Buffalo Chicken Dip

A month or so ago we had some people over at the last minute to watch a basketball game.  I needed to throw together some quick snacks and I decided to make this buffalo chicken dip.  It's super simple and always well received.  Sorry for the blurry picture.  I snapped one at the last second as people were ready to dig in.

Ingredients

1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese

1/2 C Frank's Original Sauce

1/2 C ranch dressing

2 C chicken, cooked and shredded

1 C cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients together in bowl.

Spread into a casserole dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until heated through.

Serve with crackers or celery.

Super Bowl Recipe Ideas

Are you hosting or attending a Super Bowl Party this weekend?  Here are some recipe ideas for the party...

Super Simple Pizza Rolls  (left) and Pigs in a Blanket (right)

Pioneer Woman's Restaurant Style Salsa

Funeral Sandwiches

Betty's Cheese Ball

The Dip

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Click the links to the right for other ideas, especially the appetizers, party foods, dips, and salsa categories.

Betty's Cheese Ball

I have had this recipe for quite some time and have never actually gotten around to making it.  I'm not sure why, it wasn't hard and it got lots of compliments.  Betty is my uncle Bryan's mom and she made this cheese ball a few years ago at Christmas, I have been meaning to make it ever since.  I did adapt it a bit mainly because I didn't have all the ingredients.  We served this at our house prior to going out with friends for dinner on NYE.    

Ingredients 1 pkg cream cheese 1 C sharp cheddar cheese, shredded 4 tsp chives (the recipe called for onions) 3 tsp green pepper, finely diced 4 tsp pimiento a few shakes of Salt 1/4 C mayo 2 T of milk several generous shakes of tabasco crushed pecans     Mix all ingredients except pecans together with mixer.     Shape into a ball with your hands.   Roll in crushed pecans   Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving.  

Meatballs

We had a baby shower at work on Monday for my sweet coworker Lexa and her baby boy due in a few weeks.  I made meatballs by my trusty recipe.  They are always a hit and I've seen lots of variations of it.  It's sooo easy!  I, of course, forgot to take a pic of the meatballs so I stole these pics of the shower from Lexa instead.

Ingredients

1-2 bags frozen meatballs

32 oz grape jelly 

2 12 oz. jars of chili sauce 

Spread meatballs in crockpot.  Dump grape jelly and chili sauce on top.  Stir together.  Cook until heated through. I cooked on high for 4 hours.  

Caprese bites

I have to say I myself am not big on this concept but other people love them so I have made them a few times recently for our party and for HGs birthday party.

Ingredients

Cherry or grape tomatoes

Fresh mozzarella balls

Fresh basil

Balsamic vinegar

Toothpicks

Simple...

Place a tomato, 1/4-1/2 a basil leaf and  mozzarella ball on a toothpick.  If tomatoes are larger you may want to half them.  Repeat until you run out of an ingredient.

Make a balsamic reduction by bringing 2/3 C balsamic to a boil then reducing to a simmer for 10 minutes until thickened.

Drizzle this mix over your caprese bites!

Bacon Wrapped Smokies

Bacon wrapped smokies are a simple and well loved appetizer because who doesn't love bacon?  Of course I forgot to take a picture but take my word for it, these are delicious!
I did find this one picture that they happened to be in...

 
Ingredients (makes approximately 40 pieces) 1 pkg little smokies 1 lb bacon 1 C brown sugar toothpicks Lay bacon flat and cut into thirds. Wrap each smoky with 1/3rd a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Place bacon wrapped smokies in a casserole dish. When all smokies are wrapped, top with 1 C brown sugar. Bake on 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes until bacon is cooked and brown sugar has reduced into a delicious sauce.  

Corn Dip

Life as a hospital RN means working nights/weekends/holidays and spending them away from family and friends. I am fortunate that my job has a 3 year rotation to keep the split of holidays fair and allow us to plan the year in advance. This year my holidays were Thanksgiving and NYE.  So those of us who were working NYE decided to make the best of it. We busted out tons of snacks & sparkling grape juice. I decided to try and make this corn dip recipe I found on the Here Comes the Sun blog. It was really easy and my coworkers really liked it.  I wanted to serve it with fritos scoops but they were sold out so I did regular fritos and corn chips.

Ingredients

3 cans mexicorn, drained 

3 C sharp cheddar

16 oz. sour cream

1/2 C mayo

5 green onions, chopped

S&P

Mix cheese, sour cream, mayo and onion together.  Add in mexicorn and stir together well.  Add S&P to taste.  Refrigerate for several hours before serving.

Here's my friend Tarah & I toasting to a new year. Of course it was a little late because midnight was the exact second that a patient decided to jump out of bed and another decided they absolutely must be discharged at that time but we made the most of it.

And here's the sparkling grape juice toast I had with the fiancé before I left for work...

