Fiesta Party !!!

One of our favorite Tastefully Simple products is Fiesta Party Dip Mix!

Kevin being from New Mexico and myself being from Indiana we have very different spice levels going on in the house. Kevin can't get enough spice and Fiesta Party Mix always comes to the rescue. In fact if it isn't in our main dish it often sits on our table with the salt and pepper.

Since we have gotten married (5 years in May!!!) I have tried to have fresh homemade salsa and guac in the house at all times. So yes... Fiesta Party Mix has once again taken the spotlight in those great snacks! I have held out for a long time but finally here is my salsa re

cipe and a great recipe for Corn and Black Bean Pizza; because once again we can't get enough of that Fiesta Party Dip Mix.

Gunn's Homemade Salsa

Ingredients:

5-6 tomatoes

1/2 bunch cilantro

1 small onion

1/2 cup corn

1/2 cup black beans

1 jalapeno

splash of lemon juice

pinch of salt

pinch of cumin

Fiesta Party Dip Mix - to taste

Directions:

* Dice tomatoes, cilantro, onion, and jalapeno.

* Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix together

* Place in fridge for 2-3 hours to blend flavors and serve w/ your favorite chips

Corn and Black Bean Pizza

Ingredients:

1 avocado

1/2 small onion

1 tomato

1/2 cup corn

1/2 cup black beans

1/4 cup cilantro

pinch of salt

Fiesta Party Dip Mix

Daiya Cheese

Pizza Dough

Directions:

* Peel and smash avocado adding a little lemon and salt to help from browning

* Spread the smashed avocado on the pizza dough - top with onions, diced tomato, black beans, corn, cilantro

* Season w/ salt and Fiesta Party Dip then top with cheese

* Bake in oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Kitchen Notes:

* This recipe makes enough for about one pizza, easy to double.

* You can add chicken, taco meat, etc to the pizza and of course use regular cheese via the Vegan Daiya kind we use.

Wondering where you can get this AWESOME Fiesta Party Dip?

OR... you love these corn and black bean recipes but don't want to make them yourself? Try Tastefully Simple's Corn and Black Bean Salsa!

Make sure to check out my Tastefully Simple website: www.tastefullysimple.com/web/hgunn or email me at justataste2010@gmail.com. If you contact me via email (not valid if you order online) and say that you want to order Fiesta Party Dip AND Corn and Black Bean Salsa I will give you a $1.00 off your order!

Always remember that Tastefully Simple offers a satisfaction guarantee, if you don't like the product or it doesn't fit your family we can always exchange or refund your money. No risk to try this Fiesta Party Dip Mix or Corn and Black Bean Salsa!

Chocolate Mint Tapioca

I pride myself in a clean fridge. I work from home most of the week so whenever I make dinner I always check dates and try to use items verse wasting them. However...

Tonight we sat down to watch a movie and decided we wanted some popcorn. As I opened the fridge to grab the butter I realized I had a little over a full container of So Delicious Mint Chocolate Coconut Milk! I had bought it on a whim at the store several weeks ago and never really bothered to drink much of it. Looking at the date it was due to expire in just a couple days I decided I needed to drink it. I poured a glass and then started to read the carton.

There on the side was this great little recipe that I happened to have all the ingredients for; including exactly 3 cups of milk!

Chocolate Milk Tapioca

Ingredients:

1/2 cup tapioca

3 cups mint chocolate coconut milk

1 TBS cornstarch

1/8 tsp sea salt

(optional coconut and mint leaves for garnish)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients and whisk until boiling on medium heat. When boiling lower heat and let simmer for 8-10 minutes. Serve warm or chilled.

Fantastic!

Homemade Chex Mix

I know I have mentioned before my mom's homemade chex mix. It is a favorite among us three kids - my sister myself, and my husband! Finally I remembered to get her recipe this week so here it is:

Mom's Homemade Chex Mix

Ingredients:

3 c. Corn Chex

3 c. Rice Chex
3 c. Wheat Chex
1 c. nuts
1 c. pretzels
1 c. bugles, Cheerios,or bagel chips
6 T. butter
2 T. Worchestershire sauce
11/2 t. season salt
3/4 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. onion powder

In large bowl mix cereals, nuts, pretzels etc. In small bowl microwave butter until melted, add seasonings. Pour over cereal mix and stir.
Microwave uncovered on high for 5 minutes stiring every 2 minutes Spread on paper towels to cool.

