Falafel

This is the Falafel that I made and it was soooo yummy! I will be making this again. The seasonings were so good. My hubby ate the rest of the little Falafel without anything.

Falafel

2 1/2 cans garbanzo beans

1 cup cilantro (coriander leaves)
1/2 cup parsley 
4 garlic cloves minced 
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 very large onion
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup flour

2 teaspoon baking soda, added 15 minutes before frying

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Drain the beans and rinse then blend the garbanzo beans  in a food processor until the beans are the consistency of bread crumbs, empty into a large bowl.  Next put the onion, garlic, cilantro and parsley in the food processor and blend until it is a paste consistency, add to bean mixture.  To the bowl add the cumin, coriander, salt, black pepper, bread crumbs and cayenne pepper and mix very well. Stir in the baking soda, baking powder and flour to the bean mixture and mix well, let sit 15-20 minutes before frying. Heat about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a 2 to 3 inch frying pan, turn to medium-low heat. Mold the falafel mixture into small balls ( I used my cookie scoop) and drop into oil to fry, continually turn over the falafel balls to keep the color an even brown on all sides, when they are a medium brown color, remove the balls and drain on a paper towel for a minute.  Serve warm and fresh with tahini sauce, pickles and vegetables.

Ham Potato Puffs

 

This is such an fast easy dinner when you have leftover ham and mashed potatoes. But if you don’t have leftover potatoes just mix up some instant. My family loves these!

Ham Potato Puffs

1 tube refrigerated biscuits (12 oz)

1 cup fully cooked ham, cubed

1 cup mashed potatoes

1 cup grated cheese

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with Pam.

Press biscuits in and up the sides of each cup on the muffin tin.

In a bowl mix the mashed potatoes, ham, parsley, garlic powder and half of the cheese. Spoon into each muffin tin. Pat the tops down a little and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Sloan’s Harlequin Dip

Sloan just loves this one little puppy we have left. She’s getting very spoiled!

This is a favorite of Sloan’s and she makes it all by herself! She loves to chop the olives. I like the curry powder in it. Sloan likes it on saltine crackers, but it is good with chips too.

Sloan’s Harlequin Dip

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing

1/2 cup chopped olives

2 tablespoons snipped chives

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

Blend the sour cream and the mayo. Add the other ingredients and mix well. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour. Serve with crackers.

White Bean Dip

Jennie served this White Bean Dip for me just about everyday. It is a great way to get in some veggies for a snack and it tastes really good! I love it after it’s been in the fridge for a few days because the garlic gets a little stronger, I love garlic!

White Bean Dip

1 can of Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 lemon, juice

3 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped

Handful of chopped parsley, or 2 teaspoons dried oregano

salt and pepper

Put all the ingredients in a food processor until airy about 5 minutes.

1/4 cup=3 points

Crazy Dog T~Shirt Review/Giveaway, Ham Bites are Born and Mozzarella Sticks and Onion Rings!

Today I'm linking up with We Are That Family for Works For Me Wednesday! My tip today is actually from my daughter, Jennie. She is a big pasta fan.

Jennie says that when you make any kind of pasta you should throw a big handful of salt into the pasta water. I finally remembered to do it when I made spaghetti the other night. It was just spaghetti made with bottled sauce, frozen meatballs and (Jennie, don't read this) Parmesan cheese that comes in the big green can. Hey, that's what my family likes! Well, the family agreed that it was the best spaghetti they've had that was from a bottled sauce! So from now on I'm salting my pasta water for a more flavorful pasta!


Crazy Dog T~Shirt Review and Giveaway!


Crazy Dog T~Shirts is your number 1 place online for funny t~shirts. They were kind enough to let me pick out two shirts for a review.


I love this shirt, it says "Invisibility Shirt ~ Currently Deactivated"



Here she is again in it with her new puppy Ella. I don't know if I shared this with you, but her sweet doggie Fifi was hit and killed by a car, while I was in Maine. I felt so bad that I wasn't there for her when she lost Fifi. Ken bought her adorable Ella Louise (Louise is my middle name!) while i was gone to take Fifi's place. Ella is a Toy Platinum Mink Miniature Schnauzer. She is fitting into the family quiet nicely!


Here's Chauncey modeling this fun Zombie Shirt! His big brother Jacob is big on outsmarting Zombie attacks!

I just had to share another picture of Chauncey modeling!

Crazy Dog T~Shirts are made out of a nice heavy cotton and are really nice thick and soft t~shirts. We always hang our t~shirts to dry and these didn't shrink when we washed them. Crazy Dog T~Shirts has an awesome selection to choose from!

Crazy Dog T~Shirts are letting me giveaway a T~Shirt to one lucky winner and the winner can pick any t~shirt!

Here are the rules~The first one is the only one you HAVE to do to enter the giveaway, the rest are just extra entries.

1)This rule is mandatory~Become a follower of my blog, easy huh? Just click on the Google Friend Connect Follower button on the top left on my blog. Leave me a comment and tell me that you're a follower! Don't worry, if you are already following me that's great, just leave me a comment saying you're a follower!

2)Sign up for Crazy Dog T~Shirt's Newsletter and leave me a comment telling me that you signed up!

3)Like Crazy Dog T~Shirts on Facebook and leave me a comment telling me that you did it.

4)Put my cute Songberries Button on your blog. (You can find it on the top left of my blog) Leave me a comment saying you did with a link to your blog.

