Guest Post - Pumpkin Raisin Drop Cookies!

Eating With A readers: My cousin-in-law Melissa recently graduated college and moved all the way across the country to start her new life. I got her started on couponing and now she is kicking my butt and doing it much better than me!

She also has been cooking for herself, so I told her that any time she wanted to send me posts, she can guest write. This is her debut on Eating With A. Everything below this paragraph is her words. Enjoy!


PUMPKIN RAISIN DROPS

I got this recipe from my aunt, who got it from a healthy foods, low-fat cookbook. Keep in mind that these come out cake-like, not like cookies.

I love this for a fall treat! Halloween, Thanksgiving, a random weekday - SO GOOD. I've been making these a few times every fall for a couple of years. They're always a hit with friends and co-workers!

If you aren't a fan of raisins, like me, leave them out!


Ingredients:

1 beaten egg (I use egg-beaters)
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (meaning plain, canned pumpkin -- NOT pumpkin pie filling, which has lots of things added to the pumpkin)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup raisins (I don't use these)
Non-stick spray coating


Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together egg, pumpkin, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla.

2. In a small mixing bowl, stir together flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture. Stir in raisins.

3. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray coating. Drop the dough by rounded teaspoonsful, 1 inch apart, onto the cookie sheet.

4. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 12-14 minutes or until done. Cool on a wire rack. Makes 24 cookies.


Keep in mind that the standard size jar of Libby's Pumpkin (approx 29oz) will make you 4 or 5 batches of these cookies. Also, even though the "raw" batter looks like baby food and smells less than fantastic, don't let this deter you!


Yes, I know the final product looks a little...gross. But these "cookies" are so spongey and moist, I guarantee that if you like pumpkin, you'll like these cookies.


FYI, as we gradually eat them over the next few days after baking, we usually put them in a toaster oven before serving, so they are hot and slightly browned.

Game Day Snack Week 8 (part 2) - Caramelized Banana "Sundae"

Since MY idea for the Sunday game day snack went bust (see my "ghost meringues" and LAUGH here!), my husband decided to make his own snack for game day.

I think the Viva Elvis Cirque du Soleil that we just saw in Vegas got into his head, because he decided to do a play on peanut butter and bananas.

We had one banana left in our fruit basket, so he decided to slice it up and caramelize the bananas in brown sugar.

First he sliced them, then he rolled each slice in the brown sugar to coat them, and then he sauteed them in a pan with a tiny drop of margarine.


After the bananas were done, he put them into a bowl and added peanuts for texture, chocolate syrup and whipped cream.

Different, but tasty, and he enjoyed it while parked on the couch watching the Giants.

This concoction can also be put over ice cream! (Vanilla would probably work best).

Enjoy!

Game Day Snack Week 8 - Halloween Treat! Ghastly Meringues

Today's recipe was a borderline disaster. I found this recipe for Ghastly Meringues in my Food Network Magazine and they were so cute I just HAD to try them.

Well, for anyone who doesn't know how to make meringues and has never tried them before...this may not be the best recipe to try for the first time on the day you want to make them.

I recruited my husband for help. The recipe seemed simple enough...beat egg whites, cream of tartar and sugar together until stiff. Well, either the beating needs to be for more than the recommended 5-6 minutes or else my husband and I just fail at this task.

We actually made two batches. The first batch I actually used egg whites and the mixture just wouldn't get stiff enough and turned into a runny mess.

The second time, I had Meringue powder made by Wilton and you can use it as an egg white substitute. So I did.


It seemed to work better from the start, but when I tried piping the mixture onto the way paper, it didn't stay in stiff peaks and ended up in blobs. I hoped it would rise in the oven. (It didn't).

My end result ended up meringue cookies. They tasted great, just not in the shape I wanted!! OOPS!!

I would say this is a dessert that only people who have a lot of time to perfect it try, or people who already know how to make a meringue. Otherwise it is a super cute and tasty treat for a game day around Halloween, or for a Halloween party!

Here is the recipe: (total time, 1 hour 35 minutes. 35 minutes active time, 1 hour baking).

Ingredients:

3 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until frothy.

Beat in the sugar; increase the mixer speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form, 5 to 6 minutes.

Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe 8 to 10 swirls on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake until dry, 1 hour to 1 hour, 15 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and let cool completely.

Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave on 50 percent power until melted, about 1 minute, stirring halfway.

Transfer the melted chocolate to a zip-top bag and snip a corner. Pipe the chocolate on the meringues to look like eyes.


This recipe was classified as easy, but I obviously do not have talent enough for this. Oh well - chalk it up to the fact that I am still NOT the best baker and am better at cooking dinner recipes.

It's still a cute recipe and seems easy so good luck to all who try it out!

Stay tuned either later or tomorrow for a special guest post by my cousin-in-law, Melissa!! She made a special pumpkin treat.


** Top Photograph courtesy of Raymond Hom on Food Network website. It does not belong to me. (I just wanted a picture of how the treats were supposed to look!)

Here is what my crappy "ghosts" ended up like!! :-)

Game Day Snack Week 7 - Sweet n Tangy Dogs

So this week is definitely an easy snack, and halfway cheating on being creative. My husband and I only had Saturday to get him a new baseball autograph at a show for a picture he has been doing, pick up our baby stroller before they sold out of the one we wanted, pack, get my husband a hair cut, have him pick up his new glasses and have our exterminator come to do an outside soil treatment to keep the house safe from pests for the next year. Sounds like a lot, huh?

Since we're going on our last minor jaunt before I can't travel much anymore, we had a lot to cram in on one solitary weekend day. So I needed this week's recipe to be easy.

I found this AWESOME recipe for a delicious sounding watermelon slushee (sans alcohol for me) that I wanted to try but we didn't have watermelon in the house and I just didn't feel like going to buy some (especially since it is so overpriced now because it is not watermelon season!) So that recipe will be done another time. It would have been easy to make for the afternoon but oh well.

SO instead, I used my dinner from Friday night to be my inspiration. I had turkey dogs (hot dogs for people who don't eat turkey dogs), so I found a way to dress it up into something more unique, and add some fruit into it as well! My combination turned out tasting fantastic.

I had a cheddar and red grape hot dog. YUM!! I always like having cheese on my hot dogs, so that was nothing new. We had a bunch of red grapes in the house because I have been on a grape kick, so I sliced a few up.

After the hot dog was cooked, I put a thin layer of ketchup down, then some grapes, then a little more ketchup and then some shredded cheddar. This combination resulted in a very sweet and tangy taste and I definitely enjoyed it.

I knew the fruit would work from when I made the Surf Dogs back in the summer of 2010 and those had pineapple on them. And it is a good way to sneak some fruit into a fussy little one that doesn't want to eat healthy!

I could also see finely dicing some onion and sprinkling that on the dog as well.

This is obviously very easy to make, and can be made on the road if you have all your ingredients prepared. (like chopping grapes and onions and bringing them already cut). You can use it on mini cocktail wieners or full sized dogs.

It's a fantastic game day food.

So, enjoy your football games this week! And if anyone has any requests or ideas for something they would like to see, leave a comment or go to the Facebook fan page and leave a suggestion!

And sorry for the lack of creativity but vacation calls. Next week I will have a special Halloween treat!

Game Day Snack Week 6 - Mozzarepas!

First, yes, this game day recipe is definitely after the first kick-off, but, well, sorry. My husband and I have some busy busy weekends ahead of us before we have an invasion of the little one, so we were running some errands this morning.

I can guarantee that next week's recipe will be up by Saturday since we are away on Sunday!!

Second, this week's recipe was inspired by the Oyster Festival we went to on Long Island yesterday. I love the Oyster Festival. And don't worry - this recipe has nothing to do with seafood... this was something we ate in the main food court. The food court at the Oyster Festival is usually full of new and different foods that we have never eaten, as well as traditional fair foods like hot dogs and pickles and roasted corn (yum!).

While we were roaming to find some things we never ate, we found polenta fries, which unfortunately we didn't get to try because that food truck was having a problem with the deep fryer. We ate butterscotch chicken wings, which were good until butterscotch got all over you (including in my hair, which did not make me too happy). We also walked past something called "mozzarepas." We had never heard of these, but people were going crazy for them and one woman remarked "these are outrageous," when I inquired as to what they were.

