Loaded Baked Potato Dip

Howdy... long time no see ;) If I don't sit down during the weekend and blog it just doesn't happen. I guess you can figure out that I've been busy lately and not focusing on the blog! I apologize. I have a few great things coming your way though, starting with this dip. I made this for the Super Bowl and I really enjoyed it. I followed the recipe to a T, the only thing I made sure to do was make the bacon really crispy because I didn't want it to be too mushy. I was also thinking this would be delicious as a hot dip! I think next time I will throw it in the oven, I think it'll be even better hot!

Source: Taste of Home Cooking

Ingredients:
16 oz sour cream
16 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
3 green onions, chopped

Directions:
1- Mix the sour cream, most of the bacon, most of the cheese, and most of the green onions together. Chill for a few hours (at least one hour).
2- When ready to serve, stir and then top with the remaining bacon, cheddar and green onions.
3- Serve with potato chips.

Toddler Tuesdays: Yogurt Dip

This dip is a game changing Toddler Tuesday post in my household!

In the past week or two Landon has discovered dipping. He loves dips! Even when he refuses all food he will happily dip his meal in whatever is around. This weekend alone he ate a healthy dose of ketchup, salsa, and potato soup (yes... he used soup as a dip) by way of dipping. So with that said, I've decided to capitalize on his love of dipping and try to make some healthier dips that pack some nutritional value (you know... more than the ketchup he ate for dinner last night). 

This yogurt dip was delicious. John basically wanted to steal it from Landon, but I forced him to share with the baby. You can make as many varieties of this as you want by using different flavored yogurts with as many different dippers as you want. Overall I can see us making this several times a week for my little man!

Since I plan to make this regularly for Landon, some dippers I thought of were fruit, waffle sticks/pancakes, toast cut into strips, crackers, and graham crackers. If you have any other ideas feel free to tell me in the comments!

Source: Inspired by I Was Born To Cook

Ingredients:

4 oz Greek yogurt (I used banana)

1 heaping tsp Sunbutter (or peanut butter)

Cinnamon (optional)

Directions:
1- Stir all ingredients together. Serve cold.

Sugar Cookie Dip

I have a bit of a reputation with our family friends for bringing awesome desserts to holiday/family parties. Whenever we get together with these people the first thing they ask is what I brought. They always make a huge deal about what I made, how delicious it is, etc. It leads me to feel like I always needs to make sure I have something delicious to deliver when we get together! It's a lot of pressure I tell you. For our last dinner I was completely out of time and energy after making fifty cookie favors so I needed something fast that required no energy. Enter this dip.

After assembling it I was a little nervous because it was kind of... tart? Sour? I'm not sure. But I let it sit for a bit  and tasted it- almost there. I added a bit more cookie mix and cool whip- perfection! I halved the original recipe and it still yielded a ton. The recipe below reflects exactly how I made it. I think you'll enjoy this- it's easy and delicious. Best kind of dessert there is!

Source: Adapted from Dainty Chef

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups sugar cookie mix
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 1/3 cup Cool Whip

Directions:
1- In a large mixing bowl combine all of the ingredients. Stir well until all ingredients are incorporated.
2- Allow to sit in the fridge at least 4 hours, overnight if possible.
3- Serve with your favorite dippers.

Crockpot Salsa con Queso

Today I am turning my blog over to 22 of my favorite people- my students! I have never allowed a guest post on my blog before because in general I like all of the content to be my own, but when my students suggested that they'd like to see what it's like to blog I had to give them the chance. We cooked this dip in class, I showed them how to photograph food, we ate it (yum!!) and now, my students will share with you the experience and the recipe! Everything below is written by them.

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Hi we are Mrs.C`s students. We are blogging today because we earned a classroom celebration and decided to cook. Today we are making a salsa con queso because we all like it and we wanted to try making it homemade. If you ever want to try this- trust us, it's really good. We all eagerly gobbled it up with chips, pretzels, carrots, and grapes. All of us ate it until our fingers were sticky and our stomachs were stuffed. Each table went up for 3 or 4 refills! The flavor was very cheesy, spicy, creamy, thick but not too thick, addictive, zesty, and tempting to look at. Our mouths were watering! As soon as the cheese filled our mouths our eyes lit up and our taste buds danced.

