Sausage Stars

Sausage Stars... YUM!!

I wish I could take credit for this delicious recipe, but I can't... there are so many renditions of this recipe floating around online. Today, I'm sharing my version of it. These little snacks are so stinkin' good! If you need a good snack to whip up during football season, for your next holiday party, or even for your next pot luck... give these a try! Here's how I make mine:

Ingredients
16 oz. sour cream
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
1 lb. ground sausage
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese
1 12 oz. package wonton wrappers*

This recipe makes about 36 Sausage Stars.

To start, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Next, cook up your sausage in a skillet. While your sausage is cooking, mix in your garlic salt and crushed red pepper. You can add more crushed red pepper, or even use a hot version of the sausage if you want your Sausage Stars to have a little kick. It your sausage is greasy, drain the grease once it's cooked through. My sausage wasn't too greasy, so I didn't have to drain it.

Place your wontons in a cupcake pan, and bake empty for about 5 minutes.** While your wonton shells are baking, mix your ranch mix and sour cream together in a medium size mixing bowl. Then dump in your shredded cheddar and your cooked sausage.

Take your wontons out of the oven and fill them with 1 large tablespoon of your sausage/ranch/cheese mixture. Place your snacks back in the oven for about 7 minutes, or until filling is warm and wonton corners are browned.

These snacks are SO GOOD! We love to  have snacks and appetizers for my family get togethers, and this recipe is always a big hit. I've even been known to have them for dinner with a side salad when I get a craving! Some of the other recipes I've found call for peppers, olives, etc. in the sausage stars. I like them without the veggies, but you could add any chopped veggie to the mix and give the recipe your own twist.

*I had about 12 wontons left once I made my sausage stars. I just put mine in the fridge to use for another recipe later, but if you want to use all of your wontons, you could fill your stars less full and use all of your shells that way.

**I have made the recipe before without cooking the wonton shells first, but the bottom will be soft. If you do that, cook them about 10+ minutes total in the oven. I like to cook the wonton wrappers by themselves first to allow the bottom to get a little crispy.

Baked Spinach Dip

Baked Spinach dip... this is a spin off of Kerri's Spinach Dip recipe. I've made it three times so far, and every time Lee and I like it even more.

Here's how I made it:

Ingredients 
1 bag (16 oz) frozen chopped spinach

1 pkg. dry vegetable soup mix (without noodles)

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese

1 c. (8 oz.) sour cream (you'll probably want a 16 oz container of sour cream, but you'll only need half of it)
1 packet ranch mix 
*1 cup shredded cheese (mozzarella, pepper jack, whichever you prefer) 
Several sprinkles of shredded parmesan

**Optional: 1 6.5 oz jar artichoke hearts. See below.

Dump your spinach in a microwave bowl. Micro on high 4 minutes, stirring and breaking up chunks after half the time.  

Don't drain water from defrosted Spinach. Stir in veggie soup mix, until vegetables are re-hydrated.

Place cream cheese in small, microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 1 minute at 50%  power to soften.  Mix in with Spinach and soup mix.

If you have 16 oz sour cream, mix in your entire ranch packet w the sour cream and stir it up. If you have only 8 oz. sour cream, then just use half of your ranch packet. Put 8oz of your mixed ranch dip in with your spinach, veggie soup mix, and cream cheese. Mix everything together well.

Stir in half of your shredded mozzarella cheese. Set the other half of your shredded cheese aside. Sprinkle some parmesan into your mix as well. *The first time I made this, I had this awesome cheese from Sam's club, and that cheese was the main reason I wanted to make a hot Spinach Dip.  Since then, I've made this dip with an Italian blend cheese and it was still great. If you want your dip to have a little kick, you could even use pepper jack. The options are endless.

This is the cheese I bought from Sam's club which inspired me to whip up a hot spin dip recipe, and my handsome cheese model who helped me grate it all up. The name of the cheese was Spinach Artichoke Jack.

Spray an 8x8 baking dish with Pam and dread in your mixture evenly. Bake for about 30 min total, but take your dip out of the oven about halfway through and stir it up. Stirring while it's warm will help break up some Of the cream cheese chunks. Then sprinkle the other half of your cheese across the top. Feel free to add more cheese if you want your dip to be more gooey. If you're a garlic lover like me, you can even sprinkle a little garlic salt on top. I have a garlic sea salt grinder that I pretty much put on top of everything. Finish baking your dip, and then serve warm with tortilla chips.