(I double or triple the recipe and do in 200 degree oven for 45 minutes and stir every 15 minutes)

--------------------------

While I love my mom's recipe so much I didn't have all of her ingredients on hand and I needed a quick chex mix fix on Sunday evening. Here is what I came up with:

Hoppin' Jalapeno and Bacon Chex Mix

Ingredients:

4 cups Rice Chex

3 cups Cheerios

1 cup peanuts

2 cups pretzels

4 TBS Earth Balance Butter

2 TBS Hoppin' Jalapeno and Bacon Mix (Tastefully Simple)

Directions:

* Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Melt butter and add seasoning, stir together.

* Spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees for 45 minutes, stir every 15 minutes.

Kitchen Notes:

* We LOVED this! We specially love this dip and knew it would be a winner.

* Moral of the story is you can use whatever you have on hand to make this and even make up your own seasoning. Yum!

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes

I have been craving a good cupcake lately.

Having found several what seem to look like great recipes but all asking for very weird ingredients I finally came upon one that seemed worth trying. Don't get me wrong, I am all about weird ingredients; welcome to my kitchen. However, I knew my husband would not be up for this so I had to find something else. This recipes comes from a great blog I follow called The Vegan Version . They turned out great! I hope you give them a try as well.

So Delicious Vanilla Cupcakes - Vegan

Ingredients:

1 cup So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 TBS cornstarch

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup Earth Balance Vegan Butter

3/4 cup organic cane sugar

2 1/4 tsp vanilla

Directions:

* Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins w/ cupcake liners and spray non-stick spray inside liners.

* Mix together milk and vinegar then set aside for a few minutes. Sift flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and mix.

* In another bowl using a handheld mixer combine butter and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy then add vanilla and beat. Add milk and vinegar mixture and dry ingredients and beat until smooth.

* Fill the cupcake liners until 2/3 full. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes. Allow cool and then frost!

(the frosting I made is top right - ugh)

Frosting:

3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup Earth Balance Vegan Butter (softened)

1/4 cup So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Cream together until smooth.

Kitchen Notes:

* My frosting didn't turn out right - tasted good but looked awful. Better luck with yours!

* Cupcakes were fantastic! So glad I finally found a winner! :)

Sausage and Apples

My goal for 2012 was to cook several new recipes a week. I wanted to still incorporate our "go-to-favorites" but also find some new ones. This works well since I cook almost every night of the week and then prepare our lunches for the following days as well. Here is a great sausage, onion, and apple dish that I tried. Best part was I had almost everything I needed for the recipe on hand already. Love that!

(Photo Credit)

Side Note: Half way through eating this I realized I hadn't snapped a photo, sorry!

Sausage and Apple Bake

Ingredients:

4-6 sausage links

1/2 cup apple juice

1/4 cup hot pepper jelly

2 TBS dijon mustard

1 medium onion

3 apples

1 tsp dried basil

pepper

Directions:

* Pierce sausage in several places and place in a sauce pan that is lightly coated with oil. On medium heat brown on all sides. Remove sausage from pan and keep warm

* With the same pan place the sliced onion (vertical slices) and cook until browned.

* In a small bowl add apple juice, hot pepper jelly, and dijon mustard - mix well.

* Core and slice apples into thick wedges and add to the browned onions then add juice mixture and stir.

* Return the sausage to the pan and reduce heat to medium/low. Add the basil and pepper and cook until sausages are completely cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Kitchen Notes:

* When I talked to our butcher at Whole Foods he recommended I use their Teriyaki and Pineapple sauce for this recipe - they were also on sale!

* You could easily make this Vegan by using a vegan sausage

* I felt like the dish overall had too much liquid so I made some brown couscous to go with it.

* We loved this served with fresh homemade bread as well!

Mocha Chip Almond Pound Cake

I try to incorporate my Tastefully Simple business into my kitchen every time I cook. I normally use the Onion Onion and Garlic Garlic for my recipes but today I needed a dessert. I know the holidays are over but I really had to try this one plus I wanted to share it with the other ladies at our monthly Tastefully Simple Meeting! It is SO good...

