Cheesy Spinach and Bacon Dip

I've said it time and time again, I can live off of appetizers. I'm a grazer, appetizers are perfect for grazing all day or during a party. I made this kraft recipe for our Fourth of July party. Not only was it a simple recipe, but one that didn't need the oven. When hosting a party there are usually so many items that need to be baked. I was able to get more done because this was done in the microwave. Everyone was asking for this recipe.  Definitely a good one for parties.  I'm sure we  will be using it a lot for football season! 

Ingredients

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained

1 lb.  (16 oz.) VELVEETA Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cubed

1 can  (10 oz.) RO*TEL Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained

8 slices OSCAR MAYER Bacon, cooked, crumbled

Directions

  

MICROWAVE ingredients in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 5 min. or until VELVEETA is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring after 3 min.

White Chocolate Strawberries and Pretzels...July 4th

I saw some cute July 4th creations on Pinterest and decided to recreate them for our party last night.  These two creations were easy to prepare before hand.  All you need is a double boiler and white baking chips.  I melted the baking chips and started with the pretzels.  I dip, twirled and sprinkled.  I laid them on wax paper to dry.  They're as easy as that! Put them in a glass vase for the prefect presentation.  

For the strawberries, I used the remaining white chocolate.  I dipped them and held them up for  a minute to harden a bit.  Then I dipped them into a bowl of blue sprinkles.  After that, I laid them on wax paper to harden.  The key to getting the blue sprinkles to stick is not dipping the strawberry directly into the sprinkles after the white chocolate.  Give it about 20 seconds to harden and then dip.  Enjoy!

Patriotic Wreath Tutorial

Happy 4th of July!

I love wreaths hanging on my front door.  I especially love wreaths that are hand made especially for holidays.  Here is the wreath I made for the 4th.  

Materials:

Red, White and Blue Yarn

Scissors

3 Felt Stars

3 Star Buttons

Directions: 

Start our with a round foam wreath. Any Size.

Divide the wreath into a color pattern and mark it.  I decided to do a red, white, blue, white pattern.  I used a sharpie to mark it.  This helped me know where to start and stop each section of the yarn.  

Wrap the yarn around the wreath.  I tied the yarn in a knot to start it out and continued to wrap it until I came to the marked line.  When changing colors, I tied the two colors together to start the new section.  

You're wreath is now finished.  I found some felt stars at Jo Ann's (6 for $1).  I glued them on the bottom left side of the wreath.  When I was done with that, I felt like it needed a little more.  So, I added a few star buttons on top of the felt stars. 

Ta Da!

Wine Cork Monogram

I'm not sure what I did before the days of Pinterest.  I love all of the ideas I've found during the countless hours I've spend on there.  This is one of those ideas I pinned onto my MAKE IT board. You can find the original project here.  I couldn't wait to make this wine cork initial.  I'm currently doing lots of work on our kitchen and knew this would be the perfect addition.  The whole project took me just over an hour.  And...I LOVE how it came out.  This would also make a great gift (wedding or housewarming).  

What You Need: 

Glue Gun

Wine Corks

Knife or Scissors

Wood Initial (found mine at Michael's) 

Craft Paint

Paint Brush

How To Do It: 

Start with your wooden letter.  You can choose to leave it white if that will match your decor.  My kitchen doesn't have any white, therefore I decided to paint mine black. 

Gather lots of wine corks. I saved mine and had some saved from my wedding projects.  

 The H took 35-40 corks, cut in half.  

Paint the letter.  I used black craft paint.  I painted 2 coats on the back of the H and one coat on the front because it will be covered in corks.  Let the paint dry.  

Cut the wine corks in half.  I thought the H would look weird if I used full corks.  I didn't want it to stick out really far if I hung it on the wall.  So I used a knife and cut them in half.  Hot glue the corks onto the letter.  Line up each row to make sure it fits before you start gluing.  Cover the entire letter.  

I had to cut a few corks at the bottom in order to cover the entire H.  Let the glue dry and display your great work! 