We've eaten this dip with tortilla chips, pretzel crisps, and celery sticks. All were great, but tortilla chips is my fav way to scoop it out. 

**The very first time I made this dip, I had this jar of artichokes that I drained, chopped up, and stirred into my dip before baking. The next two times I made the dip, I didn't have any artichokes, so I went without, and the dip was still great! I bought this little jar from The Fresh Market. 

Queso Spinach Dip

Queso Spinach Dip... My sister-in-law made this dip on the 4th of July and it was so yummy! I have tweaked it a bit to make it my own, and now I make it all the time. This week I am making it to take to work for food day. Here's how I make it:

Ingredients 

1 block Velveeta (2lb.)

1- 8 oz. block cream cheese
1/2 cup milk (add more or less depending how thick you like your dip)

1- 16 oz. jar salsa, choose the brand and heat level that you like 

1- 10 oz. box frozen chopped spinach (If I can't find a 10 oz. box, I have bought the 1 lb. bag before and just used about half. A few more or less oz. of spinach won't make or break your dip.)

Start by cutting your Velveeta into chunks and put them in the Crock Pot. Do the same for your cream cheese. Dump your salsa and milk on top of your chunked cheeses. Take the paper wrapping off of your frozen spinach, but leave it in the cardboard box. Place the box of spinach on a plate and microwave for 2 minutes. Flip the box over and microwave for 2 more minutes. Next you need to drain your spinach. To do so, take the box out of the microwave and squeeze it over a sink to get all of the excess water out. (You may need to wait a minute or 2 to do this if your box is hot like mine normally is.) Once your spinach is drained, add it to your Crock Pot. Let your mixture cook on low for about an hour, stirring occasionally. After an hour, mix ingredients thoroughly and turn your heat setting to warm. If you leave your dip in the Crock Pot for several hours, it may thicken up. Add milk as needed to get to your preferred consistency. Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy!  

Pizza Dip

Pizza dip... this one is always a crowd favorite. Almost every time my family gets together, someone  requests that I make this. I like this dip because it is usually something that everyone likes, even the picky eaters.  Here's how I make it:

Ingredients

1 lb. Italian sausage (I have used both sweet and hot in the past- both are good!)

5 slices bacon

1 cup chopped pepperoni (about half of the normal 8 oz. bag)

36 oz. pizza sauce or marinara sauce

1 cup shredded Italian cheese (mozzarella or any Italian blend, but it should be something other than Parmesan)

8 oz. cream cheese

8 oz. sour cream

1-8 oz. container of grated Parmesan cheese (2 cups) 

1 heaping tablespoon of pesto

1 tablespoon of minced garlic

water if dip is too thick (optional)

Start by cooking your Italian sausage and drain any grease. Dump the cooked sausage into your slow cooker. 

Next, fry up your bacon, remove it from the grease and chop it up. Dump it into your slow cooker as well. 

Starting with the marinara sauce, put the rest of your ingredients in the slow cooker one by one and mix them all up.  If your dip is a little thicker than you'd like, its okay to add a little bit of water. I usually put about 2 tablespoons of water in each of my marinara sauce jars and shake them up to get any excess sauce off the jar and dump all of that into my Crock Pot. 

Keep your slow cooker on low for about 2 hours, or until the cream cheese melts and the dip mixes together evenly. After that, change your heat setting to warm. 

This dip is hearty and filling, and so so good! You can mix and match it with other meats, or even add your favorite veggies. 

My favorite thing to serve Pizza Dip with is garlic bread, but it is also great with bagel chips or crackers. Enjoy! 

Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Peppers

Now that warm weather is here, Lee & I  have been grilling like crazy. This is one of my favorite side dishes/appetizers to make when we are grilling out. Cheese stuffed peppers wrapped in bacon...anything with bacon and cheese is going to be amazing, but add in some peppers, and you've got a prize-winning concoction. I love making these peppers because I do like some spice here and there, but they can easily be made with sweet peppers if your family doesn't do spicy. I usually do a few jalapeños and a few sweet peppers all at once. Here's how to make them:

In this picture I used a jalapeño pepper, but the recipe is also really good with mini bell peppers. The bell peppers are sweet, not spicy, unlike like the jalapeños.

