Tangy Ginger Dressing on Lettuce Wraps

A quick, healthy, and easy dinner at our house is Lettuce Wraps. I normally make them with tofu and mushrooms; but if you are not the tofu eating type you could of course use chicken. I am always looking for a great dressing to pour over them that adds great flavor.

I finally found a WINNER!

In our new Spring/Summer line that will be available to clients on March 1st we have Tangy Ginger Dressing! It is a citrusy and smooth dressing that would be great for egg rolls, in coleslaw, drizzled over asparagus or broccoli and of course on lettuce wraps!

I have posted Tofu Lettuce Wraps on my blog before - you can click the link to get the recipe. Here is an updated picture with the dressing. Make sure to check out my Tastefully Simple Website to order yours on March 1st!

Chocolate Chip Cookies - an old favorite

I love a good Chocolate Chip Cookie. It has to be soft, almost to the point of cookie dough or I won't bother eating it. A dear friend and "sister" of mine that I grew up with, Christi Shrock, has an AMAZING cookie recipe in a cookbook. This cookbook is a collection of recipes from people I attended church with growing up. I also love a good church cookbook!

I throughout the years have great memories of this recipe.

* I remember making these cookies with Dixie, Stacy, Christi, and

Rachel - then staying up all night watching movies and eating almost the entire batch.

* I remember making several dozen (maybe 6+) the two weeks before my wedding with Ethel. We couldn't keep them coming fast enough... and no it wasn't a personal pre-wedding stock up. They were to feed the 4 groomsmen that came early and the 4 that came a few days later.

* I remember making them for our friends Daniel and Nancy and laughing so hard as we watched them hid the container from each other. Turns out neither one of them wanted to share with the other!

I love how a great cookie recipe can bring people together, create beautiful memories, and always to this day be a favorite in our kitchen. Thanks Christi for sharing this in our church cookbook and of course for the beginning of some really great memories!

Chocolate Chip Cookies - by Christi Shrock

Cooking From The Heart - Pleasant View Mennonite Church (1996)

Ingredients:

2 cups margarine

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

4 tsp. vanilla

4 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 (12 oz) pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

* Cream margarine and sugars until smooth

* Beat in eggs and vanilla

* Add dry ingredients; mix well.

* Stir in chocolate chips.

* Bake on greased cookies sheet at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

Makes 6 dozen cookies

Kitchen Notes:

* To make Dairy Free - sub Earth Balance Butter for margarine and use Vegan or Dairy Free Chocolate Chips (Whole Foods makes a great 365 Brand).

* I bake my cookies for 5-6 minutes - they turn out perfect for me!

* Store cookies in an airtight container with a piece of bread inside. This keeps them moist and soft, the bread in turn gets hard.

* You can easily cut this recipe in half - but really why would you??? They freeze great!

Asparagus wrapped in Bacon!

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. Have been busy with my Tastefully Simple Business and a nine day Garden and Home Show here in Denver. Lots of prep work, working the show, and next week wrapping up. We haven't had a sit down dinner together for several days. Tonight was our night to just catch up on life, eat dinner, and be together for the evening.

I was poking around on Pinterest this morning and found this great recipe. The original called for green beans wrapped in bacon but I thought asparagus would be better plus I had that on hand. This was amazing and we will for sure be making this again!

Asparagus wrapped in Bacon

Ingredients:

1 lb asparagus

6 slices bacon

2 TBS butter (earth balance)

1 TBS brown sugar

pinch of garlic

salt and pepper

Directions:

* Divide asparagus into six even groups. Wrap each grouping in bacon.

* Place on a pan and cover with glaze.

* To make glaze combine butter, brown sugar, garlic, salt and pepper together. Heat until blended and glaze the asparagus/bacon.

* Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, or until bacon is crisp.

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! :)