Most Popular Recipes of 2013

I thought I would recap some of the most popular recipes on the blog for 2013.   These are the top recipes by page views and pins on pinterest.   Far & away this was the most popular post...   Beef & Broccoli  

  Followed by my Crockpot Buffalo Chicken  

  Pesto  

  Pizza Rolls  

  Pumpkin Dip  

  Baked Ziti  

Pasta Primavera   

      NOW FOR SOME OF OUR FAVORITE DISCOVERIES OF THE YEAR... Strawberry Rhubarb Pie  

   Grilled Pizzas  

Shrimp & Grits

 Oven Roasted Butternut Squash  

Sausage balls

Sausage balls are so easy to make and my family loves them. I made these twice over the holidays - once for Christmas Eve at my aunt and uncle's per his request and once for Christmas brunch at my house.

Ingredients

1 lb hot pork sausage

3 C bisquick

4 C cheddar, shredded

Simply mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Roll into 1.5 inch balls. Bake at 375 18-22 minutes until they start to turn golden on the top and are cooked through. Careful not to over cook! 

Funeral Sandwiches

Don't ask me why these are called funeral sandwiches, but they are so delicious!  They are great to make for a party or in our case dinner for 2 nights in a row & lunch in between.    

    Ingredients: 1 pkg King's Hawaiian rolls 3/4 lb thin sliced honey ham 1/2 lb thin sliced Swiss cheese 1 stick butter, melted 2 T mustard 3 T Worcestershire sauce 2 T brown sugar A few shakes of garlic powder

Slice rolls in half. Lay bottom of rolls in baking dish. Place sliced ham on each roll...I use 2-3 very thin slices per roll. Cover with ham...I use 1 slice, broken and layered on. Place top half of rolls on sandwiches. Mix together melted butter, mustard, Worcestershire, brown sugar, & garlic powder in bowl. Pour mixture over rolls. Marinade for 4+ hours. Bake on 350 for 15 minutes. Serve warm!

In other news, we are going to check out a possible wedding venue today (and maybe to have a glass or 3 of wine while we're there)!

Meal Planning Monday!

  I don't have a meal plan for this week.  We have so much stuff going on and a few meetings between when Eric gets home at 5:00 and I leave at 6:30 this week so there will be very little time for us to sit down and eat together.  Meals will likely amount to one of two things quick or frozen.  Then I am headed out Saturday morning for my vacation.  So what I have is a week in review.     Monday Plan: Baked Spaghetti    We made spaghetti on Sunday and made it baked spaghetti on Tuesday.  I forgot to take a picture after we added the cheese and baked it so it just looks like spaghetti here.  Eric made homemade sauce for the spaghetti and I shared the recipe here.

    Tuesday Plan: Smoky Corn Chowder We ate baked spaghetti again. I did end up making the chowder on Sunday for our football party and I will share the recipe this week.     Wednesday Plan: Drunken Noodles   This was a Schwan's meal that we had in our freezer.  We ate it along with some potstickers.  

    Thursday Plan: Bowling Alley Ate at the bowling alley.     Friday Plan: Charlottesville We headed down to Charlottesville when Eric got off of work to meet some of my college/sorority friends for dinner.  We got there earlier than they did so we headed to one of our favorite spots, Miller's, for drinks and appetizers before they arrived.   Then we met them at South Street Brewery for dinner.  These pictures are from Miller's.  I didn't take any at South Street...or with my friends...fail!  

    Saturday Plan: Zuppa Toscana Fail!  We went out to El Jaripeo with our friends Travis & Erika.  Who can pass up Mexican?     Sunday Plan: Football Party We had so much good food for our party.  I made crockpot chicken chili, smoky corn chowder with shrimp, pigs in a blanket, Mexican dip, and pumpkin dip.  We also had homemade salsa, bacon wrapped deer tenderloin, chips & dip and Reese's peanut butter rice krispies.   Click the links above to see the recipes.  I will share the dip & corn chowder recipes this week.  Of course, I forgot to take the picture before we started eating so this is all half eaten and no longer pretty.  

The half eaten spread

Crockpot Chicken Chili

"The Dip"

Smoky Corn Chowder with Shrimp

  I apologize if this week's menu seems a little boring.  I didn't have many recipes to share.  But as a bonus I made these Sea Salt Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies and we thought they were pretty amazing!

 

Pumpkin Dip

My Gramma was in town for one day yesterday so my mom had the family over for a big potluck style meal.  I had to work so I made a few things up for my mom to pick up the day before and have on hand.   I've seen all kinds of recipes for different pumpkin dips floating around Pinterest & various blogs and thought I'd give it a try.  I used this recipe from Christina at Carolina Charm.  But my friend Sarah at Sweet Happenings also happened to post a variation here.    

Ingredients
1 15 oz can pumpkin
1 large (4.5 oz) pkg vanilla pudding mix
16 oz Cool Whip
1/2 T pumpkin pie spice
1/2 T cinnamon.

Thaw Cool Whip.  Stir all ingredients together.  Sprinkle with cinnamon on top.  Serve with graham crackers, gingersnaps, animal cookies or apple slices.   **If I was being super Pinteresty I would have carved a small pumpkin and used it as a serving dish for the dip but I worried about letting it sit in the pumpkin for 24 hours and I didn't want my mom to have to deal with assembling it since I wouldn't be there, so a bowl it is**