Ingredients
3 jalapeños*
3 mini bell peppers (any color is fine)*
4 oz cream cheese (1/2 block)
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I have used colby-jack before, but the cheddar really is better)
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
about a 1/2 pound of bacon strips, uncooked**
8-12 toothpicks (optional)
Aluminum foil

*The amount of peppers you will need to use up all of the filling will vary depending on the size of your peppers, but this recipe makes about a dozen stuffed peppers.
**Use any kind of bacon you like, but I do not recommend using thick cut bacon because this will take much longer to bake.

Start by  preheating your oven to 400 degrees and lining a baking sheet with foil. This will make for easy clean up. Slice the stem off of your peppers. Next, slice them in half long ways and pull out all of the seeds.

In a small mixing bowl, combine your onion powder, garlic salt, cream cheese, and shredded cheese. I use my hands to mix these ingredients together.

Next, use your fingers and press a small amount of the cheese mixture into each pepper. Make sure the pepper is full, but not over-flowing. Once your peppers are stuffed, wrap them in bacon. You may need to cut some of the bacon slices to fit the smaller peppers. If you want, you can stab them with toothpicks to make the bacon stay in place. I have made them several times with and without toothpicks, and they have turned out fine both ways.

I like to line my cookie sheet with aluminum foil because it makes an easy way to dispose of the bacon grease afterwards. Just fold up the foil and dump it in the trash! 

Place your peppers on your baking sheet and bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until the bacon looks cooked through. I usually set a timer and check my peppers every 15 minutes, because depending on the size of the peppers, they may cook quicker, or could take a little longer.

MMM! 

St. Patrick's Day

Each year, someone in my family hosts a St. Patrick's Day party. My maiden name is McBride, and the McBride side of the family really loves to celebrate our heritage, mostly by drinking green beer and making all kinds of green food. Who doesn't love good food, green beer, and great company? This year, for our annual St. Patty's Day party, I decided to make three things to bring: 

1. Spinach Dip This is one of my favorite dips. I love making it to take places because its quick and easy to make,  can be made up in advance, and is always a party favorite. It's especially great if you have any vegetarians in your group, and is naturally green, so perfect for St. Patrick's Day! 

2. Chocolate Chip Toffee Cheesecake Bars- I know that's a mouthful, but its worth it. These cheesecake cookies are literally heaven on earth, and I easily colored them green for the occasion. 

3. Leprechaun Bait- This is the first time I've made this, but I've seen similar versions on both Facebook and Pinterest so I figured I'd give them a shot. This was a pretty simple recipe, and could be easily changed for any holiday! Add red and pink M&M's for Valentine's day, or red and green M&M's for Reindeer Bait, pastel M&M's for Easter Bunny Bait, or add Reese's Pieces or fall colored M&M's to make it a Halloween dessert! 

My grandparents hosted the party this year, and it was a great day. The weather was nice so we all got to be outside, and we showered my Grandma with a little birthday love by us girls all going to get pedicures. We spent the rest of the day having green food and drinks, and hanging out. Life doesn't get much better than fun times with family. 

Girl Selfie! Here we have a pic of some of the ladies in my family. Up top we have my gma
& my s-mom, and on the bottom we have my great grandma, my sister in law, and myself.
You can see that we are all decked out in our green St. Patty's Day gear! :) 

Kerri's Spinach Dip

This recipe came from my sweet Kansas friend, Kerri. When Lee and I lived in Kansas right after college, Kerri and I worked together, and she would always bring this amazing spin dip for our food days, and lucky for me, she shared the recipe! I like making this recipe when I am hosting a party, because it can be made a day or two in advance, and will be ready to go the day of the party! Here's how I make it:

Kerri's Spin Dip Ingredients

2 pkg. (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach

1 pkg. dry vegetable soup mix (without noodles)

1/2 c. water

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese

1 c. (8 oz.) chive dip (this is basically just sour cream w/chives, and is found in the dairy section next to the sour cream)

5-6 drops hot sauce 

To defrost spinach, place packages in microwave.  Micro on High 4 minutes, turning pkgs over after half the time.  Let stand 5 min.  Drain thoroughly.  Set aside.

Place soup mix & water in small bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Micro on High 1 minute.  Let stand, covered, until vegetables are re-hydrated.