5)Follow Crazy Dog T~Shirts on Twitter. Leave me a comment telling me along with your Twitter ID.

6)Tell me in a comment your favorite Crazy Dog T~Shirt.

This giveaway is open to US Residents only and I will close it and pick a winner Sunday, June 20th.

I was not financially compensated for this review. I received a sample of this product for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my own experiences.

Now, onto some more food! PW made some like this a while back on her blog, but since I couldn't find her recipe, I made up my own. These were super easy, just remember to freeze your cheese sticks ahead of time. You need to freeze them at least 2 hrs, but you can pop them in the freezer the day before or night before. These were gobbled up pretty fast!

Fried Mozzarella Sticks

1 cup Italian Panko Bread Crumbs
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
12 string cheese sticks, cut in half
oil for frying

First, put the cheese sticks on a plate and freeze for 2 hrs.

Heat oil in a skillet, I like to use my cast iron 10inch skillet with about 2 inches of oil.

In a bowl put the flour and seasonings and mix with a whisk. In another bowl whisk the eggs and milk. In a third bowl place the panko bread crumbs. I like to line my bowls up by the stove with the bread crumbs being the closest to the stove, then the egg mixture, then the flour mixture.

This is where I got my family involved! I had Sloan dipping the cheese sticks in the flour, then she'd put them into the egg mixture. Ken would take them out of the egg mixture and roll them in the bread crumbs, then put them in the hot oil.. I would turn them over with tongs when they started to brown, then remove them to a plate with 2 layers of paper towels on it, when they were browned.


We had leftover breading, so we cut some onions up and made onion rings!

We still had some of the breading left, so we cut up pieces of ham and made ham bites! Ken just loved the ham bites! I thought they were better than chicken nuggets!

Chili Quesadillas

Don't these look yummy? I got the first one started and my wonderful daughter Jennie took over making them while I ran to a meeting. Nope, I didn't even get to taste them. Yup, Jennie took these great pictures and I'm wanting to reach out and eat one and there are none left! I'll be making these again soon! I love that they're super easy, and they'd make great appetizers too!

This was a great way to use up some of my leftover chili, but it would be just as easy to open a can of chili!

Chili Quesadillas

1-2 cups leftover chili or 1 can of chili
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 package flour tortillas
Sour Cream

Heat a griddle to medium heat and spray it with Pam. Put a tortilla on the hot griddle and sprinkle it with cheese and a couple of spoonfuls of chili. Put a tortilla over the top. When it starts to brown flip it over and brown the other side of the quesodilla. Slice with a pizza cutter and dip in sour cream.

My New Purse and Little Smokie Wraps

Do you ever need a new purse? I took my daughter to pick out a new purse and I knew right away that I was going to have to get one for me. It was a good thing I had birthday money! I found this baby at McKenzie's house, she orders her purses from New York and sells them at craft fairs and out of her home. She lives about 5 minutes away from me. That can be really bad. This purse is a little larger then what I usually carry,, but I knew I could make it work! If you're interested in getting a purse from McKenzie you can email her at simply.mckenzie@hotmail.com.

Ok, these are just to easy and wonderful! I had planned to make these at Christmas time and I hadn't, so I still had the bacon and little smokies in the freezer. So, I made them for dinner one night when I was in a hurry. They were a big hit with the family.

Little Smokie Wraps

1 package little smokies
1 pound bacon
1/2 cup or so brown sugar

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the bacon in half. Wrap each half around a little smokie. You can put a toothpick in them to hold them if you want, but mine stayed just fine with out. Just put them seam side down on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with the brown sugar.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Keep an eye on them, you want the bacon cooked but don't let them burn.

Cheese Straws with a hot soup makes an easy lunch!

I found this great poem a while back and had to share!


I want to be

an outrageous

old woman

who never

gets called

an old lady.

I want to get

leaner and meaner,

sharp and edged &

earth colored

till I fade away

from pure joy!





Don't you just love Campbells tomato soup? It is good by itself or with lots of other things. I made these for lunch one Sunday with tomato soup. It made a nice meal and they were a big hit. Next time I want to use pepper jack cheese instead of the cheddar cheese. They keep well too!

Cheese Straws

1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup shortening
1 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1/3 cup cold water
In a large bowl whisk the dry ingredients. Cut in the shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cheddar cheese. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup water. Toss with a fork (if dough is dry, add water, 1 teaspoon at a time until dough forms a ball). Warp tightly in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.

Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into an 11-in x 10-in rectangle. Cut into 5-in x 1/2- in strips. Carefully twist each strip and place on greased baking sheets, pressing ends down.

Bake at 425 degrees for 7-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.




That was Chauncey's fingers in the first picture. He wanted to be the first one to try them!

Artichoke And Spinach Bread

I came across this recipe the other day in a cookbook and had to give it a try! I made it for lunch, and my family loved it. It would make a great appetizer too! I even used real Parmesan cheese, not the stuff out of the green can! My daughter would be so proud!!

Artichoke And Spinach Bread

1 14oz jar artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 10oz package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed
1/2 to 3/4 cup mayonnaise,(not Miracle Whip) I used 3/4 cup
1 cup Parmesan cheese, not out of the green can
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 loaf french bread, cut in half lengthwise

Combine all the ingredients except the bread in a bowl and mix well. Spoon and spread onto both sides of the bread. Put the bread on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.