TWTW - the year of dip has begun

Friday Was a good day despite me waking up on the wrong side of the bed. I got a manicure at lunch for the first time in a year I think, killed it at work, my new phone came, hopped a train a little after 4 and saved $31 using Target Circle plus got a $10 gift card, came home to dinner made, washed my overly dirty hair, and chilled the F out. I watched the Taylor Swift documentary on Netflix. It was interesting to see a young celebrity deal with the expectation of women to be nice and quiet. Also I forgot how fucking terrible Kanye was at the VMAs. 

Saturday I made power breakfast muffins and we piddled around then headed to Fishtown for the grand opening of Harriett's Bookshop at 258 E. Girard Ave. Local friends, check it out. It's a new, small, black woman owned business. These are my buys, MFD got two books too. We tried to get something to eat in Fishtown but our time was limited so we attempted Three Monkeys which was a half hour wait and said fuck it and went to Redhouse Bagels before popping in to Aldi to pick up a few things. 

MFD headed out almost as soon as we got home, and I did laundry and read before setting up my Imbolc altar, and making some lemon poppy seed muffins, salad, salmon, rice, and brussels sprouts for dinner. I set MFD to untangling a mess of three necklaces before he went out, and I finished a book and fell asleep at 1:30.

Sunday I was not asleep long before I heard the old dog crying. He had pooped his way down the stairs and around the first floor, so I was up at the ass crack cleaning that up. MFD joined me and then it took a while but we both went back to sleep until about 10. I did some work work then weekly food prep. The nail photo is why I do my nails myself. Not even three full days. Not my ideal start to a day, sleeping in feels like wasting the day to me, but it was necessary and I rallied.

Dip making for the super bowl. We're all here for the dips, right? This is my self proclaimed Year of Dip. Dip #1 of the year was a chive/mascarpone/bacon dip for which I used Giada's recipe. It was good - I added two additional pieces of bacon, and I'd add two more the next time which would double the amount of bacon in the initial recipe. Dip #2 of the year was a crockpot jumbo lump crab dip that I got from a coworker and is much different than my usual hot crab dip recipe and method. I also made wings but we care more about the dips, right? Also let's get it out of the way from the start that dips photograph terribly but taste delicious.

We went to Frank & Amanda's for the super bowl through the first three quarters. The half time show was awesome with over 40 ladies out there killing it, the company was great, and I ate too much. And I painted my nails in the back room with the younger girls since i felt the need to remove Friday’s nail salon chipped polish LOL. 

Weekly food prep: Breakfast is scrambled eggs topped with broccoli that will get made tonight, no room in the fridge yesterday. Snacks are cucumbers and dip. Dinner is the broccoli/chicken/bacon dish I pulled from the freezer over leftover rice and chili with corn bread. The chili is loaded with veggies - red onion, zucchini, bell peppers, mushrooms. Salads on the side of both. Still working through those freezers. Lunches are leftovers or PB&J on Dave's bread.

How was yours? 

Salami Roll Ups

I love appetizers that are easy, especially in the summer months. I've made these twice so far. It doesn't seem like it would be a good combination, but it is.

Ingredients:
1 lb salami (if you're making a lot, get 2 lb)
whipped cream cheese
A jar of pepperoncini or banana peppers or both (you'll need two jars for 2 lbs)

Directions:
Drain pepperonicini/banana peppers of liquid. Spread a thin layer of cream cheese on salami. Add pepperonicini or banana peppers and roll up. Use toothpicks to secure or lay carefully with seam side down.

Corn Dip redux

Hello and happy Friday, you guys. Happy Royal Wedding II Eve. Alas, I am not having a Royal Wedding Party like I did the last time - have you seen that post? It was definitely one of the best parties ever. I considered trying to throw one together but ran out of time.

Last week I pulled up the ol' blog recipe page and clicked on the corn dip entry. There was no page found. Same for hoagie dip and some other ones. Who the hell knows what happened to them, but when I don't keep recipes on here, I have to find old word docs and I don't like doing that.

So, corn dip. Again, for those of you who've seen it before. Likely a similarly shitty photo to the first time, because it doesn't photograph well. It's always the way that the ugly things taste the best. Either way, maybe you need a dip for the weekend. Maybe this is it.

Ingredients
2 cans mexi-corn or fiesta corn, drained well
1C sour cream
1C mayo
2C finely shredded cheddar
5 chopped green onions
1 can chopped green chiles
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin

Directions
Mix all together and chill for a few hours. Serve with fritos, tortilla chips, or wheat thins.

Mini Stuffed Peppers Two Ways

I love food in miniature and I love dips, so it's safe to say I could exist on appetizers.

I made these for Carol & Dad's annual holiday party and it was my first time making the taco ones but the mozzarella pesto beauties are a standard quick little bite in our house.

Ingredients
1/2 lb or 1 lb ground turkey
taco sauce to put in with that
green onions
finely shredded cheese
mozzarella cheese, cut in strips
pesto
bag of mini peppers

Directions
Brown ground turkey, drain, and add taco sauce . Use the leftovers to have tacos one night that week - you need a very little amount of this. Allow to cool.

