Jalapeno Popper Dip - MIZZOU Style!

For our Tennessee tailgate this weekend, I decided to put one of my long-lost pins to good use. On Saturday, we tested out and enjoyed Jalapeno Popper Dip. I orignally pinned this recipe from Raining Hot Coupons, you can find the original recipe here. We made a few slight modifications which you can see below:

Jalapeno Popper Dip
Original Recipe: Raining Hot Coupons

You'll Need:

• 2 8oz packages of Light Cream Cheese
• 1 small jar/can of jalapenos (we used some of the juice in the mixture as well)
• 1 small can of green chiles
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
• Planko breadcrumbs (for topping)

Make it!

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Combine and mix all ingredients except the breadcrumbs. Reserve those for the top of your dip. 
• Pour mixture into 9x13 pan and top with breadcrumbs.
• Bake for 20 minutes. 
• Broil the top for 2-3 minutes until you have a nice golden brown cover on your dip. 
• Serve with crackers, tortillas, or pita chips!

It was definitely a hit - especially when it was heated up next to a giant bowl of homemade chili. The perfect combo before a big win over the Tennessee Volunteers! Did I mention Mizzou is 7-1? Oh, and the Chiefs are 8-0? FANTASTIC!

Fruit Salsa & Pita Chips

This past weekend a few friends and I celebrated the 4th of July a little early. Needless to say, I took this opportunity to experiment on a few patriotic treats. Today, I'll show you how I made a fruit salsa and homemade pita chips. 

Originally, this fruit salsa recipe wasn't supposed to be red, white, and blue but it just kind of happened. I bought way too many blueberries (and understatement of the amount of blueberries in my fridge) and couldn't find any kiwi. Oh well! The salsa was delicious. 

Fruit Salsa:
(Depending on how much salsa you want depends on how much fruit you put in - go wild!)
2-4 apples (chopped)
Strawberries (chopped)
Raspberries
Blueberries
2 tsp Fruit Preserve (if you add more fruit, add more preserve and sugar)
2 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp brown sugar

Combine all of the ingredients and pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes or so. The longer the better if you ask me!

Pita Chips
Tortillas (10 or so - again, depends on how many you wish to make!)
Vegetable oil
Sugar
Honey

Using a pizza cutter, create small chips from the flour tortillas. Pour vegetable oil in a skillet and let the oil warm for a few minutes. Toss a few tortilla slices into the skillet and let them crisp for a few minutes. After awhile, your oil becomes quite warm and it takes about one minute per chip. Be careful! A few of my chips wound up outside because I got distracted.

Place your cooked chips on a plate and drizzle with sugar and honey. Use them to dip into your fruit salsa and ENJOY!

What patriotic recipes are you testing out this year?

Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad

Yum. 

Last week, I spent my spring break in St. Louis and Dallas relaxing and taking a true mental vacation. While in Dallas, we all decided to stay in one night and make dinner. I jumped on the chance to test out a new recipe. Pinterest introduced me to this recipe for Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad, so we went to work. 

What You Need:

• 8 oz uncooked pasta (we went with bowtie!)
• 1/2 cup Frank's hot sauce (my first time cooking with hot sauce!)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp celery salt
• 2 cups precooked chicken
• 1 1/2 cups blue cheese crumbles
• 1 cup carrots
• 1 cup celery

Click here to follow Snappy Gourmet's step by step directions for making the pasta. 

Now, you're probably wondering why that bottle of white wine vinegar is hanging out with garlic salt in the above photo. Maybe you weren't wondering that, but now you are. Well, initially it was thought that lemon juice was M.I.A. After subbing in white wine vinegar for lemon juice, we found a brand new bottle of lemon juice chillin' in the fridge. Literally. 

We also failed to find any garlic powder, onion powder, or celery salt .... so we used garlic salt. Could my taste buds tell anything was missing? Nope. 

What else do you need for a successful pasta? Someone else to chop the veggies. Lucky me, huh? I stuck to the easy stuff. 

Chop & Pour, repeat.

Fit For a King (or 4 friends on a Saturday night)

Promptly after this photo was taken, I was feeling rather confident the pasta dish that was created. I did a fancy little spin move on the rug and wiped out. The fridge happend to catch my fall and, thankfully, the pasta.

Bless You, Fridge.

