Hummus

A couple of years ago, I posted a recipe for wanna-be hummus. This is another version that is even easier. It's super yummy and has tons of flavor. You could use it as a dip for veggies or pita bread, or you could put it on a sandwich or wrap. I used it on Middle Eastern Pita Pizzas (recipe coming soon!).

Ingredients:
1 can great northern beans
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
parsley

Drain beans, but reserve 2 tablespoons of the liquid. Then, in a food processor, blend all ingredients (including reserved bean liquid) until smooth. Spoon dip into a serving dish, and enjoy!

What's your favorite dip?

Read more...

Hot Corn Dip

WE REACHED 100 FOLLOWERS!!! Woohoo! Be on the lookout for the giveaway on Friday!

I was bored the other night and started surfing cooking blogs. I came across a new one that I am so excited about. It's called Full Bellies, Happy Kids. There isn't a single recipe that I don't want to try! In fact, that very night I tried this recipe. It was so good!!! My husband and kids were literally fighting over the bowl, so we had to dish up separate bowls for everyone. Deeeeeeeeelish.

I didn't have Mexicorn on hand, so I just used regular frozen corn that I thawed in a bowl of water. It still tasted great. If I don't have Mexicorn next time, I'm going to saute a little red bell pepper to put in. Also, a word about the chilies. I came across a jar of chilies at the store a few weeks ago. It's by the salsa, and it's the same thing as those little cans of diced green chilies. Only it's MUCH cheaper.

The recipe says it serves 12. But it's so good that it might only serve 1. ;-)

Ingredients:
2 11 ounce cans Mexicorn
2 4.5 ounce cans chopped green chilies
2 cups Monterrey Jack cheese, grated
3/4 cup Parmesan, grated
1 cup mayonnaise
tortilla chips for dipping

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a casserole dish and set aside. Mix corn, mayonnaise, cheeses, and chilies until combined. Pour into the casserole dish and bake, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes, or until bubbly.

I know what I'm having for lunch!! :-)

Read more...

Cream Cheese Tuna Spread

**First of all, don't forget to enter our GIVE-AWAY! It ends tomorrow, so you've still got time to earn that extra entry!**

This giveaway is now closed.


My mom recently moved, and she got rid of a lot of things to prepare for that. She gave me several of her cookbooks, one of which is called California's Lite 'n Easy Recipes. That is where I got this recipe from. It's in the appetizers section, but I doubled the recipe so we could eat it as a light lunch. My kids loved it. It would also be a great thing to serve at a party.

The only things I did differently from the recipe was I added finely diced red bell pepper and used green onion instead. You could add in any combination of veggies, sweet relish, parsley, etc. And if you really want it to be low-fat, use fat-free cream cheese.

Ingredients:
1 can water-packed tuna, drained
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons celery, finely chopped
1 tablespoon onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine tuna and cream cheese, stirring until thoroughly mixed. Then add in the other ingredients. Chill for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Serve with crackers, in pita bread, in crescent rolls, etc.

Do you like tuna? When you buy canned tuna, do you prefer it packed in oil or water?

Read more...

Completely Homemade Ranch Dressing

Ever since my first ranch dressing post, I've been on the hunt for a truly homemade version that tastes just as good as using the ranch seasoning packets. I love the ease of just using a Hidden Valley packet, but I wanted to be able to really control all the ingredients. Plus, those packets cost about $1 a piece, which is just astronomical.

When I got my newest cookbook a couple of days ago, I eagerly flipped through the pages to see if they had a ranch dressing recipe. And they did! I tried it yesterday, and it is vastly better than anything else I've tried. I loved it! The only thing I changed was that I didn't have the lemon juice the recipe calls for, so I decided to see if vinegar would be a good substitute. It worked great! I'm anxious to try it with lemon juice next time and see which way works better.

Another word about the recipe. It calls for shallot, and I highly recommend that's what you use. Shallots have a much more subtle flavor than regular onion or red onion have. You don't want the onion to scream, "HELLO!!! THERE'S ONION IN THIS DRESSING!!!" If you do need to substitute, use red onion, and make sure you dice it very finely. This recipe also calls for 1 tablespoon cilantro or dill. I love both of those flavors, so I decided to use both. I used about 1/2 a tablespoon of each.

Oh, and fresh herbs are a must for this one!

If you want to make it thicker to use as a dip instead of a dressing, just use less buttermilk.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
6 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro and/or dill
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
pinch of sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be refrigerated up to 4 days.

