Sweet Hot Bean Dip

Recipe from here

Ingredients:
1 (8oz) block of cream cheese, softened
1 (15.5oz) can of bushes chili starter beans
1 jar of salsa (8.5 oz)
1-1.5 cups grated cheese of choice

preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9 inch pie plate with cooking spray.  Spread cream cheese evenly over bottom of the dish.  next using the lid of the can, drain the liquid from the beans (do not rinse) and evenly spread on top of cream cheese.  Pour salsa on top of the beans (using enough to cover them).  Bake for 30 mins. or until edges begin to bubble.  Remove from oven.  Add the shredded cheese (enough to cover salsa) Place back in over just long enough to melt the cheese (about 5-8 mins). 

I first found this recipe on pinterest.  We doubled our recipe since we were taking it to a get together.  I also used one can of a sweet starter bean and one of a regular starter bean... I wanted to give it a different flavor.  We used our favorite mexican blend of cheese.  This was pretty good.  I think i either used too much shredded cheese or cooked it to long with the cheese, because the shredded cheese was a little firmer than i wanted and it made it hard to stick a chip in without it breaking.  We had about half leftover when we got home... it didn't last through the next day.

Hummus Dip

This is a new favorite that was passed on to us from a good friend. It is a second dish we take to parties now.

Take your favorite Hummus Dip (store bought or homemade) spread some on the bottom of a round glass shallow serving dish. A couple inches worth. Chop some tomatoes and sprinkle over top. Chop some cucumber and sprinkle over top. Chop some onions and sprinkle over top. Then sprinkle some feta cheese over all of it. Serve with pita or pretzels chips.


This is very good. Not everyone likes hummus, so we usually take this and our seven layer dip so that people eat one or the other. We rarely bring any home. This is a great, light snack for your family as well.

Lean Seven Layer Dip

I have no idea where this recipe came from. I have been making it for years to take to parties and get togethers. I have changed the original recipe so much that I think it is safe to say this is my recipe now.... Enjoy!

16oz can fat free spicy or zesty refried beans
1 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
1.5 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
11.5 oz jar quacamole
1/2 c chopped green onions
1 c light sour cream
3tbsp canned, drained, diced green chilies
1.5 seeded, chopped vine-ripened tomatoes
4oz shredded 75% light cheddar cheese
2tbsp finely, chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 c sliced, drained black olives

In medium bowl, mix together beans, lime juice, chili powder, cumin and garlic
Spoon bean mixture into a 6cup glass serving bowl. Using a spatula, spread evenly to form a flat layer. Pour guacamole evenly over beans and smooth with back of a spoon. Sprinkle green onions evenly over top. In a small bowl, mix sour cream and chilies. Spoon mixture evenly over onions and smooth. Sprinkle tomatoes over top. In a second small bowl, mix cheese with cilantro. Sprinkle evenly over tomatoes. Sprinkle olives over that. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.

Depending on the individual ingredients you purchase this is a pretty healthy dip. Of course it is amazing, so it is very hard to now devour the whole thing (which throws the health factor out the window). Because it is usually so well liked, I usually double the recipe and then put it all in a 9x12 glass pyrex dish. I usually get a can of plain refried beans and a can of zesty beans and mix them together. We like to use either Wholly Guacamole or the new one at Shop n Save (calenta maybe?) They come in flat plastic containers with a paper covering. Both very good. You can also make your own, but I never have good luck with my avocados being ripe when I need them. This was the dish that made me fall in love with cilantro. The taste of fresh cilantro is just wonderful. I usually get either scoop tortilla chips, or pretzel and/or pita chips for this. I love love love this dish and have never had complaints from anyone that has ever eaten it. (Except for my mother, who complained because there were onions in it.)

Spanish Style Quinoa

I am not sure where we acquired this recipe, but we love it!

Recipe
1tbls vegetable oil
1/2c uncooked quinoa
1/2 med onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 sm red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 (8oz) can tomato sauce
1 1/4c water
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp ground cumin
makes 8 servings

heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. stir in the quinoa, onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Cook and stir 5 to 10 minutes until the onion is tender, and the quinoa has lightly toasted. Stir in the tomato sauce and water, then season with the spices. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 30 minutes. Stir the quinoa occasionally as it cooks.

If you have never had quinoa, your missing out. I think I was first exposed to this wonderful member of the rice (i think) family at CBW. There you could substitute your rice for quinoa. To me, quinoa has a nutty flavor that rice and it is much healthier for you. We make quinoa a lot. This is one of our favorite recipes with quinoa. It goes great with mexican dishes. It is fairly easy to make and while it is simmering you have enough time to cook whatever else you are going to have with it. If you have never cooked quinoa before, here's a tip for you: you know the quinoa is done when the tail separates from the base (you will know this when you see it)and it gets a little translucent. Truly an amazing food, try it!

Macaroni and cauliflower Cheese Bake

Original Recipe
This is a Jamie Oliver Recipe!


Recipe
1/2 head of cauliflower
8 oz cheddar cheese
4 oz parmesan cheese
small bunch of italian parsley
salt
1lb dried macaroni elbos
1c creme fraiche or sour cream

remove the outer green leaves from cauliflower and discard. Sliced the ends off the stalks and cut into small florets. Grate the cheese into a large heatproof bowl. Finely chop the parsley. bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Add macaroni and all the cauliflower and cook according to package directions. Place the bowl of cheese over the saucepan and add the sour cream. Stir every so often until the cheese is smooth and melted. If the water boils up beneath the bowl, just turn the heat down a bit. Add the parsley and a bit of salt. Remove the bowl of cheese using oven gloves. Drain the macaroni in a colander. Return the pasta to the pan and pour the melted cheese in and stir. You can either serve it like this, or finish it under the broiler to make it crispy and golden. Preheat your broiler to a medium to high heat. Add 2/3c water (if you saved your cooking water use that) and stir it in. Transfer to a baking dish. Place under broiler until golden and bubbling.


So as I have mentioned before we need 8 servings of everything, so we added to this a bit. We put a full head of cauliflower and 8oz of Parmesan. If you wanna do that.... Do a 2:1 ration of your cheese, have double the amount of cheddar as you do Parmesan, because Parmesan cheese has that bite to it and the cheddar gives it a smoother taste. Also we just made a double broiler for the cheese, we didn't put it over the pasta-there was no room. So we just boiled some water in a separate pan and then added the bowl to that. Stir the cheese frequently so it doesn't stick to the pan. I loved this. I am a mac and cheese purist (of course that changes a bit more every time we go here), so I wasn't too sure about the cauliflower, but it softened while cooking and it was super good. Another recommendation I would have if you decide to use the whole head of cauliflower... use a 1.5 of noodles so you get a good mix of noodles and cauliflower. We didn't put ours in the broiler.... I like mine creamy (mac and cheese at its finest) and the benefit of doing most of the cooking is you get your say when it comes to that cooking :-) This was super good.. and the cauliflower made the mac n cheese healthy enough for me to get away with having pasta and cheese in the same dish (my two favorite ingredients).

Broccoli and Goat Cheese Orzo

This is a variation of this recipe.

We substituted Orzo for the Orecchiette because it was what we had and we love orzo.

It wasn't bad. I personally didn't care for it, but I am not a fan of broccoli. The rest of the fam thought it was great. Pretty easy to make, but goat cheese is a more expensive cheese here, so this could cost a little more than most side dishes. Doesn't take too long to make... the orzo takes about 20 mins, so get that started right away. The chili flakes really made this a zesty meal, so make sure to pair it with something mild. We paired ours with tortellini, but next time we will probably pair it with some chicken so we don't have so much pasta in one meal.