Greek layered dip

My other contribution for the Easter festivities this year was a layered Greek dip...sort of like the 7 layer Mexican dip I make on a semi-regular basis, but with a Greek flair. I've had a love affair with hummus and Greek yogurt lately so I was almost went through the roof when I came up this concoction while trying to decide what I should bring to our Jamison get together. I actually had the stuff to make the Mexican dip, and was looking around in the fridge for something when I thought "I could do this with anything!" Saw I had some feta cheese and a cucumber, knew I always had hummus and Greek yogurt on hand, and was pleasantly surprised by these Greek flavored sundried tomatoes I found in the cupboard. This was meant to be, my fellow food freaks!  The only thing I had to pick up was some pitas to dippity dip into the stuff...I'd say the heavens wanted this to happen.

 

1 bag sundried tomatoes (Greek, oregano, basil and garlic flavored preferably)

1 cup reduced fat feta cheese

2 cups Greek yogurt (I use Oikos brand, LOVE that stuff!)

1 container roasted red pepper hummus (I used Trader Joe's brand but I also like Athenos brand)

1/2 cucumber, diced

1 T Greek seasoning

1 T olive oil

pita bread cut into pieces for dipping

 

The instructions are pretty self-explanatory for a layer dip. You just....layer. I started with the creamy ingredients, hummus on bottom followed by the Greek yogurt. Then the sundried tomatoes and cucumbers, and finally the feta. Drizzle with olive oil and your Greek seasoning and you're in business! I made this the day before we served it and it was fine staying in the fridge overnight. I loved the full flavored bites of Greekness you got with each scoop...layered dips make for the perfect bite, you get some of each ingredient in each mouthful!

Perfect for a party...but don't judge me when I say I could sit down and eat this for a meal. It's very filling, and I am a dip girl, you know. Hummus and Greek yogurt both contain a good amount of protein so it will keep you satisfied like a meal would, not like a normal dip. So you don't have to feel like a heathen for ruining your dindin with this stuff...but I'm not admitting to anything. Happy Friday, all!

Gumbo dip

When Manda comes to town, I always try to whip up something Cajun, southern, or Louisiana style as a special treat for her. You remember when we did the gator sausage boil when she was visiting over the week of the 4th of July? Anyway, she's one of my great friends who is from NOLA, but lives in Houston now, so I try to keep her coming back to Iowa to visit by enticing her with food from her home...and it seems to be working! She came up this past weekend for my bachelorette party and I made her this dip the night before while we sat and had some beers and chatted with Mama K and Leslie...it was a perfect night!

 

4 T butter (I used light Country Crock)

1 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced

3/4 cup sliced okra pods (I had to leave this out since the store was out of okra, sadface)

2 ribs celery, diced

6 green onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 t Cajun seasoning (I use Tony C's religiously)

1 lb large cooked (pink) shrimp with tails removed

8 oz cream cheese (I used fat free)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 andouille sausage, sliced (I added this since I omitted the okra, and am very glad I did, yummmmm!)

 

Preaheat the oven to 400 degrees. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bell pepper, okra (if you have a store that keeps stock), and celery to the pan and saute until beginning to soften, about 6 minutes. Stir in the green onions, garlic, and cajun seasoning. Cook 1 more minute, just until fragrant. Stir in the shrimp, andouille, cream cheese, and Parmesan. Stir over low heat until cream cheese is melted and everything is evenly mixed. Spoon the mixture into a baking dish.

 

Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is browned and bubbling. Serve with toasted baquette slices. I had a loaf of focaccia and a loaf of baguette to dip that we just warmed in the oven. The first bite was a little disappointing, I was underwhelmed. But the second bite and all the subsequent bites after that...I win. Actually, my mouth wins. My waistline doesn't win. But we can't all be winners, now can we!? If you got a bite with a little sausage and a little shrimpy in it, your mouth hit the freaking lotto, I'm telling you!