So, what are mozzarepas? Well, they are basically a corn bread grilled cheese, just for an easy explanation. It's 2 pieces of corn patties with melted mozzarella cheese in between. And it was delicious. So we decided to make it for game day.

It was actually hard to find a recipe for these - they are kind of limited on the internet. But, I found this one and it seemed easy enough. I did have to make a few last minute substitutions, only because we didn't have something in the house, but it still turned out just fine.

I used white corn meal instead of yellow because we only had white in the house (not much difference in taste, I had researched this in the past), and I had to omit the ground corn kernels because we didn't have any in the house either, so we just added a little more corn meal instead.

But next time - I will make sure I have some frozen corn to try that out!!

We also added a special touch for some more zing - we have mango habanero jelly in the house so when we put the cheese in the middle, we also added a dab of that jelly. It tasted delicious with the extra added taste!! (But the original version is very tasty as well.)

We also made an original version and dipped it in pasta sauce - YUM!!

Our home made mozzarepas were nothing compared to the pros at the festival, but they were tasty enough to eat at home and serve during a party. Maybe with some more practice I can master the true form of the mozzarepa. At least they were easy to make!!

The whole process took us about 20-25 minutes, so definitely not too shabby!!

The recipe listed below makes 8 patties or 4 sandwiches. We halved it because we were just trying it out.

Ingredients:

1 cup milk
5 tablespoons butter
1 cup frozen corn kernels (we omitted just because we didn't have in the house)
1 cup finely ground yellow corn meal (we used white only because we had that in the house)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
mild swiss or mozzarella cheese, sliced

Directions:

Bring the milk to a boil in a small pan, add the butter and let stand and cool slightly.

Grind the frozen corn kernels in a food processor.

In a large bowl, mix the ground corn, corn meal, salt, sugar, flour and shredded mozzarella.

Make a well in the center of the mixture and slowly add the milk and butter mixture. Stir until there are no lumps.

Heat a lightly buttered griddle to medium - spoon the batter on the griddle to form pancakes. (We used our little "perfect pancake" rings - they helped soooo much!)


Cook the pancakes in batches until crispy and golden brown on each side.

Place the sliced cheese on one pancake and cover it with another to make a sandwich. Cook over low heat until the cheese is melted - flip it a few times.

Serve warm and enjoy!!

I am so glad this person at the website above listed this recipe so I had something easy to work off of.

Apple Honey Chicken!

So this year’s Yom Kippur chicken dish was inspired by Food Network Magazine. There was a recipe for Apple-Honey coated drumsticks that looked absolutely delicious. However, since my father is SUPER picky, and he won’t eat any dark meat, I used chicken breasts instead so this turned out more like a marinade than a coating over the chicken.

But the end result was fantastic! The marinade had great flavor and because the chicken basted in it for a day, when I heated it up, it was so nice and moist. I’d call this a success!

So here is how I changed the recipe…instead of baking the drumsticks, I used a skillet on the stovetop and gently cooked the chicken until it was just cooked through. I made the sauce, and then I put the chicken in a large Tupperware, poured the sauce over it and stuck it in the fridge for a day and a half until I served dinner. Then I just baked it in its marinade for about 15, 20 minutes. Normally I wouldn’t marinate for so long, but I was making my Yom Kippur dishes over several nights, so in this case, the extra soak time really helped the chicken. I would say overnight or a few hours would do it also.

If you don’t have the time and just pour the marinade over the chicken and eat it right away, it should also work, since that is how the recipe was designed to begin with.

I’ll definitely make this again – it had a delightful sweet and tangy flavor. It was also really easy and not too time consuming.

Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 skin-on chicken drumsticks (I used 5 chicken breasts)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 cups apple juice
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons honey
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds (optional)
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Set a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet. Put the drumsticks on the rack and season both sides generously with salt and pepper. Bake 30 minutes; flip the drumsticks and continue baking until golden and crisp, about 30 more minutes.
(*** This is obviously for the original recipe. I used a skillet on medium heat and sautéed the chicken until just cooked. Then I set it aside on a plate until I placed it in the marinade).

Make the sauce: Bring the apple juice, vinegar, soy sauce, honey, lemon zest, red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt to a boil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the sauce is syrupy and coats the back of a spoon, 20 to 25 minutes. Set aside until the chicken is done.
Stir the sesame seeds into the sauce, if using, and warm over medium heat, if necessary.

