You Have Got to Try These!

I have been trying out some new and some old favorite recipes that I haven't made in a while and all I can say is, my family is loving it! Monday night was the BCS game, my sweetie is from Birmingham, AL, so you know we were watching this game! Here is what I fixed for my contribution to the big night... 

• Taco Soup...this is got from a fellow blogger at Our Best Bites. This soup is so easy to make, does not require a lot of ingredients, but is very hearty at the same time. Not only is this a great game day soup, but it would make a great choice for dinner on a cold winter night....

 to make this...just brown a couple of pounds of ground beef with some onion and garlic. When meat is almost finished cooking add 1/4 cup of taco seasoning and 1 cup of water, stir that into the meat. Then add an additional 2 cups of water, 28 oz. of diced tomatoes, 15 oz tomato sauce, 1 can corn, drained, 2 cans of kidney beans, rinsed and drained. Bring that to a medium boil, then cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Serve with toppings of your choice such as guacamole, pico de gallo, cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips

•  I also made this awesome Hot Wing Dip...this looks like you really did a lot of prep time for the dip, but it is the simplest thing to make. I got this recipe from White Lights on Wednesday. 
• Ingredients  3 - 10oz cans chicken breast
  5oz Frank's Hot Sauce
  10oz bleu cheese dressing
  10oz cream cheese
  1 cup shredded jack cheese
• Directions Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt together cream cheese and bleu cheese.  Stir occasionally until smooth.Drain chicken and place in a large bowl.  Use a fork to shred the chicken some.  Mix in hot sauce and stir to combine.Spread out chicken in the bottom of an 11" x 9" baking dish.  Top chicken with cream cheese mixture and spread evenly.  Sprinkle shredded jack cheese over top of dip.  Bake for 35-45 minutes, until top is golden and bubbly.

• My last dish for the night was Spinach Artichoke Dip....it was quickly a crowd favorite. This one I borrowed from Gimme Some Oven.... and she has lots more fun recipes to try.

 Ingredients

• 1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 (13.75 oz.) can quartered artichoke hearts, chopped and drained
• 1 cup light sour cream
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 oz. low-fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 4 oz. (about 1 cup) shredded Mozzarella cheese
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup finely-chopped onions
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Stir all ingredients together in a bowl until blended. Transfer to an oven-proof dish, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Serve immediately with pita, chips, chopped veggies, or whatever sounds good to you!

But that is not all, tonight I felt I really outdid myself. I made baked salmon on a bed of spinach with onion and tomatoes all in individual foil packets. For a side dish I made roasted potatoes with garlic and dill....it was amazing! You have to try this...I have a daughter that hates fish, but tonight she ate her serving and said she would definitely eat this again. Here's how ya' do it...

lay out a sheet of aluminum foil, in the center of it put a handful of spinach leaves, on top of that place a salmon filet, now add salt and pepper to taste, on top of that place a few red onion quarters, a few little snacking tomatoes ( I used the yellow ones), drizzle olive oil and lemon juice on it, seal that packet by folding up the sides and top. Do this for each one, then bake at 400 degrees, for about 20 minutes. You can eat these right out of the  packet on your plate or you can take them out of the packets and place on your plate. If you remove them from the packet be careful as there will be juices in the bottom of each one, you will want to spoon the juices over the meat if you remove the salmon from the foil packets.

For the roasted potatoes....cut 6-8 potatoes in half lengthwise, then cut each half into 4 wedges, place in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and black pepper, melt 1/3 cup butter in a bowl and mix it with some olive oil, in that same bowl add some ground dill and paprika, pour over potatoes, add 2 tsps of minced garlic, mix that all in with the potatoes, then place potatoes on a jelly roll pan and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Turn potatoes and sprinkle with parmesean cheese, return to oven and bake another 20 ,minutes or until potatoes are tender.....

Enjoy!
Regina