Chili's Copycat Queso Dip

Sunday was the Daytona 500. Or rather, it was supposed to be the day of the Daytona 500. As it turned out, the race was completed about 1am on Tuesday, complete with a crazy jet fuel fire (Did you know that you can put out a jet fuel fire with Tide? Pin that one to Pinterest.)

So in preparation for what my husband refers to as the "Super Bowl of Racing", I set out to make a few fun appetizers for Sunday afternoon. Another Pinterest find, this recipe is by far one of the simplest I've ever tackled and will probably become a staple on Mexican nights.

Added bonus: I finally got to use the little purple Crock Pot I bought at Christmas!

Ingredients

2 cans Hormel Chili, No Beans
1.5 lb. Velveeta, cubed
1 tsp pepper
salsa, to taste (I used about 1/4 cup)
Tortilla Chips (Unless you just want to eat it out of the Crock Pot with a spoon :)

Directions

Combine all ingredients in Crock Pot. Set Crock Pot to low. Heat two hours, stirring occasionally. Enjoy!

Week 2 Recipe Winner: Crockpot Meatballs

This week's recipe contest winner was another huge hit with my family and I'm excited to share it! I've been working like crazy at my (real) job, with not a lot of time for much else- so a Crock Pot recipe was just perfect for this week.

Submitted by Mandy Smith, via her mom, Pam Smith, this creamy meatball recipe is quick, simple and very tasty-I had to watch to keep my husband out of the Crockpot while these were cooking! This recipe made a lot - enough for two meals, with leftovers for lunches and lots of pilfering directly from the Crockpot :)

Ingredients:

1 large green pepper
1 large onion
1 stick of butter

2 small cans Campbell's Tomato Soup
1 can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can evaporated milk

Add 4 bags of Armour original meatballs (each bag is 28)

Directions:

Dice onions and peppers and cook with butter in saucepan until onions are translucent and peppers are soft. Add onion/pepper mixture, soups, and evaporated milk to the Crockpot and stir. Add meatballs and stir to combine. Cook in Crockpot at least 4 hours on High or 6 hours on low- stirring once per hour to avoid burning. Enjoy!

Grilled Cheese with Balsamic and Onion Pot Roast

Have leftover pot roast? This sandwich is by far one of my favorite uses for leftovers, as well as one of my favorite grilled cheese sandwiches.

Ingredients:

Leftover Pot Roast, enough for two sandwiches
Four slices of bread
4-6 slices of cheese


Instructions:

Warm a pan, and add pot roast - just to warm it up a bit.

Butter two slices of bread.

Heat a separate pan over medium heat, and place one slice of bread buttered side down.
Immediately add 1-2 slices of cheese. Top with warmed pot roast, and 1-2 more slices of cheese.

Place the other piece of bread on top (butter side up).

After about 4 minutes - check the bottom piece of bread by lifting the corner with a spatula. If browned to your liking, carefully flip and grill the other side, about 4-5 minutes. (You may want to cover the pan to help promote cheese melting.)

Enjoy!

Balsamic and Onion Pot Roast

During the winter months a lot of meals include roasts-and this is one of my favorite recipes for pot roast. Stay tuned for my next recipe to find out what to do with the leftovers!

Ingredients:

3-4 pound boneless chuck roast
2 Tbsp Steak Rub (I used Montreal Steak)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, sliced thickly
1 cup beef stock, reduced to 1/2 cup
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup tomato sauce

Directions:

Trim as much fat as you can from the roast. Rub meat well with steak seasoning. Heat a heavy pan with small amount of olive oil and brown roast well on both sides.

While the roast browns, place the beef stock in a saucepan, bring to a boil and cook until reduced to 1/2 cup. Let cool slightly, then mix in balsamic vinegar and tomato sauce.

Deglaze the pan you browned the roast in with 1/4 cup water and add to sauce mixture.

Peel onions and cut into thick slices. Place onions in bottom of Crockpot. Place roast on top of the onions and pour beef stock sauce over. Set Crockpot to low and cook 6-8 hours, until beef is tender. The meat might be partly submerged in liquid after this much time.

Remove meat from crockpot and cover with foil to keep warm. Drain liquid from Crockpot and remove as much of the fat as you can with fat separator or skimmer. Cook down liquid by about 1/3, and serve sauce with meat and onions.

