Today I am going to post recipes for fun and easy bites that are just downright tasty! Simple to make for any occasion. For snacks, meals, game nights, etc. If you are like me, you like easy foods!
Wanting to make a Mexican meal or Tex-Mex style meal or snacks? No refried beans - make bean dip!!!
BEAN DIP
1 - 15 oz. can of chili beans
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
Drain the beans and reserve 2 tablespoons of liquid. Combine the beans, reserved liquid, and spices in the blender. Pulse until beans are partially chopped. Pour it all in a saucepan and heat over low heat - stir constantly.
Great as just a dip or instead of refried beans for tacos, nachos, burritos, etc.
TORTILLA ROLLERS (ROLL-UPS)
1 - 8 oz. cream cheese
4 oz. chopped black olives
4 oz. chopped green chiles
1 jar salsa
Flour tortillas
Beat cream cheese until smooth - add chopped olives and chiles (drained) and 1/4 cup of salsa - mix well.
Spread over tortillas - roll up and chill. Slice rolls into 1/2" slices - serve with extra salsa.
** Actually roll-ups can be made with about anything. I often add thinly sliced meat, cheese shreds, thinly sliced or chopped veggies - whatever you want. I make these as meals a lot in the summer!!!!
Super easy and frugal - use what you have!!!
NO FUSS MEATBALLS
1 package of frozen cooked meatballs (or homemade)
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 C chili sauce
2/3 C grape jelly
1/4 C Dijon style mustard
In a skillet heat the meatballs in soy sauce until thoroughly heated. Combine the remainder of the ingredients and pour over meatballs. Cook until jelly dissolves and all comes to a light boil.
Serve as an appetizer, a game night treat or serve with pasta or rice as a meal.
So very tasty.
FRENCH WAFFLE FLASH
2 eggs
1 C milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
8 slices stale bread
Heat your waffle iron. Beat eggs, slowly add milk and vanilla and beat well. Remove the crust from bread and butter both sides of bread. When waffle iron is ready - dip bread in egg mixture and place on waffle iron. Close lid and heat until golden. Serve with syrup or fruit or jelly.
**Keep the crust and dry for crumbs - don't watste!
LICKETY-SPLIT BISCUITS (SCONES) not cookies
2 C self rising flour
4 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 C milk
Mix all ingredients together and drop by teaspoonful on baking sheet. I use parchment paper on pan.
Bake at 425 until golden brown.
It doesn't get much easier!
FLAVORED FRUIT DIP
1 15 oz. can of sliced peaches - drained (keep juice for smoothies or flavoring)
1/2 C marshmallow creme
3 oz. cream cheese - cubed
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg or cinnamon
In a blender combine all ingredients and process until smooth.
Serve with any kind of fresh fruit!
This is so good. Just a different type of fruit dip. Makes a great dip for snack or dessert. Try dipping cubes of cake too!
Hope you find something new and different to try. None of these are expensive to make. Most use things we have on hand.
I just love fun foods. Step out of the box now and then and do something fun and different.
ENJOY
Good Morning! Sorta. The nighttime coughing is killing me. Makes me pretty bleary eyed in the early hours.
ReplyDeleteGreat recipes! I still remember the first time I tasted that grape jelly and chili sauce one, with teenie weenies. So good!
Two similar ones with cream cheese and milk are favorites around here. CC frosting thinned out with milk is delicious with strawberries. And CC, milk, and brown sugar makes a great apple dip.<---from a caterer friend. And, because I always have a story lol, another favorite. My friend and I stopped for a snack after working a game in LA. 1 am or something...ahhh, youth! We went to a deli that had bigger crowds at 1am than 1pm. All these delicious plates of food were going by, but neither of us wanted anything heavy. Our waiter asked us if we wanted savory or sweet. Sweet. But not with 3000 calories. He told us he had an idea and said that if we didn't like it, he'd pay for it. He brought us a giant sundae glass filled with strawberries. And a plate with cups of sour cream and brown sugar. Dip the berry in the SC, then the sugar. Pure heaven!!!! Not only did we happily pay, he got a great tip!!
My brother is temporarily without a stove and I'm so impressed with all he's done with a thrift store waffle iron!! Who knew they were so versatile?
Oh, Elise! I wanted to reply about the recession that I call the housing debacle!! Honestly, aside from gas prices, that time doesn't even blip my radar. I remember it being horrible for anyone in real estate and banks, but I don't remember food prices going up at all. I guess I'll count myself lucky to have been spared. We used that insanity to plot our escape from California. I knew that bubble was gonna blow and it helped us a great deal. We had very sunny skies until the mid teens. Then my friends in a variety of professions started losing jobs. I feel like we've been in rough waters ever since. Now, someone's gone and thrown some dynamite in the dumpster fire lol. Drop and cover!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou must have been young! I sure remember those days and they were a mess!!!!!! So much money lost, so many jobs lost and things cost a bunch!
