Life as an Aced

Its getting to that time and me and Eddie are trying to get rid of all the food in our house before purchasing any more and while sometimes that calls for weird dinner/lunch combinations todays was anything but!! We always have stuff in our house for making pizza or sandwiches and today for lunch I combined them together for a little pizza cupcake. Served on their own or with marinara sauce on the side for dipping these were pretty Awesome :) Ham and Cheese "Cupcakes" Ingredients: -Pizza Dough (any kind) -Olive Oil -Greek Seasoning (or Italian Seasoning and Garlic Powder) -Ham -Mozzarella Cheese Directions: 1) Pre Heat Oven to 375 Degrees 2) Spray inside of a 12 cup muffin pan 3) Roll out pizza dough 4) Brush Dough with olive oil then sprinkle on seasoning, Ham, and Cheese 5) Roll up then cut into 12 pieces 6) Place each piece inside muffin tin 7) Bake for 25 minutes 8) Broil for 2 minutes

Since I have perfected the Beer Jerky Recipe Eddie can not get enough!!! We have tried it with different kinds of meat and added a little extra kick and either way we serve it it gets devoured before I can make more. Last few batches I have made a little spicy by adding in red pepper flakes and we have found that by using thinner meat the more spicy the jerky is. If you haven't tried our beer jerky yet and you have a dehydrator you need to now and just for reference here is the recipe with the added kick (just remove the red pepper flakes for a more mild spice) Spicy Beer Jerky  Ingredients 1-2 pounds stir fry meat 1 tsp liquid smoke 2 tsp salt 1 tsp chili powder 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp cayenne pepper 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp pepper 1 tsp red pepper flakes 1/4 cup soy sauce 1 beer Directions 1) Place all ingredients in a large Ziploc bag and marinate over night 2) Place in Dehydrator and cook for 3-6 hours at 170 degrees

A little late on the pumpkin seeds post but better late than never - - However I could eat these any time of the year and even been thinking of looking for some pumpkins just so I can make more!!! Spicy Pumpkin Seeds Ingredients: Fresh Pumpkin Seeds Olive Oil Salt Pepper Cayanne Pepper Garlic Powder Directions: 1) PreHeat oven to 400 degrees 2) After removing the Pumpkin seeds from the pumpkin rinse them off inside a pasta strainer 3) Place Pumpkin seeds on a baking sheet then over with olive oil, salt, and pepper 4) Bake for about 20 minutes stirring every 5 5) Sprinkle with cayenne pepper and garlic powder then broil until brown and crispy

I haven't made bar chips in a while and instead lately just been taking the easy route with frozen fries. The other day I had some extra time and potatoes laying around so figured lets try this again and see if we can simplify them and YAY . . . thanks to the broiler I did!! Bar Chips Take 2 Ingredients: -4-6 Small Potatoes -Olive Oil -Cooking Spray -Greek Seasoning -Parmesan Cheese Directions: 1) Pre-heat Oven to 425 degrees 2) Cover the bottom of a high walled baking sheet with oil 3) Wash and Peel the potatoes and cut (like chips) in thick slices 4) Spray potatoes with cooking spray then sprinkle with greek seasoning 5) Cook for 25 minutes on Bottom Rack 6) Move to top rack and Broil 2 minutes at a time until nicely browned NOTES -Check out the Original Recipe  here -We served these with Chicken Poppers but you can easily replace them for french fries for any meal

While in Reno for the Italian Festival a few weeks ago we also found a Beef Jerky Stand with a guy selling a ton of different flavors of beef jerky including one style called Beer Jerky that was marinated in beer.  Last Christmas I got a dehydrator and have tried making beef jerky a few times but it just has came out OK but nothing special However today I tried it with a beer marinade and that was the trick!! OMG sooooooo good!! Homemade Beer Jerky Ingredients 1-2 pounds stew meat 1 tsp liquid smoke 2 tsp salt 1 tsp chili powder 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp cayenne pepper 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp pepper 1/4 cup soy sauce 1 beer Directions 1) Place all ingredients in a large Ziploc bag and marinate over night 2) Place in Dehydrator and cook for 3-6 hours at 170 degrees

Week 3 of Football means it time to bring out the football snacks This week for Monday night football we made up a batch of bacon wrapped little smokies and rooted for the Raiders!! Pig Smokies Ingredients: -Cheese filled Little Smokies -Thin bacon Directions: 1) Pre heat oven to 325 degrees 2) Cut bacon in thirds 3) Wrap each hot dog with bacon then stick with toothpick and place on baking sheet 4) Bake for 40 minutes 5) Broil for 3-4 minutes 6) Serve as an appetizer/snack