Life as an Aced

I fried one chip and now I can't get enough. . . The chips in the bag have nothing on them lol To bring it up one more notch I made a few batches of salsa including one where I switched out the jalapeno with a serrano . . .which I thought were suppose to be spicier but was not at all . . .seriously think the salsa recipe is foolproof its all in the seasoning mix but the extra kick from the peppers definitely helps :) For the Chips: 1) Cut tortilla into 6-8 pieces 2) Fry in 350 degree oil for 1-2 minutes For the Salsa: Blend together 14oz can of tomatoes drained 1 whole jalapeno or serrano 1/8 of an onion 1 teaspoon garlic salt 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 teaspoon cumin 1/4 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon lime juice

I have made my own chips for a while typically baking them - - However when we were in Vegas on of the couples mentioned they have been frying their own lately and they are sooooooo good nothing else compares. . . SOOOOOOOO you know I had to try it for myself Homemade Fried Tortilla Chips Ingredients: Oil for Frying Corn Tortillas Seasoned Salt Directions: 1) Pre-Heat Oil to 350 degrees 2) Stack Tortillas up and Cut into 6 triangles 3) Fry about 20 chips for 2 minutes 4) Drain on Paper Towel and sprinkle with Salt 5) Repeat until all chips are fried

With Vegas and Summer coming up I have decided to start eating a little bit healthier and rather than going low carb or no bread which works but doesn't last with me I figured I'd give the No Processed Food Diet another go around The first thing I decided to change is something that we eat all the time at our house SALSA. While I do make my own salsa rather than buy it BUT I use canned tomatoes and canned jalapenos in the recipe. It wasn't as easy as just swapping out the tomatoes and jalapenos for fresh -- I also had to adjust the seasoning a little bit . . . all and all I was pretty impressed with this salsa and will totally make it again!!! Sabrina's Salsa Fresca Ingredients: 1 1/2 Big or 2 Medium Tomatoes 1/2 Jalapeno 1/8 Onion 1 and 1/4 tsp Garlic Salt 1/4 tsp Salt 1 tsp Cumin 1/4 tsp Sugar 1 tsp Lime Juice Directions: Place everything into a food processor (or blender) and blend till smooth I usually make more than one batch ...

Me and Eddie probably snack a little too much but hey who doesn't? Trying to make my snacks healthier I came up with this simple trail mix Just mix Dried Cranberries, Almonds, and Dark Chocolate together . . . White chocolate is pretty good in the mix too :)

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

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

I swear you can't not mess up this Cheesy Bread Recipe . . . I have tried it with pre made dough and homemade dough and as long and you follow up a few guidelines it comes out perfect every time I made it last night with Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Dough and again PERFECT!!! Guidelines: 1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees 2) Melt 1/2 a stick of butter and put it in the bottom of a baking sheet 3) Top butter with pizza dough 4) Top Dough with a ton of cheese and herbs 5) Cook at 425 degrees for 15 minutes then lower the temp down to 350 for the last 10 Seriously you can't mess it up . . . Really its all up to you *Use whatever dough you want *Use whatever cheese that you want *Use whatever herbs that you want Here are two links to get you started - -  With Homemade Dough - -  With Canned Pizza Dough

Here in Utah it has been in the 100's and I am loving it. Being that it is now officially summer a ton of recipes have been popping up with watermelon and pinterest has been flooded by this pin on the right way to cut a watermelon so I decided to try it out today If you haven't seen it already here is the original pin:  http://www.fifteenspatulas.com/how-to-pick-a-superstar-watermelon/  (scroll down towards the bottom and you'll find the how to cut a watermelon part) HOW TO CUT A WATERMELON 1) Cut of the top and the bottom 2) Stand the watermelon up on one of the exposed sides 3) Cut down from the top to the bottom until all you see is red NOTES: -super messy if you have a juicy watermelon so keep paper towels near by

Eddie's Work is having a potluck tomorrow to celebrate 4th of July and he has requested 2 special dishes Homemade Salsa and Avalanche Bars. If you are looking for something easy to make and take with you to a BBQ tomorrow here are two recipes that will definitely please a crowd! Copy Cat Chili's Salsa Ingredients: 28oz can of tomatoes drained 4 whole jalapenos (canned) 1/4 of an onion 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cumin 1/2 teaspoon sugar 2 teaspoons lime juice Directions: 1) Drain the can of tomatoes 2) Cut the tops off of the jalapenos 3) Throw all the ingredients in the blender or food processor and blend NOTES: -For the jalapenos make sure that they are not pickled - you can find them in the Mexican section of the grocery store - I am sure fresh would work too but haven't tried them yet -It doesn't matter what form you buy the tomatoes in (whole - diced -etc) just make sure they are plain (no flavoring/ seasonin...