Spinach Wrapped Goodness

How was your Super Bowl Sunday? Mine was spent snacking on delicious goodies and mingling with great friends. Not too shabby for a Sunday afternoon if you ask me!

Of course, the Super Bowl was the perfect occasion to test out a new recipe on a few willing guinea pigs. As you may (or may not) know, I'm a big fan of crescent rolls. Who knew those little wraps were so versatile? On Pinterest I found a recipe for a spinach and cream cheese pinwheel but then it vanished. I couldn't seem to track it down again. After wayyy too much searching, I had to rely on that other search engine, google.

Taste of Home has a delightfully simple recipe for Spinach Cheese Pinwheels.  I modified a bit.  Here's how to make these little goodies on your own:

Fits in the Palm of Your Hand

Spinach Cream Cheese Pinwheels

• 1 tube garlic butter flavored crescent rolls
• 4 oz cream cheese
• frozen spinach
• (optional) meat or veggie of your choice!

Make it!

1. Separate crescent rolls into four rectangles and seal the perforations. (Yes, this step took me awhile to figure out)
2. Spread cream cheese on crescent rolls. Top with spinach, ham, and veggies (if you so choose!)
3. Roll up each rectangle up jelly style and cut into slices. Don't forget to pinch the edges to seal!
4. Cook for 8-10 minutes on 400 degrees.
5. Enjoy!

Happy Tuesday!

A Spectacular Wednesday

Guess what? It's almost Friday. Just wanted to throw that in there in case you forgot.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting with my book club to discuss "Killing Lincoln". I usually don't read many historical books, but I highly recommend picking up this thriller! It tells the fascinating story of President Lincoln's assassination in the spring of 1864. The book definitely keeps you on your toes and begs for you to turn each page. 

Anytime I'm involved of a gathering of some kind, I always bring a dish to share. I can't help it! It gives me an excuse to test out recipes and cook a little. Usually, it's a dish I've never tried before others get to be my test-subjects. Thanks to Pinterest (as always), I found an appetizer that is a definite crowd pleaser. I brought the leftovers to school today and this was the end result:

I had to stop myself from licking the bowl clean. Needless to say, I believe I've found one dish to contribute to a superbowl par-tay. 

Pizza Dip from Closet Cooking

Ingredients

• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup mozzarella, grated
• 1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (parmesan), grated
• 1 cup pizza sauce
• 1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded/grated
• 1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (parmesan), grated
• 2 ounces pepperoni, sliced
• 2 tablespoons green pepper, sliced
• 2 tablespoons black olives, sliced

Directions

1. Mix the cream cheese, sour cream mayonnaise, mozzarella and parmigiano reggiano and spread it across the bottom of a pie plate.
   
   Click here to read the rest of Kevin's recipe from Closet Cooking. 

After snacking and chatting about Lincoln, we decided on our Jan-Feb book pick. We decided on Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Have you ever read it? I'm really looking forward to it! I wish the Amazon storks would drop it off sooner than Monday. 

Before I scoot to my laundry... I have a fun announcement to make! A friend and I have decided to participate in the Lake of the Ozarks Polar Bear Plunge for Special Olympics! If you want more information on how YOU can help out, leave me a comment!

Happy Thursday!

Energy bites, say what?!

I vote we add one extra day in the weekend. We can call it "schmatterday". Then, I will have enough time to lay around and be productive.

Tonight, I tested out a fancy little recipe I pinned awhile ago on the oh-so-wonderful Pinterest. Smashed Peas and Carrots posted a recipe to make No-Bake Energy Bites. Yum!

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)

1/3 cup honey

1 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla

Mix everything above in a medium bowl until thoroughly incorporated.  Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.  Once chilled, roll into balls and enjoy!  Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Smashed Peas & Carrots photo

These yummy bites are waiting for me in my fridge. I couldn't be more excited. Even without the coconut, they will be delightful!

In honor the Emmy's and quite possibly the greatest week of television, I shall leave you with my favorite television shows. Happy Sunday!

How I Met Your Mother

Photo Source

Glee

Pinterest Photo

Modern Family

The Office

The Sean Lewis

Simple

Simple things make my heart go pitter-patter. Naturally, when I found a recipe from Real Simple magazine, I was pumped. 

