Baked Bacon

 

 

I hate making bacon.  It splatters when you pan fry it and it never really gets crispy when you nuke it.  Enter baking.  Now the only down side to this is the length of time it takes which is usually about 20-30 minutes.  So if you're making it to eat at the moment, not you best method.  I make a batch for the week so I'm usually doing and cooking other things at the same time anyway.

 

Start with a rack on a foil lined baking sheet.  Trust me on the foil part.

 

 

Place the bacon as close as possible but don't overlap.



 

 I bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes.  I also like this method because the bacon stays flat which is perfect for a BLT.

 Now you have nice crispy bacon for all your bacon needs.

 

See all that grease in the pan?  If you're so inclined, you can drain it off and save it for whatever you do with bacon grease.  If you're like me and sadly trying to avoid tasty, bad for you things, stick the whole pan in the fridge and roll up and toss the foil after the grease has hardened.  Just make sure you crumple the foil kind of like a little package so if the grease melts you wont have a mess in the trash bag.

 

 

So there you have it, baked bacon!



Tortilla Roll-ups or Pinwheels

I had a function at work where we were to bring in finger foods.  I was feeling lazy so I looked for something easy that didn't need to be kept warm.  I see these all the time on Pinterest in various varieties.  I looked at many ideas and really just threw 2 different kinds together.  I used the same base for both which was cream cheese and ranch dressing powder.

For the BLT version, I just diced tomatoes and cooked bacon and mixed in the cream cheese mixture.  Then I spread it out on a whole wheat burrito sized tortilla.

 

Then I covered it with romaine lettuce.

 

Then rolled it up tight in plastic wrap.

 

The next morning I cut them into slices.  



 

This is the turkey and provolone version I did with the same cream cheese mixture.  They looked much prettier, but both tasted good.

 

 

 

This will be my go-to for me now if I have to make something quick.  There are so many variations you could do.

 

Enjoy!



Microvave Potato Chips

 

A few months ago I saw a pin on Pinterest for microwave potato chips.  There are actually a few, so if you want to see them just search.  Anyway, I tried them and they were ok.  Using a mandolin speeds things up as far as slicing.  The only thing is, it's time consuming to do 1 plate of chips at a time.  They also took way longer to actually get crispy.  I never did it again.

 

Then, at work, someone brought in a Pampered Chef catalogue.  I glanced through it just to look.  Then, I saw their microwave chip makers.  Long story short, I got them.

 

The nice thing is, there's 2 that you can stack so nuking goes way quicker.  The only thing I didn't like was that the recommended 3 minute time was way too short.  This just may have been because my microwave is a bit older and maybe not as powerful. 

 

Not shown, but I also did sweet potatoes which took a little less time than the white potatoes and were really good.  Next time I might sprinkle a little cinnamon on them.

 



I think I used Yukon golds.  I was thinking cooking time might be lower with Russet or another lower moisture potato.  These are out on paper towels and lightly salted with sea salt.  Also patted on top with another paper towel layer.

 

First layer.

 

Two layers in the microwave.

 This is after about 3 minutes which is what the instructions say is the max.  As you can see, they're just a little translucent.

 

This is after 7 or 8 minutes.  You can see how they're browning a little, but it doesn't affect the flavor.  At this point, they're nice and crispy.  Now I'm not going to try and lead you to believe these taste like store bought bagged chips.  In fact, if you're a dip lover, these would be a  perfect alternative for dipping.  A lot better for you than greasy chips.

 

Of course Calli needed to get in on the action...

 

 

and munched away.

 

I also did some apple slices.

 

They didn't end up crispy, but would still be a good snack with some cinnamon sprinkled on them.

 

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