Source: Southernfood.com

Ingredients:
2 pounds of Velveeta cheese, cut up
8 ounces of cream cheese, cut up
16 ounce jar of salsa
1 packet of taco seasoning
1/4 cup of milk
Can of green chilis, optional

Directions:
1- Combine ingredients in crockpot. Stir well.
2- Set on low for 2.5-3 hours or until cheese is melted. Stir frequently.
3- Serve with chips, grapes, pretzels, carrots, or your own dippers.
4- Eat it!

Baked Spinach Dip

Disclaimer: Sorry for the lack of an appealing picture- my son started crying as soon as this came out of the oven and I had to make a snap decision between baby or blog... silly me for choosing baby ::wink wink::

My family has a long running joke that if you like a recipe I make it's too darn bad because I'll never make it for you again. Yeah... somewhat guilty as charged. There are some recipes I repeat often, but most of the recipes I make are only made once. It's not because they're not good, it's because I just love to try new things! However, there is one recipe that I've made so many times I couldn't even count. No exaggeration, I've made it at least 50 times in the past three years if not more. And that recipe is my spinach dip. It's nothing fancy, just the standard Knorr's recipe, but it's my favorite. I never try new versions because there's just no need. However, the other day I found myself with a bunch of random ingredients, most of which were common in a warm creamy spinach dip, so I did some research and found a recipe that worked perfectly. It was warm and cheesy and perfect for an afternoon spent with my sister-in-law and niece!

Source: Adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients:
10 frozen artichoke hearts, diced
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, squeezed dry
1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1 tsp. garlic powder

Directions:
1- In a large mixing bowl combine all of the above ingredients, stirring well to combine. Transfer to an oven safe dish.
2- Bake on 350 for about 25-35 minutes, until hot throughout.
3- Serve with tortilla chips.

Pumpkin Pie Dip

Big news: I'm on maternity leave! I am officially done with work until September, which is scary and exciting for me. You see, I knew I wanted to be a teacher since I was a little kid (as early as 4-5 years old). Teaching is a huge part of my life. I remember once being at some event where you had to describe yourself in three words and the first word I listed was "teacher." It's just a huge part of my identity. But in a few weeks I'll be adding a new trait to that list, "mommy." And as much as I love being a teacher I am truly looking forward to this next chapter.

My students, being typical 10 year olds, love to eat. Love it more than anything else I could offer them. So when it was my last week with them for the year I decided to treat them to a special snack. I made this dip for them and brought it in on Halloween. A couple kids were skeptical, eyeing the slightly orange dip, but once the first "mmmmmmmm" erupted they all dug in. This recipe yields a lot of dip and that's a good thing if you're making it for a crowd. It was perfectly sweet, had a nice bit of pumpkin flavor to it, and made for some happy fifth graders. I served it with apple slices, Nilla wafers, and pretzel sticks. According to the kids the apples and Nilla wafers are the best dipping agents!

Source: Carolina Charm

Ingredients:

16 ounces Cool Whip
1 5 ounce box instant vanilla pudding mix
1 15 ounce can pumpkin
1/2 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tbsp. cinnamon

Directions:
1- Stir all of the ingredients listed above together.
2- Refrigerate for at least three hours.
3- Serve with assorted dippers.

Roasted Garlic and Bacon Dip

I love hosting parties at my house. I know hosting tends to send some people into a tail spin, but for me it's a chance to give my house a deep clean (that I often avoid...) plus make a meal full of old favorites and new recipes. When I first started entertaining it wasn't such a pleasant experience. I was INSANE and would flip out, cry, and just go crazy in general. I learned that the issue was I often made all new dishes when I entertained so I was constantly worried about how they'd turn out. Now I limit myself to one or two new recipes, typically an appetizer and/or dessert. This appetizer was my new recipe for Easter.

This dip was such a hit. I honestly didn't think it had a shot of not being a hit, considering the ingredients, but everyone loved it. Best of all you can make the majority of it the day before and just cook the bacon before your guests come! This is perfect for football season, or really anytime you have people over who love bacon and potato chips... which is most people!

