If you love veggie eggrolls, but are looking for a healthier way to prepare them, rather than deep frying, I have just the recipe for you.

Have you ever tasted baked eggrolls?

Well, I baked mine, and everyone just loved them.

They are very tasty.  Lots of flavor in the filling.  The wrappers are quite crispy, but not  “greasy” crispy,  thus much healthier for you, so you can enjoy them guilt free!

I read several different recipes, and created one to fit my taste.

I used regular green cabbage for the filling, and low sodium soy sauce for dipping.

 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups green cabbage, shredded
• 2/3 cup carrots, shredded
• 1 Tbs. minced fresh onions, or chives
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (check out my nifty garlic-zoom)
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 Tbs. low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. black pepper, ground
• 14 eggroll wrappers (or more, depending on the amount of filling you use)

Dipping Sauce:

• 3/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 6 Tbs. rice vinegar
• 2 Tbs. sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced

Directions:

1. Heat up a medium saucepan on stove top with 2 Tbs. of olive oil.
2. Add chopped onions, and saute for 2 minutes.
3. Add chopped garlic, and saute 1 minute.
4. Add shredded cabbage and carrots, and cook until wilted.
5. Season with soy sauce, sugar, ginger and pepper.
6. Set aside to cool off slightly.
7. Using cooking spray, grease the bottom of a baking dish, and set aside.
8. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
9. Place eggroll wrapper on a work surface, in a diamond shape.
10. Place 2-3 Tbs. of filling on an eggroll wrap, about 1/2 inch away from the lower corner.
11. Fold the corner over the filling, then fold left and right sides towards the middle, as if making an envelope.
12. Gently holding down all these corners with your fingers, roll the enclosed filling toward the top corner of the wrapper, until fully wrapped.
13. Place the wrapped eggroll, seam down, on the prepared baking dish.
14. Continue same process with the remaining wrappers, until all filling is used up.
15. Lightly spray the tops of eggrolls with cooking spray, or brush gently with olive oil.
16. Bake uncovered for 18 minutes, or until golden brown (I could have baked mine a little longer, for a crispier top).
17. Enjoy with the soy dipping sauce, or create your own.
18. To make the dipping sauce, place all ingredients in a small bowl, and mix well with a whisk ,or beat it with a fork.

Enjoy, and share your comments, please.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those of us who celebrated Christmas Eve on Dec. 24, are now gearing up towards a New Year Party.

Preparing for a party requires considerate amount of planning, organization and coordination.

I will contribute to your party planning by sharing some of our family’s favorite recipes you might like to try out.

You can also visit my Pinterest boards with Party foods or Party ideas, for new inspirations:

   http://pinterest.com/vmkz/

Here are links to my previous posts with party food recipes:

DIPS:

• Tzatziki Dip
• Rye Bread Dip
• Jalapeno Corn Dip
• Buffalo Chicken Dip
• Seven Layer Guacamole Dip
• Caramel Apple Dip

OTHER FINGER FOODS:

• Veggie Platter
• Ham Canapes
• Turkey Taco Ring
• Swedish Meatballs
• Deviled Eggs
• Pesto/Sun Dried Tomato Cheese Spread

You can add some cheese and cracker platters, fruit platter, chips, nuts, plus a niece selection of beverages, and your party will rock!!

 

 HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My latest internet activity consists of being totally enveloped in Pinterest.  It is so easy to spend hours perusing through the myriad of pictures on that site, and always finding something new, and exciting.

Each package of won ton wraps contains at least 48 pieces of these paper thin wraps.  One package has enough wraps to make some Potstickers, plus some of these Lasagna cups, and still have some leftover for a possible dessert idea.

I tried storing these wraps the fridge for later use, but after a while they begin to change color to slightly grayish, and start to dry out.

I understand you can freeze them, but I rather used them up within a weeks time, and be done with it.

Today I will share a recipe for Lasagna in a Wonton cup, which I spotted on Pinterest, and pinned it on my board of Party Foods.

I modified the original recipe, to better fit my taste, since I was making these for my grandchildren.

This recipe yields 24 cups.

