Layered Taco Dip – An easy take-along dish!

With the holidays too fast aproaching, I am going to post recipes over the next few weeks that would be great for toting along to the family gatherings.  Some will be appetizer/finger food type dealies, some will be side dishes, and some will be desserts.  I may throw in a few meat dishes as well, who knows. 

Today I’m going to share an easy peasy dip recipe.  This is one of those recipes that isn’t really a recipe at all…you just use what you have and what you like.    So, feel free to branch out from what I’ve done to suit your tastes.

The first thing you need to do is spread some refried beans in the bottom of a dish.  You need something with sides, as we’re gonna build this dip up in layers (hence the name “Layered” Taco Dip!).  I used a pie plate this time.

Now, dump some sour cream into a bowl and mix in some taco seasoning.  For 16 oz of sour cream you’ll need a whole packet of taco seasoning, if you use the packaged kind.  I make my own, so I just add it in till it looks good.  You really can’t go wrong here.  Adjust the amounts according to how much dip you’re making. 

Now, spread this mixture over the refried bean layer.

Then, chop up some tomatoes and add those over the sour cream layer.

Add a layer of shredded cheese – I like Colby-Jack cheese.

Now, open up a can of black beans and rinse them very well.  Scatter those over the cheese.

Now, chop up some fresh cilantro.  If you don’t like cilantro, just use some fresh parsley.  Sprinkle that over the beans.

Add any other ingredients you like in a Mexican dish.  Like onions?  Mince up an onion, or slice up a few green onions and throw those on.  Like a lot of heat?  Mince up a jalepeno and toss it on.  Like red or green bell peppers?  Dice those and add them.  Avocado?  Sure!  Salsa?  Why not!  (I planned on adding come diced avocado, but when I cut open my avocado, it was bad.  Oh well…it’s not the end of the world.)

Serve with tortilla chips and you’re good to go!

Aside from being a super simple dish to throw together, it makes a great party recipe because you can put it all together ahead of time (the day before even) and just let it hang out in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.  And any leftovers can be stored in the fridge for a day or two as well.  Although, I doubt there’d be many leftovers…this stuff is killer.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Chicken?  Check.

Ham?  Check.

Swiss Cheese?  Check.

Creamy Sauce?  Check.

Oh yeah, babe.  This dish is all that and a box of crackers.  I could eat Chicken Cordon Bleu every day I think.  Love it!  But I was always afraid to try cooking it.  Why?  The first time I tried it…several years ago…the chicken inside was raw when everything else was perfectly cooked.  Since then I’ve cowered at the thought of making Chicken Cordon Bleu at home.  That is, until a friend made it for a luncheon she was catering.  She was kind enough to tell me how she makes it.   I decided to try it One.  More.  Time.  Let’s see how it turned out…

First you need to lay your boneless, skinless chicken breasts out on some plastic wrap.  Cover with another piece of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet until very thin.

Lay a couple slices of ham on top of each chicken breast.

Then top it with some swiss cheese.  You can just slap a slice of cheese on there, but the cheese I had was very ’stiff’, so I kinda chopped it up.  You could shred it too.

Now, just roll up the chicken and place it in a baking dish.

Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and paprika.

Now, heat a saute pan over medium heat.  Melt about two tablespoons of butter in pan and half an onion, chopped.  Saute until the onions are translucent.

Add in a couple tablespoons of flour and stir together.

Cook for a minute or so and add in some milk.  I just eyeball it, but I’d say I added about 3/4 to one cup here.

Cook just until it starts to thicken.  Pour over chicken in baking dish and spirnkle on some chopped parsley (fresh or dried…either is fine).

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Want to know what it looks like inside when you cut into it? 

I love the way it looks with the layers of meat and cheese! 
Give this one a try soon…it’s simple…but looks like you made a fuss!

I’ve neglected you.

And I’m SO, SO sorry!  This cookbook has taken up a lot of my time lately!  Plus I’m working some extra hours at work too.  BUT, I will be posting regularly again starting today!  Well, after work today anyway.  I’ll have a new recipe up this afternoon, so please check back!  I hope I’ve not run all my reader off since I’ve not posted anything in almost a week!!!

Have a sweet day!

Big, Big News!!!

