Gold-n-Bubbly Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Man, this was a good little treat. Fiber and calcium rich with all the goodies a savory food lover would adore.

Ingredients:

1 8 oz block of Neufchatel cream cheese (or regular if you want)

1/2 c parmesan cheese (I used the kind you sprinkle on pizza)

1/4 c mayonnaise (eye-ball it)

1/2 tsp garlic powder (Kirkland variety is the BEST!)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 13.75 oz can quartered artichokes, drained, rinsed and coarsely chopped

3/4 c frozen spinach, thawed, squeezed dry and chopped*

1/3 c or handful of shredded sharp cheddar

Serving suggestions: Baked flour tortilla shards (see below for directions) or corn tortilla chips.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix everything from cream cheese to salt until well combined. Fold in artichokes, spinach and cheese. Spoon into greased 3 cup ramekin. Bake for 15 minutes in the center of the oven. If serving with flour tortilla shards, place 4-6 tortillas directly onto oven rack around the dip. Bake altogether an additional 5 minutes, keeping a close eye on tortillas to prevent burning. Dip should be lightly golden and crusty. Serves 4 at a party or two happy little piggies.

* After squeezing the daylights out of the spinach, place it in the bowl with the rest of the ingredients, minus artichokes, and use a pair of scissors to chop it up a bit more. This will make for easier dipping without pulling molten-hot spinach strands up and out over your hand. Plus, it mixes the spinach in at the same time. NOW fold in the artichokes and cheese.

Also good with:

Steak. As opposed to creamed spinach. Watch this ooze into the mashed potatoes I assume you would normally serve with the steak.

Baked potatoes. Use your imagination.

Veggie Patch Pizza (just like from Applebee's). Sautee a bunch of mushrooms and onions and fold them into a couple tablespoons of the dip. Smear over a flour/whole wheat tortilla and bake at 350 F for about 10 minutes or so. Just watch out, you know how crazy those tortillas get.

Any other suggestions? Feel free to leave a comment on the box belooooow :-)

More crust than Mr Krabs. 

This is my individual ramekin of ooey-gooeyness. 

Almost homemade ranch chopped salad

Inspired by my local grocery store. Thanks for overcharging for pre-made ranch dressing and "forcing" me to degrade to powdered ranch dressing. I LOVE it!

Ingredients:

1 pkt of powdered ranch dressing (I used store brand because it was 2 pkts for 98 cents!)
1/2 c milk or buttermilk
1 c mayo

Put this in a screw top jar and shake the heck out of it. Refrigerate until everything else is ready.

3 slices of favorite lunch meat, rolled up and sliced into half inch ribbons)
1/4 c cooked shredded chicken of your liking (I used grilled chicken breast)
3 large romaine leaves, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 stalk of celery with leaves, coarsely chopped
About 1/8th of a green bell pepper, chopped*
1/8 medium onion, whatever you have on hand, chopped
1/2 medium carrot, cut into match sticks or grated on the largest grater hole
Honestly, whatever kind of veggie you have in your crisper, chop it up to your liking.
1 large snap top plastic container
1 boiled egg, peeled and roughly chopped
Cracked black pepper, as much as you'd like

Other optional choices:
Olives
Banana peppers
C.O.C. (cheese of choice, i.e. feta, sharp cheddar, parmesan)
Fresh basil, cilantro or other soft herbs

Serving suggestions:
Goes great with toasted Ciabatta, French, or any firm Artisanal bread, toasted with a bit of olive oil drizzled on it.


Directions

Place everything into container except for egg. Drizzle with about 2 tbsp dressing (up to you how much). Replace lid, and gently shake the container to combine ingredients and dressing with veg and meat. Remove lid, sprinkle egg, cracked black pepper and any other options you'd like to add. Eat straight from the bowl or divy it up and share it with a friend next to an entree. Yum!

* In my humble opinion, the bell pepper MAKES this salad; gives it that something special. To me, it likens the flavors to a coleslaw without the heavy drenched-in-dressing feeling.

This salad is fantastic and economical. Everything I needed was right in my fridge, save for the powdered dressing. I never would have thought of using powder over bottled dressing, but this has totally changed my mind. Another great thing is that you can use low-fat or fat free ingredients, even sub yogurt for the mayo for an extra tangy, healthy alternative. Fantastic!

The BEST spiced apple waffles ever!!

I've been making waffles from a dry mix for the last year or so since i received my wonderful waffle iron. I've always thought waffles were just waffles, something new to eat for breakfast that doesn't include a bowl and milk. Recently, I bought a HUGE bag of Gala apples and wanted to find ways to use them besides straight up eating, and here I found my new go-to favorite waffle recipe.