DeleteCheryl, I was in my 40s. Younger than now...whoever thought 40 was old lol lol?!...but around long enough. As I said, I'm just gonna consider myself lucky to have missed it. In a similar way, I clearly remember 2 things from the 90s. The first was paying $500 to lock in a 9.75% loan on our first home!!! Can you imagine?! The other was watching the national news one night. They were talking about how good the economy was and we just looked at each other. Hubs was working 2 jobs and I was working in hell. We desperately wanted kids but just couldn't afford for me to quit just yet.
DeleteI guess much of the attitude depends on what we're doing or trying to do. I wonder how the younger generation will see things. As a time where they could afford a designer bag and fancy things because they're living with their parents OR a time where they were stuck living at home and desperately trying to save enough to move out.
I do remember the crazy interest rates they were charging. Of course CD's had good rates (high was good for some things). Times were crazy. Yes, I guess it depends are where you are in life when it all hits the fan.
DeleteI'm so glad to see you back, Debby, and hope you can shake the cough soon. Hubs and I have had this for about a week and a half. BAD cold. So... 2007-2017 were rough years for us and our CA relatives. Two BIL's lost their jobs and were out of work for 6-12 months. All the college grads had difficulty finding work. Two stayed and home and went back to school for Master's Degrees while working part time. My own weekly grocery bill climbed 25%, then 30%. From 2017 until the pandemic, things were better. I'm glad you dodged the bullet through our rough times. Now? We're okay for the moment, in large part due to skills honed during those years. Being "empty nesters" reduced our outgo by a lot. Also, we downsized significantly in retirement. I highly recommend that! A simpler life is a GOOD life. --Elise
DeleteP.S. This is why Hub's brother coming to live with us worries me. A simple life isn't in his vocabulary and I don't want to return to all that stress.
Eggroll and wonton wrappers are my go to. There are SO many uses for them. I've made cheeseburger eggrolls, ham and cheese eggrolls. Chili cheese wonton cups. So many different options. My favorite is a dill pickle spear with a slice of Havarti cheese, in an eggroll wrapper and fried. Dip in spicy ranch dressing. I never thought it would taste good but man it does. Have a great day Cheryl.
ReplyDeleteI have used eggroll wrappers in different ways too. Not nearly as much as tortillas though. Your pickle recipe sounds mighty tasty to me. Thanks.
DeleteLike the meatballs but the family preferred the little smokies in the grape jelly mix. Roll ups, done by the inlaws were ham, cream cheese and green onion. I love finger food/snacks. Better than having a meal, throw an appetizer party!!
ReplyDeleteSmokies are tasty too! mmmmm
DeleteI love finger foods as well. Yes mam, have an appetizer (party) or meal!
Fun snackies! Sometimes you just don't want a full meal. We eat our main meal midday and have pickety bits in the evening.
ReplyDeleteEspecially in the summer! I eat a ton of finger foods in the summer months.
DeleteI eat my main (only) meal in the middle of the day as well. Maybe a snack later.
With roll-ups, my late hubs used to take the lead. Take whatever leftover meat you have from last night's dinner and dice it into small pieces. Add some chopped onion and, depending on your taste, chopped celery and/or peppers, and stir it all together. Add a sauce or dressing to bind it -- whatever you have in the refrig, albeit BBQ sauce, bleu cheese dressing, thousand island, or plain mayo or Miracle Whip. Shredd some lettuce if you want it. And roll it all into a soft tortilla with ends folded in. Wrap it up and refrigerate until you're ready to eat. His favorite to make was with small pieces of leftover beef, steak, or fajitas, mixed with bleu cheese dressing, onion, and celery (or sometimes with the leftover fajita vegetables). He'd frequently make these ahead of a boat outing and we'd enjoy them for lunch out on the water. Another one he'd make was with leftover chicken, onions, and BBQ sauce. Takes me right back!
ReplyDeleteHe sounds like he was a smart man. That all sounds so good, and a great meal for boating. Cool, tasty and refreshing. Roll-ups are a fav of mine - just no limits to what you can serve in them.
DeleteThank you for the recipes, Cheryl. I'll have to give them a try. Well, all but the French Waffles, as I don't have a waffle maker anymore.
ReplyDeleteWe woke up to a good 14 inches of snow and a low of 6 degrees (F). Hubs had to shovel his way out to take the dog for her morning constitutional. And our coffee maker broke, so I boiled coffee in a pot on the stove and strained it into another pot for the morning. Note to self: look for a camping percolator coffee pot at thrift stores. As soon as we can get out of our steep driveway, he'll pick up a new coffee maker at Walmart, but it would be good to have an old fashioned one on hand, too. First world problems! --Elise
Hubs uses the pour over method for his coffee for both home and camping. Low tech and he just uses a plastic one. Not necessary to buy a ceramic one. Might want to do a search on it. Small, doesn't take up much space.
DeletePs. 14 degrees overnight here. Maybe 2 inches of snow. A bit treacherous taking Chez the dog out this morning. Ice under the snow. But in typical AZ fashion, sun is shining today and melting is happening.
