Olive penguins are fun appetizers. Young and old alike will enjoy them. Children will gladly help create these cute little penguins. They are not hard to make, just spend a little time with them, have some fun, and you will be glad you did.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4

Olive Penguins Ingredients

Ingredients

• 1 can (5 ¾ oz) large pitted ripe olives, drained
• 1 package 3oz. cream cheese softened
• 1- 3 teaspoons ranch dressing
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and cut in ¼ inch slices
• 12 toothpicks with cellophane tops
• 12 oz jar sliced pimentos

Method

1. Combine cream cheese and dressing.

2. Spoon mixture into a zip lock snack bag, cut small hole in the corner.

3. Fill 2 olives with cream mixture.

4. For the bottom olive, cut out a v shape from the olive.

5. Cut a small triangle out of each carrot slice. The triangle will be the beak, the rest of the slice will be the feet.

Make Olive Penguin

6. Place the bottom olive on the feet, top with a second olive, insert a toothpick down through the center to make it stand.

7. Make a small split in the top olive and place the triangle piece in for a beak.

8. Take 1 pimento slice and wrap it around the penguins neck for a scarf.

Olive Penguins

For years people suggested waiting to introduce nuts, peanuts, fish and shellfish to a baby, because unlike other food allergies, these allergies usually last for a lifetime. Nowadays, this fact is being revised for some Pediatrics associations all over the world, based on there is no convincing evidence that delaying any food beyond 4 to 6 months reduces the risk of developing an allergy to it.

The fact that seafood is an excellent source of nutrition, rich in healthy omega-3 fatty acids, as well as protein and vitamin D, has not helped in this discussion. Why preventing my baby to eat something that is that healthy?

Until that discussion is over, it is probably best to start giving our little one seafood after his first year old.

To make it soften in taste, this is mix recipe of paella, using seafood and chicken. Paella originates from the Valencia region, in Spain, and it gets its name from the pan it is cooked in, a paellera. Instead of this we will use a non-stick sauce pan.

In Spain only seafood is used. But a lot of places in the world replicate the recipe using chicken or even sausages as well.

Ingredients:

• 7 oz/200g Long grain ric
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon smoked or sweet paprika (be sure it is no hot paprika)
• ½ red pepper, diced
• 1 x 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
• 500 ml chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 6oz/170 g Cooked prawns
• 6oz/170 g Cooked chicken
• 2oz/55g frozen peas
• Handful parsley leaves (1 tbsp chopped parsley)

Preparation:

Put the rice in a colander and rinse well under cold running water. This will clean the rice from its extra starch. Leave to drain. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan or wok and sauté the onion for 5 minutes, until soft and clear. Put the heat in medium, add the garlic, paprika, pepper and rice and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly, then pour in the chopped tomatoes, stock and tomato puree and add this to the rice.

Bring up to a simmer and cook for around 15 minutes until the rice is tender and the stock has been absorbed. While the rice is cooking shred the chicken into small pieces and roughly chop the parley leaves.

Stir the chicken, prawns and peas into the paella and cook for a further 2 minutes, until everything is hot. Scatter over the chopped parsley and serv.

This recipe is calculated for 4 servings and it is suitable for freezing. Do not worry about the peas if you choose to use frozen ones. Frozen vegetables that are defrosted and cooked, can be re frozen and reheated.

In you want to prepare this paella recipe without any seafood, just increase the amount of chicken, or replace that amount for sausages, chopped jam, or just roasted meat. Innovate based on your family tastes!!!

This Bacon Spinach Quiche finger food recipe is just for those unfamiliar with finger food. It is simple to make and good to eat. Finger food as the name denotes is food, which you can eat with your fingers – it could include anything – Mexican tacos, enchiladas, dips, sausage rolls, chicken wings and many other delicious yummies.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1 cup light cream or half & half light cream
• 8 eggs
• 2 cups Swiss cheese
• 1 package chopped frozen spinach, drained
• 10 strips bacon
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• 2 pie shell (optional)

Preparation:

Brush the pie shell with egg yolk at 400 degrees. Weigh the center of the pie shell down with pie weights. You can also use dried beans to do this. Fry and drain the bacon on a paper towel. Dice the bacon. Mix together buttermilk, cream, eggs and Swiss cheese. Add the spinach, bacon and cayenne pepper.

Pour into the pie shell. However, if you like you can skip using the pie shell and pour the mixture directly into a greased pan. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees or until solid. Serve it hot.

Honey roasted figs wrapped in prosciutto with walnuts A delicious combination of sweet finger food recipe and savoury, so decadent and unusual, your guests will always come back for more. Extremely easy and effective, make in big batches, and serve with a drizzle of olive oil.

