GAMEDAY: Seven Layer Taco Dip

• 1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
• 1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
• 1 (16 ounce) jar salsa
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 bunch chopped green onions
• 1 small head iceberg lettuce, shredded
• 1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, blend the taco seasoning mix and refried beans. Spread the mixture onto a large serving platter.
2. Mix the sour cream and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Spread over the refried beans.
3. Top the layers with salsa. Place a layer of tomato, green bell pepper, green onions and lettuce over the salsa, and top with Cheddar cheese. Garnish with black olives.

GAMEDAY: Texas Jalapeno Poppers

8 - oz. cream cheese, softened
1 - 8 oz. package shredded sharp cheddar cheese or
half cheddar & half monterey jack cheese
1 -2 tablespoons bacon bits (optional)
12 oz - fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and halved
(we used about 15 jalapenos to yield 30 poppers)
1 - cup milk or buttermilk
1 - cup all-purpose flour
1 - cup dry bread crumbs
2 - quarts oil for frying

In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese, cheddar cheese and bacon bits. Wash and clean peppers cut in half and remove seeds. Make sure to wash you hands again after handling the peppers and before stuffing. Blanch the peppers in boiling water for a few minutes, then remove and place in ice water. This recipe does not state to blanch the peppers first, but I highly recommend doing that before stuffing the peppers. Spoon the cheese mixture into the jalapeno pepper halves. Put the milk, flour and breadcrumbs into three separate bowls. Dip the stuffed jalapenos first into the milk then into the flour, making sure they are well coated with each. Allow the coated jalapenos to dry for about 10 minutes. Dip the jalapenos in milk again and roll them through the breadcrumbs. Allow them to dry, then repeat to ensure the entire surface of the jalapeno is coated. In a medium skillet or home fryer, heat the oil to 375° F.. Deep fry the coated jalapenos 2 to 3 minutes each, until golden brown. Remove and let drain on a paper towel. Serve with ranch dressing or eat them all by themselves.

GAMEDAY: Sausage Stars.

Sorry I didn't post last week, things were a little crazy. But I'm back! :)

Hidden Valley Ranch Sausage Stars

1 - Package Original Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
(prepared according to package directions)
1 lb Jimmy Dean or Owens regular sausage, browned & drained
1 - 8oz Bag Kraft Mexican 4 Cheeses
1/2 - cup green or red bell pepper (optional)
1 - package Wonton wrappers or egg roll wrappers

Brown sausgae and drain off any grease, set aside. Mix ranch dressing according to package directions. Mix the sausage, prepared dressing, bell pepper (if using) and cheese together and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place won ton wrappers in a lightly greased muffin tin. Bake 5-7 minutes until lightly golden brown. Watch them carefully so they dont get to brown. Remove from oven and let cool a bit. When cooled add a couple tablespoons full of sausage mixture. Return to the oven and bake 5-7 minutes until cheese melts. Let cool just a bit and serve.

GAMEDAY: Garlic Chicken Puffs

4 ounces cream cheese 

1 tsp garlic powder 

1/2 cup cooked shredded chicken 

2 cans refrigerator crescent rolls

Mix cream cheese, garlic and chicken until well blended.

Unroll crescent rolls and cut each triangle into 2 triangles (when you unroll the crescent rolls, 2 triangles are attached making a big square, I just cut from there following the perforation for one cut and made another cut from the other corners = giving you 4 little triangles)

Place 1 tsp of chicken mixture on the center of each triangle and fold the corners in over the creamy mixture.

Place on cookie sheet, lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with no stick spray.  Bake at 375 for 12-14 mins.

I used 2 cookie sheets at a time, and had to bake 3 batches to get all of mine baked (so allow for that time if you’re making a lot)

Also, mine were ready in about 11 mins, so watch for how your oven cooks.

*For cooked chicken, I buy those big bags of frozen chicken tenderloins, I just threw 6 of them on a cookie sheet and baked for about 25 mins.

GAMEDAY: Sausage Balls

This recipe is pretty simple and very good!