I have some pretty exciting news!  I am in the process of working on a cookbook!  Eeeee!  Doing the happy dance, doing the happy dance!  It won’t be anything super duper fancy, but it will be filled with a ton of my favorite recipes.  I hope to have it ready for purchase by the first of December – just in time for Christmas gift giving!  The price will be $15, and there will be well over 150 recipes in the book.  If you are interested in buying one, please leave me a comment here so I can get an idea of how many I need to get printed.  I will be adding a Paypal button to the blog soon so you can purchase it that way, or you can send me a check or money order as well.  All that info will be coming in the next week.  I can’t tell you how freakin’ excited I am about this!  Every time I think about it I just start smiling. 

Today’s recipe is one that will be in the book, and is one that I created in my own little crazy mind.  It was breakfast time and I was in the mood for oatmeal.  But I just didn’t want plain ordinary oatmeal.  No, I wanted something yummy and comforting.  So, I started plundering around the kitchen looking for something to give my oatmeal some oomph.  I opened the fridgyator door and I think I actually saw that little lightbulb come on over my head.  I had some leftover canned pumpkin sittin’ in there.  I’d made a cake with it a few days before and had just about a cup left over.  Okay, I said.  I think I’m going to invent a Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal.  And I did.  And it was delish.  And I ate it again the next morning.  And the morning after that.  And then I ran out of pumpkin.  Then I cried.  It’s now on my grocery list every week because I don’t ever want to run out of pumpkin again.  

Eating this Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal is like eating dessert for breakfast.  I mean, come on!  Who wouldn’t want to be able to eat dessert for breakfast…and not feel guilty! 

So, let’s do this thing.  Grab some instant oatmeal (cuz I’m lazy AND impatient), brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, milk and of course, some pumpkin.  I also throw in a little flax seed for extra “cleaning properties”, but that’s totally optional.  You’ll also want to grab the jar of pecans for the topping.

Pull a microwave safe bowl thing from the cabinet and toss in 1/2 cup of oatmeal.  I’m making a single serving here.  Add a tbsp of flax seed if you want.  I wanted.

Now, add some brown sugar for sweetness.  I like mine pretty sweet because, well…I have a sweet tooth the size of Texas, so I put in probably 3 or 4 tbsp of brown sugar. Add less if that sounds like way too much to you.   (Just for the record…there’s probably only two tbsp shown in this pic…I added more later when I tasted it!)

Now, toss in about 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, a dash of allspice and a dash of nutmeg.

Add a pinch of salt. Some people think it’s wierd to add salt to sweet dishes…but it really does help bring out the flavors.

Now, the first time I made this, I did this next step in a separate bowl.  The next time I did it, I just added it to the oatmeal bowl, and it was just fine.  So, don’t dirty up another dish for this next step…learn from my mistakes, and just throw it in the same bowl with the oatmeal stuff.

Add about 1/3 cup canned pumpkin and 1/2 cup milk.  Throw in a tsp or so of butter for good measure.  Stir it all up.

Now, pour this mixture into the oatmeal mixture.

Stir it all up, and if it looks too thick, add a little more milk. 

**Here’s a tip for ya…I like to add a little less liquid than you’re supposed to when I cook my oatmeal.  That way, when it comes out of the nuker super steamin’ hot, I can add a little milk to it to thin it down and cool it off at the same time. 

Pop the oatmeal stuff in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes, until cooked well.

Now, while that’s cooking, let’s make a crumb topping for that oatmeal.  Why?  Well, cuz I like a little crunch in my oatmeal.  Wierd?  Maybe.  Delicious?  For sure.

Put some brown sugar in a bowl.  Add some chopped pecans.  Add in enough melted butter to make it a crumbly mess.

Pour your oatmeal in a bowl and top with this crumble stuff.

And dig in!

Don’t forget to leave me a comment if you’re interested in buying a book (Or two!  Or three!). 

Happy Eating!

Printable Recipes…let’s play catch-up!

I apologize for not having printable recipes up for you on the last few recipes.  I finally got them done, and will post them all here in this post, as well as adding the links in the orginal post.    Enjoy!

Tex Mex Seasoning and Taco Pasta posted here

Smothered Pork Chops  posted here

Cheddar Garlic Biscuits posted here

Cookie Dough Brownies posted here

 

Scroll on down for today’s recipe…Homemade Ranch Dressing!

 

Smothered Pork Chops

Okay, people.  If pork chops smothered in caramelized onions and ooey gooey cheese doesn’t get your fire started, then your wood is wet!  These are oh so delish, and really easy to prepare. 

To get started, grab yourself a large ziplock bag.  Dump in 1/2 cup olive oil.  Zest one lemon and add that to the bag.