 

Ingredients:

• 24 Wonton Wraps
• 1 lb. ground beef, or turkey
• 1 Tbs. of canola oil for frying meat
• 1 cup of Ricotta cheese (or whipped Cottage Cheese, if you prefer)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, ground
• 1 cup tomato sauce (I used Prego)
• 1 tsp. oregano, dried
• 1 tsp. basil, dried or freshly chopped
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper, ground
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1 cup Mozzarella cheese
• Cooking spray

Directions:

1. Grease, or spray with cooking spray, the cups of 2 cupcake pans.
2. Place one wonton wrap in each cup, gently pressing it down to fit to the  bottom of each cup. Set aside.
3. Pour 1 Tbs. of oil into a medium frying pan, warm it up, and place the ground meat in it.
4. Saute the meat at least 5 minutes, mixing it frequently, to break it up and to cook it so it is no longer pink.
5. Scoop out any accumulated fat, and discard.
6. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil and oregano, and cook 1 minute longer.
7. Add the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, and tomato sauce, and cook another minute.
8. Scoop 2 Tbs. of meat mixture into each wonton cup.
9. Sprinkle some Mozzarella cheese over the top of each cup.
10. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
11. Bake lasagna cups for 15 minutes, or until cheese melts and wraps are lightly golden.
12. Remove and serve warm, or cool off completely and store covered in the fridge for later use.  You can also wrap them well, and freeze for a future quick dinner or an appetizer.

Enjoy your meal.

 

TIP:  If you prefer, you can saute fresh onions and garlic, and use fresh herbs.

 

Ever since I tasted these yummy dumplings for the first time, I knew they would be part of my recipe collection, and an addition to my family menu.

They are so easy to make, and so delicious, that I had to share this experience with all of you.

If you also love Potstickers, please let us know what is your favorite filling.

I like mine with well flavored ground turkey, or pork, but you can also use chicken, beef, veggies, or even fruit.

These are great as a new meal, created out of leftover meat.  Thanksgiving is just around the corner, thus a great way to use some of that leftover turkey.

The won ton dough sheets are so much lighter than the Varenyky dumplings, and so easy to use, since they come pre-cut into serving pieces.

Won ton wraps usually are easily found in the fresh vegetable section at your favorite grocer.  I even found them at Walmart (also in the fresh vegetable section).  They are quite inexpensive as well; these were under$3 per package.

 

These are the ones I purchased.  The 12 oz. package am0unts to at least 48 paper thin wraps.

These are NOT Gluten Free!

This recipe yields about 40 dumplings.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. ground turkey (beef, pork, or chicken)
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp. mustard ( I like Grey Poupon, or Gulden’s)
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp. soy sauce, low sodium
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper, ground
• 1/4 tsp. oregano
• 1 Tbs. tomato sauce, or ketchup
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 cup coleslaw mix
• 1/2 tsp. corn starch
• 3 Tbs. water
• Canola oil for frying

Directions:

1. Heat 1 Tbs. canola oil in a frying pan (I used electric skillet).
2. Add ground meat, and cook 6 minutes, mixing frequently, until meat is all broken up and cooked through.
3. Add, chopped green onions, Soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and sesame oil.
4. Cook 3o seconds.
5. Stir in coleslaw mix, and cook 30 seconds longer, or until cabbage is wilted
6. Mix cornstarch with 3 Tbs. water, add to the filling.
7. Cook another minute.
8. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
9. Place at least 12 won ton wraps on a works surface.
10. Place a 1 Tablespoon of filling in the middle of each wrap.
11. Moisten the edges of the wrap with water, fold sides over and seal.  I make mine to little square packages (see picture above), but you can fold them over into rectangles or triangles, and seal.
12. Heat oil in a pan until not, but not smoking.
13. Place enough Potstickers in the pan to fill it, with the flat part down.
14. Cook for about 1 minute, to lightly brown the bottoms.
15. Add 1/2 cup of water, cover the pot with tight fitting lid, and steam for 3 minutes.
16. Uncover, lower heat and cook until most of the water evaporates.
17. Remove and serve, or keep it warm on a platter, until all Potstickers are cooked.

Dipping sauce Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce, low sodium
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. rice vinegar

Mix all ingredients together, and use as a dipping sauce for freshly cooked Potstickers.  I poured some of this sauce over my serving of  Potstickers , instead of dipping them.

