Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips

A friend of mine brought fruit salsa and cinnamon chips to our house when we had them over for dinner over a year ago. When I asked her how to make it, she mentioned the things that were in it, but no amounts, so I just kind of tried my own thing. I discovered that this recipe has a lot of flexibility to it. For this batch I believe I used:

1 mango

2 kiwi

1 apple

2-3 Tbsp. apple jelly

You simply combine them in the mini-chopper/food processor, or you can chop finely/crush the fruit by hand. For a prettier version, I have used strawberries in place of the mango. The apple and apple jelly provide a good foundation to give the salsa some solid matter to hold the whole thing together so you don't end up dipping chips into fruit juice that slides right off. Other than those 2 ingredients, though, the recipe is pretty adaptable. Just use a couple of different kinds of somewhat soft, juicy fruits you think would go well together. For the chips, you simply cut tortillas into strips, spray with Pam, sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar, and bake at 350 until tortilla chips are crisp (usually 10-20 minutes).

Do not use homemade tortillas. They are TOO thick, and if they are cooked until they are crisp, they will be very difficult to chew.

If you do, you may decide they just are not getting crispy after 30 minutes in the oven.

Then you may think it would be a good idea to broil them.

If that happens, you will be startled to see that the sugar has been carmelized and burned after just a couple of minutes.

You will take the pan out of the oven and set it on the table to take a picture of your ruined chips.

For the split second your back is turned, your toddler will reach up to get a chip and burn himself on the pan which has just been in the broiler.

After you get that taken care of, you will spill the chips all over the floor.

While you are cleaning those up, dinner will burn too.

Of course, all of that trauma is just hypothetical...not that I know from experience or anything. :) Here is what I imagine such burned, carmelized chips would look like:

Okay, so it wasn't hypothetical. Suffice it to say, next time we make these chips, I will be getting tortillas from the store. I would rather avoid all of the trauma listed above. And my teeth will thank me, too, as these chips were more like rocks.

Sweet Potato Fries with Ranch BBQ Sauce

I have such fond memories of Guru's because that is where Sam and I went on our second date. He recommended the cilantro-lime quesadilla, and I was highly impressed with him and the food. So when Mom wanted to take me out to lunch one time, I suggested Guru's, and while we were there she made the enlightened decision to order some sweet potato fries. That was the beginning of the end of our days in Provo, sadly, but Mom and I managed to get those fries at least a couple more times.

Although these fries aren't anywhere near as good as the fries at Guru's, they are a good alternative. The dipping sauce tastes somewhat similar to theirs, but once again, theirs is much better. Really, if you haven't gone to this eclectic little cafe, please fix that as soon as possible. :)

1 lb peeled sweet potatoes cut into 1/4" match-sticks (you want one pound after they are peeled and cut with the ends and short pieces discarded, so buy 1 1/4 pounds or so. Fries should be fairly equal in length.)

2 Tbsp. olive oil
 1 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 t. basil
1/2 t. oregano
additional seasonings as desired

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Drizzle olive oil over the top of potatoes and toss to coat. Sprinkle seasonings on potatoes and toss again. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes and carefully flip with a spatula. Bake for another 15-20 minutes or until browning on the ends. Enjoy!

For the sauce I just combine equal parts honey bbq sauce and sour cream mixed with this seasoning (1 small carton to 1 Tbsp. of seasoning).

Even Talmage loves these (probably because they are dipped in sour cream), so they must be good!

Orange Teriyaki Pork with Noodles

This recipe is from my the cooking class I took at BYU. (It provided me with a great recipe arsenal! Such a great class...) The original recipe calls for beef boneless sirloin, but I can never seem to find it, and the similar things I see are really pricey. So I used boneless pork sirloin, which was much cheaper. The beef is more tender, but I like the pork as well.

1 lb (I used more like 3/4 lb and it was plenty) beef (or pork) boneless sirloin, cut across the grain into thin strips like sticks of gum

2 cans (14.5 oz each) beef broth, divided

3 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 clove garlic, minced

1/8 teaspoon powdered ginger

1/4 cup orange marmalade

3 cups snap pea pods (I use frozen since they're much cheaper)

6 oz. uncooked extra thin spaghetti noodles

Spray 12 inch skillet with cooking spray. Cook meat in skillet over medium-high heat 2 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown. Remove meat from skillet; keep warm. Mix cornstarch with 1/2 cup of beef broth. Set aside to thicken sauce later in recipe. In same skillet as used to cook meat, mix remaining broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and marmalade. Heat to boiling. Stir in noodles; reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook about 5 to 10 minutes or until noodles are tender. Stir in snap pea pods, broth/cornstarch mixture, and meat. Cook uncovered 2 to 3 minutes, or until sauce is slightly thickened.

**Note: The peas in this recipe tend to get quite shriveled and unappetizing when reheated. If it's not all going to be eaten in one sitting, I would suggest only adding peas in to the amount you estimate you will consume, and adding in others as needed. You can heat up the peas seperately and then stir them into the amount you estimate you will consume.