Dill Pickle Dip

If you like dill pickles then you will love this!
A neighbor of mine passed this recipe on to me and I decided to give it a try this past weekend at Katie's birthday party.
I served it with chips but it would be good with veggies too!


Dill Pickle Dip

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
16 oz. sour cream (I used fat free)
2 tbsp. Miracle Whip
dash of onion salt
dash of worcestershire sauce
10 oz. jar of dill pickle relish

Place all but relish in a mixer and beat until creamy.
Gently fold in relish (juice and all).
Serve with chips or veggies.
Enjoy!

               GETTING READY FOR THE HOLIDAYS
It's getting down to the nitty gritty with the holiday preparations. My shopping is finished but nothing is wrapped. Gonna have to get to that soon!
The past three days have been spent in the kitchen making Chex Mix, Muddy Buddy Chex Mix, Peanut Butter Fudge, Heath Biscotti and Chocolate Walnut Fudge. Tomorrow will be more of the same....peanut butter balls and who knows what else. Oh, and I finally finished a stitching project that is going to be a gift and began working on a silly gag gift for a friend.

I plan on starting cookies sometime over the weekend. I hate to make them too early for fear that they will be dried out by Christmas. If I had room in my freezers I'd just bake and freeze but at the moment my freezers are filled to the brim.

Have you begun your holiday baking yet?

Need a Healthy Snack?

Try these roasted kale chips in place of potato chips!
Delicate yet crispy with lots of salty goodness.

Dinner was at Mom & Dad's yesterday and when I walked into their kitchen I saw this crispy and slightly browned bowl of "weeds" sitting on the counter.
"What in the world is that?", I asked.

Mom informed me that it was roasted kale.
Well, I'm not a big fan of kale but I had to try this.
CRUNCH...CRUNCH
MMMMMMmmmmm....it was actually good!
Good enough that my husband even liked them and trust me that's saying something. He's a man who calls vegetables "rabbit food" and eats very little of them. Actually, now that I think of it he probably never even knew what kale was let alone what it tasted like before yesterday.


Roasted Kale Chips

Wash and dry kale.
Place on a greased baking sheet in a single layer.
Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle generously with sea salt.
Roast in a 275 degree oven for 20 minutes.
Carefully turn kale over and bake another 20 minutes or until crisp.
Cool and enjoy!

Homemade Italian Ice ~ Cool Treats for Hot Days

I don't know what the weather has been like in all of your backyards but let me tell you it's been hot & sticky here in my neck of the woods.
It's been so hot that I hate to even cook anything at all in my kitchen. I'm glad we got that new grill because without it we may not even eat.
Just kidding, we wouldn't go hungry but it is so nice to be able to throw something on without having to heat the house up anymore than it already is.  My AC already runs enough without the added heat of the stove.

I've been making some cool treats for the kids.

Flavored Italian Ice & Blackberry Frozen Yogurt

I love Italian Ice but it never lasts very long in our household. It gets all gobbled up in no time.
My favorite is WYLER'S . It comes in the form of a freeze pop and the flavors are to die for. The only problem is that I can only find them at our local Dollar Tree and they are a seasonal item so once they are gone they are gone till the next summer.

My MIL had a hand written recipe for Italian Ice in one of her recipe boxes so I thought I'd try it to see how they compared to the store bought.

Refreshing
Yummy
No artificial flavorings or dyes
More for your buck!

These are so easy to make... a must try!
Be creative with your flavor choices too!
I plan on trying grape, apple, Mt. Dew, orange, pineapple and so forth. You get the idea. A flavor a day!

Lemon Ice

4 cups water

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup lemon juice

1/8 tsp. salt

Boil water and sugar for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool.

Add lemon juice & salt and mix well.

Pour into small single serving bowls and freeze.

The other variation that I have tried was with Pepsi.

Pepsi Italian Ice

2 cups water

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups Pepsi

1/2 cup lemon juice

Boil water & sugar for 5 minutes.

Let cool.

Add Pepsi & lemon juice.

Mix well and freeze in single serve bowls.

I forget to get a picture of the Pepsi Ice before they gobbled them all up but I can tell you that they tasted like Pepsi with a hint of lemon in it. Next time I make them though, I think I will cut the lemon juice back to 1/4 cup.

If you have made these before then let me know what your favorite flavor is?

I think mine is the lemon.

Or is it the raspberry.

Maybe the orange cream.

Well let's just say I love them all.

A Few Recipe Photos Added

Just a quick note to let you know that I have added a few recipe pictures to some of my older posts.
The first one is for the Christmas Cheeseball that I shared with you earlier this month.
The other was for one of my very first blog posts. It is for My Favorite Sloppy Joes Recipe. This is an all time favorite of mine and one that I have been asked many times to share with others.
That's all for today but I'm back in the kitchen cooking today so I hope to have some good food to share with you later. I can also share a few of the Christmas presents that I had been working on and tell you a bit about some of our new favorite games that the kids received for Christmas. So be sure to stop back in tomorrow!
Have a great day!

A Christmas Cheeseball

This graphic is perfect- not for presents but for the holiday treats that I make for Christmas. I make a good many cookies and treats to share with family and friends during the holiday season and I struggle to keep my family out of them till Christmas arrives. I have been yelling at the kids all week to get out of the peanut butter balls that I have stored in the freezer.

