Jalapeno Popper Dip

I don't remember where I got this recipe but I know it was around the Superbowl that I found it. It sounded so yummy and looked so easy to make. I made it on Sunday for book club and everybody liked it. This recipe made a ton so it would be good for a bigger party or even cut it in half for less people.

Ingredients:
2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, softened. I always just use whipped cream cheese.
1 cup Mayo
1 (4 oz) can of chopped green chilies, drained.
1 (4 oz) can of chopped jalapeno peppers, drained.
1/2 cup shredded Mexican style cheese.
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese.

1 cup Panko bread crumbs.
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

So gather everything up! (sorry this is blurry)


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray the dish you will baking in with some non stick stuff, I use Pam.

Combine the cream cheese and mayo. You may need to use an electric mixer to make it smooth. This is exactly why I use the whipped cream cheese, so it just mixes with a spoon by hand!
Stir in the green chilies, jalapeno peppers and Mexican & Mozzarella cheeses.
Spoon this mixture into your prepared baking dish.


In another bowl, combine the break crumbs and parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over the top of the cream cheese mixture. Also, spray the top of everything with a quick spray of your non stick spray.


Bake for 25-30 minutes or until everything is nice and hot and the topping is lightly browned.
Serve with whatever you like. I used tortilla chips but I'm sure french bread, veggies, crackers, etc. would be delish too!

Enjoy!

Key Lime Pie

Like I mentioned before, we celebrated Easter at my Dad's this past Sunday. Besides ice cream, my Dad's favorite dessert is Key Lime Pie. I decided I would try my hand at making one since it didn't look to difficult

Ingredients:

1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
3 cups (24 oz) sweeted condensed milk
1/2 cup (4 oz) sour cream
3/4 cup (6 oz) key lime juice
1 TBS grated lime juice
cool whip or whipped cream
Note: I was able to get everything at my normal grocery store but they didn't carry Key Lime juice so I went to Wegmans to get it. They had it in the drink mix aisle.

So let's get started...
Get all your ingredients together.


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine milk, sour cream, lime juice and lime rind.
I seriously love seeing what the picture on the Daisy sour cream foil lid is going to be every time I use it!! This time it was a lovely picture of the Grand Canyon.


Mix well, pour into crust.


Bake in preheated oven 5-8 minutes. Until pinhole bubbles burst on the surface.
DO NOT BROWN!
This is what the recipe said. I never saw any pinhole bubbles. I left the pie in my oven for 10 minutes and decided either I'm blind or there were no pinholes!

Chill thoroughly before serving and enjoy!



Everyone complimented me on this pie. My step mom even compared it to a pie they once had in Key West. Her and my Dad have been to Key West about a bazillion times and for them to like the pie so much was pretty wonderful, my Dad even had two slices!!

Cold Veggie "Pizza"

Today is my new manager, Kristen's birthday. The team decided we would have a little surprise party for her and this is what I made, Cold Veggie "Pizza". I put pizza in quotes because this isn't really what I think pizza is at all and I don't want people thinking it is! It is super easy to make and oh so delicious! The really good thing is how versatile this is, you can use whatever veggies and cheese you like. Also, if you choose all fat free, low fat, etc. ingredients it can be pretty healthy.

Ingredients:
2 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
Veggies of your choice, chopped, sliced, etc.
(I use tomatoes, black olives and green onions)
As much shredded cheese as you want
(I use cheddar and mozzarella)

So let's go...

Get all your ingredients together (the dill escaped the photo.)


Unroll the crescent rolls onto an ungreased baking sheet. Flatten the dough out and seal the seams and perforations.
Bake at 375 degress for 10 minutes or until golden brown.


While you are waiting for the crust to bake, combine in a small bowl the mayonnaise, cream cheese and dill.
Remove the crust and let it cool off a bit. Then spread the mayo combination onto the crust.


Top with your veggies and sprinkle with cheese!


Cover and chill at least an hour.
Super easy and super yummy!!

Baked Artichoke Dip

Today at work we are having a "Goodbye Membership" potluck. I've mentioned how our department is closing so the first wave of people are going to the other department next week, hence the potluck. I decided to make Baked Artichoke Dip. It's super duper easy and you can make as much or as little as you want. I decided I would share with all you lovelies!
This recipe is for a normal serving but I doubled everything since there are almost 200 people in our department!

Ingredients:
1 (14 oz.) can of artichoke hearts, Drained and chopped. (You can apparently substitute hearts of palm instead but I have never done that.)
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp hot sauce

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Get all your ingredients together.


I buy the artichoke hearts already quartered but I think they are still a bit too big so after I drain them, I chop them all in half too. I also use real garlic cloves and chopped those bad boys up too.



Combine all the ingredients together in a casserole dish.


*Tip* After mixing everything together, there is bound to be mayo and what not all on the edges of your dish. Wipe it off now. If you don't it will bake on and just kind of look gross.

Bake for 20 mintues at 350 degrees.



Serve with tortilla chips or some bread and enjoy!

Erin Go Bragh!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!!

