Loaded Nacho Dip

Yum! This was perfect. We both really enjoyed this dip. I have this recipe saved for at least two years. I wish I hadn't waited so long to make it! This is definitely a keeper dish and one we'll make again and again. This is hearty enough to serve as a meal, which is what how we ate it, but fun enough to be a filling appetizer too. I saw the idea over at Eclectic Recipes and just adapted it to our preferences.

Ingredients:
1/2 - 3/4 lb. taco seasoned ground beef, cooked and crumbled (just depends on how beefy you want it)
1 (16 oz.) can refried beans (we used fat free)
3 Tbsp. taco sauce
1 (15 oz.) jar Tostito's brand salsa con queso
pico de gallo
shredded lettuce
sliced olives

Preparation:
Heat refried beans and taco sauce in a sauce pot over medium heat. While they're warming, also heat up your ground beef and queso. You want all three things to be piping hot. Once hot, get an 8x8" dish and spread hot refried beans over the bottom. Top that with queso. We didn't use the whole jar of queso, maybe 2/3 of the jar. Top the cheese sauce with your ground beef mixture. Shredded lettuce goes next, then the pico de gallo, and finally sliced olives. Serve immediately, and enjoy with your favorite tortilla chips! It's as easy as that!

Queso Dip

Yesterday we got together with Nate's family for Sunday dinner. We had taco salad. One of Nate's brothers asked if I'd make some queso for the meal. After searching online for some inspiration, this is what I came up with. Just wish I had remembered to take a picture!

Ingredients:
1 (32 oz.) package Velveeta
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, mined
1 can Rotel tomatoes (I used mild)
1 1/3 cup milk
1 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. taco seasoning
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Preparation:
In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, add bell pepper and onion. Sautee for a few minutes until softened, about 5 minutes. Then add garlic and sautee for one minute. Next add cumin and oregano and cook for another minute. Then pour in Rotel tomatoes and taco seasoning, mix well. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for a few minutes. While it's simmering, cut your Velveeta into cubes. Add Velveeta cubes to your crock pot and the pour in the vegetable mixture. Cook on low heat, stirring occasionally until Velveeta is completely melted. Once it's all melted add the milk and stir until milk is incorporated. If you like a thicker consistency add less milk and add more milk for a thinner consistency. Keep on low heat until ready to serve, stirring occasionally.

Cheesy Taco Dip

This is one hearty dip. We ate it for dinner last night and it is super filling. We have lots of leftovers. Nate and I decided it needs to be eaten with friends! This recipe is really quick and simple to throw together and then it bakes and gets nice and bubbly. I loosely based this recipe on one from Just Get Off Your Butt and Bake. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 cups salsa
2 envelopes taco seasoning (or 6 Tbsp. of homemade, divided)
1/4 cup Italian dressing
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 (16 oz.) can refried beans
2 cups shredded cheddar jack cheese (more or less depending on your tastes)
sliced olives, pico de gallo, shredded lettuce, sour cream, hot sauce etc. for topping if you'd like

Preparation:
Brown and crumble the ground beef. Halfway through cooking add the diced onion. After beef is finished browning add 1 packet (3 Tbsp.) taco seasoning and the water it requires. Reduce heat and finish cooking per packet instructions. After the beef mixture is finished add salsa, Italian dressing, frozen corn, refried beans and remaining taco seasoning. Mix well. Cook over medium-low heat until mixture is nice and hot. Add half the mixture to a glass 8x8" baking dish. Top with half the cheese. Add remaining beef mixture and then top with remaining cheese. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 20 minutes or until nice and bubbly hot and cheese is all melted. I recommend putting a baking sheet below the dish in case things bubble over! Serve with your favorite toppings and tortilla chips.

I know, I know, terrible photo.

Roasted Vegetable Bean Dip

Of course you know we love Mexican food at our house. I am always on the lookout for fun new Mexican recipes. Nate's a huge fan of bean dip and this recipe comes just in time for your Superbowl parties. I saw the idea over at Beth's Favorite Recipes. This is definitely a step up from your everyday refried beans. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 yellow onion
2 jalapenos
1 bulb garlic
olive oil
kosher salt
2 (16 oz.) cans refried beans
2 Tbsp. taco seasoning
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 - 1/2 cup water (depending on how thick/thin you like your beans)

Preparation:
First you'll need to roast your vegetable. Line a baking sheet with tin foil. Peel and cut your onion into thick wedges. Slice off the top of your garlic so that you expose the cloves, but don't peel. Place the onion, garlic, and jalapenos on the baking sheet and drizzle a little olive oil over them and then sprinkle with some salt. I rolled the veggies around in the olive oil to make sure they were evenly coated. Place a slice of onion over the top of the exposed garlic so that it's covered. Broil your veggies about 4-5" from the top of your oven. You want the veggies to get a nice char to them. I rotated them halfway through. Mine took about 8-10 minutes to roast.
Once roasted, remove veggies from baking sheet and allow to cool.
Once vegetables are cool, remove skin from the jalapeno along with the seeds and ribs. Pull out 2-3 big cloves of garlic from the bulb. Add the veggies, water, seasoning, and refried beans to food processor and blend until your desired consistency. I did it in two batches so not to over-fill my food processor. Heat bean dip on the stove over medium heat and then serve hot with your favorite chips or Mexican dish.

