7 layer dip

So, as I posted in my previous 2 posts, we actually had this for dinner.  It was super tasty and were it not so much work, I think I'd eat it a lot more often.  :)
I do have to admit that my younger sons didn't particularly care for it.  The 3 year old really wouldn't give it a chance.  He was in a bad mood, knew it had beans, and wanted nothing to do with beans that day - even smooshed.  Go figure.  The 6 year old ate his serving only half heartedly and was very excited to get just plain salsa to dip in when he had finished his 6 bites.
Not sure if I've shared this on the blog before, but our current food eating/trying rule is that you have to eat as many bites as you are old.  This works wonderfully well for the younger ones.  The littlest only has to try 3 bites.  The 6 year old 6.  I have to admit that sometimes the 13 year old gets away with only 1-2 bites just to avoid a fight, but only on foods he already "knows he HATES"  like the hummus on the Mediterranean pizza the other night.
OK, back to the 7 layer dip.  I made a couple changes - mostly because it worked for me.  The original recipe called for equal parts sour cream and mayo.  I had 1/2 cup of mayo left and 1 cup of sour cream so those are the proportions I used.  Honestly, I preferred to use more sour cream and less mayo if the flavor was fine, and it was.  Here's the recipe with links to the recipes I used for refried beans, guacamole, and taco seasoning.

Ingredients

• About 2 cups refried beans 
• guacamole
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 Tablespoons taco seasoning
• shredded cheese - we used Monterrey Jack this day.  Cheddar would be good too.  about 2 cups or so
• sliced black olives
• chopped tomatoes
• sliced green onions (we actually didn't have any, so in reality we had a 6 layer dip.  However, our of tradition, I'm posting it with the onions as 7 layer dip.  Feel free to make 6 layer dip if you too forget to buy green onions.  :)

Directions

1. In a 9 X 13 pan, spread the refried beans to cover the bottom of the pan.  (mine were still a bit warm so I spread them out at the beginning to cool.
2. In a bowl, stir together the mayo, sour cream and taco seasoning.
3. Continue to layer remaining ingredients on top of the refried beans in the order listed.  Spread the guacamole over the beans, the sour cream/mayo mix over the guacamole, then sprinkle with cheese, olives, tomatoes and green onions.  
4. Serve with chips or veggies.

chicken log

I can not believe that I haven't blogged this.  I swear I have a memory of making this with some super dried out chicken in the past year.  I was so excited to use up the dried chicken.  But I can't find it anywhere, so here it is. This recipe is one from my mom.  It is so good, and really rather easy to make especially if you keep pre-cooked chicken in the freezer.  I just whipped up a batch for a Chirstmas party.  It is so tasty that I have decided I should do a snack dinner using it more often - Chicken log, crackers, baby carrots and celery sticks.  Yum.

Ingredients

• 1 8 oz package of cream cheese softened (I used 1/3 less fat - no problem)
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise (again I used light)
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 4 drops red hot pepper sauce (although I may have gotten a bit more today)
• 2 cups finely cut-up cooked chicken (I actually used 1 container of my pre-cooked - defrosted it in the microwave 3 minutes and shredded it in the food processor.  It was 3 1/2 cups and fine. Or you can just boil some chicken and chop it.)
• 2 hard boiled eggs, chopped (gave these a whirl in the food processor too.)(
• 1 teaspoon dried onions

Directions

1. Mix cream cheese, mayo, lemon juice, salt, ginger, pepper and pepper sauce and onions.  (I also ended up tossing this in the food processor to get it nice and smooth because my cream cheese wasn't quite softened enough to mix well.)  Sir in chicken and eggs.  
2. Spoon mixture onto some plastic wrap and shape into a 8 X 2 inch log (or ball, or whatever shape you want.)  wrapping it in the plastic wrap as you go.
3. Refrigerate until firm -about 4 hours.
4. Decorate with chopped olives, peppers, sesame seeds or green onions.  Serve with crackers.  