Next will be this cheese ball. I like to make it ahead of time so that the flavors have plenty of time to mingle all together.

My mother-in-law made this each year at Christmas time. She received the recipe from her friend Betty, hence the name. I'm not sure if Betty is the original creator but she is who I will always associate it with. It is a hit with all of our family and one that is expected each year.

Betty's Cheese Ball

2 small packages dried beef

4 small green onions

2 (8oz.) cream cheese

1 pkg. Good Seasons salad dressing mix

Let the cream cheese soften.

Chop onions and beef fine.

Take 1/2 of dried beef & mix it with the onions, cheese and seasonings.

Blend well and then roll it into a ball.

Roll cheese ball in the remaining beef to coat the outside.

Refrigerate and Enjoy!

**You can use the dried beef (Armour) that comes in a jar or the packets (like Carl Buddig) that are located in the meat dept. **

I will be making this soon and when I do I will add a photo of it to this post.

Bacon Pineapple Pizza

Here is my homemade version of a Hawaiian Pizza. I made four pizzas the other night, one to please each and every picky eater at my house. There was Hawaiian, plain cheese, extra pepperoni and then a white pizza. I figured I would be the only person to eat the bacon & pineapple one so I only made one.

Wrong move! It was the first pizza tray to be empty. Even my most picky eater gobbled this up!

The first five ingredients are for the dough which will make enough for 2 pizza crusts. The toppings that I listed below were used on just 1 of the crusts so you will need to double the toppings if making more than one pizza or top the second crust with your own favorite toppings!

Bacon & Pineapple Pizza

1 pkg. yeast

2 cups warm water

2 tsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt

4 tbsp. oil

5 cups flour

Toppings:

1 lb. bacon, fried & crumbled

1 jar pizza or spaghetti sauce

20 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained

8-12 oz. shredded cheese (mozz., colby jack, etc.)

Fry bacon & place on paper towels to absorb extra grease.

Drain pineapple.

In a large bowl, mix yeast & water.

Add sugar & salt.

Stir in oil.

Slowly add flour.

Mix well. (I use my Kitchen-Aid mixer with a dough hook)

Grease hands and form dough into a ball.

Place dough back in bowl, cover with a towel and let rise 5-10 minutes.

Divide dough into 2 balls.

Take each ball and spread out onto a pizza pan.

Top pizza with pizza or spaghetti sauce.

Sprinkle with cheese.

Top with half of the crumbled bacon.

Use hands to "sprinkle" half of the pineapple over top of bacon.

Sprinkle the remaining bacon and pineapple on top.

Bake in oven at 350° for 20 minutes or till crust is browned to your own liking.

Enjoy!

A Chip Dip and a Cracker Spread

Here's a quick dip that I made this weekend with just a few ingredients.

Chip Dip

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 heaping tbsp. of Miracle Whip

1/2 tsp. prepared mustard

1/2 tsp. Mrs. Dash Table Blend

1/16 of a tsp. ( 1/2 of an 1/8 tsp.) garlic powder

4 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. milk

Blend all this together and DIP away!

Add more milk if you want it a little bit thinner.

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My Mom and Dad always made this quick spread when I was growing up. We used it as a spread on crackers or even for a chip dip. I don't have the amounts because I just toss it together. So round about you will use:

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 of a can of crushed pineapple, drained

Miracle Whip

Milk

Mix all together and adjust ingredients as you go to suit your own tastes.

Making Pepperoni Rolls

Yesterday I decided to make pepperoni rolls. I have had the stuff to make them for a while & my husband keeps asking me WHEN? Both, husband & oldest son love them. I usually cheat & use frozen bread dough but this time I made my own & I think they were so much better. I also used my Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook attachment so that I didn't have to knead it by hand.

PEPPERONI ROLLS

1 pkg. yeast

2 cups warm water

2 tsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt

4 tbsp. oil

5 cups flour

10 oz. pepperoni stick (can use slices)

8 oz. mozzarella cheese block

In mixer, combine yeast & warm water.

Add sugar & salt.

Add oil & kinda give it a whirl with a fork.

Turn mixer on and add flour slowly.

Let it mix well.

Grease hands and form dough into a ball.

Place in greased bowl and cover with a towel.

Let it rise in a warm area (on top of fridge) for 5-10 minutes.

While dough is rising begin cutting pepperoni & cheese.

I cut the pepperoni into long chunky strips & the cheese into 1/4 to 1/2" strips.

**Remember to peel all of the papers off the pepperoni before cutting.**

Take dough ball out & place on a floured surface.

Cut into small handfuls of dough. (about 22 pieces)

Roll each piece of dough out to a 4-5" square. Doesn't have to be perfect.

Place pepperoni & cheese on top & roll up tucking all edges so that they will seal.

Place in a greased pan with the sealed side down.

Cover with a towel & let rise again.

The amount of time will depend on how warm your house is.

Mine was cool today so it took about 2 hours to rise good.

Uncover & bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Brush tops with butter after removing from oven.

You can add more or less of the ingredients to suit yourself.

You could add onions, peppers,sauce & anything else.

I have even thought about making these with some BBQ beef and cheddar cheese.