Delicious with ginger snaps, sliced grannies and cinnamon graham sticks {these are Ralphs brand} but would equally yummy with orange segments or Nilla wafers!
It makes A LOT so it’s great for a big crowd…we had some leftover from a dinner last night and I made up a little {dessert for two} plate to finish off the weekend.
Whatever you do, don’t situate it next to the crudite platter…someone mistook it for hummus and plunged their celery stick into it. No bueno.
You simply must make this…I used neufchâtel {light} cream cheese and reduced fat sour cream to make it a little guilt-free and you could not tell.
Kickoffs, punt returns, interferences, whistle blows, touchdowns…
{men in padded spandex}
This dip is a must for your NFL Sundays.
Jalapeño Popper Dip
I spied this recently and knew it was the perfect thing to bring to summer family game night down the street last night. I almost halved the recipe because a pound of cream cheese seemed like a lot, but I’m glad I went ahead and made a full batch. This is one of those appetizers where everyone parks themselves in front of and can’t leave. We even learned that it is delicious slathered on top of a burger!
All the tastes of jalapeño poppers, but in dip form. There are several variations out there, but I chose to follow this one.
I cut the mayo to 1/2 cup and cheddar cheese to 1 cup, used 2 fresh jalapeños and 1/2 cup chopped jarred jalapeños, doubled the fresh garlic and used 1/2 cup regular bread crumbs and 1/2 cup panko {only because I wanted to use up the last of my regular bread crumbs}. I’m certain you could use reduced fat cream cheese and turkey bacon to be a little on the healthier side and not notice a difference….I used center cut bacon since it’s a little leaner. Next time, for added kick and heat, I may substitute pepper jack for the cheddar.
Will most def add this to the {crowd pleaser} recipes.
The perfect dip to kick off football season with!
*****
{Off to get my butt kicked on day 20 of the 30 Day Shred}
I was reintroduced to this dip by an old neighbor…thank you, Marcie!
Ginger Orange Fruit Dip
1 8oz. package cream cheese, softened (you can also use the whipped variety)
1 jar marshmallow fluff
A few shakes ground ginger root (or fresh!)
Some orange zest
{You can also use vanilla or almond extract instead of the ginger and/or orange zest. A scraped vanilla bean would be fantastic and leave all those beautiful little specks}
Mix all together and make your fruit sing!
Strawberries work the best, but I have also used apple slices, Cutie orange segments, banana slices (yummy, but hard to dip!) and large Costco grapes.
Perfect for baby showers, bridal showers, brunches or summer afternoons in the park with your Mommy friends!
This weekend was kicked off with a Mommy’s Night Out!
A bunch of us ladies went to SABOR to celebrate a couple birthdays. We sipped strawberry blueberry margaritas and fruity sangrias, chatted, laughed, shared stories from the past, nibbled on chips and salsa, muy delicioso entreés and this crazy good dessert:
Nutella.Filled.Churros.
OH MY!
Our server was very “pleasant” ~ think Mark Consuelos caliber:
Looking forward to the next “Mommies Gone Wild” evening, Ladies!
*****
If you haven’t tried Buffalo Chicken Dip yet, you’re missing out.
I added some crumbled blue cheese and that put it over the top. I like to serve with tortilla chips, Ritz crackers, baby carrots and celery sticks. Thanks, Deb for brining this into my life! It is a staple now.
Next up out of the recipe box: Carolina Barbequed Pork & Polynesian Coleslaw
The Albertson’s down the hill was having an Easter egg hunt ~ the “golden egg” being a pass to Disneyland along with some other goodies for the little ones hidden inside certain eggs. Mr. Easter Bunny made a brief appearance which I was thrilled with because that saved me a trip to the mall and $25 for a photo!
