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snack

Hot Cheesy Spicy Sausage Dip

April 18, 2022

Hot Cheesy Spicy Sausage Dip is the perfect party dip to enjoy when you want something that is cheesy, hearty, and packs a spicy punch!

Hand dipping tortilla scoop chip into cheesy sausage dip in a skillet.

When you are looking for a new dip to try while you watch your favorite game or enjoy a game night with friends, give this Hot Cheesy Spicy Sausage Dip a try. Everyone is going to be impressed when you bring out that hot skillet full of ooey gooey cheese and meat.

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Filed Under: Etc. Tagged With: chips, chorizo, Daytona, hot sausage dip, italian sausage, NASCAR, snack

Fancy Schmancy Pigs in a Blanket

August 28, 2014

Take your party or football watching to the next level with these Fancy Schmancy Pigs in a Blanket. They are not your average snack. So much better with the tender, flaky puff pastry and the everything bagel seasoning on it!!


Fancy Schmancy Pigs in a Blanket-1

You guys the new football season starts in a week!!!!!!!!

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Filed Under: Recipes, Starters Tagged With: appetizer, everything bagel seasoning, football food, mustard, pigs in a blanket, puff pastry, sausage, snack

World’s Best Cheesy Spinach Dip

March 10, 2014

Cheesy Spinach Dip

This is my favorite party food. F-A-V-O-R-I-T-E.

Cheesy Spinach Dip-1

I remember my mom serving this for parties when I was growing up. Tucked inside her copy of The Joy of Cooking was this photocopied magazine ad from Velveeta. It was well warn and dirty from many years of use. It was the perfect family party staple.

And now that tattered, loved xerox’ed copy of “Cheesy Spinach Party Loaf” has been passed down to me. It is a simple cherished piece of paper that holds many tasty memories from my childhood. As well,  it is the key to a great party.

Cheesy Spinach Dip-3 Cheesy Spinach Dip-4

This was something I could help my mom make when I was younger once she prepped the veggies for me. Then it was my job to sautee the veggies and melt the cheese and mix in the spinach. It was fun being part of the party prep.

Cheesy Spinach Dip-5 Cheesy Spinach Dip-6

And now I get to make this all on my own! Ah bliss.

I might have to admit that I’ve whipped up the dip to divide into little batches, which then might have been eaten as dinner… what? Don’t judge. There’s spinach in there… totally healthy. ha!

Cheesy Spinach Dip-7 Cheesy Spinach Dip-8

This dip is wonderful to serve at a large party, but in the case that it would hang out for a while, I would actually put the dip in a mini slow cooker to keep warm. Instead of cutting the boule into the bowl, just cut the bread into 1″ cubes.

As well, this is easy to double and triple depending on the size of your party. I swear people will just go head over heels for it!

Cheesy Spinach Dip-2

World’s Best Cheesy Spinach Dip

Makes 12 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 – 1 1/2-lb boule bread, such as sour dough
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 1 cup diced red pepper
  • 1/2 cup diced celery
  • 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
  • 1 lb package Velveeta Cheese, cubed
  • 1 10-oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, drained
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • Serve with veggies, such as pepper strips, and bread from the boule

Process

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Slice off from top of bread and then remove center leaving 1-inch shell. Cut the removed bread into bite-size pieces.
  3. Place the bread bowl and cubes on a rimmed cookie sheet. Toss the bite-sized pieces throughout the 20 minute baking process.
  4. Saute pepper, celery, and onion in remaining margarine until tender.
  5. Add the Velveeta cheese and stir over low heat until  the cheese is melted.
  6. Stir in remaining ingredients; heating thoroughly while stirring constantly.
  7. Pour into the bread shell; serve with the reserved bread and assorted vegetables.

Adapted from Velveeta, circa 1988

Filed Under: Recipes, Salsa, Sauces, Dips and more Tagged With: appetizer, Boule bread, Cheesy Spinach Party Loaf, Cheesy Spinach Party Loaf Velveeta, frozen spinach, party food, snack, spinach, velveeta, Velveeta Cheese

Guilt-Free Cheesy Fiesta Popcorn

February 27, 2014

Cheesy Fiesta Popcorn

I know exactly what I will be doing on Sunday night… watching the Oscars!!! I love award show season. Do you watch too?