Smores Pie

I saw a picture on Pinterest of Smores Pie and knew I had to make it.  I love all the smores creations I've made and couldn't wait to add this one to the list.  Here is the recipe that I originally found.  Since I made this while we were on vacation, I didn't make the dough from scratch.  I didn't want to lug my mixer with me nor did I want to do all that work at the beach.  So, I bought pre-made cookie dough to make the pie.  It worked very well, sooo much easier!  You can find the ingredients and directions here.  Below you will find my step by step directions.  I used 2 packages of cookie dough, 2 cups of fluff and 3 Hershey's candy bars.  Make sure to let the pie cool before you cut it.  I enjoyed the pie the first night we made it but I LOVED the pie after it had been in the refrigerator over night.  

1.  Place cookie dough in an ungreased pie dish

2.  Press the dough to form a crust. 

3.  On a piece of parchment paper (or aluminum foil) shape the 2nd package of cookie dough into a circle.  Make sure it's as big as the pie dish. 

4.  Spread the fluff on top of the cookie dough.  Then top with pieces of Hershey's chocolate. 

5.  Place the round cookie dough on the top of the pie.  Press edges together. 

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes

ENJOY!

Crunchy Onion Potato Bake

One of the things I love about the beach house in the Keys is that it has a kitchen filled with everything needed to cook.  We don't go out to eat and bring tons of food down with us each year.  My job this year was sides.  I picked this one because of it's ingredients.  I didn't want to spend the time making mashed potatoes while on vacation, but wanted a potato recipe.  This Betty Crocker  recipe was not only perfect because I didn't have to spend tons of time mashing potatoes but the ingredients were easy to tote down to the Keys.  If I were to make this at home, I would definitely use fresh potatoes instead.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 1/2	cups milk
1 1/2	cups water
1/4	cup butter
1	box (7.2 oz) Betty Crocker® homestyle creamy butter or roasted garlic mashed potatoes
1	can (15.25 oz) Green Giant® whole kernel corn, drained
1	cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)
1	can (2.8 oz) French-fried onions

1. 1Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In 3-quart saucepan, heat milk, water and margarine to boiling. Stir in contents of both pouches of potatoes (from potatoes box) just until moistened; let stand 1 minute. Stir with fork until smooth. Stir in corn.
2. 2Spoon half of potato mixture into dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 each of the cheese and onions. Top with remaining potatoes; sprinkle with remaining cheese and onions.
3. 3Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and onions are golden.

Warm Bacon Dip

I'm always on the hunt for new appetizers.  I've made tons of tasty appetizers but I don't like to make the same recipe twice.  One day I won't have the time to spend searching for recipes and tasty creations.  But while I do, I'm going to keep on searching and trying new things.  Because when that day when I don't have the time,  I'll have this blog to turn to to find the recipes that were hits in the past.  Make sense? I found this recipe on Kraft Foods.  Who doesn't like bacon in an appetizer?  I knew it would be a crowd pleaser and it definitely didn't disappoint.  I made it at the beach and loved that I didn't have to bring lots of ingredients with me.  I didn't add the green onions b/c my Mister doesn't like them.  Next time I will add them to half of the recipe.    Although it was still a grand slam without! Enjoy!

**I served with Triscuit crackers and Tostitos chips**

Ingredients

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups Daisy Brand Sour Cream
• 3 ounces bacon bits
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup chopped green onion

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Place the mixture in a 1-quart baking dish. Cover. Heat the dip for 25-30 minutes or until hot. Serve with assorted fresh vegetables, crackers and/or chips. *Serving option: Dip may also be placed in hollowed round sourdough loaf, wrapped in foil and heated in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Brown's Best Baked Beans

This recipe comes from one a very special friend of mine.  Caroline over at Simply Smithwick posted this recipe about a month ago.  I saved it knowing it would come in handy with summer BBQ's right around the corner.  I made them this weekend while we were on vacation.  I've never made baked beans with ground sausage, but was pleasantly surprised at the taste it added.  The recipe is easy to make but make sure you realize they take an hour to cook.  Enjoy! 

Ingredients:
1 large can of Baked Beans ( Bush's Maple Cured Baked Beans)
1 lb. ground sausage
3 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp BBQ sauce
4 tbsp ketchup

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Brown sausage
3. In a 8x8 dish, combine sausage, beans, brown sugar, BBQ sauce and ketchup.
4. Bake beans for 1 hour on 325.

