Crack Bread

Ahhhhh the infamous "crack bread."  First made for a girls' weekend last fall, it's ridiculously good.  Addictive.  And not good for you in the least.  All things that I love in a snack with my girlfriends :)

I first found this on Pinterest.  Here is the reciped as posted on the Betty Crocker Web site:

Cheddar Bacon Ranch Crack Bread

(Crack Bread)

1 loaf of bread (unsliced, sourdough or any hearty bread is good)
1 stick of butter
1 TB ranch dressing mix (I used more like 2T)
1 bag of oscar meyer bacon pieces (3 oz)
1 packet of thinly sliced cheddar cheese (10 oz)

Preheat oven to 350.

Using a sharp bread knife cut the bread going both directions. Do not cut through the bottom crust.

Place slices of cheese in between cuts. Sprinkle bacon bits on bread making sure to get in between cuts. Mix together the butter and ranch dressing mix. Pour over bread

(Note:  after making this the first time, I used a pastry brush and brushed the butter mixture in between the slices to get more of the butter/ranch flavor the whole way down to the yummy bottom of the bread)

Wrap the entire loaf in foil and place on baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Unwrap. Bake for an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted

Avocado & Goat Cheese Dip

Being a lover of all things goat cheese, who was I to pass this up??? Plus it has AVOCADO in it...yum! I did not keep the link of where I pulled this from, unfortunately, because credit is very much due!

Avocado And Goat Cheese Dip

2 ripe Avocados
4 ounces Goat Cheese, crumbled
1 Lime Juice
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
3 red Fresno Chilies, seeded and minced (jalapenos or Serranos ok)
1/4 cup chopped fresh Cilantro
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Cut avocados in half with knife and separate. Remove seed, and with a large spoon, scoop out flesh into a bowl. Squeeze the lime juice over the avocado and mash the flesh with a fork. Stir in remaining ingredients. Serve immediately or store refrigerated, with one of the avocado seeds pressed into the dip to help retain its color (also cover with plastic wrap pressed down to keep air off).

Pecan Pumpkin Pie Candy

I found this on another blog...it looked like something yummy to take to my brother's house for Thanksgiving to snack on while we watched the parade and football games.

They were good, my neice loved them. I did cut back on some of the sugar because I was afraid they would be way too sweet, and I used sweetened coconut.


Pecan Pumpkin Pie Candy
(Source: cathy's kitchen journey)

1 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
2 C white sugar (i used about 1 1/2 C)
2 C unsweetened coconut (I used sweetened b/c I had it on hand)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 C chopped pecans

In a medium saucepan, combine pumpkin, sugar, coconut and spices (except vanilla). On medium heat, cook and mix together and allow sugar to disolve. Continue cooking and stirring until the mixture forms a ball (it will take a long time 20-30 minutes at least, but it will get there once all the liquid evaporates)

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Transfer to a heat safe bowl and cover with plastic wrap so a skin doesn't form. Chill in refrigerator until cooled completely.

Using a small scoop, scoop out 1 TBSP balls of mixture and roll in the palms of your hands. Roll balls in chopped pecans to coat. Put back in fridge to set. Makes approximately 30 balls.

Flatbread Pizza

I've said it before, I love when Norm's not here for dinner, I can make things that he won't eat! He would have zero interest in this light version of pizza. Not because he doesn't like pizza (he loves it) but because it has soy cheese as well as a layer of herbed ricotta cheese on the crust. It's something that comes together in a pinch, and it's filling and pretty good for you!

Flatbread Pizza

(Source: me!)

1 whole wheat flatbread

1/3 C low-fat ricotta cheese

italian seasonings

garlic salt

ground pepper

pizza sauce (I used a fat-free organic brand I found)

soy cheese

mushrooms

turkey pepperoni

sliced red onion

Preheat oven to 375. Heat flatbread in oven for about 10 minutes (until it just starts to get toasty). Season ricotta with italian seasong, garlic, pepper. Remove from oven, spread crust with ricotta mixture, top with pizza sauce, soy cheese, and other toppings. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until the cheese is melted.

Baked Goat Cheese in Marinara

I love goat cheese in a big way. So when I found an appetizer recipe that had goat cheese in it, it was a no brainer! I made this to take over to dinner at our friend's house. I knew our hostess would love it as the love of goat cheese is one of the many things we have in common!