 

7 layer dip

Labor Day. Labor Day. Labor Day. No matter how much I say it, I can't believe we're already here. Where did the Summer go? I told you earlier in the year that Memorial Day is pretty much the kickoff to Summer in my mind, and that makes Labor Day the "See you later" party for Summer. Obviously, I have many reasons to look forward to Fall...besides the usual hoodie weather and comfort food recipes, Main Man and I will be tying the knot in under 2 months. For realz. This year went by at lightning speed. I'm told that it continues to speed up each year you get older and as you have kids of your own, but I'm not sure how time could fly any faster!

 

Labor day weekend is our last planned weekend at the lake, with all the wedding stuff coming up, and Main Man's work taking up a lot of his time.  I'm sad Summer is coming to an end but am really looking forward to the first ISU football game this weekend, so I guess it's an even trade!  If you're looking for some recipes to bring to a potluck or bbq this weekend, check out the suggestions I made for Memorial Day tummy fillers, they will be great contributions to a Labor Day shindig too! 

 

I'm going pretty simple for our last lake weekend, and went with a few easy items to lug down there so we don't have to bring much back with us when closing up shop. I made:

 

huge garden salad from fresh veggies (cleaning out the garden)

turkey rollups

bangin' grilled shrimp skewers

marinated pork loin for the smoker (recipe to come)

italian stuffed zucchini (recipe to come)

7 layer dip

 

Seven layer dip is the most simple appetizer I make, and I always have all the ingredients around to throw it together, since you pretty much use what you want. I've even made it with more or less than seven layers before...that's how crazy I am. Keep your distance, folks...I'm not sure you want this insanity to rub off on you.

 

I started with a layer of fat free spicy refried beans for the base. Layered on a diced jalapeno, and half a can of diced black olives I had leftover from another recipe.

 

Cover those layers with a layer of greek yogurt (rather than sour cream). Top that with a layer of taco sauce, a layer of 2% mexican cheese, and a layer of fresh picked cherry tomatoes from the garden. I would normally do onions, but I know there is one particular onion hater that will be amongst us this weekend (don't worry, I won't name names, Christina!) so I omitted that part. Use tortillas chips to schoop up that goodness and see if that dish isn't licked clean by the end of the day.

You can add a layer of quac, a layer of salsa, a layer of lettuce, a layer of onion. You can also omit any layers you're not too fond of...it's really up to you. Don't you love recipes like that?? Superbly easy, built to please personal tastes, and didn't even require a run to the store. I'll go ahead and wish myself a happy Labor Day for you, since you'll be wanting to thank me for this go-to dish sometime this weekend.

Alright, folks...I'm out to take the dogs on a walk, get packed up, and maybe get a little reading in this afternoon. Enjoy the long weekend, and we will see you back here on Tuesday!!

Texas trash dip

The original recipe (from www.allrecipes.com) goes something like this....

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 cup sour cream

2 cans (16 ounces, each) refried beans

1 packet taco seasoning

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

2 cups monterey jack cheese, shredded

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together cream cheese and sour cream in a large bowl. Mix in refried beans until combined. Stir in taco seasoning.

Spray a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray. Spread mixture evenly into the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle the top with both cheeses.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until cheese in melted and slightly browned. Serve with tortilla chips.

The Never Trust a Skinny Cook version had a few modifications though:

1. Greek yogurt instead of cream cheese...can't even tell the difference!

2. Greek yogurt instead of half of the sour cream.

3. Skip the cheddar and monterey jack cheese and use Velveeta Queso Blanco...I used the whole brick, cubed.

4. Use fat free spicy refried beans.

5. Double everything and throw it all in a crockpot with a liner in it. I like my dips to stay warm while people munch on them all day, not have to continually heat it up (nobody likes cold bean dip)!

So, you can try this recipe either way you think will work best for your purposes...but I'll tell you that my version was doubled and had none left untouched. I didn't throw one refried bean out...this was perfect to leave bubbling at the lake with some buffalo chicken dip and I didn't have to worry about cooking alllllllll day. Tell me that's not the stuff dreams are made of....