Easy Blender Salsa

Okay, salsa has to be one of the greatest inventions ever! I don't know anyone who doesn't like salsa. Cute Brittany made this and I told her we had to put it on the recipe blog. Aunt Kathleen is one of the best hostesses/cooks I know and it looks like Brittany is following right in her footsteps. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1- 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1- 10 oz can original Rotel
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed (or minced from the bottle if you're lazy like me)
1/2-1 jalapeno, seeded (depends on how spicy you like it)
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
small to medium size handful of cilantro, washed
juice of 1 lime

Preparation:
Put it all in the food processor (or blender) and blend until desired consistancy!

Nate's Super Manly Mexican Dip

Okay, so I promise I cook more than Mexican food. For some reason all my posts so far this month have been Mexican food! I've got several new recipes that I'm trying this week, so I hope to have a little variety coming! We decided to have an at-home date night last night. If Nate had his way we'd have Mexican food every date night. I decided to indulge him and try a new style of Mexican shredded beef, Chile Colorado. I used the beef in a dip and it was total calorie filled comfort food. Nate could not have been happier, which makes me super happy. This is a really hearty and filling dip, we ate it as our main course. So if you're looking for a man-pleasing, perfect for football season dip, this is it!

Ingredients:
about a pound of shredded beef, I used chile colorado , but you could also make this shredded Mexican beef, or you could always just do some seasoned ground beef
1 can (16 oz.) refried beans
1 Tbsp. taco seasoning
1 - 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
Optional- sliced olives, diced green onions, pico de gallo, etc. (I think these would be awesome on top, but I left it plain for Nate)

Preparation:
Lightly spray a glass 8x8" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. In a bowl mix together the refried beans and taco seasoning. Spread the bean mixture into the bottom of the baking dish. Top the beans with the beef. The chile colorado is super good in this dish because it is nice and saucy. Then top with shredded cheese. Cover and bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Then uncover and bake another ten or until cheese is nice and melty. Serve hot with your favorite tortilla chips and enjoy!

Black Bean Dip

This was really good. I don't even like black beans, and I enjoyed a couple bites of this. Nate loved it. This dip is so easy, and if you're going to be serving this at a party, I definitely recommend doubling. It's funny, I came across this idea today and knew that Nate would love it with our dinner tonight. How's that for a quick turn around! I saw the idea over at Finding Joy in My Kitchen. I was in a rush so I modified the recipe a bit, but it was a big hit with the husband.

Ingredients:
1 (14 oz.) can black beans (I used the low sodium ones)
2 heaping Tbsp. lite sour cream
1 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. taco seasoning
shredded cheese

Preparation:
Rinse and drain your beans. Add beans, sour cream, milk, and seasoning to food processor. Pulse until smooth. Pour the bean dip into a lightly greased 8x8" baking dish. Sprinkle some shredded cheese over the top of the bean dip. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and dip is bubbly. Enjoy hot.



I shared this recipe over at Chef in Training and Mandy's Recipe Box.

Salsa

For some reason salsa has always seemed so intimidating to make. If I had known it was this easy, I would have started making my own long ago! This recipe was really good. I blended it into a really fine consistency, we're not huge fans of chunky salsa. I kept it on the mild side, but feel free to heat it up if that's what you like. The only thing I would change is to halve the cilantro, other than that, I thought this recipe was amazing. I saw this recipe over at My Kind of Cooking.

Ingredients:
2 to 4 jalapeno peppers, seeds and veins removed (I added 2, and it was nice and mild)
1 small onion, diced
1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro (the original recipe calls for 2 Tbsp. but I think it would be better with just one, unless you really love cilantro)
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. cumin

Preparation:
In blender container, combine jalapeno peppers, onion, cilantro, and 1/2 of tomatoes. Cover. Blend well. Add remaining ingredients. Cover. Pulse until blended.

P.S. Have you tried the new Tostitos chips that have a hint of pepper jack? If not, you really should, so good!


Nate is such a good taste tester!

Pico de Gallo

I love this stuff! I had it once at Costa Vida and loved it. When I decided I was making shredded pork carnitas tonight, I knew I wanted to have pico with it. When I found out how simple it was to make I was surprised, and best of all it tasted exactly like the kind Costa Vida serves. Perfect! I got the recipe from Taste Every Season and adapted it to fit my preferences.

Ingredients:
2 firm Roma tomatoes
1/2 of a medium onion
1 jalapeno
1 small bunch of cilantro
juice of 1/2 a lime
salt

*Basically you want to have equal parts tomato and onion and jalapeno(if you like heat). I am not a fan of heat so I only used one jalapeno and took out the seeds and the ribs and the pico was nice and mild.


Preparation:
Dice tomatoes and onions. You want them in nice little same-sized pieces. For a mild pico take out the seeds and ribs of the jalapeno and dice. If you like it spicy, leave the seeds. Again, you want nice little pieces. Gently mix together tomatoes, onions, and jalapeno. Tear steams off of cilantro. I am not a huge fan of cilantro so I didn't add all that much. Just do what looks good to you. Give the cilantro a rough chop, then add to the bowl. Squeeze juice of 1/2 a lime over the mixture and salt to taste.

Serves 2-4.

Serve with tortilla chips or in any Mexican dish. Enjoy!

Easy Bean Dip

Okay, seriously, this is hardly even a recipe. But I promise it makes refried beans taste much much better. This is the only way Nate will eat refried beans now.

Ingredients:
1 can refried beans (Nate like the fat-free Taco Bell brand)
1 Tbsp. taco seasoning (again, Nate likes the Taco Bell brand)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preparation:
Mix beans and taco seasoning and heat through. I have a little crock-pot designed for dips that I use. You can also do it right on the stove too. Once warm add in the shredded cheese and cook until melted. Serve warm with your favorite tortilla chips! If a recipe calls for refried beans, I always make them this way and then add them to the recipe.