Homemade Cheese Cracker TIE Fighters

These homemade cheese cracker TIE fighters are cartoonish compared to the real thing but they are so delicious that I hope you will be willing to forgive my artistic license. 

For today’s Foodie Extravaganza party, our host chose a Star Wars theme since it’s May the Fourth and all day long folks will be saying "May the Fourth be with you" and memes will abound. 

I must confess that I’m not a big Star Wars fan. In fact, the only movie of the series I have seen in its entirety is Episode VII: The Force Awakens. That said, the whole franchise is such a huge part of popular culture that there is no way to avoid knowing the characters and general story. Unless you live under a rock. 

In case you don’t know what a TIE fighter is, here’s a photo for you. They are star fighters in the Star Wars universe usually piloted by the Imperial force. TIE stands for "Twin Ion Engine.” This is what I tried to make out of cheese crackers and little cheese balls. 

I think mine are pretty cute but I also understand that “cute” is probably not supposed to be an adjective pertinent to TIE fighters. So sue me! At least I tried. 

Homemade Cheese Cracker TIE Fighters

The chilling time is essential to make sure the crackers hold their shape. Because everyone knows that TIE fighters are hexagonal. I bought this hexagon cookie cutter on Amazon: Hexagon Cookie Cutters <affiliate link. It was a bit smaller than I was hoping for but it was simple to use and wasted very little dough. I got about 48 crackers out of this dough recipe. So 24 TIE fighters. 

Ingredients

For the crackers:

1/2 cup or 63g all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

pinch fine sea salt

3 oz or 84g extra sharp cheddar cheese

3 tablespoons or 43g unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes

1 tablespoon cold water

For assembling the TIE fighters:

2 oz or 56g extra sharp cheddar cheese

2 oz or 56g cream cheese, softened

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Method

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, smoked paprika and pinch of salt. 

Grate the cheddar cheese for the crackers finely into the flour bowl. Toss till well combined. Add the mixture to your food processor along with the cold bits of butter. 

Process about 20 seconds, until the mixture looks like damp sand. 

Add the cold water and pulse until the mixture looks like clumps of dough. 

Transfer the dough to a large square of cling film. Fold the sides over and press the dough down into a neat square about 6 in or 15cm across. 

Fold the ends of the cling film over to keep the dough from drying out. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes (or up to two days.)

Meanwhile, grate the cheddar for the TIE fighters and combine it thoroughly in the food processor with the cream cheese and paprika. 

Divide it into 1/2 teaspoon portions and roll them in balls. Cover with cling film and refrigerate with the cracker dough. You are going to end up with a few leftover cheese balls but they are delicious on their own so no worries. 

Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your baking pan by lining it with baking parchment or a silicone liner.  (I couldn’t quite fit all my crackers on one pan so I baked them in two lots, one after the other.)

Remove the dough and the cheese ball from the refrigerator. Open the cling film around the dough, lay another piece of cling film on top, and use a rolling pin to roll it into a rectangle 8x9 in or 20x23cm.   

Use the hexagon cutter to cut the dough into crackers. 

Re-roll out any remaining dough to make the rest. If the dough feels too soft to transfer easily to the baking pan, chill it in the freezer for 5-10 minutes before attempting the move. It is already so hot here in Texas that the extra chill time was essential in my warm kitchen. 

Place the hexagons on your prepared baking pan. Use a skewer or chopstick to poke a hole through the center of each. The first batch was 35. The second batch was only 13 for a total of 48.

Bake until golden brown around the edges, about 18-20 minutes, rotating the baking pan halfway through baking.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely before assembling the TIE fighters. 

I was impatient so I transferred mine to a wire rack so they'd cool faster. 

To assemble the TIE fighters, gently press one cheese ball onto one cracker. Top with another cracker and press gently. Turn it sideways to balance on the crackers. Repeat until all the TIE fighters are assembled. 

Enjoy! And may the force be with you.

As I mentioned above, the theme for today's Foodie Extravaganza party is Star Wars! Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla. Check out all the fun Star Wars recipes below. 

• Baked Lightsaber Churros by The Spiffy Cookie
• Blue Milk Cocktail by A Day in the Life on the Farm
  
• Galaxy’s Edge Inspired Blue Milk by Tara’s Multicultural Table
• Han’s “Dice”-d Potatoes by Sneha’s Recipe
• Homemade Cheese Cracker TIE Fighters by Food Lust People Love
• Millennium Falcon Peanut Butter Cups by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board.

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Jalapeño Hush Puppy Mini Muffins #MuffinMonday

These jalapeño hush puppy mini muffins have the hush puppy vibe down pat from the crunchy exterior to the fluffy interior, full of cornbread flavor!