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Filed Under: Recipes, Starters Tagged With: air-popped popcorn, cheesy popcorn, healthy popcorn, healthy snack, popcorn, snack

Mini Corn Dog Muffins

October 4, 2013

Mini Corn Dog Muffins

Can we just take a minute and go “Whoa! How is it October already?!?!”

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Filed Under: Recipes, Starters Tagged With: corn meal, hot dogs, mini corn dog muffins, mini corn dogs, NASCAR, recipe, snack, sprint cup snacks

Homemade Cheez-It’s

August 9, 2013

Homemade Cheez-Its

Post Contains Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure HERE

Let’s just take a minute to reflect on what a week it has been for NASCAR. First, Kasey Kahne won the Pocono Race!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!! We were sooo excited for that win. Helps him in the Sprint Cup Standings to secure a spot in the Championship. Unfortunately, another driver is surely losing his spot in the Championship standings because of an accident. Tony Stewart was in a Sprint Car accident on Monday night that has resulted in him breaking his tibia and fibula in his right leg.  Already he has had 2 surgeries to repair the breaks, including a surgery in which they put a rod in his leg. I hope he has a quick recovery and can get back to racing soon.

Anyway, when I first started the Sprint Cup Snacks series I had planned on making wine slushies for this weekend’s race at Watkin’s Glen. The Finger Lakes Region of New York is becoming known for their fantastic wines and I have always wanted to have a wine slushy, which they serve up at the New York State Fair.

But guess what… if I can’t have a wine slushy now, you can’t have a wine slushy now!!!

So on to Plan B, which was to make Homemade Cheez-It’s because this race is the “Cheez-It 355 at The Glen”. Oh man, Plan B was such a good idea!!

Homemade Cheez-Its_01 Homemade Cheez-Its_02

These Homemade Cheez-It’s are just killer. Flaky, crunchy, cheesy, salty, crackers that you can’t resist. Sure you can just buy a box of Cheez-It’s but you’ll want to give these a try just to prove to yourself that 5 ingredients (plus some seasonings) quickly turn into pop in your month tasty crackers. Plus as they puff up in the oven you get teased with the wonderful cheesy smell drawing you in.

Homemade Cheez-Its_03 Homemade Cheez-Its_04

 The dough can easily be made in a food processor or in a stand mixer. The key thing is to keep the dough pretty cool so it is easy to work with. I chilled it every chance I got to make rolling it out easier, cutting easier, and then transferring easier. Get the picture? There are so many melty things (cheese, butter, and shortening) that is is very malleable but very tacky. Since you don’t flour your working surface it is really important to use the silpat/ parchment. Don’t skip that part! I only give these warnings to make the process super easy and fun… and ultimately tasty!

Homemade Cheez-Its_05 Homemade Cheez-Its_06

Last year we loved watching the race at The Glen from our seats behind Kasey’s pit on Pit Road (!!) so I’ll miss going there this year but at least I have these homemade Cheez-It’s to enjoy while watching the race on Sunday.

Homemade Cheez-Its_00

Homemade Cheez-It’s

Makes 7 dozen crackers

Ingredients

  • 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
  • 3 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 Tablespoon vegetable shortening
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 cup flour
  • 2 Tablespoons ice water
  • Coarse salt for sprinkling

Process

  1.  Combine the cheese, butter, shortening, and salt in the bowl of your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or into a food processor fitted with a dough attachment. The mixture will be crumbly.
  2. Slowly add the flour mixing to combine. Slowly add the ice water. You may add a few more drops of water to help it come together but be careful not to add too much as you don’t want a wet dough.
  3. Divide the dough into 2 discs and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
  4. Preheat oven to 375⁰F.
  5. Cover your work surface with a silicone mat or a piece of parchment paper. Roll each disc to be a 1/8 inch thick rectangle. Using a pastry wheel or pizza cutter, cut into 1 inch squares. Use a toothpick to punch a hole into the center of each square. Sprinkle the crackers with salt prior to transferring to a baking sheet. (If you have difficulty separating and transferring the crackers onto the baking sheet, place the mat back into the refrigerator for 10 minutes)
  6. Bake for 9-13 minutes or until puffed and just browning around the edges. Just be careful not to let them get too dark, it can happen quickly.
  7. Move crackers to a cooling rack.