Ellie
Central Az
Good golly guys. ICK on the snow and the frigid cold. It still amazes me that Arizona gets so much snow. We have had hardly any in flat old Indiana!
DeleteI bet pups made quick morning doody calls!
Hope you get a new coffee maker. That is a habit I have never developed.
Elise, when I went to live in the dorms, I had a little metal 2 cup percolator pot. It was so cute!! I have no idea what I did with it, but I've never seen another. I wish for it occasionally. A lot the week after the Northridge quake and we were cooking on the BBQ! I have a drip right now, but I'm already hunting for an alternative for when it dies.
DeleteThanks, everyone! Ellie, the sun is out, but our highs will be near freezing for the next 3 days (only 28 tomorrow, then mid 30s), so the melt will be slow. Hubs couldn't get out of the driveway at all. :-(
DeleteOkay... Safeway deals for AZ readers... USDA London Broil or Top Round Roast is $2.97 lb., limit of 4. Digital coupon offer of red or green seedless grapes at 87 cents per lb. for the first 4 lbs. and Oroweat bread at $1.77, first 2. Clip or click coupons for Yoplait yogurt (37 cents each for first dozen), Post and Quaker cereal, instant oatmeal or chewy bars ($2.27 ea. for first 4). Members get $3 off any bakery item with 2 rewards points, $5 off any produce item with 3 rewards points, and $7 off any meat item with 4 rewards points.
Once he can get out of the driveway, we'll take advantage of a few things, like the meat and grapes. I have a double batch of crockpot mixed berry jam going and an apple pie in the oven. --Elise
I bet you house smells good Elise. Those are some great deals being offered. I haven't even looked at the sales yet this week. Can't think of a thing I need. You need our day today - it is in the 60's and sunny! Super windy - but warmer!!!
DeleteIt did smell wonderful in here today. I got a few pints of jam using 4 lbs. of berries, and a deep crust apple pie using 5 apples. Low sugar everything. Still tasty!
DeleteHubs looked it up. This area of AZ used to get this level of snow during the winter (1980s-1990s), and a few decades earlier, feet of snow wasn't uncommon. In the 2000s it was less as the state was in severe drought. We're at 6,330 ft. altitude. Anyway... hoping he can get out of our driveway (gravel, long, curved and sloped) tomorrow. --Elise
Those meatballs sound yummy! I have a package in the freezer and was debating how to use them...now I know :)
ReplyDeleteMy very fave appetizer is "Rotel"---melt 1 lb velveeta ,cubed , in double boiler, add 1 can of rotel tomatoes with green chilis. Serve with scoops or crispy tortillas. I could make a meal of this sometimes!
YES that is such a good dip for chips!!!!! I sometimes do Velveeta and a jar of salsa or a can of chili too. It is soooo yummy.
DeleteI have meatballs too - I may make part of them this way and use the others for something different.
Rotel, so many don't make it anymore, it is old and outdated they say. I don't care, it is still my favorite!! I remember the first time I had it, the McDowells, neighbors. Changed my life, also had italian dressing there for the first time. They were foodies, they made everything for christmas tree ornaments. All kinds of cookies, popcorn balls etc. put in colorful cellophane bags. It was an edible tree.
DeleteJust so you know you can cut back a little on the cheese, make the dip and chill, it makes a wonderful cheese spread for crackers. Now when I make it I do that, I can have it hot or cold as a spread.
Thanks, Cheryl, and ALL your other commenters for these ideas!! @Lori, sure can't wait to try the pickle in and egg roll wrapper. Cheryl, if you would ever compile some of your recipes and hints into a book, I would race to buy it, at a "frugal" price point or not! 🙂
ReplyDeleteYou are very welcome! I have had a lot of people say I should do a cookbook. Maybe that should be on my bucket list this year! It would be fun to do. Thanks.
DeleteFlavored fruit dip coming up! And I have all the ingredients on hand! Yippee Skippee. Thank you for the recipe!
ReplyDeleteEllie
Central Az
It is soooooo good. How could it not be!
DeleteI love fruit dips. Shoot, I just love food!
I have to try those scones.
ReplyDeleteYou're still in my prayers, Kim. (((hug)))
DeleteKim they are just so easy!!!!!!! You know I love me some easy!
DeleteShe is doing it, she is brave and strong. She wants to be a good example to her children, Kim, you deserve so much respect, you are standing up when many lose their minds, I was one who fell apart for years. I am so happy you have the support of family to get through this first part, you will not be happy for a while but you have already take a step forward. You will be an inspiration to all!!
ReplyDeleteI hope Kim sees that. Very lovely sentiments!
DeleteThe bean dip recipe sounds very good, I'll have to try that! Simple seasonings too. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteSimple and easy - that is what I am about!
DeleteJust wondered if anyone has heard from Frances lately.
ReplyDeleteShe commented a couple weeks ago, when I had some losses. She has had trouble commenting, as many times her comments weren't showing up for some reason. I think she got frustrated. I do wish she would check in - just so we know all is good.
DeleteLOL - there are some goodies!
ReplyDelete