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Tag: snack

Bacon-wrapped bbq chicken
Weekends are pretty busy in our household: we try to go out and explore our new city, travel around Europe, or do little projects around the house. So we don’t always have time to make big elaborate meals, and will either eat leftovers or random food from the fridge when I take a break from whatever project I’m working on (or blogging about…). This weekend was no exception: Jonathan graciously accepted to help me fold all my clothes that had gotten unruly since the last laundry day, and I was busy working on one of my blog posts. After Jonathan wandered into the kitchen about 10 times looking sad and hungry, and even my stomach started to rumble, I figured it was time for a little snack break.

We usually grocery shop on Monday, and use the weekend to eat any leftovers from the past week. Translation: our fridge was pretty empty. On our last shopping order, I went a little crazy ordering turkey bacon when I discovered our grocery store actually carries it and I bought 4 packs of the stuff. A part of me secretly worried they’d realize how amazingly delicious the stuff is and stop making it, just to torture me. So, stock up, I did. I went crazy for it in part because me and Jonathan don’t eat pork but I’m not gonna lie: I love the salty smoky flavor of bacon. Turkey bacon is the healthier cousin of pork bacon, with all the same salty taste. I couldn’t really justify just cooking up a bunch of (turkey) bacon and serving it as a “snack” so I kept looking and realized we also had some chicken thighs that needed to be eaten, too. I originally thought of making a more elaborate cheddar & bacon-stuffed chicken casserole, but then came back to my senses because nobody had time to spend Saturday afternoon working on a new recipe.

So, these bacon-wrapped BBQ chicken snacks were born out of necessity, lack of time and a pinch of laziness. But you guys, these are so, so good. Like, dangerously easy and good. I almost never make any kind of meat without marinating or at least seasoning it, but that is totally not necessary for this recipe! If you love (turkey) bacon and BBQ sauce then you pretty much should drop what you’re doing right now and make this recipe.

Ingredients:
- Two chicken thighs (boneless & skinless)
- 12 strips of bacon
- 1 cup barbecue sauce
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees (Celsius)
2. Cut each piece of chicken into 6 pieces
3. Wrap each piece of chicken with one strip of bacon; use a toothpick to secure it in place if needed
4. Set aside ½ cup of the BBQ sauce to dip your cooked chicken bites in
5. Use the other ½ cup to brush a spoonful of barbecue sauce onto each piece of bacon-wrapped chicken
6. Place each piece of chicken onto a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cooked through.
7. Serve immediately, with the remaining BBQ sauce on the side
Servings: 12 bacon wrapped bbq chicken bites
August 11, 2015
Caramel covered popcorn
Have you ever been in the mood for something sweet, but don’t have many ingredients to work with (or the energy to whip up something elaborate)? This doesn’t happen to me very often (I’ll take pasta over sweets almost any day), but when it does I never seem to have anything sweet on-hand. Despite Jonathan’s pleas (bad wife 😈), I never buy sweets or candy during our weekly grocery shops, so it’s never a question of just opening some cookies or eating an ice cream… if we want something sweet, then we gotta work for it.

I do have a few go-to desserts for which I try to make sure I always have ingredients, like chocolate cake, caramel sauce and baked apples, and today’s recipe: homemade caramel covered popcorn! In case you haven’t noticed, I like my desserts nice and easy, requiring as little ingredients (and time) as possible. This popcorn recipe is perfect for me in that it takes about 10 minutes to make, isn’t overly sweet, and can be eaten immediately or stored for the next day’s snack. One word of caution: this stuff is majorly addictive and once you see how easy it is to make, you’ll find yourself making it over and over (and over) again! Warning over, now on to the good stuff 🙂

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup of caramel cream sauce
- Kitchen tool: large nonstick pot or pan with a tight-fitting lid
Instructions:
1. Pour your popcorn kernels and oil into a large bowl and mix until the kernels are nice and coated in the oil*
2. Transfer the kernels to your pan or pot, then heat on medium-low until you hear the kernels start to pop.
3. Once the popping starts, turn the heat up a bit to accelerate the process and keep on the heat until the pops are less-frequent (about less than 1 pop every 3-4 seconds). Important: If you smell burning at all then remove the pot from the heat – no sense ruining an entire batch of popcorn to get a few more kernels popped!
4. Now that your popcorn is popped, add it back into the large mixing bowl and slowly pour the caramel in until the kernels are nice and evenly coated.
5. Sprinkle with sea salt, turn on Netflix and get ready to enjoy the perfect snack for binge watching Orange is the New Black 😉
*Note: this step isn’t strictly necessary but I do this each time and my popcorn pops evenly without burning, and without a bunch of un-popped kernels in the pot so I consider this to be my little trick… but feel free to skip it if you’re in a hurry!
August 3, 2015
Homemade (copycat) Totino’s Pizza rolls
Okay, so I should start this post out with a disclaimer stating that I was planning to write about a light and healthy summer version of my 30-minute black bean soup. As I was getting ready for work I was going over the recipe in my head, making sure I had all of the ingredients, and above all, thinking about the spoonfuls of crème fraiche that I was going to be dumping on top of a nice warm bowl of black bean soup after work. Alas, that recipe will have to wait because I’m yet again in need of some good ole comfort food

That’s right… my motorbike was stolen…AGAIN! The first time was annoying but I got her back more or less unharmed, but this time was definitely a down-right pain in the butt. The seat was broken, along with the rear-view mirrors and the gas tank cover…. and not surprisingly, she doesn’t start. So, Jonathan is tasked with sorting that out while I sort out Round 2 of comfort foods. For this edition, we are taking off the healthy-eating hat and putting on the “I need pizza rolls, asap!!” hat. Yet another one of my childhood favorites, I could eat these little preservative-filled artificial cheese-oozing mini-taste-nothing-like-pizza rolls every day. But I don’t, because I’m a reasonable adult (read: only because they don’t sell them in Europe).

From one pizza roll lover to another, trust me: this recipe is the real deal! No need to make your own pizza dough (though you could), and no need to cut calories by baking instead of frying (though you can!) – just good old fashioned snack food to help you get through a bad day, or to make a good day even better 😉

Ingredients:
- 20 Wonton wrappers
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- 1 cup Italian sausage (cooked)
- ¼ cup Black olives (finely chopped)
- ¼ Green peppers (finely chopped)
- 1 cup mozzarella (shredded)
- 1 cup Vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup Fresh basil (garnish)
Instructions:
1. Set out your wonton wrappers, then layer on about a teaspoon of marinara sauce then add the rest of the ingredients.
2. Wet the edges of the wrappers with a bit of water, and carefully close them.
3. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan or pot, then add the wonton rolls in batches (don’t over-crowd them!) and fry until golden brown.
4. Strain them and remove any excess oil, and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.
5. Garnish with fresh basil as desired.
May 22, 2015