Transfer the chicken to a large bowl. Add the sauce and butter and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper.

Transfer the chicken to a platter and drizzle with any remaining sauce from the bowl.

"Healthified" Tres Leches Cake - My Yom Kippur Dessert!

I decided to host the Yom Kippur feast for my parents and brother-in-law- again this year like I did last year for the first time. Last year was only 4 of us (my BIL didn't come), so I added one more this year. Last year I also had the day off before the feast so I had a lot of time to cook and prepare, therefore I made 4 dishes that I had never made before.

This year, I asked my parents to come over when we were eating with them on Rosh Hashanah and I thought I would be okay. Despite the fact that I hadn't cooked more than small things in months, I figured if I cooked one dish every night after work the following week then I would be able to pull it off. Well, then I developed a horrendous cold after getting my flu shot (thanks to my immune system being ridiculously low thanks to being pregnant - that's the reason my blog has been MIA all summer actually), so my husband helped tremendously to make sure we were ready to feed 3 people last Friday night. I made a main dish that is a staple here and is my father's FAVORITE dish, my hamburger pie, and I made the parsnip pancakes that my husband and I discovered that we liked in the spring. I tricked my father into trying them by saying they were potato pancakes and what a shock - he LIKED them. Of course, after he learned they were parsnips he was like, "oh, they have a funny taste." Thanks, Dad.

I also made a new chicken dish and that will be posted later this week. This dessert is also new. Thanks to my friend Lynda, who introduced me to the Eat Better America website last year around this time (when I made my mini Irish Cream Cheesecakes for Yom Kippur), I found this delicious looking recipe for Tres Leches cake. My husband and I recently were watching something on Food Network that featured a Tres Leches cake and we really wanted to try one so I thought, well, here is my dessert.

It wasn't that hard to make, though I made a minor mistake in using a pan to bake the cake that was a LITTLE too small so the middle of my cake didn't cook fast enough and I had to leave the cake in the oven for an extra 20 minutes. Luckily, the rest of the cake didn't burn and thanks to the milk mixture that gets poured over it, the cake would end up being nice and moist anyway.

The other snafu was that I was going to top it with raspberries, but somehow in the 3 days between when I bought a fresh box of raspberries and when I went to put them on the cake, they ALL molded. I was so pissed. Luckily I had some leftover blackberries from my snacking during the week and I threw those on the cake instead.

The edges of my cake turned out a lot better than the middle - the middle was just a tad too mushy in the end with the milk mixture, and because it took so much longer to cook. So we didn't save any of the middle of the cake - it just tasted a little too mushy to eat. But the edges, which were dryer, took the milk mixture very well and the result was pretty good according to my BIL and husband. (My poor mom got a piece of the middle by mistake so she said it was mushy. Oops. Well, I tried!)

I would definitely make this recipe again though, now that I know how to fix my mistakes. It's a sweet (really sweet) dessert so you really need to like sweets.

It takes about 2 hours total, but that is with an hour of "resting" time in the fridge after pouring the milk mixture over the cake. The full recipe states that it would serve 15 people, but those are very generous portions so you can definitely serve more people with this recipe. I didn't change anything about the recipe at all, except the fruit i was going to top it with at the end.

And now, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 box SuperMoist yellow cake mix (I used Pillsbury but most brands have a super moist line - made with "extra pudding")
1 1/4 cups water
1 tablespoon canola oil (I used vegetable, but if I had apple sauce in the house, I would have used that instead. I almost always substitute apple sauce for the oil).
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 whole eggs
3 egg whites
1 can (14 oz) fat-free sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
1 can (12 oz) evaporated fat-free milk
1/2 cup fat-free (skim) milk or fat-free half-and-half
1 container (8 oz) frozen reduced-fat or fat-free whipped topping, thawed
Sliced fresh strawberries, if desired (I was going to use raspberries)


Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.

In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil, vanilla, whole eggs and egg whites with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pan.

Bake 29 to 35 minutes or until edges are golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes. Poke top of hot cake all over with fork or wooden skewer, wiping fork occasionally to reduce sticking.

In medium bowl, stir condensed milk, evaporated milk and skim milk until blended.

