I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

Starters

Chorizo Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers

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Woah What a week!

Price’s Birthday was last Thursday. And since I am a horrible wife, with a food blog, I bought him a cake from the grocery store. ( I know owe him 4 years of homemade birthday cakes!)Well, to prevent Autumn from taring into it at the grocery store I bought her a Red Velvet Cupcake as well. She enjoyed her cupcake when we got home. After her bed time, we enjoyed some diner and cake to celebrate Price.

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Quick Sheet Pan Nachos

These Quick Sheet Pan Nachos are meaty, cheesy, and spicy. Perfect for a late night snack or for watching the some football or NASCAR with friends.

Quick Bar Style Nachos

So they have begun working on our house!!!

Well, they dug up the lot. So, I guess that is progress because I’m dying to get things going. Trying to stay positive here.

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Ultimate Tatchos

Ultimate Tatchos

Post Contains Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure HERE

After a few weeks off from posting my usual Friday Sprint Cup Snacks posts (thanks broken computer!!!!) I’m back with one kick ass recipe that will have you running to the store for the goodies to make this dish this weekend!!

This weekend the boys (and Danica) are racing at Texas Motor Speedway. I figured that I had to make something that would warm up the house (it’s def cold in Boston!!) and something that had a bit of a kick to it! I thinking about making a big huge batch of chili but I started to think about snack food, which made me think about a plate of piled high nachos. (pregnant much?!?) And then I was lamenting one day about how the cafe in my office building has stopped serving tots at breakfast (what the hell?!?). That made me think about combing tater tots and all the best toppings on nachos to make a big pile of these…

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Ultimate Tatchos!!

I just love how the tater tots act as the perfect vehicle for all the toppings. Plus the tater tots change things up from the typical crunchy chip.

This is so great to make because you can easily adjust the size of the batch you make for the amount of people you are serving. I highly suggest that you always make more than what you expect to need since everyone will love to snack on the cheesy, spicy tots.

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We (Price) are finishing up painting the baby’s room this weekend. Then we are going to  assemble the crib so we can get to decorating like crazy since we only have 3 weeks to go. I can’t wait to get in there and reorganize the room and hang up pictures we have picked out.  I’m sure we’ll be hungry after all that work, so I’m sure I’ll be whipping up again batch of these Ultimate Tatchos!

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Ultimate Tatchos

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 pound of tater tots
  • 1 cup shredded mexican blend cheese
  • 1 1/2 cups canned black beans, rinsed and reheated
  • 1/2 cup salsa (I used the restaurant style salsa from Archer Farms)
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 avocado, diced
  • sliced pickled jalapenos
  • sliced black olives

Process

  1. Cook the tater tots according to the directions on the packaging. (You want them to be a bit crisp so you might want to add a few minutes actually)
  2. In an oven safe serving dish, layer half of the tater tots, beans, and cheese. Place under the broiler for a minute or so in order to melt the cheese.
  3. Add the rest of the tater tots and top off with the remaining beans and cheese. Again, place under the broiler for a minute or so in order to melt the cheese.
  4. Top off with the salsa, sour cream, avocado, jalapenos, and olives.

Homemade Cheez-It’s

Homemade Cheez-Its

Post Contains Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure HERE

Let’s just take a minute to reflect on what a week it has been for NASCAR. First, Kasey Kahne won the Pocono Race!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!! We were sooo excited for that win. Helps him in the Sprint Cup Standings to secure a spot in the Championship. Unfortunately, another driver is surely losing his spot in the Championship standings because of an accident. Tony Stewart was in a Sprint Car accident on Monday night that has resulted in him breaking his tibia and fibula in his right leg.  Already he has had 2 surgeries to repair the breaks, including a surgery in which they put a rod in his leg. I hope he has a quick recovery and can get back to racing soon.

Anyway, when I first started the Sprint Cup Snacks series I had planned on making wine slushies for this weekend’s race at Watkin’s Glen. The Finger Lakes Region of New York is becoming known for their fantastic wines and I have always wanted to have a wine slushy, which they serve up at the New York State Fair.

But guess what… if I can’t have a wine slushy now, you can’t have a wine slushy now!!!

So on to Plan B, which was to make Homemade Cheez-It’s because this race is the “Cheez-It 355 at The Glen”. Oh man, Plan B was such a good idea!!

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These Homemade Cheez-It’s are just killer. Flaky, crunchy, cheesy, salty, crackers that you can’t resist. Sure you can just buy a box of Cheez-It’s but you’ll want to give these a try just to prove to yourself that 5 ingredients (plus some seasonings) quickly turn into pop in your month tasty crackers. Plus as they puff up in the oven you get teased with the wonderful cheesy smell drawing you in.

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 The dough can easily be made in a food processor or in a stand mixer. The key thing is to keep the dough pretty cool so it is easy to work with. I chilled it every chance I got to make rolling it out easier, cutting easier, and then transferring easier. Get the picture? There are so many melty things (cheese, butter, and shortening) that is is very malleable but very tacky. Since you don’t flour your working surface it is really important to use the silpat/ parchment. Don’t skip that part! I only give these warnings to make the process super easy and fun… and ultimately tasty!

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Last year we loved watching the race at The Glen from our seats behind Kasey’s pit on Pit Road (!!) so I’ll miss going there this year but at least I have these homemade Cheez-It’s to enjoy while watching the race on Sunday.

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Homemade Cheez-It’s

Makes 7 dozen crackers

Ingredients

  • 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
  • 3 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 Tablespoon vegetable shortening
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 cup flour
  • 2 Tablespoons ice water
  • Coarse salt for sprinkling

Process

  1.  Combine the cheese, butter, shortening, and salt in the bowl of your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or into a food processor fitted with a dough attachment. The mixture will be crumbly.
  2. Slowly add the flour mixing to combine. Slowly add the ice water. You may add a few more drops of water to help it come together but be careful not to add too much as you don’t want a wet dough.
  3. Divide the dough into 2 discs and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
  4. Preheat oven to 375⁰F.
  5. Cover your work surface with a silicone mat or a piece of parchment paper. Roll each disc to be a 1/8 inch thick rectangle. Using a pastry wheel or pizza cutter, cut into 1 inch squares. Use a toothpick to punch a hole into the center of each square. Sprinkle the crackers with salt prior to transferring to a baking sheet. (If you have difficulty separating and transferring the crackers onto the baking sheet, place the mat back into the refrigerator for 10 minutes)
  6. Bake for 9-13 minutes or until puffed and just browning around the edges. Just be careful not to let them get too dark, it can happen quickly.
  7. Move crackers to a cooling rack.

Slightly adpated from In Katrina’s Kitchen