I suck at throwing parties, but I make awesome food.

Since we've lived in our new house for 2 months now, I decided that last week we should have a housewarming party. I don't know what's happened since sophomore year of college, but i became really bad at throwing parties. It was pretty much a failure, but my food was awesome. Also, I dipped in to the sangria while I was cooking, so I forgot to take pictures of the food (double fail), which sucks because it all looked so pretty displayed on my platters, complete with garnishes and fresh flowers. Anyway, I did manage to get a few pictures after I remembered, and I can share the recipes with you.

I wanted to make a bunch of tapas to go with my sangria (which I made 4 gallons of). I also wanted to make a lot of different things, but buy as few ingredients as possible, so I used the same ingredients in a lot of my dishes. I mixed up the flavors by using different combinations of spices and flavors. I also wanted everything to cook at the same temperature so i didn't have to adjust the oven or have a million pots and pans on the stove, so everything that went in the oven is baked at 350 degrees. I ended up making a fruit and veggie platter, bacon wrapped asparagus, spinach stuff mushrooms, tuna stuffed peppers, bruschetta, and lettuce wraps. So here they are!! (starting with the most important)

Sangria
3 giant bottles of red wine
2 cans crushed pineapple, in juice
2 apples, diced
1 bunch grapes, cut in half
1 liter club soda

Open the wine and pour it into a giant pitcher. If you don't have a corkscrew, have your Mexican roommate open the bottles with a knife, although be warned, this will leave red wine splattered on the ceiling.

Seriously, it was everywhere.

Add the rest of the ingredients and let it sit for as long as possible. And then drink it :) yummm

While drinking, start making the food.

Tuna Stuffed Peppers
1 bag mini sweet peppers, about 30
3 cans of tuna
1 package neufchatel cheese (or reduced fat cream cheese)
2 green onions, chopped
the juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp red pepper flakes
fresh black pepper
salt to taste

Cut the tops of the peppers off and remove the seeds. Mix the remaining ingredients and fill the peppers to the top with the filling. Bake on a cookie sheet until warmed through, about 10 minutes. Super simple and taste similar to the stuffed peppers at Firefly.

Stuffed Mushrooms
2 cartons of small mushrooms, I used cremini, but I've used plain white button mushrooms before
1 package neufchatel cheese (or reduced fat cream cheese)
10 oz frozen spinach
2 green onions, chopped
2 tbsp nonfat Greek yogurt
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
lots of black pepper
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Remove the stems from the mushrooms and clean them with a damp cloth. Mix all the remaining ingredients except the Parmesan. Fill the mushrooms with the spinach mixture and arrange them on a cookie sheet. Top them with Parmesan and throw them in the oven for about 15 minutes. They look like this.

How cute are they??

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

1 package bacon

1 bunch asparagus

Fresh black pepper

1/4 cup balsamic glaze (you can buy this or make it by simmering 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar and 2 tbsp sugar until it reduces by half and gets thick and delicious)

Trim the ends of the asparagus about an inch from the bottom. Take 2 or 3 spears of asparagus ( depending on how many you have) and wrap a piece of bacon around them like a corkscrew. Place them on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with the pepper. Bake them for about 30 minutes or until the bacon is cooked through. When they're done, arrange them on a platter and drizzle the glaze over them.

Bruschetta

I tried to make this as good as my mom does, but alas, she is the bruschetta master. Here's my best attempt.

1 baguette, sliced on an angle

1 tbsp + 2 tbsp olive oil

4 roma tomatoes, diced

1/4 cup fresh basil, julienned

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

fresh black pepper

salt to taste

1/4 cup balsamic glaze

Arrange the baguette on a cookie sheet. Drizzle the first tbsp of olive oil on the bread. Toast it in the oven for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the tomatoes, the remaining oil, basil, and salt and pepper. Flip over the bread and put a little of the tomato mixture on each slice. Then top them with the cheese and put them back in the oven for 10 minutes until the cheese is melted. Take them out and drizzle with the balsamic. 

Lettuce Wraps

1 head red leaf lettuce

1 1/2 pounds chicken breast

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 stalk celery, finely chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced

1 tbsp oil

fresh black pepper

Grill the chicken until cooked through. I used a grill pan on my stove top. Chop the chicken into small pieces. While the chicken is grilling, heat the oil in a pan and saute the onion, garlic, and ginger. Add the chopped chicken, celery, pepper, and soy sauce and heat to combine. Separate the lettuce leaves and arrange them on a plate. Put the chicken in a bowl and let people fill their lettuce cups.

Better and better for you than PF Changs :)

Fruit Dip

This is my famous peanut butter fruit dip. I almost don't want to share it, but I'm feeling generous.

2 cups nonfat Greek yogurt

1 cup chunky peanut butter

3 tbsp sugar

sprinkle of cinnamon

Mix it all together and serve with sliced apples, strawberries, grapes and bananas. It's also reallllllly yummy when you spread it on graham crackers and top with melted dark chocolate while watching Law and Order at 4 in the morning. Not that I've done that... today. Judge me.

Veggie Dip

2 cups nonfat Greek yogurt

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp fresh basil, finely chopped

2 green onions, finely chopped

lots of fresh black pepper

salt to taste

Mix it all together and serve it with your favorite fresh veggies. I had carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, and sliced cucumbers.

Well that was my recipe overload to make up for the past week or so of silence. I hope you guys enjoy more than everyone enjoyed my party. Haha :)