Slowly pour evenly over top of cake. Cover; refrigerate about 1 hour or until mixture is absorbed into cake.

Spread whipped topping over cake. Refrigerate until serving time. Garnish with strawberries.

Store in refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Game Day Snack Week 5 - Mini Football Subs

First, sorry for not getting this post up early enough in the day. I've been battling a nasty cold-type disease the past few days so I am just not moving fast enough.

Second, luckily, despite feeling like crud, I still have an appetite so when my husband stumbled across this little recipe, I thought it was so cute that I just had to make them.

These little subs can be pre-made at home and taken on the road with you for tailgating...just warm them up in the grill when you get there! Kids will also get a kick out of them and will hopefully gobble them right up!

They are very easy to make as well. All you need are small rolls, cheese, sauce and your favorite meatball recipe. (Or if you have a market that sells meatballs near you, you can just cheat and buy a few meatballs that are already pre-made!!)

Ingredients:

Meatballs
Spaghetti Sauce
Shredded Cheese
Individual sized rolls

Directions:

First, prepare your favorite meatball recipe, shaping each meatball into a mini football before cooking. (If you cheat and buy pre-made meatballs, just cut them in half and shape them slightly).

Once they're cooked, add the meatballs to a skillet of spaghetti sauce and warm them through.

For each sub, cut a V-shaped notch from the top of an individual-size roll, place a meatball in the roll, and top with cheese shred laces.

Finally, put the subs on a baking sheet and in the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese just slightly.

Enjoy!

"Marathon" Pasta (Pasta with pesto, potato and veggie)

So, this post is dedicated to my friend Carly who has become a runner. She does all sorts of races now and has completed her first half-marathon, with a second one coming up October 15th! (Go Carly!)

I told her I would make a pasta dish in her honor since many athletes choose to load up on carbs the night before a big race.

I found this recipe on a website called No Meat Athlete.The main reason I picked this one (here is the original recipe) is because the author made it the night before he was running the Baltimore Marathon. Now, Carly isn't running the full marathon, but she is doing the Baltimore Half Marathon, so I thought this recipe would be perfect.

I can tell you off the bat that I changed this recipe slightly, and ONLY for the reason of convenience. The original actually looked great and I would have used it as is if I had the right ingredients and a little more time.

The first minor thing that changed was that the author used whole wheat pasta and I used garden vegetable pasta. I actually had whole wheat pasta in the house, but the garden vegetable was already open so I didn't want to open a new box. I also only used a half a box, not a full box.

The second minor thing that I changed was not using green beans, which the recipe calls for (and is a vegetable Carly likes). I used asparagus instead, again, only because I already HAD it in the house, and we didn't have any green beans. It was an easy switch, so not a big deal.

Lastly, this author made his own pesto. That's impressive! I didn't because 1) I didn't have the ingredients in the house to make the pesto, 2) we actually have had a Knorr Pesto Sauce Mix sitting in our cabinet for like, 2 years, that needed to be used, and 3) I just didn't have the time to make my own so the shortcut was great!

So, if you want to use green beans and make your own pesto, go to the link above for the original recipe. I won't be posting the pesto recipe here.

All in all, the recipe turned out well! My husband inhaled his dinner, so I guess he liked it. I never was the biggest pesto person, and this was tasty, but not my ultimate favorite, only because I am not in love with pesto.

It's a relatively easy recipe to make and from start to finish, I would say it took maybe 45 minutes. That could be a little generous though, it may have taken me less. I didn't pay so close attention because I was trying to find recipes to make for the Yom Kippur feast this Friday at the same time!!

So, Carly, I hope you like the idea of this dish that I found just for you. Good luck running!! I know you will do great!

And now, the recipe (with my changes/shortcuts). This could probably serve 2-3 people with using just half a box of pasta. 4 if you use smaller portions!

Ingredients:

1 Knorr Pesto Sauce Mix packet
1/4 cup olive oil (for pesto)
3/4 cup water (for pesto)
1/2 box spaghetti of your choosing (whole wheat, garden veggie, plain)
3-4 small/medium boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
3/4 cup asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces (or you can use green beans or any other veggie you like!)


Directions:

Place the potatoes in a large pot (you'll be using it for the pasta, too) and fill with as much water as you'd use to make pasta.