You will need the following:

2 Cups Bisquick

2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 Pound Sausage (mild or hot)

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a large cookie sheet. You may line it with foil first if you like.

In a large bowl, blend together cheese and Bisquick

Next, knead the sausage in to Bisquick and cheese mixture.

This can take some time, but make sure it is all mixed in.

Now roll the mixture into balls about the size of walnuts.

Place on cookie sheet and cook for about 20-25 minutes.

They will look like this when finished. That's all there is to it! Enjoy!

GAMEDAY: Taco Cups

These are very easy to make, they only take about 5 minutes or so to make!

Ingredients

• 1 can refried beans
• 1/2 pound cooked taco-seasoned meat
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 1 cup salsa
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup sliced black olives
•  1 bag Tostitos "Scoops!"

Directions

1.     Set chips on a large platter and layer with beans, meat, cheddar, salsa, sour cream and black olives.

GAMEDAY: Buffalo Chicken Dip

This is a recipe that a friend of mine, Wendy, asked me to post. This is one of my favorite dips! The first time I made it with only cream cheese, chicken, ranch dressing and wing sauce, but all the extras just make it better! -

3- 8oz packages of cream cheese (for weight watchers i use reduced fat)

1 cup of shredded cheddar

1/2 cup of reduced fat sour cream

1 rotisserie chicken or 4 cooked chicken breasts

2 stalks of celery

1 small onion

1 cup of Ken's buffalo wing sauce

1 package of Hidden Valley DRY ranch mix

1 cup of crumbled blue cheese

Shred chicken into big chunks. Dice up onions & celery, saute them lightly in a sauce pot (5 minutes) while you soften the cream cheese in the microwave for 20 secs. mix cream cheese with sour cream add the dry ranch mix & hot sauce in the sauce pan with the onions & celery, add in half of the cheddar & all of the blue cheese stir until everything is well mixed. Stir in chicken & pour into an 8x8 dish top with remaining cheddar& bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. serve warm with tortilla chips.

GAMEDAY: Charleston Cheese Dip

Ingredients

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 - 8oz package cream cheese, softened

1 - cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 - cup grated Monterey jack cheese

2 - green onions, finely chopped

Dash of cayenne pepper

8 - Ritz crackers, crushed

8 - slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix the mayonnaise, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, Monterey jack cheese, green onions and cayenne pepper. Transfer the mixture to a shallow baking dish.

Top mixture with cracker crumbs and bake for 15 minutes, or until heated through. Remove the pan from the oven and top with the bacon. Serve immediately with corn chips, bagel chips or crackers.

Tortilla Ham & Cheese Pinwheels

Here's a recipe that tastes great and is pretty easy to make. Enjoy!

2 - packages (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1 - packet (.04 oz) Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix

6 - flour tortillas (12 in), room temperature

1 - package (12 ounces) thin deli sliced ham

10 - slices Swiss cheese

1 - cup shredded cheddar cheese or Colby jack

1 - 2.25 oz can chopped black olives

Mix cream cheese and dry salad dressing together. Spread mixture on each tortilla. Drain the sliced olives and set aside. Place two slices of ham on top of the cream cheese mixture. Add sliced Swiss cheese and sprinkle on shredded cheddar cheese and olives. Roll up tortillas tightly. Just like you would for cinnamon rolls. Chill at least 2 hours or overnight. Cut rolls into 1 inch slices. Makes 3 - 4 dozen pinwheels 

GAMEDAY: Pizza Roll

This looks so good and I can't wait to try it myself!

Ingredients

1 1/2 – 2 cups shredded low-fat, part skim mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup – shredded parmigiano reggiano cheese (Not the stuff in the green Kraft can!) 

Sliced pepperoni (quantity depends on how much pepperoni you like) 

1 can of Pillsbury French bread dough (DO NOT use the pizza dough in a can, as it yields tougher   crust.)
One jar of pizza sauce, or homemade sauce of your choosing
Olive oil
Garlic powder and dried oregano (Most of the time I prefer fresh herbs, but there are times and places where dried works better and this is one of them.)
Flour

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit   

Dust your clean counter top with flour. Once you’ve popped open your can of bread dough, you’ll see there is a small seam on the roll. Gently pull open that seam and unroll the dough.

