Crunchy Chickpea Snacks

Tasty, crunchy, spicy, healthy - works for me.  Love it when I have little helping hands to make them and also enjoy them later. They’ll stay crispy for a few days stored in a resealable bag at room temperature.

Another healthy snack the kids love is Granola from page 19 Tastes & Treasures cookbook.

Crunchy Chickpeas

Ingredients:

2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

Heat the oven to 400°F and arrange a rack in the middle.

Thoroughly drain and rinse (about 3 cups) the chickpeas. Spread on kitchen towel and rub to remove outer skin. You may need to hand rub them to remove all the skins.

Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients until evenly coated. Spread the chickpeas in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 30 to 40 minutes. Store in tightly covered container or plastic bag to keep fresh.

Chocolate Lover's Pie from Nancy Evans

The Children's Holiday Party always wraps up their event with a fabulous luncheon at a League member's home. Thanks to Gail Lucky for hosting such a lovely day.

Nancy Evans brought the most decadent, delicious chocolate pie from page 152 in Tastes & Treasures cookbook. Karen Swanson helps her serve it (or maybe she's waiting for her slice).

Chocolate Lover’s Delight Pie       

Ingredients:
2 cups (12 ounces) milk chocolate morsels
10 large marshmallows
1/4 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped
1 baked (10 inch) graham cracker pie shell

Directions:
Combine the chocolate morsels, marshmallows, milk and salt in a double boiler over hot water. Cook until blended, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and let stand until cool.

Stir the walnuts into the chocolate mixture and fold in the whipped cream. Spoon the chocolate filling into the pie shell and chill from 2 to 10 hours. Slice and garnish each serving with chocolate shavings.

Serves 8

Cornucopia Salad

Cornucopia Salad


Bursting with color and energy, and chock full of veggies, fruits, nuts and cheese; this super salad recipe from Terri Bailey of Bailey's Palomar Resort in Southern California, is a complete meal!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sliced almonds
3 Tbsp. Sugar
1 1/2 heads romaine or mixed lettuce, or any green leafy veggies, like or spinach, kale
4 green onions chopped
1 can mandarin oranges, drained; or fresh tangerines or blood oranges are great too!
1 avocado sliced
1 Granny Smith apple sliced
1/4 cup dried craisins (dried cranberry)
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup blue cheese or gorgonzola
2 Large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (or one rotisserie chicken)


Dressing:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 cup oil
2 Tbsp. chopped parsley
4 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar.

Directions:

Toss sugar in large frying pan with almonds and cook over low heat to medium heat, stirring occasionally until almonds are coated.
Don’t let sugar burn.  Spread on foil to cool. Or purchase sugared almond slices.  If sugaring almonds, Spray foil with Pam, so it does not stick, while cooling.
Tear lettuce leaves into bite-sized pieces. Mix lettuce, onion, oranges, avocado, apple, celery, craisins, cheese, chicken and almonds.
Mix remaining ingredients for dressing.  Toss with salad ingredients.  
Serves 5-6.

Blueberry Lemon Loaf

Nothing like reunions for FUN, FOOD and FRIENDS and lots of photos. One of the girls brought Lemon Loaf with Fresh Blueberries. Perfect for breakfast, lunch and dessert. And when you need to travel, it freezes well.

Luscious Lemon Loaf is on page 198 in Tastes & Treasures cookbook.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup grated lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 tsp lemon extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line a 5 X 8 " loaf pan with baking parchment paper. Sift the flour (who does this anymore??), baking powder, and salt together. Combine the sugar, butter and eggs in a mixing bowl. Beat using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, walnuts and flavoring.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until the loaf tests done. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Note: you may drizzle with a mixture of 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, 1 tsp half and half and 1 tsp lemon juice.

Note: Add 1 cup of fresh blueberries and eliminate the walnuts for a summer version.

Makes 1 loaf.

Spaghetti Squash

Not just another trendy vegetable, this squash makes a tasty substitute for pasta in your favorite recipes.

The flesh of cooked spaghetti squash shreds easily with a fork into thin strands similar to spaghetti or vermicelli.

Use it in place of penne pasta in Tastes & Treasures recipe page 89, Halibut with Penne and Basil Pesto. Or try it with or without sauces, or perhaps in a casserole.

Served with just a bit of butter and salt, spaghetti squash also is a fine substitute for rice or potatoes.

This multi-purpose vegetable has great storage potential. Buy today, then prepare and serve when it fits into your menu plans. Stored in your kitchen, this winter squash keeps for a month, but a cool, dry basement or root cellar will keep it fresh even longer.