Loaded baked potato dip

Main Man requested this one out of the pile of appetizers I laid out to bring to a couple birthday parties earlier this month...and I was a happy camper since it only had 4 ingredients! I made a double batch, and brought it to both parties. I did not double the bacon, and probably should have since that was the part I kept searching for when I would dip...

16 oz sour cream (I used half greek yogurt and half fat free sour cream)
1 lb bacon
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions or chives

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving to allow flavors to meld together. Garnish with extra shredded cheese, crumbled bacon, and chopped chives. Serve with potato chips or pretzel crisps.

As you know, I'm a huge proponent of greek yogurt lately and this was one of the first recipes that I tried to substitute it for sour cream. I couldn't even tell the difference and would probably sub the whole amount in the future! It's so much better for you...

If I were to make this again, I would use a little more bacon (I think the issue here was Main Man stealing pieces as I cooked them), I would use a little more chives (I didn't have a whole 1/3 cup on hand), and I would use a little less shredded cheese. Sharp cheddar is pretty strong tasting so the flavor was there but it just made the dip very thick. It would break off the chips as you attempted to get a good solid dip of it...not fun. The taste here was good, it was the consistency that needed work...

Dunk dip

There's two types of people in this world...those who dip and those who can walk away from dip. I'm a dipper. I'm also a nibbler. I would much rather graze my way through a party than sit down and have a meal...you can multitask that way, mingle and much, it's the perfect mix.

16 oz sour cream (I will use greek yogurt to substitute when I make this next, I am obsessed with it as it is so much better for you than sour cream and you can't tell the difference)
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 jar taco sauce
2 cups shredded mexican cheese

Mix together. Dunk. Done.

The photos aren't the best, as this was a mid-afternoon snack at the lake on Memorial day weekend that Michelle pulled out of the fridge. A creamy dip surprise is my favorite kind of surprise :) I won't name names, but the boys put a kill on this container after a few toddies that night as well...so it must go well with cold beer!

Leslie's healthy cookie dough dip

Alright. It's Memorial Day weekend. We had pizza for breakfast. We have to wear a swimsuit today (and the rest of the weekend, mind you). See where I'm headed with this? We needed some healthier choices throughout the day so we didn't feel (and look) like Shamu on the beach...nobody needs to see that, believe me. Enter: Leslie's cookie dough dip...exept it's not cookie dough, but it tastes kinda like it, and you dip fruit in it, so it's healthy right? Right.

I'm usually not a huge fan of sweeter dips, but this one was a hit! And although I am notoriously excited about a pile of fat kid food in front of my face, it's funny how something fresh and light will be just what you need when you've been munching on chips or other easy snack foods all weekend. You would never be able to pick out that this dip is made from garbanzo beans...I mean never. I really wouldn't have guessed that this dip is actually good for you, to be honest. High fives for Leslie helping out with healthier options for the weekend....thanks, lady!! Here is the recipe she gave me to make it again on my own:

1 Can Garbanzo beans
2/3 C Brown Sugar (Less when not for a party, or to make it healthier use Stevia or Honey, instead of or part/part)
1/8 tsp Salt
Little more than 1/8 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Vanilla
1/4 C. Nut Butter - I used Trader Joe's sunflower butter

1/4 C. Milk - I only have soy in the house, so I used that
1/3 C Choc chips
2-3 T Oats

Put all in food processor or blender. I started with the beans and milk, then added everything except the chocolate chips. Add the choc chips after blending is done. Dont skip the salt or its gross.

Crab Rangoon dip

See the list below?  Blend it all together thoroughly and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until bubbling.  Done.  How can you not be as excited about this as I was?