I am Irish, almost 100% Irish (there's a bit of English but we don't talk about that part, ha!) My family's last name was actually Towey until it got changed to Toohey at Ellis Island. I remember in 6th grade going to Ellis Island and making rubbings from the walls with my relatives names on it. My Nana once told me that her uncle was once part of Sein Fein. The Irish Republican party whose objective is to end British rule in Ireland and it is a bit controversial. She said that he had to be snuck out of Ireland so that he wouldn't become a political prisoner. In book club a few years ago we read Ten Men Dead which is about the 1981 Hunger Strike of the Irish political prisoners, namely Bobby Sands and the 9 other men who perished while fighting for their rights.

It's so weird, since I moved from Jersey to Pennsylvania whenever I ask people "What are you?" they're all Dutch, everybody...it's crazy! In Jersey people were always Irish or Italian and some English and German mixed in. It's so weird to be somewhere that everybody is the same!
So I decided I wanted to have a St. Patrick's Day party at work and half these people didn't even know what the holiday is about!! One girl didn't even know what bagpipes are, BLEW my mind to say the least! So of course I had to educate these people!
I grew up thinking the holiday was to celebrate the day St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland, which isn't true. When I got older I learned it's a feast day and celebrated on the day of his death. St. Patrick is credited with converting a lot of the Irish pagan population to Christianity. This is also where the shamrock comes in to play. He used the 3 leaves to help explain the Holy Trinity that Christians believe in.
Fun Fact: Since it is considered a religious holiday, until the 1970's all pubs were mandated by law to be closed on St. Patrick's Day in Ireland!

Anyway...for the party I decided to make a traditional Irish recipe, Colcannon. It is a dish made of cabbage, kale, or other greens, and potatoes boiled and mashed together. I used Kale.

Ingredients
1 pound kale
1 pound potatoes (I actually used almost 2 lbs.)
2 leeks
1 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 pinch ground mace (I used nutmeg)
1/2 cup butter

Directions

* Strip the Kale off the stalks.
* In a large saucepan, boil Kale until tender; remove and chop or blend well. Set aside and keep warm.
* Boil potatoes until tender. Remove from heat and drain.
* Chop leeks, green parts as well as white, and simmer them in just enough milk to cover, until they are soft.
* Season and mash potatoes well. Stir in cooked leeks and milk. Blend in the kale and heat until the whole thing is a pale green fluff!
* Make a well in the center and pour in the melted butter. Mix well.

Here we go....
Get all your ingredients together.


Strips the leaves off the stalks of the Kale and boil them in a big pot.


Peel and cut the potatoes and boil them too.

Once the Kale is boiled for a while, take it out and chop it in the blender. I didn't get a picture of this but it pretty much looks like Popeye's spinach, ha!
While the potatoes are boiling cut up the leeks. These ones were GIGANTIC so I think I only used one total. Use both the white AND green part. Oh and don't forget to rinse the leaves because there will be dirt jammed in there!
Put the leeks in a pan with the milk and simmer for a little while.

Mash up your potatoes, I used my hand mixer. Also put in the salt, pepper and nutmeg.


Put the Kale, Leeks with the milk in with the mashed potatoes and mix it all up.

And serve it in your cute Pyrex dish!

This is so yummy and just an over all good comfort food. If I were to make it at home for dinner I would totally shortcut and used instant potatoes.
I hope everyone has an awesome St. Patrick's Day!!

And my favorite Irish blessing...

May those that love us, love us.

And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.

And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May He turn their ankles
So we will know them by their limping.

Fall Recipes

I was slacking this week on keeping up with the Journal Prompts for the i heart fall class.
I knew exactly which recipes to use for each but I knew they were kind of long and would need almost all handwriting on the pages, and it sounded boring. Plus I have horrible handwriting.
Finally I buckled down last night and did all 3 at once.

Journal Prompt: What is your favorite meal type/appetizer recipe?
I just recently started making these Stuffed Peppers and I am in love with them. They are so easy and Jeremy LOVES them, he's always asking for more. I think I loved them even more because the first time I made them, after he had eaten 3 he said "those were really good. I didn't think I was going to like them because my Mom made them when I was little and they weren't good. I don't know what you do different but they're great!"
I definitely get satisfaction out of feeding him stuff he likes!!



Journal Prompt: What is your favorite Fall Sweet Treat Recipe?
This is so, so good and I had never even heard of Pumpkin Roll until I moved to PA 5 years ago. Maybe it's a Dutch thing? A lot of people out here make it (I've had it at office parties mostly) and it's always so good. I haven't attempted it myself but I really think I am going to bring it to Thanksgiving this year.



Journal Prompt: What is your favorite fall drink??
This is sooo delish, I just wish I had more occasions to make it for. I live in a little studio so not too many parties =/



Enjoy!

i heart fall Recipe Book

This is such an awesome part of the i heart fall group that I am in.
We are all creating Recipe Books and then this week each prompt will be a different type of recipe and we can print each others and have a great big recipe book full of everyone's!!
I am so so excited about this!
I only started cooking about a year ago when Jeremy moved inwith me and I'm really starting to enjoy it.
Here is my cover. I wanted it to be different but still similar to the actual journal.



And here are the pages on the inside before adding any recipes.



I can't wait to fill it up!!