Slightly adpated from In Katrina’s Kitchen

Filed Under: Recipes, Starters Tagged With: cheddar, cheez-its, crackers, finger lakes region, homemade cheez-its, sharp Cheddar Cheese, snack, sprint cup snacks, Watkin's Glen

Texas Queso Dip

April 12, 2013

Texas Queso Dip_A

When Price and I went to visit our friends Natalie and Jason in Austin last year we fell in love with all of the food we had there. Everything was incredible. I couldn’t get enough of the tacos, bbq, agua fresca, and, of course, queso. (Also couldn’t get enough time hanging with great friends, natch.)

Each and everything we ate was amazing for a different reason. The fantastic Mexican we had at Chuy’s, to the BBQ we got to go after a night of drinking, to the chicken on a biscuit from Whataburger immediately after some bar hoping.

But the one thing that was a constant was the queso we had. We had it every change we had and even while we lamented ‘no more queso’ we loved it. I think there really is a limit to the amount of queso/cheese a person can eat in a few days and I think we were fast approaching that limit. But really, worth indulge. Or at least that is what I kept telling myself after dipped another chip in.

Texas Queso Dip_01 Texas Queso Dip_02

Texas Queso Dip_03 Texas Queso Dip_04

Well since this weekend’s upcoming NASCAR race is at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, I figured that I had to share something for my Sprint Cup Snack that I loved so much about my visit to Texas. Now don’t give me any lip about how Austin and Fort Worth are not that close to each other- 3 hr drive or so- because I say what goes on this blog! ha!

Plus any excuse to eat queso is okay for me.

Natalie emailed me her recipe for queso at a moment’s notice. True friends understand the love of cheese (even if she has gone Paleo now). And let me tell you it was fantastic!!

Texas Queso Dip_05 Texas Queso Dip_06

Texas Queso Dip_07 Texas Queso Dip_08

The queso is incredibly easy to make and would be fantastic to whip up for watching any sporting event, a movie, or having friends over for a side splitting night of Cards Against Humanity. << come over, let’s hang and just be ridiculous. 

If you can whip up some simple pico de gallo and can melt some cheese in milk, then you are all set. It’s basically that, plus making a simple rue to thicken it all up. So, so much better than the queso you get in the jar that you microwave. Was that even necessary to say?!?! duh!!

Obviously, queso is best piping hot so it’s super ooey gooey yummy. If you have a little crock pot dip warmer then I suggest you use that to keep it hot and everyone happy.

Texas Queso Dip_B

Dig in!!!!

Texas Queso Dip

Makes 8 snack servings

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 1/4 cups milk, room temperature-ish
  • 2 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Pico De Gallo

  • 3 plum tomatoes
  • 1/2 of a red onion
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1/2 a hass avocado
  • 2 jalapenos, seeds removed
  • 1 clove garlic
  • juice of 1 lime
  • salt and pepper

Process

  1. Remove the milk from the refrigerator, set aside.
  2. To make the pico de gallo, dice the cored tomatoes, onion, and avocado. Mince the jalapenos and garlic. Combine together and add the cilantro, lime juice, and a generous amount of salt and pepper. 
  3. To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook to make a rue, whisking constantly until golden, about 2 minutes. Continue whisking and slowly add the milk. Bring the mixture to a steady simmer, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 2 minutes.
  4. Combine the cheese sauce and pico de gallo together and enjoy!

slightly adapted from my friend Natalie

____________________

{Sprint Cup Snacks Track Facts}

Texas Motor Speedway seat a whopping 190,000+ people to watch a race. Repeat… 190k+. That was about 3 times the number of people in my whole town when I was growing up. Insane. But everything is bigger in Texas!

Besides being big, it’s also fast. It’s one of the fasted non-restrictor plate races in the series   with qualifying speeds in excess of 192 mph and corner entry speeds over 200 mph. And in 2006 for the Dickies 500 qualifying, Brian Vickers shattered the qualifying record at Texas with a speed of 196.235 mph. Crazy.

Gotta enjoy this weekend’s race under the lights!