2 cans crab meat
16 oz. cream cheese (2 blocks)
1/2 cup sour cream
4 green onions, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp powdered sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp lemon juice

You can use chips but we decided, since the recipe was so easy, we had some extra time to make some fried wonton chips (this was before the first of the year slim down bet so we were safe).  We just got some wonton wrappers at the store, cut them into strips and threw them in our mini deep fryer (yes, we have one of those and no, don't go buy one...it's the devil).  Out comes golden brown fried wonton strips to dip in your crab rangoon filling...can't get much better than this, folks!

Feta dip

Another super de duper dip that was probably the biggest hit of the year this Christmas. I have no amounts, I just added, tasted, added more of whatever, and tasted.  So. Flipping. Good.  I never really use greek seasoning but that's about to change...

The ease of this dish means Im going to serve it on New Years Eve too so we have munchies after our early dinner.  And if the crowd is half as pleased as the Christmas crowd...there won't be leftovers!

olive oil
feta cheese
greek seasoning
green onion
roma tomatoes
dippy bread

Hot caprese dip

It's so great to have a recipe like this when you're in the kitchen for a full day making food for three Christmases...literally chop 3 ingredients up, mix them together, and put in the fridge until you're ready to bake.  Oh, and if you didn't know...anything with the word "caprese" in it gets put on the short list to make as soon as possible...I think I found this recipe on Tuesday and made it on Friday. One of my fave summer appetizers is the caprese skewers I made for the 4th of July this year...and this dip held it's own against those!

10 oz fresh mozzarella, chopped into cubes

2 roma tomatoes, seeded and juiced

3 T freshly chopped basil

Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, then switch to broil for 2 minutes so the cheese is bubbly and golden brown when you serve. The only suggestion I have is to make sure you get most of the juice and seeds out of the tomato before adding it into the mix to prevent standing liquid after baking....not that the juice is bad tasting, I ate the crap out of it.  But it just doesn't look the best for serving...

I baked a baguette and sliced it up to serve as the dipper.

There were a bit of leftovers, which I killed last night.  Had to get rid of it before the end of the year when the real wedding dieting starts....and there's no way I was throwing this out, mmmmmmm all that basil-y goodness is one of my favorite flavas out there!  You had me at caprese.....

Reuben dip

I've been wanting to make this for a while, it's been at the top of my new appetizer file but I have sooooo many picky friends who would rather lose an eye than try sour kraut, that I needed a good venue where people would enjoy it as much as I would to try it.  The Jamison family  Christmas was just the spot...I brought the ever so popular macaroni corn casserole (which didn't disappoint, I must say) and thought I would try something new as well....so here it is!!

I would put money on the fact that Justin will ask me to make this again, he just loved the stuff. We have so many leftovers so usually Sam (our dog) will get in on some of the action but Justin wasn't letting Sam get the remnants of this crockpot.  I also didn't really think I liked Rye bread, but the marble Rye I got was very tasty with this dip....just like a reuben!! I baked the bread so it was warm and cut it up into dipper sized pieces, the rest is history...

1 cup sauerkraut, drained
1 (8 oz) fat free cream cheese
1 (6oz) shredded Swiss cheese
6 oz diced corned beef
2 T Thousand Island dressing

Throw it in the crockpot on high for an hour to an hour and a half and you're set!

Hot corn dip

I don't know if you know this about me but I'm a dip freak. Veggies and dip, chips and dip, I dip my pizza in ranch, I dip anything and everything I can legally dip.  One of my top 5 fave dips has corn in it (see HERE) so it really piqued my interest to see a hot dip with corn.  Sold. 