It’s live crawfish season in Louisiana and Texas (and probably Mississippi for all I know) right now so a week ago Saturday, I drove north about half an hour to Crawfish Nick Seafood to pick up a sack. 

I was fourth or fifth in line to place my order when I heard the lady behind the desk ask the next buyer if she had a reservation and, if so, for how many sacks. My heart dropped because I didn’t have a reservation! What if they run out before it’s my turn? 

Thankfully, they did not but next time I know that it may not be enough to call and ask if they have live crawfish before getting in the car. I whistled all the way home with 33 pounds of live crawfish, inordinately pleased with myself, superior hunter/gather that I am. 

That afternoon, after a few fresh water purges, my husband steamed those delicious guys and we ate them with relish. Not literally. There was garlic butter though and lots of Cajun spices. We ate and ate and ate. Then the next morning we ate more cold. Even with four people eating, 33 pounds is a lot crawfish! 

At that point I stopped eating crawfish and just started peeling them to use the tails in another dish. My search for a recipe to use the leftover seven ounces of tails led me to a recipe for hush puppies, but who wants to deep-fry anything? I pivoted and made these muffins instead. And saved the crawfish for another dish: baked crawfish Rangoon. 

Jalapeño Hush Puppy Mini Muffins

These little guys would be great served with fried fish, a seafood platter, a bowl of chili or, dare I say it, your next crawfish boil; in fact, anywhere you might serve hush puppies or cornbread. We added a small pat of butter to each as we ate them but they are also good plain. This recipe makes about 20 mini muffins. 

Ingredients

1 green onion

1 fresh jalapeño

2/3 cup or 120g yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup or 63g all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or 1/2 teaspoon if you like things spicy)

1 egg

1/3 cup or 80ml buttermilk

2 tablespoons canola oil, plus extra for greasing the mini muffin pan.

Method

Chop the green onion, both white and green parts, finely and separate out a small pile of the green parts to use as garnish before baking. Do the same with the jalapeño. I discarded the jalapeño seeds and innards because they weren’t pretty. Use yours if you like and chop them finely as well. 

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C. Generously grease your mini muffin pan with canola oil and put it in the oven about five minutes before the end of the preheating cycle. This batter makes about 20 mini muffins so grease accordingly.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and cayenne pepper. 

Stir in the bigger piles of onion and jalapeño.

Beat the egg, buttermilk, and oil in a small bowl. Pour the wet ingredients to the cornmeal mixture bowl and fold till it is just combined.

Carefully remove the pan from the hot oven and quickly divide the batter between the muffin cups. I like to use a small scoop, which speeds up the job.  As you can see, my last muffin wasn't very full but he still puffed up nicely. Top with the reserved chopped green onion and jalapeño.

Bake until golden brown and crispy, 17 to 20 minutes. 

Insert a toothpick into the center of a baked hush puppy muffin and make sure it comes out clean. Serve hot or remove to a wire rack to cool. The crunchy golden bottoms are so good! 

Enjoy!

It’s the last Monday of the month so that means it’s Muffin Monday! Check out all the great muffin recipes we are sharing today. 

• Beer Cheese Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Blueberry Bran Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Jalapeño Hush Puppy Mini Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Strawberry Streusel Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Tomato Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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Zucchini Noodle Lasagna

This zucchini noodle lasagna is made with zucchini “noodles” instead of pasta, upping your vegetable intake and lowering carbs. You won’t miss them!

I’ve wanted to share this recipe for the longest time but something kept getting in the way. I made it when we were attempting a keto diet and trying to eat more vegetables as well. The more veggies thing worked really well but the keto part, not so much. Pretty sure I gained weight. :D

While this dish is low carb, it’s not low calorie because of the beef, sausage and cheese. It is delicious!

For a vegetarian version, use double the amount of mushrooms in place of the beef and sausage or a meat substitute. 

Zucchini Noodle Lasagna

Unfortunately the process photos for the red sauce somehow went missing. I have no idea how or why but I hope the explanation is sufficiently clear. If you do have any questions, please leave me a comment and I will endeavor to respond in a timely manner. 

Ingredients

For the red sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 lb or 450g ground beef

14 oz or 387g smoked sausage

2 cans (14.1 oz or 400g) whole peeled tomatoes, with juice

4 3/4 oz or 135g tomato paste

2 tablespoons Italian seasonings  (I use Durkee Pasta Seasoning (<affiliate link) which has dehydrated onions, garlic, etc. along with the actual Italian spices.)*

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

*Without that lovely shortcut, mince 1 small onion and 3 cloves garlic. Add to pan while browning beef. 

