Mexican Dip

If any of you are still looking for an idea for an appetizer on this holiday weekend, let me suggest my layered Mexican Dip. This recipe is from my book, Masters & Disasters of Cooking. As the story in my book tells, I took this to a cookout when my husband first started working for the local police department. The cookout was the first time I would meet the wives of his fellow officers. I wanted to make a good impression, so I took my favorite appetizer, which is also so easy to make. Everyone loved it and wanted the recipe.

Mexican Dip

2 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 c. sour cream
2 T. milk
2 T. chili powder
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. salt
shredded lettuce
chopped green pepper
chopped tomatoes
chopped onion
shredded Cheddar, Colby, and Mozzarella cheeses

Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, and milk together until blended well. Add the chili powder, garlic powder, and salt. Mix well. Spread on the bottom of a pan and layer on top and in order the lettuce, green pepper, tomatoes, and onion. Finish with a top layer of the shredded cheeses. Cover with aluminum foil and chill. Serve with tortilla chips, or it's even better with Nacho Cheese Doritos.

You can put this appetizer on any type of pan. I've used a pizza pan, baking dish, and even split it up into a couple of 9" round cake pans. If you're taking this to a cookout, try putting it on a disposable aluminum pan, just make sure you support the bottom when you carry it.

Everyone have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend.

Carol

New novel coming

I'm excited to announce that my second novel, "Saved by the Sheriff" is going to be published by Secret Cravings Publishing. To read my official announcement, please visit my author's blog at http://CarolPre.blogspot.com

Carol

Apple Crisp

My regular scheduled grocery shopping day is a few days away and this weekend my husband and I were craving something sweet. He offered to make his potato candy, but that would have been just a quick fix. I wanted something that would last until I could get to the store this week. So, first I looked through our pantry to see what I had that would make a great dessert.

I usually try to keep something in there to make in an emergency. Mostly, I do this in the winter when there's always a chance of getting snowed in for a few days. Today, I found a large can of peaches in there and I do make a really good peach cobbler, so that was my first option. Then, I decided to look through my recipes for an idea and that's when I found my Apple Crisp recipe.

This is perfect because I have a bag of apples that I need to use before they go bad. So, Apple Crisp it is. Below is my recipe. I only wish I had some ice cream to go with it.

Apple Crisp

3 c. of sliced apples
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. rolled oats
1 c. brown sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1 c. water

Place apples in a buttered baking dish and sprinkle with 1/2 c. brown sugar and add water. Mix together the flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg until well blended. Sprinkle over the apples and dot with butter or margarine. Bake at 350° f. for 30-35 minutes or until the apples are tender. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Carol

Mini Meatloaf

I will be the first to tell you that I do not like meatloaf. However, this meatloaf is one that I do like and want to share it with you. Although it is not your normal recipe, if you have someone like me who doesn't care for meatloaf this might just fit their picky eating habits.

Mini Meatloaf

1 pound lean ground beef
1 box Stovetop Stuffing mix
1 T. garlic powder
3/4 c. barbecue sauce
3/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 c. water

Preheat oven to 375° f. Mix together the ground beef, stuffing mix, water, and garlic power until well blended. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and press the meat mixture into each cup. With a small spoon, make an indentation on top of each mini loaf and fill with the BBQ sauce. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the tops with the shredded cheese and bake for 5 minutes more minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Ground Turkey Recall

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced a recall of ground turkey containing salmonella. The turkey was sold across the United States in many different stores. Read about the recall here.

Hospital Food

I've spent the last two days sitting with a friend in the hospital. It didn't take more than my first trip to their cafe to find out that hospital food still isn't good.

It was about 11:00 am when my stomach informed me that it needed to be fed. I was the second to make the voyage to the basement where the cafe was located. I refer to it as cafe because that's what they called it at the hospital. I would have thought at 11:00, there would have been a good selection of food available. After all, I had just looked at a card that told that they had opened at 8 am.

I was wrong. The only thing available were cold sandwiches and cups of fruit. I should have chosen the fruit, but picked up a cold ham and cheese on wheat instead. It had no taste. I also got a cup of coffee, which was terrible, too.

The next day, I waited until lunch time and found three choices of food: pizza, chicken or fish, and hot sandwiches. Guess which line was the longest? Yep, the pizza line. I was in a hurry and decided to get a white meat chicken patty. Well, what I thought was chicken turned out to be fish and what I thought was fish was chicken. The chicken was tender enough, but had no flavor what so ever. With the chicken, I had new potatoes and corn, both of which were good. Before taking my lunch back to the room to eat with my friend, I looked for some salt. LOL, yeah right. There was no salt anywhere to be found.

After my visits to the hospital, I have decided that eating healthy my be good for you, but the flavor has much to be desired.

Carol

Where Have I Been?

Have I been missing? I discovered last night that I haven't posted on here since June. OMG, what a surprise! I had no idea. My excuses are many.

1. It could be the heat way. It's so hot to sit and type on my laptop right now.

2. Could be the writing I've been doing on a book, but I abandoned that around the second week of July (see previous excuse).

3. I've been doing some traveling, but that was only one weekend.

4. My daughter is home from Mississippi visiting.

5. I went to a writers' convention, but that was last weekend.

6. My mom had a medical procedure done and that took five days off from work.

I guess that just about covers the month, but it's not over yet. The heat is still on and I still have a book to write. I'll be traveling again today and no computer access tonight, but will try and work up a recipe to post as soon as I can.

Carol