Also, don't forget to check out our first give-away for your chance to win a year's subscription to Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking Magazine!!

Read more...

Avocado Salad Dressing

How I love my cooking magazines! It seems like every post I've done for the past several months has been out of a magazine. I've just had such good luck with them lately! If you don't subscribe to a cooking magazine, you definitely need to! I get so much inspiration from them, and it's a great excuse to sit down and relax. Yes, I sit down and read cooking magazines to relax. Nerdy? Maybe. But my family is grateful. :)

I believe this recipe came from Cooking Light. It's really delicious. So creamy and yummy. It works great as a salad dressing, but you could also use it as a dip. You can easily control the thickness by adding more buttermilk or more yogurt. You really cannot even tell that it's low-fat, which is a must for any low-fat dish I'll ever make.

Ingredients:
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup parsley, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dill weed
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth. And that's it, folks! Serve as a dressing over a crisp salad, or serve as a dip with veggies, pita chips or sweet potato fries.

Do you already subscribe to a cooking magazine?
Which one is your favorite?

Read more...

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Dip

This is another recipe I got from Taste of Home magazine. It's very simple but tastes great. And it can be jazzed up very easily to be even more yummy -- roast the garlic before adding it to the dip, pour in some of the liquid from the jar of bell peppers, add cumin or other spices.

I made this a couple weeks ago when my in-laws were visiting, and they kept telling me over and over how good it was. We were sitting around our coffee table playing a rip roarin' game of Clue, and we all just sat there eating instead of playing. Yes, folks, it's that good. :) Even my kids gobbled it up, which surprised me!

Ingredients:
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup pepper jack, grated
1/2 cup jarred roasted red bell peppers, chopped (or roast your own -- recipe coming soon!)
salt and pepper, to taste

Combine cream cheese, garlic and sour cream until blended. Stir in cheese. Gently fold in bell peppers. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow flavors to combine. Serve with crackers, pita chips or veggies. Or spread it on a sandwich. It would be killer on a turkey, bacon and avocado sandwich. M'mmm.

What's your favorite thing to make when company comes?

Read more...

7 Layer Bean Dip

This is one of my very favorite things. My sister-in-law and I used to make this every time we got together, and we'd finish off a double batch in like a day between the 2 of us. Random side note: when my husband and I used to live with my in-laws when we first got married and were saving some money, this sister-in-law and I would go through one of those ginormous 5 pound tubs of sour cream every week. No joke.

Anyhow, the dip. It's a really easy one to throw together and is perfect for a party. It's not something you can really make ahead, unless you omit the guacamole. And I'd suggest you don't omit the guacamole. What the 7 layers are that you use is completely up to you. This is just my favorite way. But feel free to change it up with any ingredients you like: green onions, some taco seasoning, add ground beef, use salsa instead of tomatoes, add diced green chilies, add Spanish rice. . .

Ingredients:
1 can refried beans
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 large red onion, diced
1 recipe guacamole
1 Roma tomato, chopped
1/2 can whole pitted black olives, chopped
cheddar cheese, shredded

Spread refried beans onto the bottom of the dish (I used my 8x8 casserole dish, which works out perfectly), then the guacamole and sour cream. Then layer the remaining ingredients on however you like and top with shredded cheddar cheese.

You can cover with plastic wrap and chill it for 15 minutes or so if you like. Serve with chips. Or it's good enough to just eat with a spoon straight from the dish. Not that I've ever done that or anything.

Read more...

Guacamole

I'm a Mexican food fanatic. Actually, the word "fanatic" is even an understatement. I would be happy eating Mexican food for dinner 6 days a week. Why only 6, you ask? Because I have a soft spot for Italian food, too, so I need to save one day a week for that.

One of my favorite things to make is guacamole. I've tried so many brands of pre-made guac, and I have never been impressed. Not only unimpressed but YUCK comes to mind as well. Stay far away from the pre-made ones over by the dairy section. If you must buy pre-made, Sam's Club has a pretty decent guac. But I highly recommend making your own -- there's just no substitute for the wonderful flavor.

Random side note: I had an avocado left over the other day and whipped up a half-batch of guac. Because I'd only had guac 2 days that week, which is definitely not enough times. Anyway, my 2 year old came up to me in the kitchen and begged for a taste. I gave it to her, watching closely for the upchuck reflex I was sure to follow, but this girl loved it! She and I inhaled the entire batch in less than 5 minutes. It was hysterical. Who knew?

