I'm still here!

I just wanted to let you know I'm still here and busy making lots of yumminess.  Unfortunately I can't get the pictures off my camera since my hubby changed some things around.  He's working on a solution, I just need to wait for the new card reader to come in the mail.

  I wish I could show you the picture of our giant icicle.  It goes from the second floor all the way to the ground!  It was so exciting to watch it grow.  I'll post a picture soon.  Are you starting to think spring yet?  The snow is slowly melting but we still have a while to wait.

Apple Nachos

Once a week I get together with girlfriends and hang out for a while.  We do lots for fun things but my favorite is discussion night.  It means lots of interesting conversations and snacks.  Since it was my month to host, I had several recipes I wanted to try out.  I was excited to try out these Apple Nachos.  They were a hit!  Check out the recipe here at Shugary Sweets!

Girl Scouts and Tikka Masala

Another thing that I spend my time doing is Girl Scouts.  We have a large, fun troop.  I planned out the cooking badge, sure to cover everything for every level.  It took two weeks and creativity.  The second week we made Tikka Masala, an Indian dish.  I had always wanted to try Indian food but didn't want to get in over my head.  I had the recipe pinned for a while and finally decided it was time to try it out.

We had 17 people crammed into my kitchen.  It was cozy but everyone got to help.  The girls were good sports and gave it an honest try.  Most of the girls liked it enough to ask for seconds.  My family is asking for it again, I just need to find a good night because it takes time. No getting started an hour before dinner.

The recipes are originally from Allrecipes.com.  But if you're trying to cook the chicken and the naan at the same time, you'll want to visit High Heels & Grills.  She tells you step by step what to do so everything gets done at the same time.  Just be warned, it got a lot spicier the next day.

Caramel Brownies

I have a huge list of desserts to try on my Pinterest board and I often want to make it but I'm missing an important ingredient.  My local grocery store had caramels really cheap because they were getting hard.  I figured add a little extra milk when melting them and they'll be good as fresh.  So this recipe was waiting for the right time and didn't stick around very long.  These are definitely come back soon.  I found the recipe at the Six Sisters' Stuff but followed it to the original post.

Go to Mel's Kitchen Cafe for the original disappearing Caramel Brownies.

Valentines

I know this is late but I don't want to forget about these fun Valentines.

I bought lots of cheap pencils for the Valentine treats, candy is always to expensive.  So I told the girls they had to find one we could make/print and works with a pencil.  There were actually several fun ones out there.  These are the two we chose.

Owls are so cool right now and so these we perfect!

You can find them here!

I love the idea of a maze and a pencil to do it with.  Check them out here!

We were running out of time because the school science fair was held the night before.  So I kept things as simple as possible and did most of the work this year.

Baked Chicken Taquitos

I have made this recipe several times and I think I've finally worked out the quirks.  My family really loved the flavor, so I kept trying to figure out how to keep them from exploding.  It finally worked!

Enjoy!

Baked Chicken Taquitos (Adapted from Our Best Bites)

3 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
1/3 cup salsa verde
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
3 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tbsp. chopped green onions
2 cups canned chicken
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
12 corn tortillas
cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and prepare a greased cooking sheet.  In a large bowl, combine everything except the tortillas.  Set aside.
Lightly cook the tortillas on a hot griddle, spraying with cooking spray before cooking.  ( I tried the microwave method multiple ways and times.  I never had good results until I started cooking them because it dried the tortillas out a bit.)
Place 2 tbsp. of filling on the bottom third of the tortilla.  Roll tightly.  Place on the cooking sheet with seam side down.  When the sheet is full, spray the taquitos with cooking spray.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Serve with your favorite dipping sauce:  guacamole, sour cream or salsa.

One tip:  I make extra filling and freeze it until I'm ready to make another batch.  Eventually I might try to freeze the pre-baked taquitos and see how they turn out.  Usually I'm rushing to just make enough for the meal at hand.