Then squeeze the juice from half the lemon into the bag.

Mince up 3 garlic cloves and throw those in.

Add 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp basil, 1/2 tsp parsley, and 1/2 tsp rosemary.

Use your hand to squish it all around and it will look like this.  Which, frankly, looks pretty gross, but it will make your pork taste awesome.  And that’s what matters here folks.

Then, put your pork chops into the bag.  I like boneless chops that are cut around 1/2″ thick.  Turn the bag and massage it a bit to make sure that the chops are well coated with the marinade.

Now just toss the bag in the fridge to hang out for a couple of hours, or even overnight.  I usually do this in the morning sometime and let them chill out (get it, *chill* out?  Okay.  Never mind.) until supper time.

About 30-45  minutes before you’re ready to eat, slice up a nice onion.

Put some butter in a saute pan to melt.  Then add the onions.

Cook the onions over a medium heat for the first 10-15 minutes to soften them up some, stirring here and there.

Then reduce the heat to low and let them slowly start to caramelize.  Again, stir them every once in a while.  Just let them cook until they turn a nice dark golden brown.

Now, take your chops out of the fridge.  Remove from bag and place in a baking dish (discard marinade).   Broil for about 5 or 6 minutes on each side, or until done.

Then, place caramelized onions on top of each chop.

Top with some shredded colby-jack cheese.

Broil for another couple minutes until the cheese gets all melty and yummy and dreamy. 

Now, stuff your face.

Printable Recipe: Smothered Pork Chops

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program…

I know this is a cooking blog…but, hey…I have other hobbies too!  If you don’t already know, I love scrapbooking and crafting of all kinds.  Well, I have a friend who is having a GREAT giveaway on her blog right now…as a matter of fact, she’ll be giving stuff away for a month!  So, go check her out, and leave a comment saying Carla sent you!  You won’t regret it!

Retro Kitchen at Maker’s Mark Distillery…

Last week while on our pre-anniversary vacation, the hubs and I took our annual trip over to Maker’s Mark Distillery to dip our bottle of bourbon in the signature wax.  After 11 years of marraige, we now have 12 dipped bottles…one for each year of marraige and one for the honeymoon.   Anyway, they recently built a new gift shop and converted the old gift shop into a replica of the Samuel’s home.  I was most interested in the ‘retro’ kitchen.  I kept looking at things over and over, getting a close up view, touching things and taking pictures…I think hubs thought I was going to move in to it.  I think I could have.   I thought you might like to see some of the neat things too…so…here ya go!

I wanted to take this fridge home with me…don’t you just love it?  I tried to come up with a plan to sneak it into the car without anyone noticing, but I couldn’t do it.

And the cool old range…

 And the neat spice jars sitting on the back of the stove…

Loved the red Fiesta ware…it would look fabulous in my kitchen!

This is what I call beautiful organization!

And of course I loved this little vignette with the cutting board and rolling pin!

And I fell in love with this old stand mixer…

And I think my absolute most favoritest part of the whole kitchen was this:

No, I take that back.  THIS was my favorite part. 

An old cookbook with notes from Mrs. Samuels.  When their family was developing the perfect bourbon recipe, Mrs. Samuels would bake bread using different grains to figure out which grains imparted the flavors they were looking for.  I sat and looked through every page and read every word in this cookbook.  Like I said…Craig thought I’d decided to move in.

Yes, friends…looking through that old cookbook with handwritten recipes was my absolute favorite part of the day.  I love reading through cookbooks, especially old ones. 

I hope you liked this little tour of the Maker’s Mark  “Retro Kitchen”.  I might share a few more pics in the days to come…I took WAY too many in there!

A little R&R

Just a quick note to let my dear readers know that I am officially ON VACATION and won’t be posting recipes again until Friday.  BUT…I will post some fun food-related pics from our vacation between now and then.  As a matter of fact, tomorrow I’ll have some pics of a ‘retro kitchen’ up, so come back!

Follow Me! Follow Me!

Where am I going?  Nowhere.  I want you to follow my blog!  Don’t know what I’m talking about?  Well, I don’t know all the techie jargon, but basically, you can ’subscribe’ to my blog and be able to see all the new posts quickly. 

Simply click on the Big Pink Square down in the sidebar to the right under “Follow Me!”, then follow the directions to subscribe to my blog’s feed.  You should be able to simply click on a link that says “Subscribe to this feed” and then save it in your favorites under “Feeds”.  

Have a GREAT WEEKEND everyone!