Dip, Baby, Dip

Who watched the Super Bowl?  I don’t know that you could call what I did “watching.”  If I am being honest, what I did was catch up on some of my favorite blogs, browse Pinterest, and play on Facebook and Twitter, while pausing for a few funny commercials and the fabulous Madonna halftime show.  I just really wasn’t interested because I don’t have any ties to either team.  A few years ago, the Carolina Panthers were in the Super Bowl and that was pretty exciting.  But the husband watched the game.

Even though I am not really that into football, I do like tailgate food.  ;) 

On Sunday, the husband and I took a little trip to Trader Joe’s and we stocked up on some goodies.  While we were there, we sampled a super-easy but tasty dip with only 3 ingredients.  I thought it would make great football food.  This dip would also be great for parties!  It comes together in a snap with only about 2 minutes of micro-cooking! 

Start with these 3 ingredients: soy chorizo, a container of whipped cream cheese, and a can of diced, fire-roasted tomatoes.

Mix the three ingredients together.  I only used half the sausage and half the tomatoes, because I thought I might be able to use them again in another recipe.  Mix well and microwave for about 2 minutes, or until warmed through.  Give it a final stir to be sure it is evenly warmed, and serve with chips!

Ta-da!  Great dip in minutes!  I also would like to point out that Ryan did not have any idea that the chorizo was SOY chorizo OR that there were tomatoes in the dip.  :)

On a different note, I went for my first real visit to the chiropractor today!  You may remember that I went for scans and x-rays 2 weeks ago, and today was my first real visit.  I had my first adjustment, which was no big deal (I was kinda nervous about that part) and then I started some of the treatments for my back and neck.  I’ve mentioned before that I don’t have severe pain and I am not unable to do anything, but I get a lot of headaches and I do feel pain in my lower back at night.  I will continue to let you know how my treatment goes!  I had a treatment today which actually felt really good.  I am looking forward to going back! 

Now… I’ve got to get back to The Bachelor.  I just can’t help it.  I love this show.  Very dramatic.

2-in-1 Holiday Appetizer

I used to love watching “Quick Fix with Robin Miller” on the Food Network.  The thing that really made me watc h the show was how she would transform the leftovers from dinner into something new and different the next day.  I like meals that you can really get your money’s worth out of. 

Today I would like to show you one of my favorite Holiday appetizer… and the great thing about it is… you have breakfast ready for the morning when you make this app!

These easy Stuffed Mushrooms taste amazing and are sure to be a hit at any holiday party.  They are very hearty and have just the right amount of heat.  I try not to make them all year, so that when I make them during the holidays, they are special!  I first tried a version of these mushrooms at a holiday party a year ago when my friend Tracy made them.  They were a hit!  I made a few adjustments to her recipe to incorporate freshly chopped onion and to stretch the filling, and voila! Appetizer + breakfast!

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground sausage (I recommend Jimmy Dean HOT)

1 small onion, chopped (or 1/2 a medium/large onion)

1 block of light cream cheese

1/2 can 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup

whole mushrooms (bigger than a quarter, up to half dollar sized)

Fresh or dried parsley

Prep:

Begin by prepping the mushrooms.  Pop the stems off, one by one.  This will give you a little “well” to fill.  After the stems are removed, you can wash the mushrooms well.  Set them, well-side down, on paper towels to dry.  They dry the tops.  Allow to stand and dry while you prepare the filling.

Brown sausage with onions in a skillet on medium-high heat.  (Throwing the onions in with the sausage will help soften them and add flavor to the sausage.)  Drain the meat after browning it to get rid of excess fat.)  Reduce heat to low.  Add block of cream cheese and stir while cooking over low heat, until cheese melts and is smooth.  Add the soup and mix well.  Add parsley and mix.

Fill each mushroom with filling.  Then bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until mushrooms are soft and filling is bubbling.

(before baking)

(after baking)

Delicious!  You will not regret making these!  And they taste way more complicated than they actually are! 

But now… you probably have leftover filling.  What do you do with it?  Put it in the fridge.  Tomorrow morning, grab a bagel or English muffin, spread some filling on it, and pop it in the toaster oven.  In just minutes you have a hot, delicious, hearty breakfast!

How was your weekend?  Ours was wonderful!  Here are just a few shots from the past 2 days!

Holiday charity Zumba class!

Coffee…

Warm fuzzy socks…

and time with friends around a fire!

 

Happy New Year: Chili, Tomato-Mozzarella Mini-Skewers, and Champagne!

Welcome to 2011!  Did you know today is 1-1-11?  How cool!

How did you ring in the new year?  We spent time with friends.  We started with a quick dinner with Kati, Lucas, and Eric.  Katie made  some delish chili. 

I brought these yummy tomato-mozzarella mini-skewers. 

