Monday, December 24, 2012

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Taco Dip

This super ooey gooey messy looking dish is taco dip, recipe from Closet Cooking. I made it as a snack for a day of crafting for a friend's wedding. She and I had already started digging it into it before I remembered to take a picture, so you'll have to excuse the corners. The dip was delicious, and four of us finished the whole pan. It was basically our lunch. I modified the recipe a little bit, and I've added my adaptation below. This is a great party dish.

Taco Dip
(recipe adapted from Closet Cooking)
1/2 lb ground turkey
4 oz room temperature neufchatel cream cheese
1 cup salsa
1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese, plus extra for topping
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup light sour cream
taco seasoning, to taste
2 Tbsp water

Optional Toppings
shredded romaine lettuce
sliced black olives
diced tomatoes
diced avocado

Brown the ground turkey, then add taco seasoning and water. Mix well until seasoning is blended into meat. In a medium-size bowl, add turkey, cream cheese, salsa, cheese, mayo, and sour cream and stir until well combined. Spread into a medium size baking dish and top the dip with additional cheese. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Add any optional toppings. Serve with tortilla chips.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Just to prove I still cook, and even a couple times a week, here's a loaf of cinnamon swirl bread I made with my mom about a month or so ago. The recipe is here, and I just didn't include raisins.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies


These cookies were pretty much some of the best cookies I've ever made. I made them for the family Christmas party and then for a New Year's Eve party. Delicious, all the way around. And the great thing is it's a basic chocolate cookie recipe that I just modified by adding peppermint chips, so you could just make chocolate cookies or modify them again by adding something else. I've been thinking of trying coconut, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, etc. I made them the first time using white flour, and the second time using whole wheat flour, and I'm told you can't tell the difference at all.

Recipe adapted from Dine & Dish
1 1/4 cups butter softened
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup Andes red peppermint chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, then add the vanilla.
In a separate bowl stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually mix into the creamed mixture.
Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto parchment lined cookie sheets.
Bake 9 minutes in the preheated oven. Cookies will be soft and still look slightly doughy.
Let set and cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes then remove from sheet onto wire rack to cool completely.