It’s finally starting to cool off here in Texas and since tomorrow is the last day of summer, that means it’s – football time! We enjoy getting together with friends and watching the game. Everyone’s debating whether Tony Romo will be playing on Monday night…I’m pretty sure he will be. I remember when I was a kid, I’d sit in the living room with my Poppy and Uncle and watch the games. Even if I didn’t know quite what was going on – I was hanging with the guys!

One of the first foods I think of for football parties – WINGS! Who doesn’t love a good fried wing dipped in your favorite sauce? My husband and I both do, but we don’t make them that often because you have to drag out the pot and the oil to fry them. I created this recipe to give all the flavors of those wings – but with less calories – and much less prep and cooking time!

(more…)

The next few posts will all be Mexican food related! Being in Texas, Mexican is probably our favorite cuisine, second only to Italian – because you can’t beat fresh pasta and it’s in my blood! Once you’re armed with a few simple recipes, you can make anything from quesadillas, tacos, nachos….the list goes on and on.

I’ve been working on this recipe for about 2 years. I began the journey after going to Tin Star Taco Bar. They make excellent tacos and they have a corn salsa, similar to this one, that my husband loves. We could go there and if this is all he had to eat, he’d be perfectly fine.

So every time we plan a mexican menu, I try to get a little bit closer to perfection. This is as close as I’ve been able to get, and I think it’s pretty good. You can use it to top tacos, add it inside quesadillas, or grab some chips and dig in. This is best made the day before you serve to let all the flavors meld.

(more…)

Hummus is something that I was always scared of as a kid. I think that’s because I didn’t really know what was in it. I’ve tasted it a few times that I can remember, but never really liked it. Though, I’ve always heard that it’s a really good and healthy snack. A few weekends ago, we went to a Mediterranean restaurant with a couple friends and they ordered the hummus. It was AMAZING. I think my tastebuds have changed – and so, I decided to make my own.

After researching online, I found a recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Hummus at Cooks Illustrated. I am a huge fan of Cooks Illustrated, as you’ll come to find out, because they test recipes hundreds of times if needed to get it right. This one appealed to me because I LOVE roasted bell peppers. I’ll have to do a post about how to make your own soon.

I also decided that using store bought tahini wasn’t good enough for me, I had to make my own (I couldn’t find any after two stores and gave up, but that doesn’t really matter, does it?). Tahini is a sesame seed paste, so I hoped it wouldn’t be hard to make. After researching online with The Google (as my husband calls it), turns out it’s pretty simple.  (more…)