For the cheese layers:

5 1/3 oz or 150g mozzarella, grated

8.8 oz or 250g fresh ricotta 

2 large eggs

Freshly ground black pepper

For the zucchini layers:

4 medium zucchini (about 1.1 lbs or 500g)

Fine sea salt

For topping:

1/2 cup or 55g Parmesan, grated

(Plus reserved grated mozzarella – see method below)

1 teaspoon oregano

Method

Add olive oil to pan, then the ground beef. Cook until ground beef is browned and the smaller bits are a little bit crispy. (Put in onion/garlic in at this point, when the smaller bits are well browned, if using.)

While that’s happening, cut the sausage lengthwise into four strips and then chop them into small cubes. Add the sausage to the beef pan and cook further until the sausage starts to brown. 

Add the Italian seasonings, canned tomatoes and tomato paste, along with about half a can of water, using that water to rinse out the tomato cans so as not to leave any tomato behind in them. 

Pop in the bay leaves, give the whole pot a good stir and simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes. 

Meanwhile, trim off the stem ends and slice your zucchini into thin strips with a vegetable peeler. 

Lay in single file on a clean kitchen towel. Lightly sprinkle the zucchini with salt and set aside. 

Put about 1/2 cup of the grated mozzarella in a small mixing bowl and stir in the Parmesan and dried oregano. Set aside till needed for topping. 

In a larger mixing bowl, whisk together the rest of the mozzarella, the ricotta, the eggs and some freshly ground black pepper. This is going to look much drier that the usual cheese layer for lasagna. Don’t worry. The cooking zucchini will ensure that this lasagna isn’t dry. 

After the red sauce has simmered for about 45 minutes, stir in the baking soda. I was taught this trick by an Italian American nonna. It’s going to bubble up as the soda reacts with the natural acids in the tomatoes. Keep stirring till about the bubbles are gone. The result is a sweeter, less acidic and according to my mentor nonna, more stomach-friendly sauce. 

Simmer for about 10-15 minutes longer, uncovered. Remove from the heat. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

To assemble the zucchini noodle lasagna, remove the bay leaves from the red sauce and spoon a thin layer into your baking dish. (9x13in or 23x33cm for thin lasagna, a smaller pan for thicker lasagna).

Roll the zucchini tightly up in the clean kitchen towel to dry them off. Unroll the towel and top the red sauce with zucchini slices.

Add another layer of red sauce. Then spoon on a layer of the cheese mixture. 

Add another layer of zucchini, followed by red sauce and then cheese mixture. Keep going till you use up all the zucchini, the red sauce and cheese. In my pan, I did three complete sets of layers. 

Finish the dish by sprinkling it with the mozzarella/Parmesan cheese topping. 

Bake in your preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or until the zucchini noodle lasagna is hot through, bubbling around the edges and well browned on top. 

Leave to cool for about 10 minutes then cut in squares to serve. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing creative lasagna recipes! Check them all out below. 

• Chicken Alfredo Lasagna from Making Miracles
• Chicken Marsala Lasagna from Palatable Pastime
• Keto Chicken Alfredo Zucchini Lasagna With Homemade Keto Alfredo Sauce from Sneha’s Recipe
• Lasagna Bianca from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Mexican Chicken Lasagna from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Pesto Lasagna with Homemade Noodles from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Pierogi Lasagna from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Saucy Lasagna Rolls from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Vegetable Lasagna from Mayuri‘s Jikoni
• Zucchini Noodle Lasagna from Food Lust People Love

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Lighter Lemon Pound Cake #BundtBakers

This lighter lemon pound cake has less butter the original version but with the sour cream and lemon, you won’t miss it at all. Made with Swerve, everyone can enjoy it! For a little extra innocent richness, serve it with a dollop of lightly sweetened low fat Greek yogurt and berries. 

For this month’s Bundt Bakers, our host chose “angel or devil” as the theme.  I interpreted this as healthy cake (relatively speaking) vs. decadent cake so I put on my thinking cap and started to Google search lighter pound cake. 

I came across all sorts of “lighter” pound cakes! Apparently it’s a thing. Who knew? Many of them claimed to be lighter but had a whole cup of butter and an equal amount of sugar. Umm, no. That’s regular pound cake. 

