacks for football watching tomorrow. Not that they are the healthiest thing around but more healthy than deep fried wings.

Here is the menu:

Why two fries you say - they taste different and he likes both and they are both warm snacks and go well with the wings.

I will post the link below for the Honey Hot Wings.

Recipe Sweet Potato Fries:

Preheat oven to 400°

I really have no exact recipe so will just tell you how I make them.  Any kind of sweet potato will do, any variety. Peel the sweet potatoes - I try and find long, round ones, and cut in half and then into fry shapes.

Add the sweet potatoes to a plastic bag and add about a T of EVOO and shake and rub them together to get the EVOO distributed well - place on either a rack on a cookie sheet or if you have a mat for "frying" without oil, use that.  If you have neither you will have to take them out and turn them over half way. Sprinkle with seasoned salt (or if you prefer with salt and pepper and what ever seasoning  you like) and bake for about 20 minutes depending on the width of the fries, oven, etc. Check them at about 15 minutes.

Serve by them selves or with your healthier ranch dip.

Healthier Artichoke Dip recipe:

Ingredients

2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup reduced calorie mayonnaise
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup great northern beans
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon powdered mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles

1/4 cup Parmesan, grated

1 t evoo

1 garlic clove, peeled
1 shallot, peeled
2 13.5-ounce cans of artichoke hearts, drained

Directions

In a small pan add the t of evoo and cook the garlic and shallot until they are done - if you can tolerate these ingredients raw you may skip this part.

In a food processor add all the ingredients except the Parmesan cheese and the artichokes and process until smooth. Then add all but a couple of tablespoons of the cheese and the artichokes - whirl to mix - some of the chunks of artichokes is good.

Place in a heatproof container, top with the remaining Parmesan and bake for about 20-30 minutes in a 350° oven. Serve with veggies and rice chips such at Good Things Rice with Poppy & Sesame seed - 19 of these crackers and 130 calories and 2 grams of protein! Plus they are tasty and easy to find - made by Nabisco.

Parmesan-Carrot Fries Recipe

Preheat oven 450°

 

Ingredients

1 pound fresh carrots
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt
Cracked black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
2-3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

Clean carrots, cut into matchsticks and toss in a plastic bag with the EVOO, sea salt and pepper. Spread them on a rack or special mat for roasting and roast for about 12-15 minutes. Remove and place on a plate and top with the Parmesan cheese and the fresh basil.

Resource

Honey Hot Wings Link

Silicone mat for oven frying Link

Thank you for stopping by and have a safe and Happy New Year's Eve!!!

 

DECORATING FOR NEW YEAR'S EVE - USE WHAT YOU HAVE!

I love decorating the house and outside for Christmas but I don't like taking it down, the house looks bare and it's a whole year until we get to do this wonderful thing again. I do not take things down until January 2nd.  I do however, decorate my entry table for New Year's.  This year I was inspired by my favorite Etsy shop "Polly's Paper Studio." I will place a link below. She has wonderful cards, projects, etc. and I love her very reasonable digital downloads.  Her New Year's bingo cards were my inspiration.  I decided to use what I have so I also used my sparkly wreath I made last year - so easy to do, I will also place a link below for the post with complete instructions.

The first thing I did was to print out the bingo cards on gold colored card stock and gather some fans (picked them up after Christmas last year 1/2 off - did not know what I would do with them but loved them) paper garland, gold ribbon and some glitter blast paint and scotch foam double stick tape - will not hurt your furniture, etc.

I just cut out some paper to cover the images and taped it with drafting tape - will not tear the paper away when removing and I also wanted to paint the little clothes pins.

A quick spray in a cardboard box and then into my "paint booth" my oven with the light on.

 They came out perfect and sparkly and ready to cut.

They came out so cute and sparkly.  I ran out of paint so the clothes pins did not get very sparkly but that's OK you don't really see them.

The centerpiece and inspiration besides the bingo cards.  My keepsake from New Year's 2000 - Christopher Radko music box globe and of course it plays Robert Burns "Old Lang Syne."

The sparkly wreath from last year - sorry about the arm!  LOL! I will put a link below for the wreath.

The fans placed in little photo stands and the rest of the garland draped around them.

The little sparkly bingo New Year's cards just add a sweetness to the entry.