Place cream cheese in large bowl.  Microwave for 1 minute at 50%  power to soften.  Mix in re-hydrated soup mix, drained spinach, sour cream and hot sauce.

I like this dip best with Wheat Thins, but it is also good with tortilla chips, French bread cubes, and carrot or celery sticks.

I think this dip is actually a lot better when it is made 24+ hours prior to when you're going to eat it. At first when you mix it up, the spinach can be a little bit slimey, but after about a day, the texture improves, and flavors mix together better. I always make this at least a whole day in advance and let it sit covered in the fridge until I'm ready to serve it. Once you get the dip out to serve, you may want to mix it up with a fork to break up any cream cheese chunks.

Given the color of the dip, this is one of the items I'm taking to my family's annual St. Patty's Day party! Since the party is early Saturday afternoon, I made this dip early Friday morning and had it ready to go for Saturday! 

Chicken Nacho Dip

This dip is super simple to make, and is great served as an appetizer, and is also good as a meal. Here's how I make it:

Ingredients

1 pound cooked chicken

1 block Velveeta Queso Blanco 

1 jar of your favorite brand salsa

To make my chicken, I used Mix and Match Mama's perfect chicken recipe. I cooked my chicken in chicken broth. Once your chicken breasts are cooked, remove them from the broth and set them aside. Dump your broth, and rinse out your Crock Pot. (Or simply throw away your crock pot liner if you use one.) 

Chop your block of Velveeta and put your chunks of cheese at the bottom of the crock pot.

Next, chop your chicken into bite size chunks. Some of it may fall apart on its own from being cooked in the Crock Pot, and that's okay.  Layer your chicken on top of the cheese chunks in the Crock Pot. 

Last, dump your entire jar of salsa into the Crock Pot. 

Cook your dip on high for about an hour and 15 minutes, or until your cheese is melted, be sure to stir it (mix thoroughly) about halfway through, and again at the end. Once your cheese is fully melted, change your crock put heat setting to warm. 

Serve poured over tortilla chips as an appetizer, or make it a meal, like I did! I whipped up some beans and rice, and served them with our chicken nachos. 

Mexican night is always a big hit at our house! 

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Buffalo Chicken Dip is one of my favorite dips to make when taking food to a get together, because it is quick and easy to whip up, and can be easily transported in a Crock Pot. The recipe that I use is the a copy cat of the recipe printed on the Frank's Red Hot bottle, but I tweak it just a bit and make it my own. Here's how I make it:

Ingredients
4 cups shredded cooked chicken (I usually use canned chicken)
1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1/2 cup Frank's Buffalo Sauce
1 cup ranch dressing ( I use Hidden Valley)
2 packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded mozzarella or colby-jack cheese
1 bag Tostito's Scoops

This is my version of the Frank's Buffalo dip, doubled. I use the above amount of ingredients for my Crock Pot, but if you want a smaller batch, just cut the above ingredients in half.

To make it, start by mixing your cream cheese, 2 kinds of hot sauce, and ranch together in a bowl. Then stir in your shredded chicken and shredded cheese.

For this recipe, I usually use canned chicken. I have baked chicken breast before and shredded them, and used for this recipe, but honestly, it was much more work than necessary and I couldn't tell a difference from the normal recipe, so I just save myself the time and use canned chicken.

Once your ingredients are mixed together, dump the mixture in your Crock Pot and heat it on low for an hour, or until warm. Once your dip is heated up, change the heat setting on your Crock Pot to warm.

If you don't have a crock pot, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray a 2 quart baking dish. Use a 2 quart dish if you are making the above recipe, or a 1 quart dish if you cut my listed amounts in half, Dump your mixture into your sprayed baking dish and spread out. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35-40 minutes or until heated through (about 20 minutes for a 1 quart dish).

Serve with Tostito's Scoops and enjoy!

*If you like your dip more spicy, use an entire cup of hot sauce instead of 1/2 cup of regular Frank's and 1/2 cup of Frank's Buffalo. If you like your dip more mild, use an entire cup of Frank's Buffalo sauce  instead of 1/2 cup of regular Frank's and 1/2 cup of Frank's Buffalo.

**When I make Buffalo Chicken Dip at home, Lee and I often times like to use the left overs for pizza. Check out my Leftover Buffalo Chicken Dip Pizza Recipe!**


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