The “hunt” took place in the produce section and it was hardly a hunt at all….just piles of candy filled plastic eggs under the apples, lettuce and potatoes! Super duper obvious and lasting a grand total of 3.5 minutes! My little chickens only walked away with mini Twix bars, Reese’s and mini Hershey’s bars…thank goodness the candy was good because I would’ve been real disappointed. But they had a great time and Albertson’s was nice enough to serve FREE hotdogs and sodas so this Mama didn’t even have to fix lunch ~ gotta love that. Here are some photos from the eggstravaganza…
Elliott gathering eggs:
The find:
Holden post hunt searching for the rabbit:
Emilie & Elliott with Mr. Easter Bunny:
Holdy with his new BFF:
Enjoying lunch:
Then, we organized a last minute redneck block party where a few neighbors parked their lawn chairs in the guest parking across the street, prepared some appetizers and enjoyed wine and chit chat while the kids ran amok, chalked the you know what out of the street and rode various modes of transportation including scooters, tricycles, bikes and the ever popular Disney Princess ride.
Here is the spread (yes, complete with boxed wine!):
This is my new fave $3.99 TJ’s wine find (and it’s organic!):
Holden decided to don a plastic bowl helmet:
Checking out the stars:
This morning we were up bright and early to head to a Scooter’s Jungle (bounce house place) birthday party for a little friend in E’s dance class, ran some errands to finish up shopping for Easter outfits, pick up some hand weights for my boot camp which starts tomorrow and then enjoyed an al fresco dinner of homemade crispy chicken tenders and mac n cheese (NOT homemade!).
I discovered this recipe in Parents magazine years ago and it is so easy and delish. I feel like I feed my kids dino chickens from Costco on a daily basis, so it’s nice to make them from scratch once in awhile. The recipe calls for corn flakes, but I used my leftover rice crispies from the treats earlier this week and those worked just fine.
Here is what you need:
12 oz. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I use frozen chicken tenderloins)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. prepared yellow mustard
1 cup packaged cornflake crumbs or 2 cups cornflakes, finely crused (or crushed rice crispies!)
1/4 tsp. salt
Dash ground black pepper
Dipping sauces: BBQ, Ranch or ketchup
1. Heat oven to 450F. Cut chicken into 3/4-inch strips. In a shallow dish, combine the egg, honey and mustard. In another shallow dish stir together cornflake crumbs, salt and pepper. Dip chicken strips into the egg mixture and then roll them in crumb mixture to coat evenly.
2. Arrange the strips on a baking sheet. Lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Makes 4 servings.
I sliced mine and put them into a salad…still desperately trying to recreate the CPK bbq chicken salad!
Finally, I will leave you with this cute image:
Future blogger?
Here’s to another busy week ahead…2 boot camps, mammogram, bro-in-law coming on Wednesday and then the in-laws coming on Good Friday to celebrate Easter with us. Egg coloring and frosted Easter sugar cookies to be made in between. Oh, and sloppy joes (not from a can!) on the menu for tomorrow.
Hope you have all sorts of good stuff on the agenda this week, too!
This weekend Elliott was invited to her first official sleepover.
She was so excited.
Disney Princess suitcase on wheels packed with her Christmas pajamas, toothbrush and “Monkey”, her lime green, long-armed, long-legged stuffed primate.
Disney Princess sleeping bag rolled nicely inside the matching DP backpack over both shoulders.
Mermaid pillow under her arm.
We walked two doors down to Emilie’s…..Holden in tow and me with some nibbles for the Mommies to enjoy as we chatted and sipped on margaritas and eventually wine!
The four girlies feasted on mini pb&j’s, chicken nuggets, steamed broccoli, fruit salad and the ever popular nacho cheese Doritos.
Once the girls changed into their jammies, Holden immediately called out, “Jammies on! Jammies on!” So, he and I walked home, suited up in his “doggie jammies”, grabbed his “rocketship pi-woe”, zipped up the Buzz & Woody light up boots and headed back down to the girl fest:
Barbie And The Diamond Castle was playing, but not quite capturing all their attention because a pillow fight broke out:
Even though this picture is blurry, I loved it as I thought it captured her pure happiness throughout the night. Sheer excitement as the much anticipated “sleep over” was being played out in real life. A new milestone that I think she will want to relive again real soon.
I talked her through it and reminded her that I was not going to stay. She insisted that she would be OK.