What made this waffle stand apart from others that i've made is their texture: tender-crisp on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside. I used about 2/3 c of batter for each waffle and cooked on almost-full heat for four minutes. Each waffle came out a gorgeous golden brown color, enhanced by the pumpkin-pie spice used to flavor them. And the aroma, oh the aroma! It's like a warm hug and a huge mug of spiced cider in delicious waffle-form. My 3 year old son and I have eaten these every day since I made them three days ago and each time has gotten better and better.

Ingredients:
3 medium eggs, separated
3/4 cup buttermilk, warmed*
3/4 cup milk, warmed
8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 medium Gala apple, peeled, cored and grated
1 1/2 cups a.p. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (apple pie spice works well, also)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped (optional)
Syrup or whipped cream for serving

Directions:
Preheat an oven to 200°F. Preheat a Belgian waffle maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, buttermilk, milk and butter. Add the grated apple and stir to combine.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Add the flour mixture to the egg yolk mixture and whisk until smooth (some small lumps are OK).

Using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to high beat until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 3 minutes. Slowly add sugar, about 1 tbsp at a time, so that whites do not deflate. Fold half of the whites into the batter, then carefully fold in the remaining whites.

Sprinkle 2 Tbs. of the chopped pecans onto the waffle maker. Pour about 2/3 cup of the batter onto the surface. Cook the waffles according to the manufacturer's instructions until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer the waffles to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while you cook the remaining waffles.**

Serve the waffles with whipped cream, butter and/or syrup. Makes eight 6-inch Belgian waffles.

* Don't have buttermilk? No worries! Follow this tip http://frugalliving.about.com/od/condimentsandspices/r/Buttermilk_Sub.htm for homemade buttermilk any time you need it!

** To store leftovers, allow to cool completely on a cooling rack. Stack up, layering each with a paper towel in between. Place in a gallon sized labeled zip top baggie, taking care to press as much air out as possible and store in your freezer. To toast, pull apart in sections that will fit into toaster and toast at half-full heat. I.M.O, these are even BETTER when re-toasted! Yum!

Mean Green Stuft Bells

This is my variation on Giada Di Laurentiis' recipe that I found on foodnetwork.com (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/stuffed-zucchini-and-red-bell-peppers-recipe/index.html). Followed her recipe almost to a t, but used different meat and added extra cheese and spice at the end.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil (this is the healthy choice, but vegetable oil may be used)
3 medium short green bell peppers or whatever color you can get your mits on
1 egg
1/2 medium white onion, grated
1/4 c finely chopped curly or flat leaf parsley (I added a hefty pinch, as I am not too keen on this flavor)
3 tbsp ketchup
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp salt (I used freshly ground sea salt, but table or Kosher will do)
1/4-1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/3 c parmesan (off the block is better, but I used the pizza parlor variety)
1/4 c dry bread crumbs*
.75 lbs ground pork. The fresher, the better.
.75 lbs ground turkey or chicken thighs. Again, fresh is best.
1/4 - 1/2 tbsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1 1/2 c red sauce (I used leftover pizza sauce)
1/2 c shredded mozzarella or crumbled feta

Preheat oven to 450 F. Lubricate a 13 x 9 inch glass baking dish, set aside. Tear off a sheet of heavy duty foil the length of your dish and set aside. with Split down the middle, de-seed and de-vein each of your bells and set aside. Combine everything from eggs through to the meat and gently stir with a fork or with your fingers, being careful not to squeeze or manhandle the goodness. Spoon mixture into bells, filling completely without compacting. Nestle bell peppers in your prepared dish and douse with red sauce. Cover tightly with foil and slam the whole deal into the oven. Roast for at least 30 minutes, or until your thermometer reads 140 F. Uncover, sprinkle with additional spices if you want and mound on the queso. Put back in the hot box, uncovered, for additional 12 minutes or until golden and buuuuubbly! Now, you'll want to wait at least 10 minutes for the juices to coagulate back into your roasty verdant gems, or you'll be wearing a whole lot of painfully hot juice. Serve over steamed Jasmine rice with extra sauce drizzled over sauce from the cooking pan. Now eat!!!!!

*I use whatever bread I've got laying around the house to make bread crumbs by simply giving them a whaz in my food processor. Whatever I don't use, I store in my freezer in labeled zip top baggies. For Italian bread crumbs, add preferred seasonings. For the recipe, I used bread crumbs that I had toasted completely dry. This helps absorb some of the moisture from the bells.