Garlic Mini twisted rolls with Pillsbury Biscuit dough - Semi HomeMade!

 Though I love to bake and eat sweets, I am not completely and sweet person. If I get a chance, I would probably go for spicy dishes first, then to the sweet. But I am won't omit sugar completely! :)

I love sugar, tho I can't eat it now a days...it tempts me so! I try to keep myself away from it basically for health reasons. Especially this season, when we look for comfort food and when we are surrounded by chocolates. I do love me some sugar! But ya, for us who are trying to go healthy and all....I keep it to the minimum. This has been a trial using Pillsbury Biscuit dough, but I would surely try to go for whole wheat if possible. To eliminate the use of any extra butter, I used coconut oil. Now a days this ingredients has been given rave reviews as one of the healthiest ingredient around. I am going to try to incorporate it into regular dishes too, other than only baking, which I have been doing till now!

So with Valentine's day around the corner, and with so many 'sweets' around, I thought how about going for something spicy instead. Something easy, garlicky and spicy too. These Mini Garlic Twisted rolls are made of Pillsbury biscuit dough which comes in a cardboard can. Isn't that easy. All you need is this dough, chopped garlic, chopped coriander and few other stuff which may already be in your pantry. I like to have this as a side dish with a salad or soup. It takes under 20 minutes from start to finish. Just a simple way to whats already available and making use of it!

Time: Less than 20 minutes 

Makes 10 rolls

Ingredients:

2 rolls of Pillsbury biscuits dough

10 cloves of garlic, chopped tiny

small bunch of coriander leaves, chopped

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp red chili flakes (optional) (can use chopped green chili instead)

dry Italian seasoning (optional)

1/2 tbsp coconut oil (can use olive oil instead)

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees F.

Lightly grease a baking sheet and keep aside.

Melt the coconut oil and keep aside.

Open a can of Pillsbury biscuits dough.

Lightly flour your surface and attach to dough pieces. Roll them out to make it long or oblong.

Brush on some melted coconut oil. Put some garlic, coriander and red chili flakes on the dough.

Now roll the dough into a log.

Cut in the center of the log to make two sides for twisting.

Twist both the pieces and make a circle out of it.

Brush again lightly coconut oil of the top. Sprinkle garlic powder and Italian seasoning on the top.

Lay them on the baking sheet and bake for 8-9 minutes.

Serve them hot just plain or with some chutney!

Enjoy and Happy Valentine's Day!!!

The first one is plain for my little kiddo, second and third are experiments - with 3 rolls and with 1 roll.

I think using one roll makes it too small and using three makes it too big. Two rolls were a perfect size, but surely you can do what you like.

I just went crazy on the pictures - Sorry for that! But this is my first time trying to edit using my Mac and I am kinda lost. I am still learning and I hope to learn soon! It really get frustrating when you try to switch from one operating system to the other.

Coming to my Handiwork -  I made these cute Valentine's Day bookmarks for my kid's classes.
They are made using Paint chips on one side and scarpbook paper on the other. Small hearts punched out on the side and tied up with a ribbon. Arn't they cute!!

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Semi-Homemade ~ Quick Panini - A visual treat! :)

I am a totally sandwich girl...I can eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Just gather a few things and whip up a sandwich and I am done...Oh how much I would love if whole of my family also would eat it so :)....but thats Ok...I try to make one for myself almost for every lunch....either a sandwich, soup or salad...I don't mind eating it over and over again.

I used to love Chicken Frontega sandwich from Panera bread. I used to make sure I ate that at least once in a while. Now that there is no Panera close by, I tried to make it on my own, and this came out perfect, with out much effort.

No effort cos, I used pre-cooked chicken wings from Costco to use make this. Just peeled off all the meaty part to put in my sandwich.
You can surely make a vegetarian version of it, like I sometimes do, with veggies like zucchini, tomato etc.,. I am sure you will like it for.

The main thing, I check to be sure of having is panini bread or any crusty bread, fresh tomatoes, fresh basil and mozzarella cheese. Combine all these and you have your sandwich ready in a jiffy! Fresh Basil surely gives it a divine smell!!

Ingredients:

Panini bread or any crusty bread

Pre-cooked chicken pieces (or get fresh and cook it :))
(use zucchini, or cucumber, asparagus or just tomatoes for a veggie delight!)

Few slices of tomato
Shredded mozzarella or sliced
few pieces sliced red onions or yellow onions
fresh basil leaves

Method:

Arrange all the ingredients on the bread and toast it on a panini grill till the cheese melts.
If you don't have a grill, toast it on a pan, on both sides, by placing a heavy pan on top of it.
Add a bit of seasoning like Italian or just oregano for a extra punch in flavor.
Serve warm....Enjoy!!!

