Baked Egg Rolls and Awards!!

I am so excited about this simple and fun recipe. This recipe for Baked Egg Rolls is one of the most adaptable, economical and fun recipes I have made in awhile!! All you really need is a package of egg roll wrappers and you can fill these with your choice of ingredients. They can be vegetarian or full of meat, either way they are delicious. Play with the ingredients and different dipping sauces to see what suits you. The first time I made these, I followed the recipe and used ground pork. They were delicious and I knew I wanted to make them again. This week at the grocery I found some ground chicken on sale for $1.49 a pound!! I thought of these egg rolls and bought a couple packages of that ground chicken. The egg roll wrappers were about $1.79. add that to the price of the chicken at $1.49, and the entire dish is definitely less than $5. Best of all, you can personalize them and serve them next to sesame or ramen noodles. Can you tell I'm excited about these?

On another note, my husband is hysterical!! My camera was taking very blurry pictures and I asked my husband to take a look at it. Thankfully he was able to fix the camera. I had no idea he had taken pictures of these egg rolls. When I downloaded the pictures I had a big laugh! He had the egg rolls arranged nicely, on great plate, but with baby squash on the side!! The entire thing just made me laugh out loud. There were no squash in the egg rolls, but he thought the colors made the egg rolls stand out. It was so cute and I just couldn't help but use his picture in the post.

Baked Egg Rolls, adapted from All Recipes Family Favorites**

1 pound ground pork
1 cup finely shredded cabbage **didn't have on hand, left out
1/4 cup finely shredded carrot
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro **didn't have on hand, left out
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1-1/2 tsp. oyster sauce **didn't have on hand, used soy sauce
2 tsp. grated fresh ginger root
1-1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. chili sauce **used some asian garlic chili paste
1 TBSP. cornstarch
1 TBSP. water
20 egg/spring roll wrappers
4 tsp. vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 425F. Place ground pork in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly browned (do not overcook because they will bake in oven for 20 mins). Remove from heat and drain meat. In a medium bowl, mix together pork, cabbage, carrot, green onions, cilantro, sesame oil, oyster sauce, ginger, garlic, and chili sauce. Mix cornstarch and water in a separate small bowl. Place approximately 1 tablespoon of the pork mixture in the center of each egg roll wrapper. (I think my wrappers were larger and I used about 2 tablespoons of filling, you definitely want to fill them up.) Roll wrappers around the mixture, folding edges inward to close. (The egg roll wrapper will probably show pics on how to roll them.) Brush wrapper seams with cornstarch mixture to seal. Arrange egg rolls in a single layer on a baking sheet and brush with vegetable oil, both sides. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, turn them over, and 10 minutes on the opposite side.

The nutritional information is listed for this recipe: 154 calories per roll, 7g protein, 20g carbs, 5g fat, 1g fiber, 15mg cholesterol, 200mg sodium

NOTES: Be careful when separating the egg roll wrappers. They are extremely thin. I realized halfway through that I had double egg roll wrappers on my first few rolls. They turned out just as good, but I would've had more egg rolls : ) If you have leftover filling, add it to your rice or pasta on the side. I had about 1/2 cup of leftover filling, but I'm blaming this on my inability to separate those egg roll wrappers correctly.

Now, onto some more fun!! I received this much appreciated award from Allison of Dinner at Our House. Allison has a great blog herself, with many great recipes. Check out her Pizza-Hut Pan-Style Pizza. It looks better than Pizza Hut!!

I would love to pass this award on to everyone!!! There are so many great blogs out there that I enjoy reading. Here are the fifteen that I have chosen. I hope that you will take the time to check out these blogs, they are all great for different reasons!!

Heather of Girlichef - Heather has so many great recipes and beautiful photos, and she is such a great person!

Donna of My Tasty Treasures - Donna has a big following and it is so easy to see why. She has great recipes and her posts are hysterical, adventurous and just plain fun. She is a sweetheart and has been following me from the beginning.

Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies - Natashya is a bread baking goddess!! I'm convinced that there is nothing this woman can't cook!! Plus, she does a great job hosting the Tyler Florence Fridays blog.

Deb of Kahakai Kitchen - Deb is great at cooking up colorful, bright, and healthy meals. It is always a delight to see what she has made each week for Tyler Florence Fridays. She is also great as a host on Tyler Florence Fridays.

Megan of My Baking Adventures - Megan has many baking adventures in the kitchen. I am really enjoying Megan's adventure into ice cream this summer. Every Monday, she posts another great ice cream recipe entitled "The Weekly Scoop".

Beth of the Seventh Level of Boredom- I'm convinced that Beth and I lead parallel lives. Sometimes I think we married the same picky eater : ) Beth cracks me up. Her posts are witty and funny and I enjoy them greatly. Sometimes we are even making the same dish!

Joanne of Eats Well with Others - Joanne is a young woman of many talents. She cooks, bakes, runs marathons and is enrolled in an MD/PhD program at Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Sloan-Kettering Tri-Institutional MD/PhD. Her posts are well-written and she makes some great things for herself, for her roomies, and for her family.

Pam of Sidewalk Shoes - Pam has the most beautiful pictures. Everything on Pam's blog is so impressive. Visit her blog and you will be amazed at her photos and recipes.

Arlene of The Food of Love - Arlene is another devoted blogger with Tyler Florence Fridays. Arlene shares great information about each of her recipes. She gives notes, changes, and opinions along the way. I love her honesty and attention to details.

Lizzie of Every Last Cookie - Lizzie is a sophomore in college who is baking her way through Martha Stewarts Cookie Cookbook, all 147 recipes!! The post are well-written and the photography is great. I am really enjoying all the cookies!

Julie of The Sporadic Cook - I have just recently found Julie's blog and she cracks me up. I love how candid she is and enjoy her posts so much. She also makes great home-cooked meals and shares her ups and downs in the kitchen.

Erica of My Colombian Recipes - Erica's blog is unique and beautiful. She shares many Colombian recipes with great sentiment for her home country. The photos are beautiful and I learn something each time I read a post. I'm going to be trying some of her recipes shortly.

Mimi of Standing at the Kitchen Door - First of all, the background on this blog is my all-time favorite!! Go there just to check out the adorable background! I just found her blog this past week and I love it for it's great recipes, pictures and sentiment. Mimi remembers her mother at the end of each post by signing them "Mom & Me". I think that is just priceless. Don't we all feel close to our mothers when we are in the kitchen??

Laura of Tide and Thyme - I just found Laura last week and I can already tell she is a sweetheart. She has a great blog and her love for food and cooking are well conveyed on her blog.

and last but not least.........

Libby of Cooking with Libby - Thank you to Libby for introducing me to the Paula Deen cooking club. Where have I been hiding this whole time! The world of food blogging is filled with wonderful people and Libby is no exception. She's still in the kitchen, even with a knee injury. Check out her site for great Paula recipes and many others.....

I also want to say thank you to everyone who visits my site. I appreciate all the comments and love reading through them.