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.

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  

The Dip

This dip recipe probably dates back to 1995 or so and anyone who went to St. Luke's with me or was in any of our high school Spanish classes probably knows what I'm talking about. It is a simple recipe for a Mexican style dip but we always referred to it as "the dip".  I would say that 90% of the people in our small class knew how to make the dip and everytime there was a class party or event someone volunteered to bring the dip.  It is really easy & quick to make but it tastes really good.    

 

Ingredients:

(Makes 1 8x8 pan, to make a 9x11 pan triple ingredients)
1 block cream cheese
1 can chili with no beans
1-1.5 C shredded Mexican blend cheese

I like to make this in a disposable pan just because it's easy to take places and then just trash when it's done.  When the cheese hardens up it can be a pain to clean the pan.  But I will use a glass dish if baking to keep at home.

Spread bottom of pan with block of cream cheese (or 3 if using a large rectangle pan)

Cover with canned chili.  (This may be the only time I ever tell you to use canned chili)

Sprinkle top with generous amount of shredded cheese.

 Bake on 350 degrees until shredded cheese is cooked and bubbly and dip is heated through...approximately 30 minutes.

If the cheese starts to harden up on top you can always plop the whole thing back in the oven and reheat it.

 

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**