Track: 1.5 miles

Shape: Oval

Banking: 24 degrees in the turns

Surface: Asphalt

Capacity: 191,122… yep a lot of people!!!!

Race: 334-laps for 501 miles

2012 winner:  Greg Briffle

____________________

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: appetizer, avocado, cheese, cilantro, dip, garlic, jalapeno, NASCAR, pico de gallo, queso, queso dip, snack, Spicy, sprint cup snacks, Texas, Texas Motor Speedway, tomato

Bang Bang Shrimp

February 22, 2013

bang bang shrimp

I am so ready for this weekend!!! Why?? Well, the Daytona 500 is this weekend!!! I’ve missed watching NASCAR Sprint Cup racing during the off season and this is the race that is kicking off the new season. So, like people who love to cheer on their favorite baseball, football, basketball, etc team I cheer on a driver in hopes that he drives furiously through the field of cars to win the race.

Since we love to watch each race we really like to make an afternoon, or occasional evening, out of it so we’ve decided to pair our snacks with each race. I was inspired by Pam of The Meltaways since she created a series of recipes called NASCAR Nibbles that paired a recipe with each track in the season. I decided to give this a try with our own spin on recipes for each race of the season based upon the regional favorites of each track. Please follow along every Friday for a new Sprint Cup Snacks recipe for the upcoming race that weekend.

To celebrate the start of the season with the Daytona 500, we decided to make a fun seafood dish called Bang Bang Shrimp. It would be a great way enjoy fresh seafood, which is a seaside and boardwalk favorite. Racing on Daytona Beach is what really kicked off racing that we know today since NASCAR formed at a hotel at Daytona Beach in 1948. I wanted to pay homage to the beach and fresh seafood with this Bonefish Grill restaurant favorite. If you go to Daytona you can even visit their Ormond Beach location and have some Bang Bang Shrimp there.

bang bang shrimp_01 bang bang shrimp_02

bang bang shrimp_03 bang bang shrimp_04

We’ve enjoyed Amanda’s Bang Bang Shrimp several times before. It does take some time to make as you have to coat the shrimp and then let is chill for 20 minutes and then it is best to fry in small batches so the oil does not cool too much with the edition of the chilled shrimp. It is worth it since these are just so fantastic.

bang bang shrimp_05 bang bang shrimp_06

bang bang shrimp_07 bang bang shrimp_08

The Bang Bang Shrimp has a spicy sauce is perfect with the crunchy fried shrimp. The original recipe calls for the sauce to coat the shrimp but I prefer it to just be drizzled over the shrimp or served beside it for dipping as I like to control the amount of sauce is on the shrimp. No matter how you like to dress the shrimp I think you will love Bang Bang Shrimp.

Bang Bang Shrimp

Ingredients

1 lb. medium shrimp*, peeled and deveined

  • For the sauce:
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 4-5 teaspoons chili garlic sauce, such as Sriracha sauce
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon rice vinegar

For the egg mixture:

  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 cup milk
  • pinch each of salt and pepper

For the breading mixture:

  • ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon onion powder
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon dried basil

For the sauce:

  • ½ cup mayonnaise
  • 4-5 teaspoons chili garlic sauce, such as Sriracha sauce
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon rice vinegar

For frying:

  • 8 to 12 cups vegetable oil

Process

  1. Combine all ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl; cover and set aside.
  2. Combine beaten egg with milk in shallow bowl; set aside.
  3. Combine flour, panko, salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and basil in another shallow bowl; set aside.
  4. Bread the shrimp by first coating each with the breading mixture. Dip breaded shrimp into the egg and milk mixture, and then back into the breading. Arrange the coated shrimp on a plate and pop them into the fridge for at least 20 minutes. This step will help the breading to stick on the shrimp when they are frying.
  5. Heat oil in deep fryer to 325 degrees F. Use amount of oil required by your fryer.
  6. When oil is hot, fry shrimp 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on rack or paper towels.
  7. When all shrimp has been fried, drop the shrimp into a large bowl. Spoon about ¼ cup of sauce over shrimp and stir gently to coat.

*For larger shrimp, reduce the oil heat just a bit more and cook longer. For example, when I used large shrimp (U-15 shrimp), as pictured, I reduced the temperature of the oil to 320 so that the shrimp could cook longer to thoroughly cook throughout in 3-4 minutes without burning the exterior breading.