Mocha Chip Almond Pound Cake

Ingredients:

Almond Pound Cake Mix

3/4 cup melted butter

1 cup water

8 TBS Mocha Chip Frappe Drink Mix

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

* Preheat oven to 350 degrees

* Combine all ingredients and stir to blend.

* Pour batter into an 8x8 glass pan and bake for 45 minutes.

* Place pan in freezer for several hours. Then slice and serve. (this step helps the pound cake from crumbling)

Kitchen Notes:

* We loved this as is but you could always add some cream cheese frosting

To order Absolutely Almond Pound Cake or Mocha Chip Frappe Drink Mix contact Heidi at justataste2010@gmail.com or order online: www.tastefullysimple.com/web/hgunn

Thai Inspired Dinner

I always love new recipes! Thankfully Kevin is a GREAT taste-tester. He gave these recipes great ratings... and he doesn't even like Tofu! Hope you also enjoy our Thai inspired dinner.

Dubu Jorim (Soy-Braised Tofu)

Ingredients:

14 oz Firm Tofu

EVOO

3 TBS Soy Sauce

2 TBS Water

1 TBS Toasted Sesame Oil

1 Clove Garlic (minced)

2 Scallions (chopped into thin rings)

1 TBS Red Pepper Flakes

Soba Noodles

Directions:

* Drain and compress Tofu (press tofu between paper towels to drain water) then slice into 1/2 inch thick pieces. Preheat pan on medium heat and add enough oil to cover bottom of pan. Place tofu in pan and sear on both sides until golden brown.

* Combine soy sauce, water, toasted sesame oil, garlic, half of the chopped scallion, and red pepper flakes. Set aside.

* Remove tofu and place in another pan with a tight fitting lid. Evenly our all the sauce from previous step over tofu.

*Cover the pot and let it come to a boil. Lower heat and let simmer for 15 minutes.

* Remove from heat and arrange noodles or rice on a plate with tofu on top. Garnish with extra scallions.

Kitchen Notes:

* We used Buckwheat Soba Noodles because they are my favorite. Rice or any other noodle would work great too.

* Double the sauce if you want extra to pour over your tofu and noodles. We didn't have any extra because it cooked into the tofu, which had WONDERFUL flavor!

THEN... I wanted to serve this dish with a simple soup. This is a great easy recipe! Make sure to try it out.

Creamy Thai Soup (Gluten Free Too!)

Ingredients:

6 green onions - white and green parts separate

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup peanut butter (all natural)

1 cup coconut milk

1 clove garlic (minced)

1 TBS lime juice

1 TBS soy sauce

1 TBS agave (could use honey)

Optional Garnish:

sesame seeds

purple cabbage

green onion

red pepper flakes

Directions:

* Chop white part of green onion and put in blender. Add remaining ingredients to the blender and process until smooth.

* Pour into a saucepan and heat over medium until hot.

* Serve with optional garnish.

Kitchen Notes:

* In the picture we used green onion, purple cabbage and red pepper flakes to garnish.

Original Recipes found on Pinterest:

Soy-Braised Tofu

Thai Soup

Sausage, Mushroom, and Potato Gratin

(Photo Credit and Original Recipe)

I found this recipe in the November Cooking Light Magazine. It was easy to adapt to Dairy Free and could very easily be adapted to Vegan as well. To see the original recipe click the link above the picture. Enjoy!

Sausage, Mushroom, and Potato Gratin

Ingredients:

1/2 pound ground sausage

1 TBS EVOO

2 cups chopped onion

2 cups diced mushrooms

1 lb red potatoes, chopped

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 cup Daiya Cheese, mozzarella or cheddar

Directions:

* Preheat oven to 400 degrees

* In a large skillet add sausage and cook until browned, set aside.

* Add EVOO to same pan and cook onion, mushrooms and potatoes until soft/browned

* Return sausage to pan and stir in broth.

* Spoon entire mixture into a glass or ceramic baking dish (coat w/ cooking spray first) and top with cheese. Cover w/ foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 15 minutes or until golden.

Kitchen Notes:

* You can sub the sausage for Tempeh or Lifelight crumbles and the chicken broth for veggie broth to make this vegan.

* This was so good and even better the second day for leftovers!