fiesta bites

These were a cute little appetizer recipe from Hungry Girl's book.  I was busy teaching piano lesson, so DH made them.  We doubled the recipe and left out taco seasoning, plus used our own chicken.  They were good, but I wish they could have been a bit more crispy.  Not sure how to solve the problem.  DH and I talked about cooking the crisps longer and the middle less, but then the cheese may or may not melt.  I also didn't like that there was some of the powdery flour on them still.  Not sure how to remedy that either - spritz them better with cooking spray, or wet them with water?  Something I want to experiment with because I really liked the idea of a won-ton bowl.  Although they are meant to be an appetizer, serve 4 and they are lunch.  That is what we did.

Ingredients

• 24 small wonton wrappers
• 1/4 cup taco sauce
• 2 Tablespoons cream cheese (1/3 less fat)  (actually, I think I'd swap this with sour cream next time.  It would be way easier to mix and just as tasty.)
• 10 -12 oz. chopped cooked chicken (we used our pre-grilled)
• 1/2 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup corn
• 1/2 cup fat free cheddar cheese
• 1 tomato, diced (although DH didn't use this today)
• lettuce shreds (we didn't add these, but I wanted to - just didn't have any)
• sour cream (as I type, I'm thinking this would have been great)
• additional taco sauce

Directions (I will be modifying these eventually)

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Spray 2 - 12 cup muffin pans with non-stick spray.  Place a wonton wrapper into each muffin cup, pressing it into the bottom and sides.
2. Lightly spray wrappers with non-stick spray.  Bake in oven for about 4 minutes until the corners begin to brown.  Remove from oven (but don't turn the oven off.)
3. Mix taco sauce and cream cheese (or sour cream) in a bowl.  Add chicken and stir until coated.  Add beans, corn, and cheese, stir well.  
4. Divide amounge wonton shells.  Return pan to oven and bake for 8 minutes or until chicken mixture is hot and cheese is melted.  
5. Top with tomato, lettuce, sour cream, and taco sauce.

Chicken Taquitos

Well, I got the idea for these from Hungry Girl's book.  She calls them exploding chicken taquitos, but I didn't do a good job of following directions (imagine that.)  What I really loved about this recipe is that I had some chicken we had overcooked one day making the precooked chicken that we always make as a time saver.  I  had ground that up and thrown it into the freezer, but never had a use for it.  This recipe had you add some salsa to some canned chicken so I used my dried, shredded chicken and ended up adding double the salsa and then some taco sauce.  Then somehow I forgot to add the cheese and had to go back and add it, I didn't microwave the tortillas long enough and they weren't pliable enough....... So much for a quick lunch.  I hope they turn out well.  They are currently in the oven.

They were quite tasty, although lots busted. -see the picture.  Definitely get them hot before rolling them.

Ingredients

• precooked chicken, shedded or chopped very fine (I had a little over 10 oz.)
• 1 cup salsa (I used this much because my chicken was dry,  you may not need this much.  I started with 1/2 a cup, then added another 1/2 cup
• Taco sauce - not sure how much I added -about 1/3 cup.  I wanted to make my mix a little moist, but not dripping or anything
• cheese - I used fat free cheddar - not sure the amount I used, I'd say 1/2-1 cup depending on how cheesy you want them
• corn tortillas - I ended up making 

Directions

1. Mix chicken, salsa, and taco sauce and cheese - let stand while preparing the everything else.
2. Preheat oven to 375, spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray and set aside
3. Dampen 2 paper towels with water.  Place tortillas between them.  Microwave for about 1 minute.  (I started this way, but they were not pliable enough.  I made a bunch and they split...  I ended up going back and microwaving 2-3 at a time for 30 seconds.  That worked a lot better.  They came out super hot, but very pliable.  I would suggest doing them that way.
4. Take 1 tortilla at a time (leaving the rest in the paper towel.)  Spray both sides with cooking spray.  Spoon about 2 Tablespoons of filling onto the tortilla.  (apparently I was supposed to spread this over the whole tortilla, but I didn't.  I write it because I would like to try it next time.)  Roll tortilla up tightly and secure with a toothpick.  Place seam side down on baking sheet.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes (original recipe said only 14-16, but we ended up doing 20 or 21 and they still weren't super crispy.)  Allow to cool for 5 minutes.  
6. 
   