____________________

{Sprint Cup Snacks Track Facts}

File:Daytona International Speedway.svg

The Daytona 500 race is the race that really kicks off the new season of NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing.  This is the equivalency of the Super Bowl for racing. There is a week of duels prior to the race where drivers are getting back into the grove of things since the season ended in November. This year there is a new car called the Gen 6, which looks more like a stock car compared to the cars in the past recent years.

Racing at Daytona started on the beach back in the early 1900’s and was vital in the development NASCAR. Racers would come near and far to race the road coarse, but as years went on drivers were getting frustrated in the lack of organization in the racing, promotion, and securing sponsors. William France Sr, worked hard in creating and organizing the races in the 30’s and 40’s, which ultimately resulted in the development in NASCAR on February 21, 1948. Racing on the beach came to an end in 1958 because the new raceway was opening in 1959.

Track: 2.5 miles

Shape: tri oval

Banking: 32 degree banking in the oval turns;18 degree banking at the tri-oval

Surface: Asphalt

Race: 200 laps for 500 miles

Restrictor Plate Race

2012 winner: Matt Kenseth

Driver with the most Daytona 500 Wins: Richard Petty won 7 times

 

Filed Under: Fish and Shellfish, Recipes Tagged With: appetizer, bang bang shrimp, fry, NASCAR, NASCAR Snacks, racing, shrimp, snack, Sprint Cup racing, sprint cup snacks

Caprese Bites

October 24, 2011

I have really been struggling with coming up with any ideas. This always happens to me when we begin to transition from light summery meals to warm, heartier ones. I don’t want to slip awa from my light fresh salads and grilled chicken,  and to dive into roasted root vegetables or heavy stews just yet. So at this point I spend more time wandering around the grocery store or Haymarket, where I get the majority of my fresh vegetables. However, during one visit to Haymarket I spotted pearl tomatoes and knew exactly what I wanted to make… Caprese bites!

 

Grabbing some mozzarella balls and fresh basil this came together easily and quickly. I decided that the simplest approach would be to make the tomato the vessel for the mozzarella and the basil. Basil is really flavorful so I would not need much so just a little piece could be layered with the cheese and tomato, possibly even hidden entirely so it would surprise the person enjoying the caprese bite.

I decided to create 2 different sizes of caprese bites allowing serving to be flexible. Halving the tomatoes makes more smaller bites which could be appealing when needing to serve a large crowd. These are perfectly bite size.

I also decided to make larger bites by only slicing part of the tomato and scooping out the inside guts creating a larger cup. This would allow the entire mozzarella ball to snuggly fit inside the tomato with the basil leaf. This makes for a larger bite for someone but I think that serving these could be a bit easier as someone would just need to snag one with a toothpick.

 

Caprese Bites

*Makes 20 or 40 caprese bites, depending on preparation*

Ingredients

  • 20 Cherry Tomatoes
  • 10 or 20 Mozzarella balls
  • 10 to 20  Fresh basil leaves
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Salt and Pepper

Process to prepare 20 bites

  1. Wash tomatoes and basil leaves
  2. Cut a small portion of each cherry tomatoes at one end. Scoop out the wet flesh and seeds.
  3. Rip the basil leaves in 2 or 3 pieces, depending on size.
  4. Lay a piece of basil leaf into the tomato cup, and then carefully add the mozzarella ball.
  5. Repeat the stuffing process for the rest of the 19 tomato pieces.
  6. Slice a sliver of the tomato to make a flat bottom to prevent it from rolling around.
  7. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper prior to serving.

Process to prepare 40 bites

  1. Wash tomatoes and basil leaves
  2. Halve cherry tomatoes and clean out the wet flesh and seeds
  3. Halve the 20 mozzarella balls
  4. Rip the basil leaves in 2 or 3 pieces, depending on size.
  5. Lay a piece of basil leaf into the halved tomato, and then add the halved mozzarella ball, curved side down.
  6. Repeat the stuffing process for the rest of the 39 tomato pieces.
  7. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper prior to serving.

____________________

Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive. 

Filed Under: Recipes, Starters Tagged With: appetizer, caprese, snack, tomatoes

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