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!

A's Top Game Day Snacks

As the nation gears up for Superbowl Sunday, I felt I should post my top favorite game day snacks from this season. My husband and I carefully evaluated what I made and compiled a list for you all. Maybe this will inspire you for Superbowl Sunday!

We, sadly, planned a getaway for that weekend, which we didn't realize at the time and if the weather is nice to us (please cooperate, Mother Nature!), Eating With A will be on hiatus for a little bit but I'll be back!

I'm going to try to do some Sunday recipes for baseball season too once that gets going.

Without further delay, here are our top 5 faves!!

#5: "Quick & Easy Snacks"

We couldn't decide between 2 of my "quick & easy" snacks, so they both landed as #5 on the list. The first one is the "Crescent Roll-Ups" I made back in November. In fact, one of my readers commented that she made these for a party and everyone loved them! Thanks for trying that, Cynthia!! Glad it worked out for you.

The second "quick and easy" snack we loved is the "Snack on the Go" that I improvised while my husband and I were in Florida. I just loved these cracker treats! They are so easy to make and really delicious to munch on.


#4: Potato Chip Chicken Bites!

I made these Potato Chip Chicken lollipops for my husband and I to munch on during our New Year's Eve pig out on appetizers. They came out surprisingly good and I can't wait to try these again with a different flavor potato chip!


#3: NACHOS!!

Nachos were a theme this season, it seemed. I made several variations, but two of them really stood out for my husband and I.

Pick #1 are the Asian Style Nachos I randomly created one Sunday. Combining an Asian flavor and a Mexican flair was seriously delicious and we wouldn't hesitate to make these again.

Pick #2 is the Pretzel Nachos we created. AND I am excited that I created these before Food Network Magazine put out their January/February issue feature different pretzels you can make. I guess I started a trend, right? Haha. Unfortunately I didn't take the time to make my own pretzel - we cheated and used the frozen Super Pretzels, but it's all the same. No matter how you make it, the Pretzel Nacho was a tasty treat for the afternoon.


#2: SANDWICHES!!

The number two spot will again be split between 2 recipes we tried and loved so much. The first sandwich we picked is our Open-Faced Knish Sandwich. This is a really meaty sandwich and definitely fills you up. It's perfect for after some lighter appetizers and before dessert while watching the BIG game! Plus, it's different, and a crowd pleaser. In fact, just a few days ago my husband almost went to the store to pick up knish's so we could make this sandwich for lunch. However, his laziness prevailed and we ended up eating some leftover's we had in the house. :-)

The second sandwich is our Turkey & Pepperoni Panini. These can even be made into finger sandwiches for easy munching. Serve with some pickles (or fried pickles) on the side and you have one tasty appetizer!


#1: Pepperoni Cheese Fries!!!

Last, but certainly not least, the Pepperoni Cheese Fries. This was by far, the tastiest snack I made during football season this year. It could definitely get a little messy, but it's just too good not to try.


So there ya go - our favorite snacks and appetizers. I hope you all have a a fantastic and fun Superbowl Sunday. And if all goes well, I'll have some new recipes to post up in mid-February, so stay tuned.

Happy Eating!

Sunday Game Day Snack - Asian Style Nachos

Today's Game Day snack is an interesting one. Last night we got Mexican for dinner and had a ton of leftover tortilla chips, so we said we would use them for the Game Day snack, but I wanted to find something different.

I searched the Web for recipes including tortilla chips. One thing that stood out to me was BBQ Nachos - the creator used BBQ sauce and sausages as well as cheese on top of tortilla chips.

That sparked something in my mind - just yesterday we bought Mango Chicken Sausage at Trader Joes. It's a sweeter sausage, so I didn't think the BBQ sauce would go well with it - but in the past we paired this particular sausage with Asian flavors. Therefore, I decided to create Asian Style Nachos.

I made 2 different versions - one with rice, but no cheese, and one with cheese and no rice! I didn't pair the two together, I just didn't think it would taste good. The rice came into play when I opened the fridge and saw a bunch of white rice I made the other night that we had leftover.

Leftovers are GREAT for the Sunday Game Day snacks! It really makes it easier to throw something creative and tasty together, without wasting food from previous nights.

Here are my ingredients:

prepared white rice
onion - chopped
yellow bell pepper - chopped
mango chicken sausage - chopped
shredded provolone cheese
tortilla chips
sesame ginger vinaigrette sauce

First I sauteed the onion, chicken sausage and pepper in a small skillet with a dash of olive oil and the sesame ginger sauce.


Then I prepared 2 batches of chips. The rice and cheese went down first on each of their piles, followed by the onion, pepper and sausage, along with a dash more sauce.


I baked it for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees F.

It turned out great!! My husband said they were delicious after the first bite, and it was a toss up between the rice and cheese which he liked better. I liked the rice better, but they were messy because nothing was binding the chips together. I think next time I would put a very small layer of cheese down as well so they stick together better.

This recipe is very versatile depending on what kind of sausage you like. You could try using BBQ flavors or stick with Mexican flavors. But we like nachos a lot on game day - seems to be a very easy snack to make and munch on.

Enjoy!

Sunday Game Day Snack - Pretzel Nachos!

Today's snack was all about using stuff we already have in the house...and my husband is the one who started to come up with this idea. He was probably playing off an appetizer we got at this take out place near us called Phatso's.

They had nachos that consisted of both tortilla chips and pretzels... topped with ground beef and cheese and all other kids of stuff. But the pretzels were super soggy and not really tasty once the beef and cheese were on it. We told the owner and he thanked us, told us he would change the appetizer and gave us a discount. That was awesome!

So when I called my husband after finishing my errands, he was hungry and didn't know what we had in the house. I said we had the big frozen pretzels, and when I got home, he had already started assembling the game day snack.

Here is what we used...

frozen pretzels (like Super Pretzel)
shredded cheddar cheese (both yellow and sharp white)
diced green pepper
diced onion
margarine
crushed red pepper flakes
parsley flakes
sea salt

sour cream or salsa on the side


Here is how we made them...

First we wet the pretzels and microwaved them for 55 seconds.

Then I spread a very tiny amount of margarine on, followed by sprinkles of the sea salt, crushed red pepper flakes and parsley flakes.


Next I tossed the shredded cheese on, followed by the diced peppers and onions.


I put it back in the microwave for 25 seconds.

My husband dipped his in salsa while I used sour cream.

It turned out to be a very easy and tasty snack for Sunday Football!

Enjoy!

Sunday Game Day Snack

My husband is beyond excited about Football Sunday and is currently parked on the couch watching the Giants game while I do housework. Fair? Not really, but considering when I was home during the summer I watched a lot of TV instead of doing housework, well, I guess it's payback.

So to be nice, (and to try and help him gain a little more weight), I helped him prepare a game day snack after the first quarter.

We made nachos! Here is what we put on it:

Diced cubanelle pepper (it's like a bell pepper in taste)
diced scallions
jalapeno slices
cheese sauce with salsa (like the Tostitos stuff)
salsa
sour cream

We used brown rice chips and polenta chips because that is what we currently have in the house but I think he would have preferred tortilla chips. Either way, it came out really good with the chips we used!

First we placed the chips on a baking sheet and topped them with the cheese sauce, scallions and peppers.


After baking it at 350 degrees F for about 10-12 minutes, we topped it with the jalapeno slices, salsa and sour cream.

He grabbed another beer and settled in with his snack.

Enjoy football season!