zesty buffalo chicken dip

Chicken, cream cheese, blue cheese and Frank's. What a delicious combination!

zesty buffalo chicken dip (Weis store ad)
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cooked and shredded
1 (8 ounce) brick Neufchatel 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened (I halved it this time)
1/2 cup Ken's Light Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing
3/4 cup Frank's Red Hot hot sauce
1 bread bowl, top removed and cut into bite-sized pieces, optional
carrots sticks, celery sticks and Triscuits for dipping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients through hot sauce and stir thoroughly. Bake in a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray for 20 minutes or until dip is hot and bubbly. Transfer dip to a bread bowl and serve with celery, carrots, Triscuits and bread chunks.

confetti veggie pizza

Watching General Conference this weekend is going to be like watching the Superbowl for our family. We're going to kick back at home and eat our way through the sessions.
This pizza was a huge hit. My kids told me if I want them to eat more veggies this is the way to do it.

confetti veggie pizza (adapted from Friend Magazine, March 2011)
2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls
1 (8 ounce) package light cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup light mayo
2 tablespoons packet Knorr's vegetable soup mix
red, yellow and green peppers, diced
carrots, cut into matchsticks

Preheat oven to 375F.
Open the crescent rolls. Press the dough into a round pizza pan or a cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Put the cream cheese and mayo in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle on the dressing mix. Mix until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Spread the cream cheese mixture on the cooled pizza crust and sprinkle on the veggie confetti. Enjoy!

fruit dip

This is a really, really yummy dip. Light tasting, smooth and the right amount of sweetness. I got the recipe at a Relief Society meeting in St. Louis. There were all sorts of dips to sample and recipes to exchange. My kids love this dip!

fruit dip (my friend Nicole from my days in St. Louis)
1 small jar marshmallow cream
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 to 1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice

Mix together well. Serve with strawberries, apples, etc. or use as a topping for fruit salad.

katie's marinara sauce

I'm not fooling around when I say this is the best marinara sauce ever. You'll never, ever want to go back to a jar or can.  For convenience you can make double batches of this sauce and freeze it. Katie brought this sauce and some pasta over after my 3rd daughter was born. I ate it right up and can't recall if anyone else ever got any!

katie's marinara sauce (Katie B. from Hershey, the most faithful visiting teacher ever)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 medium onion
1 small carrot
large handful of fresh parsley or 2-3 tablespoons dry (use fresh!)
3 to 5 cloves garlic- crushed or minced
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 (16 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
3 teaspoons capers (in my opinion these are not optional)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2-3/4 can water (use to rinse out tomato sauce cans)
1/2 to 3/4 cup chicken broth
whatever protein you prefer- ground beef, ground sausage, shrimp, 1 can of oil packed tuna fish (drained), etc.

Finely chop onion, carrot (I usually grate the carrot), parsley and garlic by hand or in food processor. Saute chopped ingredients as well as basil and oregano in heated olive oil until somewhat soft. Add rest of ingredients. Simmer very slowly for 1 1/2 to 3 hours. Serve over the pasta of your choice with the freshly grated (not canned) Parmesan, Romano or Asiago cheese.

What I have to say- tonight I used a combination of beef and hot sausage. I simmered the sauce for a few hours to make sure the meat was nice and tender. It was!

refreshing orange ice

Very refreshing. This was a fun recipe to try and a repeat for sure!

refreshing orange ice (allrecipes.com)
3 cups water, divided
1 cup sugar
1 (12 ounce) can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup half-and-half cream

In a saucepan, bring 1 cup water and sugar to a boil, stirring frequently. Boil for 1 minute or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat; stir in orange juice concentrate, lemon juice and remaining water. Transfer to a freezer-proof mixing bowl. Cover and freeze until firm (this took about 10 hours).
Remove from the freezer. Beat until blended. Beat in cream. Cover and return to freezer. Remove from the freezer 2o minutes before serving.

chocolate dipped strawberries

When our neighbor friends came for dinner they brought these delicious strawberries and some chocolate dipped pretzels for dessert. YUM!

chocolate dipped strawberries (my neighbor friend Morgane and her two kiddos)
strawberries
chocolate chips
shortening

Melt chocolate chips with a little shortening. Dip each strawberry and place on waxed paper or parchment paper until the chocolate hardens.

sushi sandwich rolls

 
I wasn't going to do anything for April Fool's today.  My kids, however, love to be silly so I thought this might pass for a fun afternoon snack. My oldest loves sushi so she might actually be a little disappointed that this isn't the real thing.

sushi sandwich rolls (idea from blog: Fab Frugal Food)
white sandwich bread
cream cheese spread
whatever veggies you want to use, cut lengthwise into matchsticks
deli ham

Cut crusts off your white bread. Spread with cream cheese spread. Lay veggies and ham down one side of the bread and roll. Slice into 2-inch pieces.

cream cheese spread
8 ounces cream light cream cheese
2 tablespoons Knorr dry vegetable soup mix
1/4 cup mayonnaise

Combine all ingredients until smooth.