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Super Easy Corn flakes Chivda

 

Having chivda or mixture for tea time is always customary in Indian evening. Something to munch on...sweet stuff are OK but if its spicy, it much more enjoyable to me! Like pakoras, bajjis, murukkus or even something as simple as mixture.

Whenever I make mixture at home,, it disappears...my kids love spicy and they will just finish it...including my husband, who will keep on munching until dinner time.

So I try to keep something crunchy and something spicy always handy. :)

This is one super easy chivda to make. If you want to make it more easy, then just buy all the pre-made ingredients and put them together. I used on 5 ingredients but you are welcome to add as many as you like and make it as spicy as you like.

I had a few dry corn flakes (for mixture, from Indian store) lying around, so I decided to go ahead and make this as my 4th post for the bloggers marathon.

The corn flakes, I had to deep fry, but the boondi I used is store bought.

Ingredients:

1 cup dry corn flakes

1/3 cup boondi (optional)

2 tbsp peanuts

1 tbsp golden raisins

Tempering and seasoning:

chilli powder as required

salt as required

few curry leaves

pinch of saunf seeds, fennel seeds

Oil for deep frying

Method:

In a small pan, heat a few drops of oil, fry peanut till they brown. Keep aside.

In the same pan, fry the raisins and when they brown, add the fennel seeds and saute for 30 seconds. Keep aside.

Deep fry the dry corn flakes and remove them onto paper napkin. Add the fresh curry leaves to the hot fried corn flakes. (not in the oil, but after you remove them)

When the oil has drained, mix together some boondi, peanuts, raisins, salt, saunf, chilli powder with the corn flakes.

Serve with tea or coffee...or eat it as you wish!

Enjoy!!!

Check out what the other bloggers are blogging about in this marathon.

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Flat Mediterrean Pizza

For the 4th day of the Blogging Marathon, here is a Flat Mediterranean Pizza and more feta cheese!! :))

Pizza!! who doesn't love pizza?? Who doesn't love the convenience of ordering in a fully loaded pizza?? all the cheese, all the white dough!! only good part is the veggie topping!! lol,...

Well tho we know its not a perfect dinner or lunch, we do tend to order it!...well I guess its fine to have it once in a while, whenever you crave for a good pizza, but don't crave for it too often!!

It surely is easy to make it at home. I sometimes make the pizza base myself at home or now days you will find pizza dough in the bakery section or the freezer section of your local grocery! For more convenience, you will even find the pizza base ready too.

But I nowadays like to buy the pizza dough rather than the pizza bases. They are very easy to bake and prepare.
Well if you like making the dough at home....make for at least 2 or 3 servings and freeze it for later.

The good part is you can make or get the whole wheat pizza dough! No white only whole wheat!! :)), going with the whole grain theme!! --> this is what you eat!!

For how much you eat --> instead of a thick or pan dish type, make a thin or a flat bread pizza. Less calories and less carbs. Load it with veggies, lots of fiber and good good stuff!

There you go, you are getting the your satisfaction of pizza, less calories and less carbs all in one!
For this pizza, I made it not the regular type but a Mediterranean type with feta cheese, pesto and simple veggies. You don't have to follow this, but instead you can use your own toppings! Just make it Flat and thin as possible.

These days even if I order out, I order mine as a thin crust. And if you haven't tasted thin crust, I am telling you, its actually much yummier than a thick one! :))

Ingredients:

1 whole wheat pizza dough
Basil and walnut pesto (or any other pesto, enough to spread on the flat pizza dough)

Toppings:

Sliced green bell peppers
sliced red bell peppers
sliced tomatoes
sliced onions
sliced black olives
crumbled feta cheese ( I used seasoned feta cheese)
chopped basil leaves ( about 10 leaves)
spinkle of dried oregano
crushed red pepper flakes to sprinkle (optional)
Crumbled Feta cheese


Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Flatten the pizza dough on a round baking tray to as thin as possible.
Spread the pesto in a thin layer, enough to cover to the edge.
Spread the veggies over the pizza and tsprinkle the oregano.
Pop it into the oven for about 10-15 minutes. Since the pizza is thin, it should get cooked by then.
Sprinkle the feta cheese and put it back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes. If you feel that with in this time the feta cheese didn't brown, start the broiler for about 5 minutes on 350 degrees. Keep an eye on it or it will burn.
When brown, remove from oven and add the chopped basil leaves.
Sprinkle crushed red pepper flakes if you like it spicy.
Serve hot!
Enjoy!!!

Check out my Blogging Marathoners doing Group 3 BM#4 along with me



Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma
Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)
Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh
Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree, Pavani
Seven Days of Cakes:  Priya Vasu
Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Srivalli

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Chicken enchiladas ~ Semi Homemade

Enchiladas is one of the common dishes I order at a Mexican restaurant. What I like about it?...everything....I like the sauce they pour over it, the cheesiness, the sides....

