GAMEDAY: White Pizza Dip

So this week is the SEC Championship game: Alabama vs. Georgia! Are y'all excited yet? 

Well here's an awesome recipe for White Pizza Dip that your friends and Family will love!


Ingredients

1 envelope Lipton® Recipe Secrets® Savory Herb with Garlic Soup Mix
1 container (16 oz.) sour cream
1 cup (8 oz.) ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 
1/4 cup (1 oz.) chopped pepperoni 
1 loaf Italian or French bread, sliced

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. In shallow 1-quart casserole, combine Lipton® Recipe Secrets® Savory Herb with Garlic Soup Mix, sour cream, ricotta cheese, 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Bake uncovered 30 minutes or until heated through. Serve with bread.

GAMEDAY: Iron Bowl time!!!

I know. Once again, I have missed several blog posts, and I apologize! Work has made me forget. But I'm back, just in time for the Iron Bowl!!! For this I'll post 2 recipes. We'll start with "Super Nachos":




Ingredients

• 2 bags corn tortilla chips in 2 colors or different flavors. Of course being the huge Bama fan I am, I would use red and white (or yellow) ones.

Pico de Gallo Salsa:

• 4 vine ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped, for medium to hot heat level
• 1 small white onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup, 2 handfuls, cilantro leaves, finely chopped -- substitute parsley if cilantro is not to your liking
• Salt

Beef and Beans Topping:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound ground sirloin
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dark chili powder
• 1 1/2 ground cumin, half a palmful
• 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper sauce, giving you medium to hot heat level
• 1 can black beans, 15 ounces, drained

Cheese Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 3/4 pound pepper jack cheese, shredded, about 2 1/2 cups

Additional toppings to choose from, optional:

• Sour cream
• Chopped scallions
• Chopped black olives
• Diced pimento
• Sliced avocado, dressed with lemon juice
• Hot pepper sauces

Directions

Arrange a mixture of 2 varieties of corn chips on a very large platter or use your broiler pan as a platter.

Combine salsa ingredients in a bowl and set aside for flavors to marry.

Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add oil, garlic, onion and peppers to the pan and saute 2 minutes, then add meat and crumble with wooden spoon. Season meat with salt, chili powder, cumin and cayenne pepper sauce. Cook meat 5 minutes, then stir in beans and reduce heat to low.

In a medium sauce pot, melt butter and add flour to it. Cook flour and butter 1 to 2 minutes over moderate heat, then whisk in milk. When milk comes to a bubble, stir in cheese with a wooden spoon. Remove cheese sauce from the heat.

Pour cheese sauce evenly over the massive spread of chips and top evenly with beef and beans and the pico de gallo. UBER NACHOS! Serve immediately as is or, garnish with your choice of extra toppings from the toppings list.

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Now if you're looking for a great dessert, look no further that these cute and delicious Bama cupcakes!





Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar 
• 3 large eggs 
• 1 (1-oz.) bottle red liquid food coloring
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Handmade Pennants

Directions

1. 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Stir in food coloring and vanilla until blended.
2. 2. Combine flour, cocoa, and salt. Stir together buttermilk, vinegar, and baking soda in a 4-cup liquid measuring cup. (Mixture will bubble.) Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition. Place 24 paper baking cups in 2 (12-cup) muffin pans; spoon batter into cups, filling three-fourths full.
3. 3. Bake at 350° for 18 to 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from pans to wire racks, and let cool completely (about 45 minutes).
4. 4. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes. Garnish, if desired.
5. 
   

White Chocolate-Amaretto Frosting

• 2 (4-oz.) white chocolate baking bars
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 6 cups powdered sugar, divided
• 1/4 cup almond liqueur

Directions

Break white chocolate baking bars into pieces. Melt white chocolate and cream in a microwave-safe bowl at MEDIUM (50% power) 1 minute or until melted and smooth, stirring at 30-second intervals. (Do not overheat.) Let cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes). Beat butter and 1 cup powdered sugar at low speed with an electric mixer until blended. Add 5 cups powdered sugar alternately with almond liqueur, beating at low speed until blended after each addition. Add white chocolate mixture; beat at medium speed until spreading consistency.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and have fun tomorrow! Roll Tide!


Sources: Food network and My Recipes

GAMEDAY: Pulled Pork Sliders

Well someone pointed out to me that I should have posted a pork recipe, seeing as how we are playing the Arkansas Razorbacks this week. So we'll just call this "Part II". The breaded mushrooms probably won't fill everyone up anyway! 


Ingredients

Pork Shoulder or Pork Butt
BBQ Spice Rub
BBQ Sauce
Buns


Directions

In a covered roasting pan (I used my my Staub dutch oven from Williams Sonoma), place the pork.  Rub the BBQ spice rub on the surface of the meat.  Pour BBQ sauce on the top of the pork.  Place, covered, in a 250 degree oven for 4-6 hours.  