Cut tops off of peppers and cut them in half. Scoop out any seeds and cut away some of the pepper to make them a little wider if you need to. Lay them in a 13x9.

I filled half and half with the taco mix and topped with some finely shredded cheese and green onions and half with the mozzarella cheese topped with the pesto. You could certainly do all of one or the other. Preheat oven to 400 and bake for seven minutes. Serve immediately.

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Haikuesday

Finger foods for life

Sorry forks, you are fired

Manner regression.

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Green chile chicken dip

Did you ever unintentionally complicate a recipe in advance, but when it came time to make it you just said fuck it and ended up throwing a bunch of crap together? That's what happened here.

It's been a while since I've tried a new recipe. I slack off in that department over the summer, but I feel like it's been a little longer than that, across the board.

When I needed an appetizer for Lola Jean's first birthday party, none of the solid favorites were ringing a bell for me. Neither was any recipe I was perusing. So I took a few recipes and mixed them up and came out with this dip.

Ingredients
2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cups lime juice
2 packets fajita seasoning
2 8 oz packages of cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonaise
8 oz shredded sharp cheddar, divided into two equal parts
2 4 oz cans diced green chile peppers
2 4 oz jars diced pimentos
3 green onions, sliced thin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cumin
paprika for flash

Directions
Whisk fajita seasoning and lime juice and place chicken in it. Marinate chicken for at least four hours. I like to leave it overnight.

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes and let sit for 15. When cooled, shred chicken - I always do this in a food processor but you can do by hand or with a hand mixer.

While chicken is in the oven, unwrap cream cheese and place it in a large bowl to soften. Add mayo, sour cream, chicken, garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin. Mix well with hand mixer. Add green chiles, pimentos, green onions, and half of the cheese and stir to incorporate

Transfer to a greased 7x9 baking dish. Top with paprika and the other half of the cheese.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350, then hit it with the broiler for 8 minutes.

Serve with Fritos scoops, tortilla chips, crackers, or celery.

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Haikuesday

First sentence fuck it

That must be a new record... 

or just daily life.

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And today is Mae Doll's birthday. Happy happy Mae. 

fire in the hole bites

via

Flashback: Matt Saracen throwing a football through a tire in his front yard while Landry makes witty remarks on the side and Grandma yells confusing things from the porch. That's a round about way of telling you foosball fans that these would be a good thing for you to produce for your friends on game day.

Fire in the hole has nothing to do with this post. I just felt like using it in the title so these are now called fire in the hole bites. What they actually are is chicken tenders stuffed with cream cheese and jalapenos wrapped in bacon and grilled.

Ingredients (can be halved, I was making them for an event)
2 8 oz packages chicken tenders, pounded thin and cut in half
8 oz package of cream cheese
3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1 package of bacon, cut in half
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Pink Himalayan sea salt
Toothpicks, soaked in water

Directions
Grab a piece of chicken. Add a dab of cream cheese (just under a teaspoon) to the top. Top with some jalapeno pieces, pressing into the cream cheese. Dust with garlic powder and onion powder. Fold up or roll in half, wrap in bacon, and spear with a toothpick to secure. Top off with some pink himalayan sea salt.

Preheat grill to about 350. Grill until bacon is brown and crispy on both sides. Mine took about 10 minutes. Make sure you pre-soak the tooth picks. I did not and it was not cool. Learn from my mistakes! LOL

Clean up well with antibacterial everything since you will be handling raw chicken. Toss any cream cheese you don't use if it's been chicken contaminated.

Original recipe from Salad in a Jar.

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Haikuesday

Toothpicks on the grill...

Nearly caught myself on fire.

I still have eyebrows.

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Did you know today is my half birthday? It is. I think I'll have a piece of cake. You should too if for no other reason than it'll make Tuesday infinitely better. 

Yo quiero taco cup

I had to make something for Aubrey's baby shower that was an app - not a dip. I love apps and am drawn to individual ones and I'm always looking for something a little different to do. Enter these cute taco cups

Ingredients - this made about 90 taco cups and I used leftovers for taco night later in the week. Ole, mofos

1.5 lb ground turkey, beef, or chicken (I used turkey)
2 packets of taco seasoning (or equivalent of homemade seasoning)
grape tomatoes, sliced
sliced black olives
finely shredded cheddar
sour cream
Scoops tortilla chips - I used multigrain and regular

Directions

Brown your meat. Add taco mix according to directions (drain meat, add mix and a little bit of water, let it simmer for a bit).

Let meat cool.

Fill scoops with a bit of meat. Top them with some cheese. Add a dollop of sour cream - I like to use a little piper. Even though you have to keep filling it, it was the easiest way for me to do it.

Top with tomato and black olive and serve.

I would not make these ahead of time. An hour or so before serving is good. I've seen people use salsa, but it soaks the chip a little and makes them soggy. They're totally fine to serve at room temperature. If I wasn't transporting these, I probably would've added a little lettuce to these too. I didn't know how they'd survive the ride.

What's your favorite single serve app?

Veggie Pizzas

I'm all about the easy cold app in the summer. These veggie pizzas have an element of cooking, but it's small so they count. I originally got this recipe from Carol I think. My aunt Sue makes them too and they are always a favorite.

