Itailan Nachos

Matt and I love the Italian Nachos at our little restaurant in town.  I thought I would give it a try.  I'm glad I did they turned out really good.

1 bag of Thin Tortilla Chips
Jar of Alfredo Sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Sliced olives
Banana Peppers
Jalapeno Peppers
Fresh diced Tomatoes
Cooked, Shredded Chicken

Layer it all.  I did the whole bag of chips, some cheese then the Alfredo sauce, chicken then the rest.  topped with more cheese.  I baked it at 300 for about 20 minutes or until it is all melty and gooey.

Cowboy Caviar

Candy makes the best dip every year during the Celebration called Cowboy Caviar.  This is the only picture I could get of it.  It was gone before I knew it.  

Dustrie eating.  Poor girl I made her pose for the picture.

She really didn't seem to mind.

2 cans diced tomatoes

2 can black beans (drained)

2 cans corn

green onion (optional)

cilantro

4-5 avocados

packet of Italian dressing (put the amount of water the instructions have but not the oil)

garlic salt

Serve with tortilla chips.  Or just eat it with a spoon, no one will know.

Snikers Fruit Salad

The picture doesn't look like there is much to see, but give it a try.

1 big container of Cool Whip (thawed)
1 or 1 1/2 bricks of Cream Cheese (softened)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 bag of fun size Snikers Candy bars (To me this was almost not enough you might want to get a few more)
4-6 Granny Smith Apples

Mix Cool Whip, Cream Cheese and sugar together.  Cut up Snickers and apples and mix altogether.  I thought that adding strawberries and maybe some banannas would make it even better.

Atomic Poppers

It isn't the best picture you will just have to take my word that these are worth the work!  I found a these and decided to change them up just a little.

Jalapenos
Cream Cheese (room temp)
Red Pepper Jelly (divided)
Bacon
Little Smokies

Cut the jalapenos in half and clean out seeds.  Use gloves if you have them.
Mix cream cheese and red pepper jelly together and fill the cleaned out jalapenos with as much cream cheese as it takes to make it level with the edges of the jalapeno.  If you get to the end you can skimp on some or borrow from others if you need too.
Top cream cheese with a Little Smoky.
Cut your bacon in half and wrap the whole thing and stick a toothpick through so it stays together.  I don't do that with the regular ones but you will want to with these.
Then top each popper with a small amount of red pepper jelly.
Bake for an hour at 300.  At the end you might want to turn up the oven to make sure the bacon is crispy.
I had 20 jalapenos, two boxes of cream cheese, a jar of jelly, two packages of bacon and a package of little smokies.  So it made 40 poppers.  I usually don't make that many but they were still gone super fast.

Guacamole

A friend brought some Guacamole the other day to a BBQ we were having.  I couldn't believe how easy it was to make it so I whipped up a little for us.

Avocados
Sour cream
Pase Picante Sauce
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Lime juice

I used two avocados and just dumped everything else in I didn't measure anything.  So just do what you think would be best.  If you keep the avocado pits in the guacamole it keeps it from turning brown so fast.  The picture kinda looks brown but I think it is from the Pase.

Corn Bread

I haven't posted anything for so long!  I make this all the time with chili.  The boys love it.  I got it from Gina.  It is a sweet corn bread and so delicious.

1 2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup corn meal
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Mix altogether and add
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup milk

Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes.

I usually double this and put it in my large cast iron pan.  If I don't double it I just put it in my smaller one.  You can also put it in a 8x8 pan.

Mandarin Salad and Dressing

Mandi sent me this salad recipe. I am for sure going to try it.

Salad:
2 heads romaine lettuce, diced
1 (15 oz) can or 1 cup diced chicken or turkey
1 (6 oz) can mandarin orange segments rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chow mein noodles or wonton noodles
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Dressing:
1 cup canola oil
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1/2 cup honey
3 Tbsp each: Rice vinegar, yellow mustard and Bragg's Liquid Aminos
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame seeds

Combine, toss with salad ingredients and serve. You can keep the salad and dressing separate in fridge and put the dressing on when you want to eat some salad and it keeps longer.

Bruchetta

This is so good when you have fresh tomatoes from the garden.

1 lb. tomatoes-diced with no seeds
2 oz of feta cheese (or a little more)
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons Italian parsley
2 Tablespoons fresh basil or 1 Tablespoon dry basil
1 clove garlic minced
salt
pepper
Pinch of red pepper flakes to your liking

Brush sides of bread with olive oil or butter and garlic (you can use baguette bread) Broil bread and serve with Bruchetta.

Corn Salad

2 cans corn (drained)
1/2 red pepper (chopped)
1/2 green pepper (chopped)
1/2 red onion (chopped)
1 cup mayo
1 cup cheddar
1 bag Chili Cheese Fritos

Mix everything but Fritos and spread in a 9x13 inch pan. Put it in the fridge until you are ready to serve then spread Fritos on top.
Some times I just have one pepper so I just put that in instead of using a red and green pepper.