Fat and cholesterol-free, it’s much lower in carbohydrates than conventional spaghetti. It’s also a good source of vitamins and minerals, and a good pasta substitute for people on wheat-free diets.

Basic Cooking directions: 
Helpful hint: Microwave entire squash for a few minutes first to soften it before cutting. Cut Spaghetti Squash in half first, then bake in oven.

1. Preheat oven to 375° F.
2. Wash the squash, then dry thoroughly for safer handling. Cut in half lengthwise using a large, sharp knife. Use a scoop or spoon to scrape out the seeds and stringy pulpy.
3. Place the two halves cut-side down in a shallow tray or baking pan with an inch of water.
4. Bake the squash for 30 to 45 minutes. When the squash is fully cooked, the skin will give easily to the touch, and the flesh will be tender. You can use a fork to confirm that it’s done.
5. Remove squash from oven. Turn the two halves over and let cool until comfortable to handle. Use a fork to scrape out the flesh. Scrape lengthwise for best results. The squash should come out easily in long strands.
6. Add to the recipe you’re preparing, or place in a serving dish to use as a side dish.

Dr Jeremy Rowe Guest Speaker in Feb

Presenting a fascinating program with vintage photos of early Arizona, Dr. Rowe had lots of stories to tell. He has collected, researched and written about 19th and early 20th century photography. I love the story behind this early sketch of Cacti. Before photographs were taken, these sketches conveyed the Wild West to Easteners. They thought the cactus skeleton exploded at the tips.

Dr. Rowe has also written Arizona Photographers 1850-1920: A History and Directory and Arizona Real Photo Post-cards: A History and Portfolio. His most recent book is in the Arcadia Publishers, Images of America series, titled Maricopa County 1871-1920. He has curated exhibitions with many regional museums.

After the presentation, Dee Steen presented Dr. Rowe with a copy of Arizona Recollections and Reflections. Photo below is President Pam Ryan, Margaret Baker, Dr. Rowe and Dee Steen.

Lemon Bars with two ingredients

Lemon Bars

Phoenix has lemon trees all over so it's easy to make all kinds of lemon goodies. The trees are loaded down now and ready to pick.
Also try Lemon Rub Pie page 178 in Tastes & Treasures cookbook.

Two Ingredient Lemon Bars


Ingredients:
1 box angel food cake mix

22 ounces lemon pie filling



Directions:
 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cake mix and pie filling together in a large mixing bowl.



 Spread mixture into greased 9×13 baking dish.



 Bake for 30 minutes, or until lightly golden. Expect for these to be more of a cake-like texture than other lemon bars.



 Top with powdered sugar and finely-grated lemon.


Options: try apple or cherry pie filling too.

Makes about 15 bars.

thanks to recipeswithlove

Cookbook in Terminal 3 at Phoenix Airport

Traveling can be hectic so relax with a good book. The stores at Terminal 3, Sky Harbor Airport have some wonderful South West books and products. Talking Hands is one of those stores with interesting books such as Tastes & Treasures cookbook. We are pleased they continue to sell it. Although it is the back of the store, it is prominently displayed in a lovely case. Take one home today.

Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcake

Chocolate cake combined with cheesecake . . . yummmm.
Make some for your Valentine. Or make other delicious chocolate recipes from Tastes & Treasures cookbook.

Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes
Ingredients: 

One 8-oz. tub fat-free cream cheese, room temperature 


1/4 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute
1/3 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)
1 drop vanilla extract

Half of an 18.25-oz. box (about 1 3/4 cups) moist-style devil's food cake mix


3/4 cup club soda 



1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips



Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with foil baking liners.



In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, egg substitute, sweetener, and vanilla extract.

With an electric mixer set to medium speed, beat until smooth.

In a large bowl, whisk cake mix with soda until smooth.


Evenly distribute cake mixture among the lined cups of the muffin pan. Smooth out the mixture with the back of a spoon.

Evenly distribute cream-cheese mixture among the cups. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out mostly clean, 24 - 26 minutes. (Make sure the chocolate cake layer is cooked through.)

Allow to cool completely. Enjoy. Refrigerate leftovers.

MAKES 12 SERVINGS

Serving Size: 1 cupcake (1/12th of recipe)
Calories: 153
Fat: 4.5g
Sodium: 312mg
Carbs: 25g
Fiber: 0.5g
Sugars: 15.5g
Protein: 4.5g

Alternative: If made with an equal amount of granulated white sugar in place of Splenda, each cupcake will have 172 calories, 30g carbs, and 21g sugars.

Thanks to Hungry Girl for the statistics.