The potatoes should be covered with a few inches of water. Salt the water to taste, then bring to a boil.

When the potatoes are close to being tender (usually takes around 8-10 minutes), add the vegetable you are using and allow them to cook.

When the vegetable and potatoes are tender, remove them with a slotted spoon and transfer to a separate bowl. Cover with foil to keep warm.

Put the pasta in the boiling water and cook.

** If using a sauce mix, it takes just a few minutes so do this while the pasta is cooking.

Place the pasta, potatoes, and vegetable in a large bowl. Mix in the pesto to coat everything. Serve with more Parmesan cheese! (The author also used salt and pepper at the end to taste, but we didn't).

Enjoy!

Grown Up Root Beer Float!

Quick post:

Along with the PITACHOS, I made my husband a special drink for the day because we were out of beer.

(Disclaimer, for adults only!)
My husband was given a "grown up" root beer float. I used a tall glass of root beer with Smirnoff Spiced Root Beet Vodka and Pinnacle Whipped Cream Vodka.

Tasty treat!

Game Day Snack Week 4 - PITACHOS!! (Pita Nachos)

Nachos are ALWAYS a fun snack at our house. I made a few different ones last football season. So last weekend I decided to search through our fully stocked cabinets to create a snack for my husband. We had several different salsas in the house, canned corn, pita bread left from my Spaetzle Pizza and some other odds n ends.

I thought about making my own pita chips and then some kind of dip, but once I spied the taco seasoning, I knew what I was going to make... PITACHOS!! (Pita Nachos).

This recipe is very easy to make. It probably took me about a half hour from start to finish with making the pita chips and assembling the finished dish.

I decided to make this quickly, so I decided against opening the ground beef and sauteing it, so these are "vegetarian," per say. I can't claim it 100% because I don't know if any of the other products I used could be classified as non-vegetarian. I just know there is no meat!

First, I made the pita chips using the whole wheat pita bread I used for last week's recipe. I cut the pita into 8ths and dipped each piece lightly into olive oil. Once all the bread was dipped, I sprinkled some taco seasoning over the chips and baked them in the toaster oven for about 15 minutes until crisp. I did turn them over half way to make sure each side was dusted in taco seasoning and baking up nice and crispy.

While those were heating up, I cracked open a can of yellow corn niblets and heated them up.

I also diced some red onion very finely - just a little though. I didn't want to overwhelm the palate.

For the cheese, I used Tostito's Spicy Nacho Cheese dip. We had this 4 pack lying around the house because we bought it before Hurricane Irene hit us in case we lost power. The single serve travel packs were great because they didn't need refrigeration until opened, and you could finish one pack in a serving. So it totally worked as my cheese!

The salsa I used was actually from Canada. My parents went on vacation last year and brought us back a jar of Cherry Salsa from Prince Edward Island and we just never opened it. I decided to give it a try for this recipe. Any salsa will work, but if you can find a sweeter, fruity salsa, that would work best. We also had pineapple salsa from Trader Joe's in the house, but the cherry won.


A dollop of sour cream topped off the nachos, and I presented them to my husband with joy. He dug in and said "wow, these are actually REALLY good!" Score. I successfully made my own pita chips with a taco flair, as well as finally using a gift my parents got us a long time ago. I apparently made him too much and he couldn't finish, so I did, and surprisingly, I enjoyed it too, despite not really liking salsa.

I think PITACHOS will become a staple here in the future. I would have loved to add some scallions or jalapenos for my husband, but we just didn't have any in the house. I could also see adding some chopped lettuce. Maybe next time!!

So here is a rundown of the ingredients in case you missed anything in the description:

Homemade pita chips
(whole wheat pita bread, cut into 8ths, drizzled in olive oil and taco/fajita seasoning)
yellow corn niblets
red onion - finely diced
nacho cheese (Tostito's Spicy Nacho Cheese Dip)
cherry salsa from canada
sour cream

Assembly:

Place the baked pita chips on a plate and layer some corn and red onion over the chips. Pour some of the cheese on, and add a little more corn and onion.

Another splash of cheese, a few spoonfuls of salsa and a dollop of sour cream will finish off your PITACHOS.

Enjoy!

PS - serve with a fork too, just in case!