September 2010 – Cheeky Attitude

On hot days Grandma always made tostadas

It must be Fall. It’s hot. Above 90 Degrees hot. Whenever we had these heat waves and it was a weekend trip for dinner at Grandma’s, she would often serve tostadas. All the prep could be done in the early morning before the house got too hot. And Grandma would get up at 5 am to crisp up the shells from fresh tortillas and cook the chicken.

I’m not going to lie. I did not get up early to make any of this. It’s the easy (cheater’s) way to make tostadas and you don’t even have to heat up the oven at all.

I used purchased tostadas that are available in my local supermarket.

They are very crispy and easily crushed so make sure you examine the package carefully or you might end up with broken ones.

I used purchased cooked chicken and doctored it up a bit. Added a sliced onion and tossed a bit of cumin and oregano. Then I added some chicken stock to keep it moist and warmed it up in the microwave.

I also opened a can of beans and warmed them up as well.

It is important to have the beans a little warm so they spread easily on the tostadas.

Just layered chicken, shredded cheese, lettuce, and some salsa and served them up.

What are your go to hot weather meals?

Fashionable – long fingerless gloves to knit

Long fingerless gloves by cheekyattitude featuring fingerless gloves

I noticed this Michael Kors ad in InStyle magazine and was immediately drawn to those long fingerless gloves. We can totally knit these. Just modify that great Toasty pattern to a 4×1 rib make them looong and put a 1×1 cuff at the top.

Here’s another free pattern that’s already long and ribbed: Glovlies

Hmmm. Now what to knit them with? I may just have some cashmere in my stash that would be perfect.

Another Frozen Yogurt Treat : Mango Ginger FroYo Sando Recipe

Another heatwave inspired me to try a new combination in my ice cream maker. I knew I wanted to use the Fage + honey combination as the base since I knew that had the right creamy sweetness.

I also knew I wanted to use ginger. Truth is, I’m always looking for a way to use ginger. Somewhere along the way I thought of Mango and that just seemed right. So I got some chunks of mango, added crystallized ginger, lime juice and pureed the heck out of it.

I mixed it all together let it set for 45 minutes.

Into the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker

Mango yogurt concoction is in the icecream maker

Not quite ready But hubby approved the flavor

And in about 45 minutes and multiple tastings later we’ve got some mango-y ginger goodness.

Hubby really liked it just straight. I thought it was pretty good, but needed a little more umph. I had TJ’s Ginger Thins on hand and put a little scoop (about 2 tablespoons) between a few and set them in the freezer. And that did the trick by adding some extra ginger kick.

Recipe:

3 cups mango chunks
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 Tbs crystallized ginger (I used TJ’s Baker’s Cut style)
1.5 cups of Greek-style unsweetened yogurt (I used Fage 2%)
2/3 cups Honey
Ginger snaps or ginger thins if making “sandwiches”

Puree first 3 ingredients in blender. Mix honey and yogurt together in medium sized bowl until well combined. Stir in mango puree and chill for about 45 minutes so flavors meld.

Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to machine’s directions. Place about two tablespoons of frozen yogurt between Ginger Thins and freeze until firm.

Enjoy!