I needed a quick and yummy appetizer to compliment a spaghetti night. I instantly Pinterested (is that a word yet?) bruschetta. Because, I absolutely adore all things bruschetta! It's absolutely amazing but not absolutely easy to make. Lucky for me, I found the Blue Cheese and Honey Bruschetta. 

Easy-Peasy Lemon Squeezy

Mentally prepare yourself for this super simple recipe. Are you ready? Okay, get set... GO!


Ingredients

• 1/2 baguette
• 3 ounces blue cheese
• 2 tablespoons honey

Directions

1. Thinly slice the baguette. Place the rounds on a baking sheet and broil until golden brown (about 1 1/2 minutes per side).

2. Divide the blue cheese among the toasted bread slices. Drizzle 2 tablespoons honey evenly over them.

The combo of honey and blue cheese is divine. It was delightful and I intend on making this little diddy again. 

Ready to Roll Out

Delicious-ness

Besides my fun appetizer, I'm also equally fascinated with my pedometer. Best $15.00 ever spent! Right now, I'm at 11, 634 steps and I'm headed to my rockstar fitness class! Buy one, I promise you it's bound to entertain you ... for at least one day. 

"I will let you go, Ricky. But first, I want you to say...”I... love... crepes"

Prior to today, I was under the impression that anything you can buy on the side of the street you can make easily in your kitchen. Boy! Was I wrong or what? Honestly, if I can buy a hot dog, taco, or pretzel out of a truck... it can't be too difficult to recreate. Considering I bought a crepe from a truck in Paris, France and ate my delicious treat on the street. (that was a fun rhyme!) I figured I could make this snack at home.
Spoiler alert! I was unsuccessful.

Crazy eyes munching on a carmel crepe in '08

Searching for Quasimoto. I did not find him. 

Using inspiration from a recent trip to iHop, Sunday's episode of Real Housewives of New Jersey, and my love of Nutella I embarked on this unforgettable journey.

Whoa whoa whoa, let me back up. Have you had Nutella? If you haven't, stop what you are doing right now and go get some! It's absolutely fantastic. It's not chocolate, it's not vanilla, it's not peanut butter... it's HAZELNUT! My obsession started in London town with my Flat 6 roomies. We liked to put Nutella on everything. Please, you're breaking Nutella's heart. Go get some already!

Using the guidance from All Things Considered blog, I started tackling these crepes. I began mixing the ingredients and things began going smoothly.  I was concerned that the batter was rather juicy, but I thought.."hey! it's a really thin pancake so the batter must be like this..."

As you can see in my picture, I have these neat canisters that hold my sugar, flour, and powdered sugar. At the time, I didn't think anything of it. I just began scooping a white powdery substance into my mixing bowl thinking it was FLOUR. Hours later, I realized it was powdered sugar. No wonder things were not working and my creation looked like this.... TWICE. I even made the batter AGAIN using a different recipe! I made the same mistake twice in a row. Somewhere, Martha Stewart is shaking her head.

I made a big 'ol mess

The ugliest crepe ever made

I could not figure out what was going wrong. I consulted several sites giving me the same recipe. Finally, I gave up on the homemade approach. I was NOT going to give up on my precious Nutella.

I grabbed some tortillas from the fridge and buttered them up. I sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on them and tossed them in the frying pan. After a minute or so I poured Nutella in the middle. (It wasn't this glamorous. My description of this experience is far more exciting) The end product was a delicious Nutella treat. I dare you to try it! C'mon, make Nutella proud!

It's not a burrito.. it's a tortilla filled with Nutella!

After this catastrophe, I needed to experience some success. I had brought a little of France into my apartment (at least I think so...) and next Italy was coming for a visit!

Ever since our family vacation to Italy, my dad has me hooked on caprese salads. It's true! I love the tomato, mozz, and vinaigrette dressing.

gotta love him!

Let Birds Fly has a super simple and yummy recipe for an Apple Caprese Salad. After 2+ hours messing with crepes, I experienced instant gratification with this recipe.

You're probably wondering where the basil leaves are. I am too! I couldn't find them at Hyvee.... can somebody help a sister out? They were M.I.A.

If you're a fan of caprese salad... you'll definitely enjoy this one.

Let Birds Fly photo

As you can imagine, I have quite the mess waiting for me in my kitchen. As Ricky Bobby would say (if you've seen the movie... you'll understand the crepe connection).

Shake and Bake!