Lightly brush about a tablespoon, tablespoon and half of olive oil over the dough. If you do not have a pastry brush, use your clean hands to massage the oil over the dough. (You washed your hands, didn’t you, mister?)

Cover the dough with a layer of pepperoni. (If you are like me, you might have already eaten half the pack just working towards this step. With luck, you still have enough left for this project.)

Now, I just put the pepperoni on uncooked, but the person who taught me this recipe would microwave the pepperoni between paper towels for a minute to pre-cook it and get rid of some of the excess oil. Depending on how much you drink you might want that oil, so I leave that decision up to you.

Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly over the pepperoni, followed by a little of the parmigiano reggiano. 1 1/2 cups will be more than enough, but since packages of shredded cheese come in 2 cup sizes, I will not judge if you use the whole bag.

Give a couple of shakes of the garlic powder to the top. Be sure to crush the dried oregano between your fingers before putting it on the loaf as to release the oils from the leaves. (This also makes for smaller pieces that are less likely to get caught in your teeth.)

Carefully roll the dough back up, thinner end to wider end. (When you unroll the dough, you will notice one end is wider than the other. Why this is, I do not know, but it seals the loaf better to roll from skinny to fat.)

Crimp the ends together and place on your baking sheet. (Save yourself some clean-up time later by lining your pan with either parchment paper or foil. Halftime is for worrying about why the offensive line isn’t doing a better job blocking, not dishes.) Brush with a small amount of olive oil.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. The oven will get quite hot, so do not let over-eager pizza loafers sit like this for too long lest they burn their noses.

                              The pizza loaf should take on this golden brown color when done.

 Let cool for a few minutes, then slice into 1-2 inch wide sections.

Serve with pizza sauce of your choosing. (Although I generally enjoy my slices plain.)

Rattlesnake Eggs

My sister found this recipe and shared it with me. Now when she first told me the name (before I knew any of the ingredients) I thought it sounded gross lol! But they are so good, and addicting! You can make them for breakfast or as an appetizer.

Ingredients:
8 ounce(s) of Original Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Softened
2 Packages Refrigerated Crescent Roll Dough (8 oz each)
16 ounce(s) of Pork Breakfast Sausage

Directions:
Break up the breakfast sausage into a medium size skillet. On medium heat cook the sausage until brown and cooked through completely. Drain sausage and set aside. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine the softened philadelphia cream cheese and the drained breakfast sausage. Mix together until combined. This should be pretty simple since your cream cheese is softened and your sausage is still warm. Open both cans of crescent roll dough. Unroll and seperate into triangles. You will have 16 individual triangles. Spoon one heaping tablespoon of cream cheese mixture onto each crescent roll. Roll up each crescent roll starting from the widest part to the point. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Place in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, bake until the crescent rolls are golden brown and cook through. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, remove and serve.

GAMEDAY: Cheese Dip

I know I'm a little late with my first gameday recipe, but I'll try to make sure I'm on time from now on. Let's start out with Cheese Dip. My mom taught me how to do this:

1 lb. Ground Beef
1 lb. Sausage (hot OR mild)
1 lb. Velveeta Cheese
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 can Rotel
1/2 Onion, chopped (optional)


1. Brown ground beef and sausage and drain (can cook together if you'd like).
2. While meat is cooking, cut Velveeta into small cubes.
3. Combine meat, Rotel, onion and soup in 2 quart size pan (heat on medium-low).
4. Gradually add in cheese.
5. Stir frequently until cheese is melted and warm.

Serve with your favorite tortilla chips.

Note: You may also use a crock pot if you'd like. You can keep it warm all day! And also you can substitute the sausage and beef with ground turkey or any ground meat you like!If you don't want too much meat, try just adding a pound (total) or so of whichever meat you want, just whatever suits your tastes.