Recipe slightly adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen

Individual 7 Layer Dips

This is a quick, fun recipe for any occasion! I made these for my brother's Super Bowl party, and they were a big hit. All the flavor of 7 layer dip with less mess, and no double dipping :)

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) can refried beans (I used spicy refried beans)
1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning
1 cup guacamole (I used 2 avocados and a packet of spicy guacamole mix)
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1 cup chunky salsa
1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 bunch of green onions, sliced
9 ounce plastic tumblers
tortilla chips

Directions:

In a small bowl mix taco seasoning with refried beans. Some people prefer to mix their taco seasoning with the sour cream layer but I wanted a bright white layer so I did it with the beans.

Here's how the layers are assembled:
Layer 1: beans and taco seasoning
Layer 2: sour cream
Layer 3: guacamole
Layer 4: salsa
Layer 5: cheese
Layer 6: tomatoes
Layer 7: green onions

In each plastic glass, layer about 2 Tbsp of the beans, followed by 2 Tbsp of sour cream, 2 Tbsp of guacamole, 2 Tbsp of salsa or pico de gallo, 2 Tbsp of cheese, and 2 tbsp of salsa. Then top with about 1-2 teaspoons of tomatoes and green onion (If you're making these ahead of time, wait to add these toppings until shortly before serving).

Store in the refrigerator until serving and serve with chips. Makes 8 individual dips.

Week 1 Recipe Winner: Teriyaki Chicken Thighs

I was super excited to make the Teriyaki Chicken Thighs recipe submitted by Elise Walter for our first week's recipe contest!

Like a lot of people, when cooking chicken at home, I almost always reach for chicken breast. I didn't even know what I was missing by overlooking chicken thighs-until I tasted this. The meat was tender, juicy and sweet, made even more amazing with the addition of a homemade teriyaki sauce.
We love teriyaki, and for years I've used a bottled sauce, with the intention of learning to make a homemade sauce...someday. Last Wednesday was that day!

But it gets better! The total cost for this recipe was only about $7. Chicken thighs are generally much more affordable than the chicken breasts and I purchased two packages for a total of $5. Easy, delicious, and inexpensive-what could be better?

I did alter the original Cook's Illustrated recipe slightly-for a few reasons. First, I didn't have mirin that the original recipe called for-that would have cost another $5-so I substituted rice vinegar. I also substituted 1/4 tsp ground ginger for 1/2 tsp fresh ginger. And I doubled the original sauce recipe (figures shown below are the doubled amounts) as we like our chicken extra saucy.

Additionally, after broiling the meat for the recommended 8-14 minutes, the chicken was still very pink inside. I turned the stove down to 350, and baked the chicken for an additional 15 minutes to cook through.

At first I was a little nervous about de-boning the thighs, but it turned out to be pretty simple. I'm sure you could also cook it bone-in to save time, just be sure to alter the cooking time accordingly.

Overall, an awesome recipe-and one that we will make again, as soon as chicken thighs are on sale. This may also become my new go-to teriyaki sauce recipe! :)

Ingredients

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (see instructions on prep below)

table salt and ground black pepper

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup sugar

½ tsp grated fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced (1 tsp)

4 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp cornstarch

Instructions

Position oven rack about 8 inches from heat source; heat broiler.

CHICKEN PREP INSTRUCTIONS:

Remove bone from thighs. Take your kitchen shears and cut along the bone, then work around it, leaving the thigh as intact as possible while extracting the bone. Trim excess fat. Leave skin on top of thigh, but trim any excess. Cut three diagonal slashes into the skin without piercing the meat. Tuck meat under skin and lightly flatten thigh to even thickness. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper; set thighs skin side up on broiler pan (or foil-lined rimmed baking sheet fitted with flat wire rack), tucking exposed meat under skin and lightly flattening thighs to be of relatively even thickness.

Chicken should look like this for broiling:

Broil until skin is crisp and golden brown, 8 to 14 minutes, rotating pan halfway through cooking time for even browning.

Using a meat thermometer, check to see if thickest parts of thighs register 175 degrees on instant-read thermometer. If so, your chicken is done!

If not, turn oven off and allow it to cool for 5 minutes. Then reheat oven to 350.

Flip chicken skin-side down and bake for 12-20 minutes or until thickest parts of thighs register 175 degrees on instant-read thermometer.

Top of chicken after broiling:

While chicken cooks, combine soy sauce, sugar, ginger, and garlic in small saucepan; stir together rice vinegar and cornstarch in small bowl until no lumps remain, then stir vinegar mixture into saucepan. Bring sauce to boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is reduced to 3/4 cup and forms syrupy glaze, about 4 minutes. Cover to keep warm.

Transfer chicken to cutting board; let rest 2 to 3 minutes. Cut meat crosswise into 1/2-inch- wide strips. Transfer chicken to serving platter; stir teriyaki sauce to recombine, then drizzle to taste over chicken. Serve immediately, passing remaining sauce separately.