Oh so tired!...but I have to get you this Crab Rangoon Recipe!

I am all shopped-wrapped-worked out today, and it hit me all of a sudden about 11pm!  I am awaiting one last gift that is coming tomorrow, and I am done - woohoo!  I love shopping, and I always make sure to get gifts people will really like, not just to get them a gift, but it tired me out this year, even though most of it was done online and one day at the local mall.  I feel very accomplished to be all wrapped up and ready to play Santa...Santette?  Mrs. Claus?  Whatever;)

Anyways, the next party food I made was Cheaters Crab Rangoon website.  I originally found it on the Kraft website, but it is since gone.  After panicking a bit, I found the exact one at grouprecipes.com.  One of our friends, Ed, told me he ate 9 of them (I think there were 18 total) so I think people enjoyed them:)  I don't care for crab rangoons, so I didn't have any, but from the feedback I received I'll definitely be making them again:)

You will need:

• 1 can (6 oz) white crabmeat, drained, flaked 
• 4 oz of cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions
• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 12 wonton wrappers ***I actually was able to get 22 out of this mixture!  Maybe I could have filled the wrappers more, but I didn't want to overflow them and make them not a one-bite app. 

What to do:

• Mix crabmeat, cream cheese, onions, garlic powder, and mayo in a large bowl.  Preheat oven to 350.
  

this was after I had used some

• Spray 12 (in my case, 22) medium muffin cups with cooking spray and gently place one wonton wrapper in each cup, allowing edges to naturally extend above the sides.
• Fill evenly with crab mixture

• Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes, or until edges are golden brown, filling if heated through, and bottoms are slightly crispy, not "wet" from the cooking spray.  Serve warm and garnish with additional green onions if you'd like.

I have one simple recipe left to share - and since tomorrow night is going to be crazy busy for me - get out of work at 5, make dinner, help cleanup dinner, make stromboli, make meatball bubble bites, make cookies for a friend at work, get presents together, fix nails...etc etc...I'll post it now:

Cracker bites:

You will need:

• One box of Melba cracker, or cracker of choice
• 2 large tomatoes, cut into small pieces
• fresh basil leaves, shredded into small pieces
• any kind of cream cheese you would like - I used garden herb

So easy - spread cream cheese on each individual cracker, and top with basil and tomato = quick success!  A nice bite sized treat with a good mix of flavors and textures:)

Now, obviously my goal is to get back here at some point between now and Christmas Day, but if not, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all!  I can't wait to hear about your days with family and friends, and I hope you enjoy some good food that we can talk about...and maybe even some not so good food that we can try to make better for next time:)!

~Chey

Italiano!

So Saturday night, if we don't go out to dinner, is my "I'm going to make a fun easy meal and you're going to like it" night:)  This Saturday was no different - I was just coming off of the stomach bug, it was snowing out, and well, I just wanted to try this recipe!  The husband loved it, I loved it, and now I know what I'm bringing to my parents' house on Christmas Eve! 

Easy Stromboli from Pillsbury.com!

1/2 lb lean ground beef ***note, I don't like "green things" in my sauce, so I made 2 different stromboli's, one with the husband's sauce, one with mine, so I had to double everything in the recipe to make 2***
1 13.8 oz can refrigerated classic pizza crust by Pillsbury
1/4 cup pizza sauce or more if you like more
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup chopped veggies - I used red and green peppers, and alittle more than 1/4 cup
1/4 teaspoon dried italian seasoning or oregano (none in mine please!)
crushed red pepper, as much as you'd like, of course

Heat oven to 400.  Spray cookie sheet with Pam.  Brown ground beef in a pan over medium high heat until cooked thru.  Drain this and set aside.

Unroll dough and place on the cookie sheet.  Starting at the center, press out the dough to form a rectangle.
Spread sauce over the dough, going to within 2 inches on the long sides and about a 1/2 inch on the short sides.  Place cooked ground beef lengthwise over the sauce, about 3 inches wide. 

Top with cheese, veggies, and any seasoning you would like to use. 

Fold the long sides of the dough over the filling and press the end edges and long sides until sealed.

Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown - my oven baked each one in 15 minutes to our liking.

It's pretty much a calzone with hamburg = I'm sold!

The same night, I also tested a recipe I'm going to use for our upcoming holiday party - Tomato-basil appetizers.  They are quick and easy, but too much bread, so I think for the party, to make them more bite size, I'm going to use crackers instead of rolls. 

The original recipe called for:

2 Pillsbury Grands Frozen Flaky Layers Biscuits (from a 22.1 oz bag)
2 tbsp herb or garden flavored cream cheese spread and/or fresh mozzarella balls cut into thin slices
1/4 cup diced tomato
chopped basil leaves

Heat oven to 350 and spray the cookie sheet with Pam.  Place the desired # of biscuits on a microwavable plate and microwave at 50% power for 25-30 seconds.  Slice each biscuit horizontally, carefully separating into 2 layers. 

Place biscuit halves cut side down on the cook sheet and bake 10-14 minutes, or until golden brown **for my oven, it was about 9 minutes.  Remove from cookie sheet and cool.

Spread cream cheese or place mozzarella slices on top of the biscuits, then top with tomato and basil.

They were yummy, but again too big to be bite-sized at a party.  I could slice the biscuits into 4 rather than 2 slices, but I'd like to keep my fingers = I'll be using crackers and I'm sure they'll be just as yummy:)

Enjoy these recipes and come back for more tomorrow!! :)  Oh, and I only have, I think, 7 Christmas cards left to make and all the made ones are addressed and ready to go - go me!!