At home, I usually end up making chicken enchiladas, but you surely can make vegetable enchiladas, using sauteed mushrooms, green pepper, asparagus, zucchini etc., and I am telling ya....its yum! Had that once at a restaurant and it was fantastic! Or try it with minced soya nuggets or granules.

I have made chicken enchiladas mainly using all the store bought sauces, to make life easy by just assembling them together and you get a perfect semi-homemade enchiladas, without even spending much time on it!

I used ground chicken, but you can surely use pulled chicken from rotisserie, if you like chunky pieces. And the whole process would be same, only since the rotisserie chicken would be already cooked, cooking time would be less.

I like using the McCormic enchilada sauce mix packet, by which we can make the red sauce without any hassle. For the green sauce or salsa verde and chunky salsa, I used the bottled Pace and Herdez sauce. Please feel free to use any sauce you like and prefer. Thats what makes it taste yummy and hearty too!

To make it more healthy, use corn tortilla instead of the flour tortillas. It gives a unique taste and much much more healthier for sure.
Serve with Mexican rice, guacamole or with any salad to get a perfectly put together meal.
Go easy on the cheese or add no cheese if you don't prefer it too much!
I added only black beans, but you can add bell peppers, corn or any other veggie you prefer.

McCormick enchilada sauce requires:

1 1/2 cups water
8oz tomato sauce

Method for sauce:

Whisk the tomato sauce, water and the enchilada mix together. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes.


Ingredients for Chicken:

1lb chicken
1/2 cup black beans and corn (I didn't have corn, but I wish I did) (canned or frozen)
2 oz tomato sauce
1/2 cup enchilada sauce
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp chilli powder
1 small onion
coriander garnish
salt to taste
pinch of turmeric (making it indianized)
1-2 tbsp of oil
chopped coriander leaves

Method for ground Chicken:

Heat the oil in a open pan.
Saute the onion and chopped garlic.
Add the chicken and saute for 5 minutes with salt. Break it down as much as possible.
Add the tomato sauce and enchilada sauce. Cook for 3-4 minutes
Add the chilli powder and turmeric. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add in the black beans and corn. Cook for 5-6 minutes
Cook till everything comes together and no gravy is left.
Add in the coriander leaves.
Mix well. Remove from heat.


Ingredients for Enchiladas

Cooked chicken curry (as above)
8-12 flour tortillas
(I used 8 flour and 2 corn tortillas)(Using corn is optional, I made that especially for myself)
salsa verde, store bought
chunkey salsa, store bought
Shredded Mexican cheese
9x13 in baking tray or dish

Method of assembly:

Pour salsa verde, just to coat the bottom of the tray.
Add little bit of chunky salsa.
Heat the tortilla about 10 sec.
Coat it with the enchilada sauce.
Put chicken in the center.
Roll it and place carefully in the 9x13 inch baking dish.
Repeat same with others, even the corn tortilla if using that.
Pour the remaining enchilada sauce on top of the rolled tortillas.
Sprinkle required amount of cheese on the top
Bake @ 350 for 20 minutes.
Remove and serve hot with mexican rice, guacamole, salad or as is.
Enjoy!!!

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Bruschetta ~ Semi - Homemade

Here is an easy appetizer you can make without much thought put into it! and I will assure you that it willl come out perfect each time.
When we order bruschetta in a restuarant, we might be skeptical of how much fat it is put on it!. When we make it at home we are able to control that.
I just like to make it semi-home made so that the true flavors are captured. You can surely go ahead and make it completely at home, but using a few ingredients from outside will surely save you time.

Main thing in making bruschetta is choosing the perfect crusty bread. Choose any good
crusty bread like french bread, bagette...etc.,.
Its an easy appetizer to make for large parties or as a snack at home. My kids like to chomp down on the crusty bread. I use only little bit of the tomato and cheese mix on the top for them!

Ingredients:

1 french bread bagette. cut into slices

1/2 bottle bottled bruschetta sauce (I used Trader Joe's)

marinated mozarella cheese or balls, chopped or sliced
1 tomato, chopped
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves or parsley leaves
crushed red pepper (optional)
olive oil or olive oil spray
garlic clove or garlic powder

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degree F.
Arrange the slices on a cookie sheet or tray.
Spray or brush with olive oil.
Rub with garlic clove or sprinkle a of pinch garlic powder on each slice.

Mix the chopped tomatoes, coriander leaves (or parsley leaves), crushed red pepper and cheese.
Spoon onto each slice.
Heat in the oven for about 10 mins.
Serve warm as a snack or appetizer.
Enjoy!!!

Sending this to Kid's delight - Restuarant recreation, brainchild of Srivalli, guest hosted by Champa of Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen.

And also to Pari's 'Only event' - Cooking with Bread

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