For this honey roasted figs wrapped in prosciutto ham with walnuts recipe, you will need the following ingredients:

• 8 figs
• 8 slices prosciutto ham
• 8 sliced walnuts
• 8 cubes goats cheese
• Honey
• Salt and pepper

Method of Preparation

• Make a cross in the top of the figs.
• Drizzle with honey, and salt and pepper.
• Pop a square of cheese and a walnut half into each one.
• Wrap in the prosciutto (or any other thin ham you have).
• Pop them onto an oven tray. Drizzle again with honey, olive oil, and salt and pepper.
• Cook at 180C for around 35 minutes.
• Serve with a drizzle of oil and crusty bread.

This wonderful finger food baked Thai chili-garlic shrimp recipe is easy to make and superb for any type of party. In this recipe, shrimps are tossed in a spicy chili-garlic sauce, and then it is broiled in the oven for just a few minutes.

You can serve and enjoy this recipe with rice as a main entree. This spicy finger food baked Thai chili-garlic shrimp recipe will be a hit with your friends and family, and it can be prepared in less than 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1 party platter of 10-20 large to jumbo-size shrimp/prawns
• 10-20 medium to jumbo-size prawns, fresh or frozen
• 2 tablespoon oil
• 1 + 1/2 tablespoon coconut milk
• 2 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1+1/2 heaping tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste
• 3 cloves garlic, minced

Preparation:

Rinse the shrimps and remove the shells, except for the tails. Butterfly the shrimp by cutting down the length of the back. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and process well to make a chili-garlic sauce. Pour the sauce over the shrimps and stir or toss to mix. Marinate it for 5 minutes while your heat the oven. Lay the shrimps on their sides on a baking sheet. Place the sheet on the second rung from the top of your oven. Allow to broil for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the shrimps are sizzling and steaming.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and turn the shrimps to cook on the other side. If you have any left-over marinade, spoon it over the shrimp. And cook it for 2 to 4 minutes, or until shrimps are plump and succulent. Serve with toothpicks and garnish with wedges of lemon or lime.

New moms always keep looking for variety of healthy weaning recipes and undoubtedly recipes made from fresh fruits and breast milk are one of most nutritious baby food. Following recipe is puree made from fresh papaya.

Papaya puree may not be your baby’s first food but it could be introduced to babies as later first food in second stage of weaning i.e. when baby’s age lies between 8 to 10 months. The reason of considering Papaya puree as baby food is because papaya is a rich source of essential vitamins, folic acid and fibers.

Ingredients:

• 1 well ripened papaya
• Breast or formula milk

Method:

Peel the papaya and de – seed it. Further cut the papaya into small chunks. If papaya is hard , you should steam it to get soften.

Slightly Mash the papaya and add some breast milk or formula as per desired consistency.

Put papaya and milk in an electric blender or hand mixer and puree it.

Papaya puree is ready for feeding your infant. Feed your baby with this nutritious recipe for his all round development.

Weaning is an important part of your child’s growing process and it is imperative that you wean your baby the right way so that the baby is able to develop a good taste sense. Fruits form an important part of our diet and introducing a baby to fruits is one of the first ways of weaning your baby from breast milk or the general milk diet that a baby is accustomed to in the first few months of its infancy. Adding delicious fruit puree to your weaning recipes is a wise thing to do.

Ingredients:

• 1 Cooking or red apple
• 1 Banana
• A pinch of grated nutmeg

Procedure:

Wash and peel the apple and cut into thick slivers. In a cup of water, boil the cut apple with a pinch of grated nutmeg until soft but not very pulpy. When done remove from stove and allow to cool for at least half an hour. In the meantime peel the banana and cut into thick pieces and put into a bowl. Mash the banana with a fork.

Remember that the banana must not be kept ready before the apples are done and have cooled down, as bananas tend to discolour very quickly. Also bear in mind that adding hot or even warm apple stew to the banana will turn it brown very quickly. So the apple must be cool before you add it to the mashed banana.

When the apple stew has cooled, add to the banana and mash together, mixing both the fruits in well. Add a little of the stew liquid if too thick and combine. You can also use the blender if you like to form a smooth puree. Serve immediately.

Tip: As the quantity of the fruit is more than what a baby can consume at a time, it is best to use only half the mentioned fruits, as this fruit puree cannot be stored even in the refrigerator without the banana going brown.

There is always a craving for junk foods especially during winter season. Here is a wonderful mouth watering recipe on sweet potato fries or figner food. Sweet potato fries are like the French fries but some coating brings a delicious taste into that recipe. Its also an easy finger food recipe served best with mint and coriander sauce. If our guest arrives with in a short notice then we can enjoy there presence without spending long time in kitchen .So prepare this dish with in no time that your guest can nibble at while sharing talks.