Remove from the oven and let sit for 1 hour.  Remove from the pan and pull the pork apart into bite-size pieces, separating the meat from the fat.  Skim the fat off of the drippings in the pan, then return the pulled pork pieces into the drippings.  If you have time, refrigerate the drippings to help the fat separate.  Serve warm or cold on the buns with BBQ sauce.

The pork, before it goes into the oven

So easy to prepare - you just have to have some time at home while it sits in the oven.  I'll cook it the night before, then refrigerate it over night to let the fat harden, so I can scrape it off of the top of the drippings.  

GAMEDAY: Breaded Mushrooms

Delicious Mushrooms rolled in a cheesy breadcrumb mixture and then baked to a golden brown makes a great appetizer to start that tasty meal. This is a really easy breaded mushroom recipe to make in only 20 minutes.

Breaded mushrooms have a delicious taste and they are really simple to make. The best way, I think to make this breaded mushroom recipe is to choose a mushroom You like and go from there. Once You have selected Your preferred mushroom simply follow this easy recipe below.

Ingredients

8oz mushrooms (stalks removed)
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese (freshly grated)
4 tablespoons white breadcrumbs (dried)
pinch of garlic salt
pinch of ground black pepper
1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley (freshly chopped)

Directions

Start by preheating the oven to 475°F. Then lightly grease a nonstick baking tray. Gently wipe the mushrooms with damp kitchen paper and set aside for later. Next combine the cheese with the breadcrumbs.

Then add the garlic salt and black pepper. Now roll the mushrooms in the cheese mixture, and set on the greased baking tray. Finish by baking in the oven for about 8–10 minutes or until golden browned and then serve.

This recipe was found at: Notecook.com

GAMEDAY: Hot Spinach Salsa Queso Dip

Ingredients

10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 lb Velveeta cheese (2% fat--this is the reduced fat version)
8 ounces cream cheese (light)
1 jar salsa (I used 3/4 full jar of a 16 ounce jar)
A handful of chopped cilantro (optional-but good)



Now there's 3 ways to make this:

1) Cut the Velveeta and cream cheese into cubes and place all ingredients in a microwaveable-safe dish. Heat until cheese has melted and stir to combine all ingredients. 

2) If you prefer, you can place all the ingredients in an oven safe dish and bake until the dip is heated through--continuing to stir to mix all ingredients. 

3) OR, you can place all ingredients in a crockpot and heat until cheese has melted (continuing to stir the mixture to combine ingredients). This particular method is great if you can leave it on the low setting--then your dip will stay warm for a while. But I bet it won't last!

Serve warm with tortilla chips. Heaven! Should make a small crowd very happy before dinner is served.

GAMEDAY: Jalapeno Popper Dip

It's that time of year again....college football starts again this weekend! So, who's excited? I know I am. So excited in fact, I decided to post the game day recipe of the week early!


Ingredients

• 
  
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies
• 1 (4 ounce) can diced jalapenos or 4 fresh seeded jalapenos diced finely (add more if you like it hotter)
• 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

1.  Mix the first 6 ingredients together and spread the dip into a greased pie pan or a 2 quart baking dish.

2.  In a bowl, mix Panko breadcrumbs, remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, and melted butter until incorporated.

3.  Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over the dip and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until top is browned and the dip is bubbly.

4.  Serve with your favorite bread, crackers or tortilla chips.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe was sent to me by Carol Abbott from Good Houskeeping

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup(s) packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup(s) (1 stick) butter, softened (no substitutions)
• 1/4 cup(s) granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup(s) semisweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup(s) white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

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Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Into large bowl, measure all ingredients except semisweet and white chocolate chips. With mixer at medium speed, beat ingredients until blended and smooth, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. With spoon, stir in chips.
3. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased large cookie sheet. Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes or until golden. Immediately transfer cookies to wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough. Store cookies in tightly covered container up to 1 week.

Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

This is one of my favorite desserts and it's super easy to make!




1 package brownie mix (19.8 oz)
1 package cream cheese (8 oz)
1 egg
1/3 cup white sugar
All other ingredients called for on brownie mix package

1.  Preheat oven as directed on brownie mix package
2.  Grease a 9x13 inch pan
3.  Prepare brownie mix as directed on package
4.  Spread batter evenly in pan.
5.  Beat together cream cheese, sugar and egg until smooth, using an electric mixer
6.  Dollop mixture on top of brownie batter.
7.  Swirl together using a knife or skewer
8.  Bake according to package directions. Brownies are finished when inserted toothpick comes out clean.


Sorry I was gone for so long, but I'm back now and I'll try my best to keep posting at least once a week!

Easy Chicken and Rice Casserole

Ingredients:

6 chicken breasts (cut into bite size pieces)

2 cups uncooked white rice

2 cups milk

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 tsp each salt and pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 package dry onion soup mix

8 oz shredded cheese (whatever kind you like)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F 

2.  In a medium bowl combine rice, milk, all soups, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Mix well.

3.  Pour mixture into a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Add the chicken pieces.

4.  Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 90 minutes, stirring every 30 minutes. 

5. Uncover dish and top with cheese (as much as you like). Bake for another 15 minutes, uncovered.