Ingredients (can be doubled, tripled etc. for a party)

1 pkg crescent rolls
1 8 oz light cream cheese, softened
1/3C mayo
½ tsp dill weed
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp minced onion
Finely shredded cheese
Fresh broccoli, grape tomatoes, bell pepper.

Directions

Grease 9x13 baking sheet or use a non-stick sheet. Unroll crescent dough and pat down on sheet. Follow directions so they're just lightly browned on top (it's about 9 and a half minutes in my oven). Set aside to cool.

In bowl, mix cream cheese, mayo, and spices. Beat until smooth and spread over cooled dough.

Top with minced veggie toppings and shredded cheese. Cut with a pizza cutter.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight. Other veggies may be added or substituted - I've used purple cabbage, carrots, green onions, etc. in the past.

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Haikuesday

Summer - humid. Hot.
Appetizers should be cold. 
Like my cold dark heart.  

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Cucumber Salsa

As we approach the season of easy, cold, fresh foods and farmers markets, I give you cucumber salsa. It's perfect to munch on for the week, to use atop grilled or baked chicken, or to bathe in. Just kidding. Or, you know, to enjoy on a fine Cinco de Mayo like today.

Ingredients
2 cups english cucumber, peeled and chopped fine
1/3 cup red onion, chopped fine
1 cup tomato, seeded and diced
1 jalapeno chopped fine, seeds removed
3 TBS chopped fresh cilantro
1 TBS minced garlic
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1/2 TBS cumin
1/2 TBS white pepper
11/2 TBS kosher salt
Juice of one lime
Juice of half a lemon

Directions
Mix well. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving. Makes enough for a four cup Pyrex. Double/triple if necessary for a crowd. 

After it sits, it will be a little watery, so I typically drain before serving.  

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Haikuesday

My mind is a blank.
John Locke. Philosophy, yo...
Tabula rasa.

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What are some of your favorite warm weather apps?

Oh look! More spinach...Spinach & Artichoke Dip

If you couldn't tell from the recipes for spinach muffins and spinach casserole I've shared recently (in addition of course to spinach dip) as well as my proliferation for adding spinach to my breakfast burritos and egg muffins, I am an enormous fan of spinach. Spinach is an excellent source of fiber, protein, Vitamins A, C, E, K, thiamin, B6, folate, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, and manganese. 

As we head into the ho ho holiday party season, we naturally look for some solid dishes to bring along to parties or to serve ourselves at home. I'm not one to reinvent the wheel when it comes to dips. The saying oldies but goodies exists for a reason. 

Hot spinach & artichoke dip is one of my favorite fall/winter apps. It's creamy, dreamy, and most of all easy. I serve it with Ritz crackers and raw red peppers, but it's good with tortilla chips too! You don't need to craft a photo-finish Pinterest masterpiece every time you want to make an app, and this dip is proof of that. 

Ingredients

8 oz light cream cheese, softened

1 cup mayo

10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1 14 oz can or jar of artichokes, drained and chopped

1.5 cups finely shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4-1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese - I don't love it so I stick to close to a quarter

a pinch of kosher salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced, or 2 tsp + of garlic powder (to taste)

Directions

Mix everything together and put it in a tiny crockpot on low for about 2 hours. Mix every once in a while. Reduce heat to warm or turn off entirely until you need to warm it up. 

You know what would be awesome to mix this? A kitchenaid. I'm on the lookout for a great deal online this weekend. If you see one please let me know!

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Haikuesday

Popeye. Spinach. Me.
What love may join together
Wait, that is marriage. 

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What's one of your go-to appetizers for the fall and winter months?

On a national note...I've written about Ferguson before. I can't do it justice here today but I did share some feelings on Instagram because I don't want to be radio silent about things that matter while I'm sharing recipes all la di dah. My thoughts are with the community there and with all of us for peace. 

Linking up for

Heyohhh Queso

I love all cheese. This includes the Tostitos melty cheese, full of 498 trillion preservatives. This weekend I made queso blanco, and it was good, a nice change from dips I typically make. Quick and easy too.

Ingredients
1 pound sharp American cheese from the deli (you can use regular American too)
4 ounces pepperjack cheese (I used a block and cut it in half)
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 large jalapeno pepper, diced fine, seeds removed
1 TBS olive oil
1 can Rotel with diced green chiles, drained
1 4 oz can diced green chiles
3/4 cup fat free half & half (more if you want it to be thinner)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Directions

Shred cheeses - I use a food processor to do this and it's done in seconds. If you don't have a food processor, you can cut them. Do that and set aside.

Drain Rotel with green chiles and separate green chile cans in a collander.

Saute onion and pepper in olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Add cheeses and stir until about 3/4 melted. Add tomatoes and diced green chiles and stir to incorporate. Add spices and half and half, stir continually until fully melted.

Transfer to a mini crock pot to keep warm. Serve with tortilla chops, on top of nachos, or drink it alone. Whatever floats your cheese boat.

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Haikuesday

The cheese stands alone...

Until you introduce chips.

Then the party starts.

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