Source: Adapted from The Food Network

Ingredients:
2 heads garlic
Olive oil
16 ounces sour cream
1/2 cup mayo
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt/pepper
6 slices bacon
2 green onions, finely chopped

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 350.
2- Slice the tops off the heads of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil. Wrap in tin foil and allow to roast in the oven about 45-60 minutes, until the garlic is soft and easily removed from the paper casing. Allow the garlic to cool.
3- In a bowl combine the sour cream, mayo, Worcestershire sauce, and a bit of salt and pepper. Stir well.
4- Squeeze the roasted garlic from its paper shell into the bowl. Using the back of a fork mash the garlic well, stirring to incorporate it into the dip.
5- Refrigerate overnight (optional- you can do just a couple hours if desired).
6- Cook the bacon until very crisp. Chop finely. A couple hours before serving, stir about 1/2 of the bacon and green onions into the dip, reserving the remaining half for topping the dip right before serving. Refrigerate.
7- When serving, top with the bacon/onions. Serve with potato chips.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

**Today begins my final facebook fan page blog giveaway, and it's by far the one I'm most excited to be giving. Make sure you follow my fan page here, hit "like" and answer the question of the day. Contest ends at midnight tomorrow (Friday, January 14)!**

Now that that's out of the way, can we get to that dip up there?! Yes, puh-lease, let's.

I made this dip years and years ago to take to a friend's house and I remember thinking "This is what people rave about?! This stuff?! Really?!" I loved the idea- I really did- but the taste was wrong to me. It tasted too much like cheesecake to call itself cookie dough dip. And yet, years later, I still have longed to try it again but a little differently. I thought of options- pudding, less cream cheese, more sugar... hmmm, what to do...  Enter Cool Whip.

I made this for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. It was a hit at both locations and people were eating it like crazy. I personally ate my weight in dip, and someone else's weight in dip too. But hey, my pants still button (barely...) so who cares, bring on the dip!!

For me the Cool Whip is essential. It makes it lighter and fluffier, it cuts the cream cheese taste, and it makes my soul cry out in joy. If you like that cheesecake taste, hey- leave the Cool Whip out- it's up to you. But me, yeah, I use it.

Source: Adapted from Food.com

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 8oz. package cream cheese
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips, plus more for topping
1/2 tub Cool Whip

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Stir continuously, until the brown sugar dissolves.
2- Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla.
3- Beat the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar for 1 minute.
4- Stir in the cooled butter mixture and beat again for another minute.
5- Stir in the chocolate chips. 
6- Fold in the Cool Whip until evenly dispersed. 
7- Pour into a bowl. Top with additional chocolate chips, if desired.
8- Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Remove from fridge at least 15 minutes before serving.
9- Serve with assorted small cookies (Nilla Wafers, Teddy Grahams, animal crackers, etc.)

Cheesy Baked Onion Dip

As I was making my Thanksgiving menu I knew I wanted at least one hot appetizer . Yet one of my requirements was that it could be made ahead of time and just thrown in the oven. I knew a hot dip was needed. I scoured high and low for the dip I was looking for. I didn't want a spinach dip since I was already making a cold version, yet it's amazing how many searches for warm dips turn up spinach dip! Yikes!

I found this recipe online but did not love the original ingredients. I thought the combo of ingredients would be extremely oily, so I switched it up based on some reviews and was thrilled with the end results. This was delicious and exactly what I was looking for.

Source: Heavily adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients:
2 cups sweet onions, peeled and chopped
8 oz. reduced fat sour cream
8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
2 cups shredded parmesan cheese (NOT the white grated powder- you want shredded so it melts)

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 350.
2- Combine all of the above ingredients well in a bowl. Transfer to an oven safe dish.
3- Bake for 45 minutes until bubbling and slightly browned. Serve with crackers, sliced bread, or chips.

Red Pepper-Feta Dip

I am sorry I've disappeared! I have honestly been barely cooking. Well, that's a lie- I haven't been cooking anything new. I will be making some good stuff in the next few days so I will hopefully not disappear again!

John and I went to a BBQ on Memorial Day and were assigned to bring an appetizer. I decided to do a duo of dips, spinach dip and this red pepper-feta. I wanted to make something a bit lighter with a veggie base so I thought this would be a nice recipe to try out. It went over really nicely! I didn't hear everyones remarks because I didn't sit by the dip all night, but two people came up to me to say they loved it. I though it was quite tasty. However, I modified the original recipe to make it a bit lighter (added 2 more red peppers and used a bit less feta) and what I found was that it was too runny. If I were to make it again I'd follow the original amounts listed in the original recipe. Therefore I am posting the original because while mine was tasty it wasn't the right consistency.

Overall, this is a unique dip. The cayenne pepper gives it some heat yet the red peppers add some sweetness. It's a nice contrast. Definitely worth a shot.

Source: Rachel Ray Magazine, May 2010

Yields 1 cup of dip

Ingredients:
2 jarred red peppers, drained and chopped
6 ounces feta cheese (I used reduced fat with no problems)
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Directions:
In a food processor puree the red peppers, 3/4 of the feta, garlic, and cayenne.
Pulse until smooth.
Transfer to a dish, top with the remaining feta.