Just added a coordinating bow to the pot with lights that sits next to the entry table.

Resource

Polly's Paper Studio New Year's Bingo graphic: Link
Sparkly clothes pin wreath instructions: Link
Ribbon, Hobby Lobby
Scotch foam two sided tape, Michael's
Garlands by Bethany Lowe
Fans, Link

Thank you for stopping by.
 



 

HOT HONEY AND BAKED WINGS FOR NEW YEAR'S EVE

Hot Honey has recently been one of those culinary buzz words being bandied about in recipes on television cooking shows, etc. While I found the idea of honey seasoned with peppers appealing and intriguing, I did not find the prices to be the same . Hubby likes wings very much and so I thought some baked chicken drumettes as part of our New Year's Eve fare would be good with some hot honey - or in our case so not so hot honey.

Infusing honey with  jalapeño etc. could not be easier.  There are several ways to do this, one way is to use dried peppers and leave the chopped dried peppers in the honey or to strain them out.  Depending on the heat level you desire, there are many different peppers to use - you want heat - use a Scotch bonnet. I prefer the wings to have a little heat but not so much that it takes your head off and the heat is so much you cannot taste the food.  I chose to use a  jalapeño .  I only used one this first time but next time I will use one and a half peppers.

Since I did not plan on straining the honey I chose to cut the  jalapeño in half and scoop out the membrane and the seeds. A little demitasse spoon worked perfectly to scoop out the seeds. BE SURE AND WASH YOUR HANDS IMMEDIATELY AFTER HANDLING THE PEPPERS WITH COLD WATER TO GET THE HEAT OFF THE HANDS. I make  jalapeño mustard and the jalapeños have to be ground and I not only wear gloves but a face mask.

Once you have the seeds out just slice the pepper. When measuring sticky things (honey, corn syrup, molasses) I use one of the non-stick sprays in the measuring device and the sticky item will plop right out into the pan.

The 12oz Miller's Honey was equal to one cup and all you do is add your pepper source and let it infuse while in a double boiler. The price for the Miller's was less than $4.

Make a label for any clean jar and add your infused honey.

Hot Honey Recipe

Ingredients

Makes about 1 cup

• 2–4 hot peppers (such as Fresno, Holland, jalapeño or Thai), thinly sliced
• 1 cup honey

Bring 2 peppers and honey to a bare simmer in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Reduce heat to low and let cook 1 hour to infuse. Taste honey and adjust heat with another pepper or 2, remove from stove, and let sit 30 minutes. Transfer to a small jar, straining if desired.I removed the peppers. I do not want my honey to be too hot or someone to bite down on a very hot seed, etc. Personal preference.

Hot Honey Teriyaki-ginger Sauce Recipe

• 1/4 tsp bottled ground ginger
• 1 large garlic cloves, grated
• ¼ cup hot honey
• 2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/8 cup water

 To make the teriyaki-ginger sauce take 1/4 cup of the hot honey that you have already made and add the above ingredients and place in a sauce pan and let it just simmer a bit on the stove - do not boil - just let it simmer. No need to strain.

Wash and pat dry your wings (I use the drumettes only). Place 2T oil into a large Ziploc bag and add salt and pepper.  Place the wings into the bag and shake, making sure all of the wings are covered with the oil.

Place the wings into a pre-heated 400° oven for about 40-45 minutes.  Take them out of the oven and using tongs to handle the hot wings, coat them with your desired hot honey.

They will look like this coming out of the oven, ready to coat with the sauce.

Coat them with sauce and back into the oven for about 8-10 more minutes.

Once out of the oven (again using tongs) brush the wings with some of your sauce.

It is also easy to just place the wings into a bowl with the sauce and brush them.

Serve with some homemade buttermilk ranch dressing or your favorite dip for wings.

Cooks Note:  This is really very easy to do and you do not in anyway miss the deep frying of the wings.  My "test pilot" (err, that would be hubby) liked the jalapeño hot honey hands down over the plain hot honey so when I make these for New Year's Eve it will be strictly the jalapeño hot honey wings.

Resource

Ground ginger, grocery and speciality stores

Recipe modified from Bon Appetit

Baking mat, Link

Label for jar, Martha Stewart, Staples

Font on jar label, Cambria 14pt.

Thank you for stopping by