Enjoy your meal.

 

 

 

  

Another exciting birthday party to write about.

My grandson just turned TWO, and since he is really into all the alphabet games, puzzles, and books, his parents chose the Alphabet Theme for his birthday party.

His mom was very creative with the birthday cake, as you can see in the picture above, and below.

Besides being delicious, it was very specially made with lots of effort to create a checkered design.

She chose his favorite colors of blue and green, and a special insert had to be used for separating the different color batters, while filling the cake pans with it, to achieve the checkered effect.  Don’t you agree that it looks wonderful?

The six layer cake was frosted with homemade vanilla butter frosting, and decorated with colorful sugar alphabet letters.  She also baked large alphabet letter sugar cookies, which the children were able to decorate with edible food color markers.

In addition to the cake, there were lots of miniature cupcakes  (skinny recipe), with just a dab of cream cheese frosting, and dinosaur sprinkles.

The Birthday Boy is also fascinated with dinosaurs, so many of his birthday cards and gifts supported that interest.  He will be busy playing with all of these until a new interest springs up by the next party.

 

Besides  his special Birthday Cake, he had a second cake to be used on his “official” birth date (in 3 days), and it sure came in handy as he shared it with his parents and grandparents, just before going to the museum in NYC to check out the display of some HUGE dinosaurs.  Nothing can beat that!!

The HAPPY BIRTHDAY on the cake was spelled out with actual wooden letter blocks. Cute and creative, to say the least.

Since the party was in the alphabet theme, the whole party room was decorated with letters, and each letter had an appropriate picture of the birthday boy’s activities from the past year.

   

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a favorite one of mine:

I refer to this particular picture display ” Like Father Like Son”, since the black and white picture is of the father of the Birthday Boy, at the age of two, also trying on big shoes , as his son did the same this year, with his dad’s shoes.

Isn’t this just so adorable and precious?

   
It was a beautiful sunny day, so lots of play activity centers were set up outdoors; a perfect place for the little ones to have fun.

They loved the swing and slide center, the soccer ball and goal net, and most of all, the numerous cardboard boxes with alphabet letters printed on them.

 

These cardboard boxes had large alphabet letters painted on all sides, and the kids had so much fun playing with them.

I am sure these will be used again in the future months, as fun spelling sessions, as well as building blocks, and scrabble games.  Very creative, inexpensive, and fun idea.

 

The adults and kids  had lots of fun playing the “Cornhole” game, swimming in the pool, and being entertained by the show at the outdoor “ABC Theater” (yes these are the stage curtains, trying to stay down on a windy day).

Very talented cast, garbed in their spur of the moment costumes, entertained everyone with the  reenactment of a popular fable about The Great Big Turnip (Reepka – in Ukrainian), narrated by the  Mom the of the Birthday Boy.

It was lots of fun for everyone, and the little ones were very attentive, while munching on their special snacks prepared for the occasion.

The party favors for the young crowd consisted of cute alphabet letter baskets filled with numerous favors, plus homemade crayola crayon letters, which spelled out the name of the recipient of the favor.

There also was large bowl filled with an assortment of sweet treats for those who were allowed to enjoy them, as some parents are very conservative about their kids sugar intake.

 

Last,but not least, is the display of the pre-party appetizers, which included fruit platter, Nirchi’s Pizza from Endicott, NY, Buffalo Hot Wing Chicken Dip, veggies and chips, Ukrainian smoked sausages (Kabanosy) from East Village Meat Market in NYC, Eggplant and Mint Bruschetta, Tomato Bruschetta, Red Beet Carpaccio, Grilled Shrimp with Zucchini and Avocado salad, freshly baked Frico Chips, numerous other kids snacks, and lots of refreshing drinks.

Our family parties are known for more than enough food to please everyone.

After the cake, there was more food served for dinner…..but I failed to capture it on camera (I must have been all partied out….).

It was a fun party, and I applaud the parents of the Birthday Boy for doing such a wonderful job with the party

planning, and final execution of these plans.

I hope you enjoyed my short synopsis of the Alphabet Theme 2nd Birthday Party.