Lighter Lemon Pound Cake

I used “brown sugar” Swerve to bake these cakes to make them more diabetic friendly and I baked the batter in a Nordic Ware Duet pan, which has a capacity of 5 cups. It’s perfect for making one cake to keep and one to share. Which is the best “lighten up” option! Sharing is caring. If you bake yours in a 6-cup Bundt pan, it might need just a little longer in the oven. This recipe was adapted from one on Just a Pinch. 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup or 180g cake flour, plus extra for pan

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 tablespoons butter, softened, plus extra for pan

3/4 cup, packed, or 75g Swerve or light brown sugar

1/2 cup or 120g sour cream

Zest 1 lemon 

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 egg, at room temperature

1 egg white, at room temperature

2 tablespoons milk

Recommended for serving: 

Greek yogurt lightly sweetened with Swerve or sugar

Fresh berries

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 5- or 6-cup Bundt pan by greasing it with butter and coating it with flour.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside.

In another bowl, beat the butter and Swerve/sugar until creamy and lighter in color.

Add sour cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg,  egg white and milk to the butter mixture. 

Beat 2 minutes on high speed.

Add flour mixture. 

Beat on lowest speed, no more than 10 seconds, until just combined.

Spoon the cake batter into your prepared Bundt pans.

Place on one rack above middle in the oven. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Cool for about 7 minutes on a wire rack then use a wooden skewer to loosen the sides and middle then turn the cakes out of the pan. Cool completely. 

This cake is wonderful plain or if you want to fancy it up, with a dollop of Greek yogurt, sweetened with a little more Swerve or sugar, topped with fresh berries. 

Enjoy! 

It’s the third Thursday of the month so welcome to Bundt Bakers! As mentioned above, our host chose angel or devil as our theme. Check out how our bakers interpreted that theme below. Many thanks to Rebekah of Making Miracles for hosting!

• Sneha’s Recipe: Black & White Pound Bundt
• Passion Kneaded: Chocolate Overload Bundt Cake
• Patyco Candybar: Dark Angel Bundt Cake
• Magical Ingredients: Devil's Black Forest Bundt Cake
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Devil's Bundt Cake
• All That's Left Are The Crumbs: Devil's Food Cake Bundt with Chili Caramel Sauce 
• Food Lust People Love: Lighter Lemon Pound Cake
• Making Miracles: The Devil's Mini Bundt Cakes 

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers, can be found on our home page.

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Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches

These Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches are a welcome savory treat that is perfect for parties or picnics. Like ‘em even spicier, add more jalapeño!

A couple of weeks ago, my husband made a dish that called for eight ounces of roasted red peppers aka pimentos. Younger daughter was dispatched to the store and came home with a 12-ounce jar. Now you or I might have just hummed the whole thing in but my husband is still quite the recipe rule follower (although he is getting better with experience) so he weighed out 8 ounces and put the rest in the refrigerator. 

Fortuitously, my pimento cheese recipe calls for exactly four ounces so it did not go to waste. To change things up a little, I added eight ounces of diced ham as well. Delicious!

Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches

For this sandwich spread, I used a pack of ready diced ham but this would also be an excellent use for some of your leftover baked ham from Easter or Christmas. If you don’t have leftover pimentos, there are 4 oz jars available at most grocery stores. 

Ingredients 

1 (4 oz or 113g)) jar pimentos, drained and chopped

1-2 teaspoons finely grated onion, plus any juice

8 oz or 227g extra sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated

1 fresh jalapeño, minced

8 oz or 227g diced ham

1/2 cup or 120ml mayonnaise

10 slices sandwich bread, crusts removed

Method

Grate the cheddar finely into a large bowl with plenty of room for mixing. Use a microplane to grate the onion right in top of the cheese so that any onion juice will also drip in. 

Add in the minced jalapeño and the pimentos. Use a fork to mix them thoroughly with the cheese and onion.

Add in the diced ham and mix again. It’s easier to mix thoroughly when the ingredients are dry so make sure to do this before adding the mayonnaise. 

Now, add in the mayonnaise and mix well.

Spread on bread for sandwiches. Be generous! Put it on thick. No one likes skimpy sandwich filling.

Or if you want to get fancy, cut the sandwiches into three. These will be very popular on a party table.

If you make them ahead, refrigerate the sandwiches covered with slightly damp paper towels and then cling film. This keeps the bread from getting dried out and stale. 

Enjoy!

Happy Easter to my readers who celebrate today! It’s Sunday FunDay and my friends and I are sharing creative ham sandwiches. Check out the links below. Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. 

• Keto 2-Minute Protein Bread & A Ham Sandwich from Sneha's Recipe
• Peameal Ham and Egg Breakfast Sandwich from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches from Food Lust People Love
• Grilled Ham, Cheese and Tomato Sandwich from Palatable Pastime
• Ham & Pickle Sandwich from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Croque Monsieur from Making Miracles

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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