Happy Cinco de Mayo!! This year we didn't celebrate with full on Mexican food but we did do Chips, salsa, and margaritas to go along with our BBQ!!! I have been doing homemade chips for a while but have been wanting to make salsa . . .after see this recipe on Six Sisters Stuff  for Copy Cat Chili's Salsa on Pinterest I knew that this was going to be my starting point. We are obsessed with chili's salsa and while this recipe isn't exact it is pretty darn close. Copy Cat Chili's Salsa Ingredients: 28oz can of tomatoes drained 4 whole jalapenos (canned) 1/4 of an onion 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cumin 1/2 teaspoon sugar 2 teaspoons lime juice Directions: 1) Drain the can of tomatoes 2) Cut the tops off of the jalapenos 3) Throw all the ingredients in the blender or food processor and blend NOTES: -For the jalapenos make sure that they are the canned version not fresh - you can find them in the M...

Last Month me and Eddie tried Trader Joe's Brown Rice Tortillas. We were looking for something Gluten Free to replace corn tortillas with and thought they would be great but ended up being not the best - weird texture, kind of crunch but not, made the burrito taste like a big un-fried egg roll and seems more fit for a Asian style sandwich wrap than anything else but wasn't quite sure what to do with them . . . until now!!! I was making Tortilla Chips the other day following this recipe when I ran short of tortillas so figured why not? and grabbed the brown rice tortillas. Used the same concept tweaking the recipe just a little bit. Spicy Brown Rice Chips Ingredients: -Brown Rice Tortillas -Olive Oil -Garlic Salt -Cayenne Pepper Directions: 1) Pre Heat oven to 350 Degrees 2) Brush 5-6 tortillas with olive oil then sprinkle on seasoning 3) Stack tortillas on top of each other and cut into 8 pieces 4) Place on Baking Sheet and cook for 10 minutes on lowest rac...

For the month of February me and Eddie have decided to go BREAD FREE!! It was a little crazy at first but the one thing that has totally saved us and helped us adjust has been corn tortillas. We have probably eaten more corn tortillas than one person should eat but we have defiantly gotten creative in making our favorite dishes such as pizza and cheeseburgers into a bread free meal. Below are some of the fun ways we have used corn tortillas: Tortilla Pizzas Ingredients: Corn Tortillas Pizza Sauce Shredded Mozzarella Cheese Pepperoni Directions: 1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees 2) Place Corn Tortillas on a baking sheet then top with sauce, cheese, and pepperoni 3) Cook at 350 degrees until cheese is melted (about 5 minutes) 4) Turn on broiler and brown the cheese (about 3 minutes) Cheeseburger Quesadillas Ingredients: Corn Tortillas Shredded Cheddar Cheese 4 slices of Bacon 1/2 pound Ground Beef ...

Since getting a fryer as a wedding present - Fried Naked Wings have definitely made their place into our favorite dinner/party foods. Here in Utah we have a restaurant called Wingers that has one of the best sweet, sticky, spicy sauces that we have ever tried. Wingers does sell their original sauce at the various grocery stores in the area but being the spice lovers that we are we prefer it a little bit spicier (AKA Rebel sauce at the restaurant) which is not sold in stores. However thanks to Pinterest I have found a few copy cat recipes on  Chef in Training  and  Six Sisters Stuff  that feature the original recipe and have adjusted them into a spicier version. Copy Cat Wingers Rebel Sauce Ingredients: 1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot Original Hot Sauce 1 cup Brown Sugar Directions: 1) On low heat brown sugar and hot sauce until combined 2) Heat on Medium for about 5 minutes to thicken the sauce NOTES: According to ...

Happy 2013!!! Been super busy and haven't had a chance to update the blog in a while but being that it is a new year and everyone is trying to eat healthy I found a new favorite snack and wanted to share it with all of you. Super simple - 2 ingredients . . . but sooooo yummy!!! Spicy Chipotle Hummus Ingredients: Plain Hummus Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce Directions: 1)Throw the whole can of Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce in a blender and grind up until smooth like a salsa 2) Put a spoonful into your hummus 3) ENJOY!!! Notes: -You only need a few spoonful's of the pepper put the extra in a container and keep in fridge to add a kick to other sauces - dips - Mexican food - etc - Since I'm the only one in our house that eats the hummus I throw a few spoonful's into the whole container and add more as needed but you can do this in single serve portions too -Usually I eat hummus with pita chips but in the attempt to eat less carbs I've been using c...