Buffalo Wing Dip

I've had a few requests for this. It's been a hit wherever I've taken it.

2 8 oz packages of cream cheese, softened
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup ranch dressing
1 5oz bottle hot sauce (I prefer Franks)
1 tsp minced garlic
2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded

Combine and bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes. Serve with crackers. Ritz work well.

Refried Beans from my food storage

I've been taking inventory of my food storage, and I have gobs of #10 cans containing pinto beans. I've found a great recipe for refried beans that is pretty hands off. I'm all about easy around here.




Rinse 3 cups of pinto beans really well in water. Put them in a large crock pot with 3 quarts of water and one tablespoon of chopped garlic and cook on high for about 9 hrs. After they've cooked pretty much all day, use a slotted spoon and ladle them into a frying pan on medium with 1/2 stick of butter, one cup of salsa, and about 1 cup of cheddar cheese. I added about 1 tablespoon of salt, but since you're normal, I would add about 1/2 tablespoon and work your way up from there. Use a potato masher and mash until it's the consistency you want. If they seem dry, add some of the bean water from your crockpot to the pan.

If any of you have any other recipes for mashed or refried beans, I'd love to try it out.

Grilled Cedar Plank Salmon

1 Cedar Plank, 7 by 14 by 1/3 inches - It's very important to soak it in water for at least an hour. Our plank still caught on fire a couple times while it was on the grill, so next time I'll soak it longer. I've seen them at Target, but it's cheaper to buy a large board at Home Depot and cut it down yourself.

1 2lb Salmon Fillet - the recipe calls for the skin on, but I didn't read the recipe thoroughly enough before hand and I purchased skinless fillets. It still worked out fine

1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar

2 Tablespoons Canola Oil

1 Tablespoon Dried Thyme Leaves

1 Teaspoon Cayenne Papper


Preheat your gas grill to medium. Place the salmon skin side down on the cedar plank. Combine the brown sugar, oil, thyme, and cayenne in a bowl. Spread over the salmon. Place the planked salmon on the grilling grate and cook, with the grill covered, until the salmon flakes easily and is opaque throughout, about 20-30 minutes.

It has a slight kick to it due to the cayenne, but the brown sugar sweetens it up a bit.

Cajun Meatloaf

Since this recipe is from The Pioneer Woman, I'll just attach the link rather than retype it out.

Cajun Meatloaf

It was fantastic. It was full of vegetables, and the glaze on top had a slightly sweet taste. It made plenty for the night, plus enough for an additional dinner, which we froze. The only downfall was chopping all the vegetables, which took me about an hour.




I was so frustrated afterward, I immediately got on Ebay and purchased this Quick Chef by Tupperware -







It was worth every penny.

Cream Cheese Flan - Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Cream Cheese Flan from Kraftfoods.com

2 cups sugar, divided

1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cubed, softened (you can substitute 1/3rd less fat cream cheese)

5 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Dash salt

HEAT oven to 350°F.

COOK 1 cup sugar in small heavy saucepan on medium heat until sugar is melted and deep golden brown, stirring constantly. Pour into 9-inch round pan; tilt pan to evenly cover bottom with syrup. (You can also add a little water to the sugar when doing this step if you would rather start with a syrup consistency rather than dry sugar. The water cooks off in the caramelization process).

BLEND milk and cream cheese in blender until smooth. Add remaining sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt; blend just until smooth. Pour over syrup in pan. Place filled pan in larger pan; add enough hot water to larger pan to come halfway up side of smaller pan.

BAKE 50 min. to 1 hour or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool slightly. Carefully remove flan from water. Cool completely on wire rack. Refrigerate several hours or until chilled. Unmold onto plate just before serving.

*Check the recipe link for recipe variations.

Adventures with Mac & Cheese

My kids love macaroni and cheese, but I haven't bought the Kraft stuff in a really long time (I can't remember the last time I bought it).  I have discovered that making it from scratch isn't as difficult as it seems, it tastes better, and I can make it healthy.  But I do get bored.  So here is my small (yet growing) collection of macaroni and cheese recipes.

Mac and Cheese Dog Casserole - This is the recipe that started it all.  It is a Rachael Ray recipe and it holds true to the "30-minute meal" gimmick.  I have made this recipe countless times and it remains to be one of our favorite meals.  I have experimented with a variety of different hot dog brands and Hebrew National is probably my favorite, but a couple nights ago we tried turkey dogs and they were tasty.  If you wanted to go vegan, tofu dogs might work (though I haven't tried that yet).  My macaroni preference is the Barilla Plus brand, to be a little healthier.  I don't skimp on anything else.  Oh, and I use chicken broth instead of the beer.

Macaroni and Cheese with Cauliflower - This recipe is from the Real Simple Magazine (February 2009 issue).  It was delicious and my family loved it.  Requires a bit more time because of the cauliflower, but definitely worth it.

Spicy Mac & Cheese - This recipe is from Pioneer Woman.  As with pretty much every recipe I have tried if hers, it was good.  I didn't know how spicy it would be, and I wanted to make sure my kids would eat it, so I did not add the jalapeno pepper and I used regular Monterrey Jack cheese.

Dutch Macaroni - This recipe is from Kayotic Kitchen.  I don't think this link will take you directly to the recipe so just type "macaroni" in the search area and it will come right up.  I haven't actually tried this one yet, but very soon.  I'll let you know.

My one and only tip:  If the recipe you are using calls for cheddar cheese, use Sharp Cheddar -- you get more from the taste without having to add more cheese, if that makes sense.

Daily Giveaways

Here is a cool site that I found that gives away a new item each day during the week. They are a site out of Utah, but you can still enter to win if you don't live in the state. I keep entering for things, but I haven't won yet. They have some really awesome things they give away.

Give Away Today

If you enter make sure you check back everyday to see if you've won.