2 Tbsp. butter
3 1/2 c. corn kernels (I just used 2 cans golden corn)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 c. finely chopped yellow onions
1/2 c. finely chopped red bell peppers
1/4 c. chopped green onions
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced (I didn't seed mine)
2 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 c. mayonnaise (olive oil mayo)
4 ounces monterey jack or cheddar, shredded- I used pepperjack
4 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1/4 tsp. cayenne
Tortilla chips, for dipping

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Melt 1 Tbsp. of the butter in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the corn, salt, and black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the kernels turn deep golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in the skillet. Add the onions and bell peppers and cook, stirring often, until the onions are wilted, about 2 minutes. Add the beans (if using them) green onions, jalapeno, and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened.Transfer to the bowl with the corn. Add the mayo, cayenne pepper, half of the monterey jack and half of the cheddar and mix well. Pour into an 8-inch square baking dish (or something equivilant) and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake until bubbly and golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve hot with tortilla chips.

I served this at Justin's mom's for Thanksgiving and reheated the leftovers to serve at my side's Turkey Day at our house.  I loved the stuff but I think some people were unaware that it was a dip and just ate it with a fork like a salad...I suppose that means it's pretty good if you can eat a dip without even having any chippies?  Ready for the mouthwatering photo? Ok, I owe you one since I've been gone for so long....will post about the reason for that soon :)  Here ya go....

Cat food dip

Don't ask me why it's called that.  It looks nothing like cat food, smells nothing like cat food (thank goodness), and I hope it tastes nothing like cat food (don't ask me how I know that).  But that's what I call it.  When we were younger, we would sometimes have this alone for dinner...no wonder I am a chip-aholic!  I loved those nights...mom would make it in the microwave instead of the crockpot, so you could do that if you so choose.  I serve this as an appetizer and/or tailgating food so I like to keep it warm in the crockpot.

I'm sure most of you have already made this dip, and if you haven't then you have to have tasted it at some point in your life.  If not, I feel for you.  I guess it may be an Iowa/midwest thing because my friend Amanda from the South thinks this is the best thing she's stumbled across in Iowa, and I thought it was a pretty standard dish.  But when made with homemade salsa, you betta buleev this rates pretty high on my dip-o-meter.  The only issue there is the dip got a little runny since the homemade stuff is a bit more liquid-y (is that a word?) so I would use more cheese or less salsa...whatever you prefer.  With only 3 ingredients, why would you not make this right meow?

1 lb hamb (browned)
1 block 2% velveeta (diced)
Salsa (as much as you want, as hot as you want, I used my fresh salsa from the garden that I had to clear out to beat the first frost)

Throw all that in a crockpot, and let it melt all it's lovliness into one ingredient....mmmmmm, cheesy! Beef in the bottom, cheese after that, and salsa drizzled on top.  Not sure if that's the order it has to go, but that's the way I do it...why change now?? Done and done...ladies and gentlemen, start your dipping!

Buffalo chicken dip

Tailgaterrrrrrs, mount up!!  There's not much better than a little Warren G reference, besides beating Iowa State beating Iowa last weekend.  ZING!  Sorry to all you Hawkeye fans...actually I'm not, I ingest all the poop talk (my family reads this so better keep it clean) all year long from you and I will rejoice in this victory for the next 51 weeks guilt free! 

Besides this being our first home tailgate of the season (we missed Labor day weekend, although we did listen on the radio), this was also my friend Beatrice's 30th birthday party...which obviously means we had to do it BIG!  We get an RV pass each year to root ISU on from the parking lot, so we have a home base to make a mean tailgate....this year we even got a tv hooked up to watch the games instead of just listening.  Moving on up in the world, huh!?

One of Bea's favorite party foods is this buffalo chicken dip, so this topped my list of food to make. I should always remember to just double this recipe...it always gets killed.  I'm sure some (or all) of you have heard of this or tasted it.  The secret to making this different?  Use a whole chicken.  Yup, get yourself a whole rotisserie chicken and dig right in there getting all the lovliness that is savory roasted chicken into your crockpot.  When time is an issue, I have used canned all white meat chicken but it does have a taste tradeoff...although I believe the canned chicken is better for you.  You decide what's important to you and your group...