Ingredients:

• 4 large sweet potatoes
• I cup corn flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1/2 red chilly powder
• Oil for deep frying
• 1 tablespoon sesame seed.
• 1 cup of water

For Sauce preparation

• 1 cup fresh Coriander leaves
• 1 cup fresh mint leaves
• tablespoon ginger paste
• ½ tablespoon garlic paste
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 whole green chilly
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon whole mustard seeds

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Method

We will first prepare the green sauce. It can be made 3 or 4 days in advance and stored in glass jars in the fridge. Take them out of the fridge for a couple of hours before serving as they really do taste best at room temperature. Blend coriander leaves, mint leaves, green chilies, and salt together in a food processor for few seconds to mix evenly. Add water if requires in to it for mixing .It would become a fine paste.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds Fry till it sputter. Add the ginger and garlic paste into. Fry well for 5 minutes till the raw odor of garlic disappears. Now, add the entire green paste into the pan. Add lemon juice. Cook for 1 minute. The green sauce is ready to use.

Wash the sweet potatoes thoroughly under running water. Peel and cut into very long pieces around 4 – 5 inches each. Prepare a batter by adding corn flour in a bowl. Add water .Mix it well .Add the other ingredients like baking powder, red chilly powder, sesame seeds. Mix again to avoid lumps in the batter Keep it aside for few minutes.

Do not add the salt at this stage as it will release undesirable water into the batter which will make the fries softer. As the fries has to be crispy. Add salt just before frying. Pour a good amount of refined oil in to a deep frying pan. Heat it for 5 minutes till smoke will come out of the oil. Hot oil helps to make the fries crispy and crunchy. Dip the potatoes into the batter. Deep fry it till it becomes golden brown.

Take a serving plate. Arrange the sweet potato fries on the plate and serve with the green sauce.

Finger food recipes are main attraction of any small & big gatherings, birthday parties, camping, picnic, even as starter snacks in wedding parties. And spring roles are an excellent finger food appetizer. Today, spring roles are considered as an international snack But this dish was originated in Asian countries, most notably China, Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia. Spring Roles are mostly eaten during spring festival in these countries. Spring Roles could be either eaten as fresh (without frying) or deep fried.

Following recipe is bite size veggie filled spring roles which could be used as figner food appetizer.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup rice vermicelli or rice thin noodles, cooked
• 1 carrot, washed, peeled and finely grated
• 3 – 4 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and julienned
• 1 medium jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts
• 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
• 3 tbsp fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• Few spring roll wrappers or rice papers
• Water
• Oil for frying

Method:
Boil salt and water in a pan when water comes to boil, add noodles into it. Cook the noodles for next 2-3 minutes until tender, drain and rinse with cold water.

Chop noodles into small pieces using a knife. In a bowl, add lime juice, hoisin sauce and sugar, mix well and keep aside. In a separate bowl, combine carrot, cucumber, jalapeno, peanuts, green onions, cilantro and noodles. Add soy sauce and lime juice mixture and mix well again.

Heat a sauce pan over medium heat and add 2 tbsp oil. When oil is heated, add garlic and cook about half a minute. Then add veggies and noodles in to it and pan fry for 2-3 minutes until vegetables are slightly tender.

Soak spring roll wrappers in cool water for about 5 minutes. Spread spring role wrapper on a flat surface and place 2-3 tbsp veggie – noodle mixture and wrap it carefully. Cut the spring role into bite size pieces. Meanwhile, heat oil in a saucepan and leave spring roles into the oil. Deep fry spring roles until turn golden brown.

Veggie spring roles are ready to serve. Serve them hot with your favorite dipping sauce.

Chicken nuggets is an excellent figner food recipe. This amazing snack is liked by all age groups as they are tasty as well as nutritious, specially kids like them most. There could be two ways to cook chicken nuggets, by deep frying or by baking them in the oven. Most of the restaurants use deep frying method to prepare nuggets but if you are monitoring your diet, you can prepare it by baking in the oven. Moreover, frozen ready made chicken nuggets are also available in stores. Number of different recipes exist for preparing chicken nuggets. The following recipe is basic chicken nuggets which can be easily & quickly prepared at home anytime.

Ingredients:

• 0.5 lb skinless, boned chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
• 1-cup breadcrumbs
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp seasoning salt
• Canola or vegetable oil for frying

Method:

Marinate chicken with ground pepper, olive oil & ginger-garlic paste and keep aside for about 45 minutes. Beat eggs in a separate bowl. Combine bread crumbs, paprika, cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, seasoning salt in a dish.

Preheat oil in a deep frying pan at 360 deg F. Dip chicken pieces in egg and wrap with bread crumbs mixture, then leave one by one into the oil and deep fry. Chicken Nuggets are ready to serve. Serve them hot with your favorite sauce.