Enjoy!

Salsa Cheddar Chicken

Sometimes I plan meals that are very similar to each other.  This is simply because I don't want to waste ingredients.  Since I only cook 4 serving each night (2 for dinner and 2 for leftovers)  I usually end up with lots of left over ingredients.  Typically, they stay in the frigde and end up going bad.  So my solution to this little problem  was to take more time in planning my meals. Plan meals using the same ingredients so that nothing went to waste.  This Kraft meal was used in a Mexican themed week.  

what you need

2 Tbsp. KRAFT Light Zesty Italian Dressing

4 small  boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)

1 large green pepper, cut into thin strips

1 large  tomato, chopped

1 cup TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Salsa

1 cup  KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese

2 cups hot cooked long-grain brown rice

make it

HEAT dressing in large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken; cover. Cook 4 to 5 min. on each side or until lightly browned. Remove from skillet; cover to keep warm.

ADD peppers to skillet; cook 5 min., stirring frequently. Stir in tomatoes and salsa. Return chicken to skillet; simmer, covered, on medium-low heat 10 min. or until done (165ºF).

TOP with cheese; cook, covered, 4 to 5 min. or until melted. Serve over rice.

Southwestern Chicken Pasta Salad

I was in the mood for some pasta salad for dinner and went on the hunt for a tasty recipe.  I stopped my search after finding this one from Betty Crocker. I've been loving Mexican food lately, just can't get enough.  Hubs and I prepared this dinner together, which made it even better!  I loved it and hubs liked it.   He wasn't crazy about the mayo dressing, I on the other hand couldn't get enough.  It was just as delicious left over for lunch the next day.  We didn't use the lettuce and didn't feel as though anything was missing.  This would be a hit without the chicken at a party or shower as a side.  Enjoy! 

INGREDIENTS

6	oz. (2 cups) uncooked rainbow rotini (spiral pasta)
1	(9-oz.) pkg. frozen southwestern-flavored cooked chicken breast strips, thawed, diced
1	medium avocado, pitted, peeled and diced
1	large tomato, chopped
1	(11-oz.) can Green Giant® Niblets® Whole Kernel Sweet Corn, drained
1/2	cup sliced green onions
4	oz. (1 cup) finely shredded Mexican cheese blend
3/4	cup mayonnaise
1/2	cup Old El Paso® Thick 'n Chunky salsa
1	(11-oz.) pkg. torn romaine and iceberg lettuce blend (6 cups)
1/4	cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. 1Cook and drain rotini as directed on package. Rinse with cold water to cool. Drain well.
2. 2Meanwhile, in large bowl, mix chicken, avocado, tomato, corn, onions and cheese. In small bowl, mix mayonnaise and salsa.
3. 3Add rotini to salad; stir gently to mix. Add mayonnaise mixture to salad; toss to coat. Arrange lettuce blend on individual plates. Spoon salad over lettuce. Sprinkle with cilantro.

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

I originally found this idea on the Betty Crocker website and have also seen it on a bunch of blog link ups.  I knew it would be the perfect treat to make my class on the last day of school.  So, I made them last Wednesday and I have to say they are the cutest cupcakes I've ever made.  I'm giving you the Betty Crocker recipe because I used it as my guide.  I will tell you that I did not turn the cupcakes upside down to bake.  I used a square piece of aluminum foil stuffed in the muffin pan to hold the cones up.  It worked very well and I just left them there until I served them.  I used a pastry bag for the icing to give it the soft serve ice cream look.  Enjoy!

1

box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® party rainbow chip cake mix

 Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box

24

flat-bottom ice cream cones

1 

to 2 containers Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy frosting (any flavor)

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups.
2. Make cake batter as directed on box. Fill each cup 2/3 full of batter (1 heaping tablespoon each). Place ice cream cone upside down on batter in each cup.
3. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean (cones may tilt on batter). Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Remove paper baking cups. Generously frost cake with frosting, and decorate as desired. Store loosely covered.