Hot Bean Dip

My mom has made this recipe during Christmas (and sometimes Thanksgiving) for as long as I can remember.  Every time I make it for my family, it brings back a flood of holiday memories.  Again, no picture - but I'll remedy that.  I've been so busy in the kitchen lately that I completely forget to grab my camera.

Ingredients:

2 cans chili with beans
1 medium package (16 oz)  Velveeta cheese, cubed 
1 bunch green onions, chopped finely
1 can diced green chilies (you can use less - sometimes I only use half of a can)
1 bag Fritos

Directions:

Put chili in a casserole dish.  Add cubed Velveeta and mix together.  Add onions and chilies, mix well.  Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Serve hot.

Berry Good Dip

I get all kinds of email newsletters from parenting sites - most of which I only glance at before deleting. Don't ask me why I keep subscribing! However, this time I saw a link for recipes and decided to take a look. I wish I could remember which site I found it on, but I'm sorry to say I can't. The good news is: I found a great new recipe!

I should also let you know that I misread the recipe to begin with and didn't realize it until I looked it up a second time. I thought that it called for 12 oz of Cool Whip rather than 12 oz of whipped cream cheese. Not exactly sure how my brain messed that up - guess I was skimming the recipe rather quickly. Oops! It was a good mistake though - I brought the dip to a dinner with friends and they loved it.

Here's what you need:

12 oz whipped cream cheese or 12 oz Cool Whip. Really - either one is yummy!
Berry jam (any kind you like)

Mix the two together and enjoy with your favorite fruit!

If you're using cream cheese you'll need 3 Tbsp jam. If you take the Cool Whip route, just keep mixing in jam until you like the flavor.

Bubbling Cauldron

I really love this dip - it's great served with bread, pretzels or Fritos and it's really fast to make.

Ingredients

1 lb Velveeta
2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, well drained
1 cup medium or hot salsa
1 can (4 oz) diced jalapeño peppers, drained (optional)
1 loaf round marble rye bread, unsliced
Pretzel rods

Directions:

Melt cheese in medium saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in beans, salsa and jalapeño peppers, if desired. Carefully cut center out of bread, leaving 1 1/2-inch shell. Cut bread center into pieces for dipping.

Reserve 1 pretzel rod. Arrange remaining pretzel rods on serving plate to resemble campfire logs. Place bread cauldron on pretzels; fill with cheese dip, allowing some to spill over top of bread cauldron. Arrange reserved bread pieces around cauldron. Place a pretzel rod in cheese dip, serve immediately.

Serves 20

*I thought for sure I had a better picture than this, but I can't seem to find it. Next time I make it I'll update the picture :)

Apple Dip

Summer is the perfect time to sit and snack on a bowl of fruit - and sometimes it's fun to indulge yourself in a little fruit dip :) This is super easy to put together, so you can have a great snack for book club, picnics or parties in about 15 minutes!

Ingredients:

1 package cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 Tbsp orange juice

Directions:

In a large bowl or mixer, cream all ingredients together. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

*The original recipe didn't call for orange juice, but when I tasted the mixture, the texture was really grainy from the sugar. Once I added the orange juice it was perfect. It also sets up nice and thick after you refrigerate it.