1 whole rotisserie chicken, skinned and boned
2 (8 oz) containers cream cheese...you know I use fat free in everything
1.5 cups ranch (light or fat free)
1.5 cups Franks hot sauce
whole bag of 2% cheddar cheese

Throw it all in a crockpot like so...put it on high for an hour, stirring occasionally....and BOOM!  ISU beats IA, your best friend has a happy birthday, and all is right in the world.

Picture quality is not the greatest here, this is at 7 am so there wasn't great light under the RV's canopy.....yes, we got up at 5:30 am to tailgate.  And yes, I felt like I was a college student the following day.  But it was oh so worth it!

JD's miracle mix

I said miracle mix.  I meant it. This stuff is now a fixture in my cupboard. I can now throw together homemade salsa and southwestern dip in literally 3 minutes. Our friends introduced us to this at Wefest and I ordered some online the following week. Justin would be embarrassed to know that I'm telling you this...but he snuck out to the RV after everyone went to bed one night, and finished the whole container of southwestern dip. He wanted to throw the container away to hide the evidence but I made him fess up the next day...and then placed my order.  You can only get the stuff online, so here's the website:

http://www.jdsalsa.com/

Believe me, you want this. The best part is....the same mix makes both dips.  For the salsa, just add stewed tomatoes (I put mine in the food processor to puree it into the perfect texture but you don't have to do that).  For the southwestern, just add sour cream and mayo.  That's it!

Queso dip

You know the queso dip you get at mexican restaurants?  The creamy white goodness that is soooooo bad for you but such a perfect treat?  Yeah, you can't get that stuff in stores.  I was unaware of this fact, because I have never thought to make the stuff at home....like I said, it's kind of a treat and if you start making it at home, it's easy to eat a bucket of it!  But let's just say I know someone who has an aunt who is a caterer and could get my hands on 15 lbs of this lovely stuff for me....you really can't pass an opportunity up for that, now can you? 

Thanks to Curt's aunt for the cheese hook up! She did say that some Sam's Clubs sell this cheese too, but I didn't see it at the Ames one...let me know if you find it anywhere! This is the block of goodness pre-prepared:

For the party, we used a 5 lb block (I have 10 more lbs in the freezer, yippeeeeee) and diced it up so it would melt easier.  The ratio is 1 lb of cheese to 1 cup of half and half so we had to use 5 cups of half and half.  We added about 5 jalapenos that were diced up, but in hindsight, I would've done 10...it wasn't hot at all.  I didn't want to make it smoking hot since we were serving a crowd, but you couldn't even taste the heat so I would double it for sure next time. 

Throw the crockpot on high for about an hour and stir every so often so it melts evenly and you will have a dip that would put a lot of mexican restaurants to shame!! 

Guacamole

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the guacamole, but the color did turn out nice.  I have to say that I used to despise the stuff...can't stand avacados and guac just freaked me out.  The first kind I tried and liked was made by Mrs. Mohr's husband, Mark (shout out to Mr. Mohr!)...I have tons of her recipes on here, why wouldn't I need to have one of his! 

This was one thing I should not have let the boys help with though.  There were chunks of avacados and tomatoes that were too big, I think next time I would use the food processor on pulse to cut things up how I want them.  I will be making this again on my own to try my hand at it once more....

4-5 ripe avacados
1 whole onion
1 whole tomato
2 jalapenos
1-2 cups salsa (I used my homemade stuff)
cilantro
1 lime to squeze the juice over the top (this was what I forgot, it makes the flavors meld together and keeps the guac from turning brownish if it sits for a bit)

Jalapeno corn dip

Easist. Recipe. Ever.  No joke.

My roomie in college used to make this, and from then on I would make batches to keep in the fridge and nibble on all week.  Then I realized Doritos are bad for me and had to forget about having this all the time.  Although the dip isnt all that bad for you, the chippies are an issue.  Sadface. If anyone ever stumbles upon some fat free Doritos...let a girl know!

