Category Archives: Appetizers

Tasty Tomato Soup (Slow Cooker)

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Tomato SoupAh the crock pot. Truly a great thing. One of my “busy” days is definitely Thursdays. A lot of running around, shuttling kids around to activities so it makes it extra nice to have dinner ready when we get home. Last night was a quick and easy family favorite. Although my family is still partial to Campbell’s, this soup was pretty good too. I would describe it as tangy, and was delicious accompanied by grilled cheese for a quick kid friendly meal.
Recipe slightly modified from  Fix-It and Forget-It Kids Cookbook

  • 1 sprig celery leaves
  • 46 ounce can tomato juice
  • 8 oz can tomato sauce
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 Tbsp bouillon granules
  • 1/2 tsp dried basil
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/8 tsp ground cloves

1. Rip up celery leaves with hands. Place all ingredients in slow cooker. Mix well. Set on low and cook for 5-8 hours.

2. Eat and enjoy!

 

 

Citrus Guacamole

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GuacamoleOne of my all time favorite foods has got to be guacamole. This usually ends in me eating way to much. I do love to indulge once in a while and this is one great food to do it on. When I saw this recipe over at Chelsy’s site Mangia I knew we would have a slam dunk, home run kind of recipe. Plus I have never seen a guacamole recipe that incorporated orange juice, so I thought let’s give it a whirl. The results were tremendous, as I knew they would be! Another Secret Recipe Club home run. I used store-bought chips to dip in the dip, but head on over to the original if you want an additional recipe for homemade chips.

Thanks Secret Recipe Club for another fabulous assignment!

Ingredients:
  • 3 ripe Hass avocados, peeled and pitted
  • 1/2 small red onion, finely diced
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
  • juice of 1 orange
  • 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
  • sea salt and pepper, to taste
  • tortilla chips to dip

1. Chop avocados into bite sized chunks and mash with potato masher. I like my guacamole a little chunky, so mash to the way you like it.

2. Stir in onion, jalapeno, garlic, orange, cilantro and spices. Cover tightly with Saran wrap (make sure that it is directly on guacamole, and refrigerate until ready to eat. I like to leave it about an hour to let flavors meld. Serve with tortilla chips.

3. Eat and enjoy!

See everybody else’s pick of the month below:



Eggs Diablo

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Eggs DiabloAnother of the Super Bowl snacks that I made over the weekend. Now I’m not going to lie, my husband was a bit disappointed that I chose to make this new recipe instead of regular devilled eggs. After trying these out though, I am certainly glad I made them. Although not as pretty as regular devilled eggs, they taste great. They also were a great accompaniment to the Jalapeno Corn Dip I served. Plus one of the boys brought these cute little mini tacos, so all in all, my mouth was in Mexi-heaven.

Recipe from Southern Living Homestyle Cookbook

  • 6 large hard-boiled eggs, cooled and peeled
  • 2 Tbsp shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
  • 2 Tbsp finely chopped green onions
  • 2 Tbsp canned green chiles
  • 2 Tbsp mayo
  • 2 Tbsp picante sauce, or salsa
  • 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
  • Garnish with roasted red pepper slices or additional green chiles

1. Slice eggs in half and gently remove yolk to a bowl. Place egg whites on serving plate.

2. Mash all egg yolks together with fork. Add remaining ingredients, except garnish, and stir well until combined.

3. Scoop yolk mixture into egg whites. Top with garnish of your choice. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

4. Eat and enjoy!

Jalapeno Corn Dip

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Jalapeno Corn DipAs everybody knows yesterday was the Super bowl, and we actually had some people over to watch the game and enjoy some snacks. Did I watch the game, yes, I did! Okay I only watched it for ten minutes until I finished eating my own little plate of food, however, that was one yummy ten minutes! I love appetizers, it is always a fun “dinner” to have an array of appies to choose from. One of my all-time favorite starters is Corn Dip, so when I saw this Jalapeno Corn Dip over on Shugary Sweets I knew it must be made…immediately! Now I usually make a recipe following the directions exactly the first time and then tweak it to my liking on all following cooking ventures, however, this time didn’t quite go according to plan. The first thing that happened was the grocery store was out of fresh jalapeno, I guess I should not have waited until Super bowl weekend was actually here to do my shopping. Then we went a little hog-wild on movie night and used up all the cheddar cheese. I had Monterey Jack so I used that. And so here is the recipe how I made it, however head on over to the links above to check out the original!!

  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup salsa
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • 1 can peaches and cream corn
  • 2 Tbsp chopped pickled jalapeno slices
  • Multi-grain Scoops for serving

1. Mix together all ingredients, except chips, in bowl. Refrigerate a couple of hours to let flavors combine.

2. Scoop that chip in the dip and eat!!