More on these in a minute.

We all had a quick toast together before hitting the village.  Baxter Village, that is.

We had a blast and only spent $11!  How great is that?

Now, on to those mini-skewers:

I first got the ideas for these from Liv Life, another blog I read.  I decided that I wanted to do a twist on her original.  The only problem was… I couldn’t find fresh basil at any of the grocery stores yesterday.  What’s up with that?  I guess I really do need to have my own herb garden.  If I’d had time, I would have headed to Charlotte and hit up the Fresh Market, but I just didn’t have time yesterday.  In hindsight, maybe I should have tried Earth Fare.  So, I had no choice… I had to use dried.  :(  Fresh would have been SO much better.

I halved grape tomatoes and used Perlini Mozzarella.  I just used regular toothpicks to make the mini-skewers.  I slid on 1/2 of the tomato, then a mozzarella “pearl”, and then the other half of the tomato.  When all the skewers were make, I drizzled olive oil and balasmic vinegar over all the skewers, and sprinkled them with salt, pepper, and dried basil. 

 

 

They actually ended up being really tasty… but I will definitely use fresh basil next time (assuming I can find it!)

Finally, Ryan and I have decided to join my friend Diana and other bloggers for “Eat-In Month.” 

We’re going to try and hang in there for the entire month.  Eat in month means that we will prepare all our meals at home (or ourselves) for January.  That includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  This will help us eat healthier and save money.  We will have ONE pass.  So we’ll have to be selective about when we decide to use that.

If you’d like to learn more about Eat-In Month, click here to visit Diana’s blog, “The Chic Life,” and read all about it.

Holiday Gatherings… and a Stuffed Mushroom Recipe!

So… how’s about a stuffed mushroom?  More on these in a minute! ;)

Today we had our annual Bridges Family Holiday gathering at Ryan’s Aunt Susan and Uncle Larry’s house.  Of course, it’s always a fun gathering, and it’s fun to see everyone.  I tried to snap a few photos, even though everyone hates the camera!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The kids all enjoyed playing outside.

 
 
And Sadie had lots of fun playing in a trunk full of toys with her cousins! 
 
Then, we headed over to the mall with hopes of seeing Santa (for the real Christmas pic)… but the line was VERY long.  I mean, we’re used to waiting in line for Santa and we have done it every year… but this line was beyond my line-waiting capacity.  We’ll try again.
 
We headed home, but decided to make a quick stop in the Stafford Park neighborhood to see their annual lights.  The whole neighborhood goes all-out for the holidays.  They have one weekend where they line all the streets with luminaries and all the visitors get ballots to vote for their favorite houses.  We waited in line to get in…
 
…and it was worth the wait!  So many houses were completely lit up!
 
 
This one was fun… very beach-themed!
 
We also liked this one that was Carolina Gamecock-themed.
 
 
By the time we made it home, we were too tired to cook, so we picked up food that I refuse to photograph on this blog. 
Instead, my featured food is an easy, yet delicious stuffed mushroom!
 
Oooooh….ahhhhhhhhh…..
Last night, I got together with a few friends and my friend Tracy made these amazing stuffed mushrooms that everyone loved.  We were all begging her for the recipe.  So today, I sent Ryan to the store and then we made them to take to our family gathering.   I did tweak the recipe slightly.  The parsley and the mushroom soup are my additions and I also cooked the onions with the sausage, just so they'd be soft.  They are really very easy, but very tasty!  A great appetizer!
Here is the recipe, which is adapted slightly from Tracy’s original:
1 lb. Jimmy Dean HOT sausage
1 block of reduced fat cream cheese
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1/2 cup 98% Fat Free Cream of Mushroom Soup
Parsley for garnish
15-20 whole mushrooms—medium-sized
Prepare mushrooms by using a spoon to scoop out the stem and scoop out some of the cap—not too much—just enough to have a place to put the filling.  Rinse mushroom caps and pat dry with paper towels.  Lay mushrooms, cap down, in a baking dish sprayed with nonstick spray.  Over medium-high heat, brown the sausage with the onions in a skillet.  As the sausage browns, the onions will become translucent.  Reduce heat to low.  Add the cream cheese and soup, and mix until incorporated into the sausage and onions.  Fill mushroom caps with the sausage mixture.  Garnish with parsley.  Bake at 450 for 15 minutes, or until the tops are browned and the mushrooms are tender.  You’ll know when they are ready because they will smell amazing!
Serve hot!




Is anyone having a hard time getting it all together this holiday season???  We still haven’t finished our decorating at our house and usually I am the first one I know who is done!  We are going to try to use tomorrow as a catch-up day!  I am hoping to get our candles in the windows and also get through the mountain of laundry that keeps getting bigger… and bigger…
Happy weekend! ;)