Baked Goat Cheese in Marinara

1 4oz log of goat cheese (I used the herbed variety)

Marinara sauce (I used a spicy red pepper tomato sauce)

Spray a small, shallow baking dish with cooking spray. Gently flatten the goat cheese to form a rectangular block in the center of the dish. Pour marinara sauce around the cheese, but not over it. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until bubbly.

Serve with sliced baguette.

Chicken Dip

This recipe came from my friend Christy years ago, she swears she wasn't the one who originally made it for our group...but she was = ) It's one of those recipes that is absurdly simple (3 ingredients!), and it may even sound a little weird, but it's reaaaaaaaaaaaaally good. Plus it's great on a toasted bagel for lunch if you have any left over.

A year or so ago, I took it to a party and gussied it up...I shaped it into a ball and rolled it in pecans, and served it with those yummy rosemary Triscuit crackers. Excellent!!!

Chicken Dip
(Source: Christy!)
1 can of chicken, drained
1 block of cream cheese, softened
1 packet of ranch dressing mix

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, chicken and 1/2 the packet of dressing mix. Mix thoroughly to break up chicken and combine well. Add more dressing mix if necessary.

BBQ Dip

I tried a new dip for the weekend at my parent house, too. I originally saw it on recipezaar.com (from kraft.com) and also on Beantown Bakers's blog. It has a lot of my favorite things...cream cheese, cheese, BBQ sauce and most importantly bacon. Just about anything made with bacon is A-OK in my book! I took home most of the recipe ingredients except for the tomato and green peppers, because my mom always has them on hand. Not this time! So this was minus a few ingredients. It was good, but not a home-run winner. I think I'll try it again but with the tomato and pepper, and maybe a few modifications.

BBQ Dip
(Source: kraft.com)
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese (I used the 1/3 less fat cream cheese)
1/2 cup BBQ sauce (I used Jack Daniels Spicy BBQ Sauce)
1 pkg. (2.8 oz.) Real Bacon Recipe Pieces (I used a package of pre-cooked bacon, crisped in the oven for a few minutes, then choped up)
1 small tomato, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green peppers
1/3 cup sliced green onions
1-1/2 cups Shredded Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese

Spread cream cheese onto large platter or bottom of pizza pan; drizzle with barbecue sauce.Top with remaining ingredients.Serve with your favorite crackers or chips.

Spooky Sugar Cookies

So my neice, Taylor, asked me a week ago while I was babysitting her if I had any Halloween cookie cutters. Curiously I said yes, why do you ask? She said because she wanted to bake cookies with me when we were at Gramma's house. Who am I to deny a 5 year old a cookie baking and decorating experience???? My neices are my best kitchen helpers and for the last couple of years we've made everything from cookies to cupcakes to pies to anything they could "help" with...and the older they get the more fun it is to have them in the kitchen with me.

Saturday morning Taylor was up bright and early, ready to get cookin'! So we mixed up the dough (an old school betty crocker sugar cookie recipe from one of my mom's cook books), only to read at the very end that it had to chill for an hour. Panic in the kitchen!!!! An hour to a 5 yr old is apparently multiple lifetimes...60 minutes is an excrutiating amount of time. I heard "is it an hour YET" more times than I can count. Soooo while the cookie dough was chilling, I had to find another activity. So we made soft pretzels (thanks to Amber's Delectable Delights!). Her pretzels were shaped as good as mine by then end of this exercise!

I also brought with me black and orange icing, halloween mix M&M's, Autumn mix dark chocolate M&M's, candy corn and white icing to decorate the cookies. Taylor told me very matter of factly that purple was also a halloween color, so I mixed 1/2 the white icing into a lovely shade of lavender for her. She also got increasingly better at cookie decorating by the time we were done. Good times!

Chick Pea Crunchies

I started making this fun little snack years ago when I first started eating "healthier". I think I found the recipe on fatfree.com originally. However, this is one of those recipes that I just start tossing a bunch of spices together, and just "loosely" following the recipe now. They are perfect when you need something a little crunchy and you can adapt the spices to create a lot of different flavors.

I am making these to take home with me this weekend, since they are one of my dad's favorite snacks. Well, and one of my sister-in-laws, too! They always end up fighting over them, so I'm going to pack them each their own container, so that they don't have to share = )

Here's what I did this time....

CHICK PEA CRUNCHIES
3 cans of chick peas
curry powder
cumin
coriander
chili powder
cayenne pepper
sea salt
black pepper
garlic salt

Preheat oven to 400F.
Drain chick peas well (I rinse them well, too). In a large bowl, toss chick peas with spices to your taste. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 40-50 minutes until golden brown and crispy, stirring occasionally.