Another random side note: while we're talking about Sam's Club, they have a bag of 6 avocados for under $6, which is a way better deal than anywhere else I've ever seen. So I suggest you buy that. What to do with the extra avocados, you ask? If you buy that big bag, you'll have the perfect excuse to invite some friends over and make Cayenne Rubbed Chicken with Avocado Salsa!

The last time I made this recipe (pictured), I didn't use the optional ingredients because I was making it as part of a dip (recipe coming Friday!) that has those ingredients in it already. But if I'm just making guac by itself, I always add them in.

Not used to working with avocados? We've got ya covered!

Ingredients:
2 ripe avocados
1 large clove garlic (or 2 smaller cloves)
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lime juice
salt and pepper, to taste

Optional (but very yummy):
1 Roma tomato
1/4 small red onion, cut into large pieces
cilantro

Place garlic clove(s) into a food processor and pulse until very fine. If you're using the optional onion and cilantro, add it to food processor now, pulsing until evenly chopped. Add avocado to food processor and pulse until smooth. If you're using the optional tomato, add it to the food processor now. Then add mayonnaise, lime juice and salt and pepper. Give it a quick little pulse to combine everything well. Garnish with leftover cilantro or even parsley, if you have that on hand.

Read more...

Garlic Mayonnaise

This mayonnaise makes a delicious spread for sandwiches. It adds a really great zing as opposed to plain old mayo or Miracle Whip. The original recipe was one that I got from Food Network off the show Everyday Italian, but I've changed it up by adding a little lemon juice. I think that makes it taste so much better.

I'll share my favorite sandwich recipe tomorrow. I also use this same recipe as a dip for sweet potato fries (recipe to come in the next few weeks!), and it's equally as fantastic.

Ingredients:
1 cup mayonnaise
1-2 cloves garlic, turned into a paste
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Just combine all ingredients into a bowl, and voila! You don't have to turn the garlic into a paste if you don't want to. Sometimes I just add minced garlic to the mayo. It just depends on how spicy you want it. It's much more mild if you do paste the garlic, but I also love biting into the minced garlic sometimes as well. Either way, it's delish!

Read more...

Ranch Dip

This recipe can be used for a dressing or a dip. It's delish either way. This is the recipe my mom always makes for parties to serve with veggies and chips. It's really not much of a recipe at all actually and is so easy it's ridiculous. It's something I grew up with, and it always reminds me of my mom when I make it. I took it to the same get-together that I took the wanna-be hummus to, and it got equally great reviews.

A note: You really need to use the Dips seasoning, NOT the package for dressing, even if you're wanting to make dressing and not dip. The dressing packets don't have the same flavor. I've tried making this recipe with the dressing packet instead, and it just doesn't taste nearly as good.

Another note: If you're making it as a dressing, you may need to add extra buttermilk each time you go to use it. It doesn't always thicken up, but sometimes I need to add an extra tablespoon or two of buttermilk before I drizzle my salad.

Ingredients:
1 package Hidden Valley Dips seasoning
16 ounces sour cream
buttermilk (I think I use about a cup)

Combine seasoning and sour cream until thoroughly mixed. Then add buttermilk until desired consistency is reached. Chill for 1 hour before serving.

Read more...

Wanna-be Hummus

I recently took this recipe to a large get-together with a bunch of women from church, and it was a huge hit. I've never made hummus before. I've never even tasted hummus before. From what I was told, this recipe isn't technically hummus since I didn't use chickpeas in it, but the lady who told me that also told me that my recipe was way better than any hummus she'd ever tasted. And apparently this lady was big into hummus. People couldn't say enough good things about it. It really was tasty.

I formed the recipe from 2 different recipes I got off of Food Network's website. I was researching different recipes to bring and liked elements from both of these - so why not combine them, I thought? And the result was dElIsH.

The ingredients list is really just an estimate. I really didn't measure very well, and you really can't screw this up. I love recipes like that where you can just throw stuff in without measuring and have it turn out great.

Ingredients:
2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon salt
1 can diced petite tomatoes
3 cloves garlic

Peel your garlic, then place in a microwave safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 1-2 minutes, or until soft. Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender; mix thoroughly until well combined. Chill until ready to serve. Now, my food processor is a lot smaller than I'd like it to be, so I had to make this recipe in batches and then mixed it all by hand in a large bowl.

Serve with a variety of veggies, pita bread, whatever!

Read more...