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Appetizers... my fave. When I go to a wedding I rarely touch my dinner but I love cocktail hour! Something about those silver trays with delicious little bites of goodness excites me. When I go to a dinner party I am rarely hungry for the meal because, once again, I love the appetizers. I particularly love dips. I had seen this recipe and immediately knew I would need to make it. It's healthier than your average dip, especially when you drain the extra salad dressing leaving you with the marinaded veggies. My friends really liked this. My one coworker even suggested serving it over grilled chicken which I think would be excellent. You could use it as a dip, toss it in salad, toss it with cold pasta to make a pasta salad, serve it over grilled chicken or fish... the options are limitless!

Source: Real Mom Kitchen

1 (15 oz.) can corn, drained
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (10 oz.) can Rotel, or diced tomatoes
1/2 - 1 cup prepared Italian dressing
1/2 Tablespoon lime juice
1/2 tsp. chili powder

Add corn, black beans, and rotel to a bowl. Use enough salad dressing to cover all of the mixture. Add lime juice and chili powder and mix well. Put in refrigerator for at least 1 hour but 12-24 hours is best. When ready to serve, drain salsa in a colander to remove excess liquid. Serve with tortilla chips.

Chili's salsa

I LOVE Chili's salsa. It is my idea of the perfect salsa. I love the flavor and also how it isn't chunky. I am sure many people love the chunks but not me. When I saw this copy cat recipe for Chili's salsa I was so excited. While I did greatly enjoy the taste of this salsa, I am not sure that it is JUST LIKE the salsa from Chili's. It is very similar though and very flavorful.

I also over blended it and it was a little too thin- so if you decide to make it be careful when processing the ingredients. This recipe yields a lot of salsa so I will be looking for creative uses for salsa for the next few weeks... if you have any ideas, feel free to leave me a comment!

Ingredients
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can tomatoes and green chilies
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can whole canned tomatoes (plus the juice)
4 teaspoons jalapenos (canned,diced, not pickled)
1/4 cup yellow onion (diced)
1/2-3/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin (omitted- several reviews said it was overpowering and I don't love cumin so I omitted it)
1/4 teaspoon sugar

Directions
1- In food processor place jalapenos and onions.
2- Process for just a few seconds.
3- Add both cans of tomatoes, salt, sugar, and cumin.
4- Process all ingredients until well blended but do not puree.
5- Place in covered container and chill.
6- A couple of hours of chilling will help blend and enrich the flavor.
7- Serve with your favorite thin corn tortilla chips.

Fruit Dip

So it's my turn to make breakfast for my husbands meeting tomorrow. I decided to go with fresh fruit with a fruit dip and banana crumb muffins. This recipe is very simple. My mother-in-law made a fruit dip on Thanksgiving using cream cheese and Cool Whip that was so good so I decided to try my hand at this using a few simple ingredients. It came out delicious.

Ingredients:
4 ounces of cream cheese
1 tub of Cool Whip
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 cup of powdered sugar

Directions:

Cream the cream cheese until light and fluffy.
Pour in the powdered sugar, beat until combined. Add vanilla, stir again.
Add in the Cool Whip, beat until well combined. (This took about 5 minutes on high in my KitchenAid mixer. It was really hard to get rid of the clumps but it eventually happened!

Spinach Dip

I first discovered this recipe from my friend Maria. She is obsessed with spinach dip and has tried it at most restaurants, so when she claims a spinach dip recipe is good- I believe her! This is a simple recipe from Knorr's. You can even find it on the back of the vegetable soup mix. Now normally when I make this I serve it in a bread bowl... that is definitely the best way to serve this stuff. BUT, I am taking it to a family gathering tonight for Yom Kippur and there isn't going to be a lot of people there, so I am keeping it simple. I will serve it with tortilla chips, but in the past I have served it with thick bread, tortilla chips, carrot and celery sticks, and even crackers and pita chips. This stuff is really great and fattening... so forgive me!

Ingredients:
1 16oz container of sour cream
1/2 cup of mayo
1 10 oz package of chopped spinach (defrosted)
1 envelope of Liptons vegetable soup mix (not the spring vegetable one)

Directions:
1- Mix sour cream, mayo, and soup mix.
2- Squeeze liquid out of spinach, toss into sour cream mix.
3- Stir well.
4- Refrigerate several hours before serving.