Anyway, mix all this together, dip Doritos in it...and you'll be a happy camper.  Pinky swear.  :)

4-5 cans shoepeg corn

1 bag shredded 2% mexican cheese

4-5 jalapenos, diced

1 cup fat free mayo

Potato chips and ranch dip

I'm a chips and dip freak.  I don't really know another word to describe my love affair with this crap food besides freakish.  Ever since I was a kid, I would come home from school and my snack would be chips and AE sour cream dip (garlic was my preference but I love me some party or french onion flavored too).  Anyway, long story short....this relationship has been the bain of my existence for my adult life.  My old roomie and I (don't worry Jennnnnn, our secret is safe with me and my blog) used to have races to see who could get to the bottom of their party dip first...oh, the calories consumed.  No wonder I have to work out 4 times a week when I'm 28.  The things I like the most are the things that are worst for me...just like pizza.  What's a girl to do?

Well, up until this point I just try to keet my love affair at bay for as long as possible but inevitably I end up stopping at a gas station on the way home when the craving becomes too great (since I will never allow myself to buy them on my scheduled trips to the grocery store).  But now....I found these Special K chip/cracker thingamajigs at the store today...ta daaaaaaaaaa!

They aren't exactly the same consistency as chips, or crackers for that matter, but they get the flavor right enough for me!  You can eat the whole box for under 400 calories...that doesn't cover too many normal fat-kid potato chips.  The dip is pretty good too, you could use fat free if you want to skimp even more but sometimes the taste just isn't there with fat free stuff.  Just add one ranch packet to a container of sour cream. The light version contains 40 calories per 2 tablespoons so it's not too bad.  So for 170 calories I get 30 chips with dip (which kills my craving), what a helluva deal!!  So if you see these on the shelf, give them a try if you're also an admitted chip and dip freak....they have sour cream and onion too.

P.S. I had this for lunch today but did also eat a container of raw veggies to counteract my unhealthy habit.  This ranch dip tastes pretty real and is great for veggie dip, etc all the while being cheaper and better for you (those two don't go together very often, usually the better for you means you're going to pay more) than buying the pre-made stuff.

Fresh salsa!

Thought I would post the ingredients of our Stensland summer salsa in case anyone wants to give it a shot.  I honestly have never counted the amounts of anything I put in...I just mix it, give it a taste, add whatever's needed, and repeat the process. 

But here's what goes in it, in whatever quantities you wish to use.  I would probably use more peppers than most because I like it HOT HOT HOT, but I have to tame it down for Justin's 30 year old stomach.  :)

Tomatoes
Onions
Jalopenos (add a habanero for a big batch if you like hot like me)
Cilantro
Garlic (fresh and minced)
Lime juice (fresh squeazed)

I do not add salt or anything that's not fresh, as we just love the raw veggie flavor of it, it tastes so summery and is great if you want to knock back a few beers.  So for around 25 pint jars yesterday (that I canned for the first time and ALL of them sealed, yay me!) I used 4 pallets of tomatoes which had about 8 large tomatoes on each pallet, 2 HUMONGOUS onions from Costco (like Im serious that Ive never seen an onion this size in my entire 28 years), a normal bunch of cilantro, about 6 full garlic cloves minced, 4 habaneros, approximately 15 medium sized jalopenos, and 10 small limes squeazed into the mix.  This is all an estimation so don't quote me but you can throw your own batch together and add or subtract whatever you like.  You could cut this in half or even in quarter and have a very nice sized batch of salsa. 

To get the veggies the consistency I want, I use a slap chop for the peppers and smaller stuff.  It makes nice uniform chunks so you're not getting hot bites sometimes and bland bites other times.  I will have to post a picture of the other chopper I use for the tomatoes as it leaves them a perfect size.  You could also use a blender or a food processor if you wanted, but I have neither of those so I do it all by hand.

If you make a batch this size, you will need to learn how to can them, and that's a whole 'nother post that I don't have time for right now.  Maybe when I do pickles soon I will let you in on the canning process...on that note, Happy Monday everyone!