beso mi queso

This recipe is from the Hungry Girl Website. I really wanted to just put a link there, but I actually changed a few things, so I'm writing it out. Aarg. I should stop with the changing things business. Small changes here - omitted some chili powder, changed soymilk to regular milk (wasn't buying soymilk just for this recipe) and she had you add 1/2 teaspoon taco seasoning and 1/4 teaspoon cumin, to the meat then vice versa for the cheese. I thought it was just easier to do 1/2, and 1/2 then 1/4 and 1/4.

This was ok. I was sadly disappointed by my family not leaving any tortilla chips. Look at the picture to see what they left in the bottom of the bag in the cupboard. I ended up dipping carrots in my cheese, then I dipped a breadstick in them (now that I'm thinking about it I still need to post about that.) It was pretty good with the breadstick. Definitely better that whatever else it was that used soy crumbles.

Ingredients:
1 cup frozen ground-beef-style soy crumbles (like the kind by Boca or Morningstar Farms)
3/4 tsp. dry taco seasoning mix, divided
3/4 tsp. ground cumin, divided
1/3 cup skim milk
2/3 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese
2 wedges The Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss cheese
1 1/2 tbsp. fat-free cream cheese, room temperature


Directions:
Heat a small frying pan sprayed with nonstick spray on medium-high heat. Add frozen crumbles and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. taco seasoning and 1/2 tsp. cumin. Cook for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thawed and hot. Remove from pan and set aside. Remove pan from heat and let cool slightly.

Add milk, all three cheeses, remaining 1/4 tsp. taco seasoning, and cumin to the pan. Add 1/4 cup water to the pan and return to medium-low heat. Heat, stirring continuously until cheeses have melted and mixture has a smooth, sauce-like consistency. (It was a bit funny consistency at first, I thought because I used milk instead of soymilk, but as it cooked, it smoothed out pretty well.)

Add seasoned crumbles to the pot, and continue to cook and stir until hot. Serve with chips (unless your family ate them all. :)

bean tortilla with honduran butter

This is another recipe from Healthy Latin cooking. I mostly followed the instructions ;). I don't know why I never seem to follow the directions lately. I don't want it too spicy, I'd rather just use 1 can of beans, I have low fat cheese, I'd rather make it easier with cole slaw mix..... I'm full of excuses, but I guess if I actually followed the directions I wouldn't need a blog to keep track of what I did.

I made this with tapas meatballs the other day. Both were appetizers, but together with a veggie, they made out dinner. They were well liked, and the family was disappointed that there wasn't more. I'd make more next time. (9 star)


Ingredients

• 1 15 oz can of red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1-2 rings of onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Slaw

• 3 cole slaw mix
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and diced
• 2 Tablespoons vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

8 Tortillas (pretty sure this only made 6 - 1 for everyone.)

"Butter" ingredients

• 1 ounce feta
• 2 ounces low fat cream cheese
• 3/4 cup fat free sour cream

Directions

Filling: Combine beans, onions, garlic, cumin and stock. Bring to boil, reduce head and simmer for 4 minutes or until all of the stock has been absorbed. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Mash beans with back of spoon

Slaw: Combine vinggar, suger, salt, pepper, and jalapeno. Whisk together. Add coleslaw mix and toss to coat.

Butter: Combine ingredients in a blender, blend until smooth.

Warm tortillas. Place 3 Tablespoons beans in each tortilla. Roll up like a burrito. Serve topped with slaw and butter.