Normally I am a traditionalist when it comes to pizza. Extra sauce, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes…just a simple vegetarian pizza, but I like to make this creation from time to time…reminds me of my BFF, Denise, down in San Diego.
Here’s what you need:
TJ’s Pizza dough (I use the whole wheat)
Your favorite BBQ sauce
Rotisserie chicken or grilled tenders or breast (I grill with a bit of olive oil and Montreal Steak Seasoning)
Red onion slices
Cheese of choice
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Follow instructions on dough package and roll out to desired shape and size. Poke dough with fork to prevent bubbling. Spread a bit of sauce onto pizza. Arrange red onion slices around the pizza and then cut up chicken in small chunks and toss around in a small amount of bbq sauce and sprinkle across pizza. Add shredded cheese and bake at 450 for about 10-12 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro confetti, let cool and then cut into small appetizer size squares.
OK, this will be the last of the recipe posts for a bit…I’ll be eating rice cakes and water for the next week and those two aren’t very blog worthy! I feel like ALL I’ve been posting lately is FOOD, FOOD, FOOD…so this next week, I am going to shoot for some calorie free topics. But……..
Today we had some neighbors over for the Superbowl and I tried to keep things simple with some quick and easy favorites, but I’ve been wanting to try these Cranberry Meatballs since the holidays, so I HAD to make them for the big game today. The verdict is that they were a hit because when I went to take a picture of them all nestled in the crock pot swimming in their sweet cranberry sauce, there were only about 5 remaining:
This recipe is a keeper and next time I may try them with turkey meatballs although they were just perfect with the beef variety. Super easy AND a big hit? That’s a good recipe in my book.
which again, when I went to the bowl to snap a pic this was all that was left:
This is a great salad because it’s so versatile and can be switched out with different goodness:
{switch out the butter lettuce with spring mix or baby spinach}
{substitute gorgonzola or goat cheese for the blue}
{use dried blueberries, cherries or raisins in place of the Craisins}
{honey roasted almonds can easily replace the glazed walnuts}
{pears can take the place of the apple}
The possibilities are endless and that is why I love this go-to salad! Again, thank you Melanie for bringing this to us almost 3 years ago when we brought our sweet baby Holden home! This salad also brings back happy memories every time I serve it!
And then there is the Artichoke Dip that tickled my taste buds so many years ago in the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot! I’ve loved it and made it LOTS ever since. No oven necessary!
Normally I use quartered artichoke hearts, but Albertson’s was fresh out of them this morning so I tried these artichoke bottoms and there was nothing sacrificed. I just chopped the bottoms in my mini food processor and that was that ~ not any real difference than with the quarters.
And there she is….served with a multigrain baguette and some Ritz crakers…sheer perfection on a carb! Can’t go wrong with this one folks, believe me!
I realize that my decor looks more like a bridal shower or Mother’s Day brunch and not reflective at all of Superbowl Sunday, but nobody seemed to care…these recipes are all a hit and I hope that you try them sometime soon! Whoever is on the receiving end will thank you!
We washed all these yummies down with a good ‘ol Cape Codder or vodka cran with lime!
It was a great game with a great menu spent with great friends….another weekend down! Bring on Monday!
Trying to get ahead this holiday season since we’re leaving for Vegas on Saturday morning!
Cards ready to send out, tree trimmed, Santa visited…what next?
Here is a picture of the kiddos decortaing the tree with Popsi who came to visit for a few days after Thanksgiving:
And here is a quick recipe that you can take to your holiday get togethers. Super simple and super delicious!
I don’t recommend substituting lowfat cream cheese and mayo with this one…it just isn’t the same. In my opinion, you’d be better off not eating it at all. Sorry!
1 can quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained
1 brick cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. dill weed
Chop artichoke hearts or put in a small food processor (that’s what I use). Put cream cheese, artichoke hearts, mayo and parmesan cheese in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir often to keep from burning. Once everything is heated and combined, add the garlic and heat a few more minutes. Add dill weed at the last minute and give it one last stir. Serve with sliced baguette or crackers. Enjoy!
