martha moments: tailgating treats!

i will preface by saying that MAN have i been slack with the blog. wow. sorry to any hardcore, faithful followers. i'm sure you're still wiping away your tears of longing for me to come back. :-)

now, onto more important things....FOOD!

as you know, i love me some college football! and one of the best parts of it all are the tailgating foods. i am a dip junkie. i love dips, sauces, snacks, finger foods. i can easily make a meal off of them.

having said that, here's a smorgasbord of some of our favorites. enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Dip
(my must have, hands down.)

(2) 10 oz. cans chunk chicken, drained
(2) 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened to room temp
1 cup ranch dressing
3/4 c. Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Heat chicken over medium heat in saucepan with the hot sauce until heated through. Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing.  Cook until all ingredients are well blended. Mix in half of the cheese and stir until melted.

Pour into casserole dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 until bubbly OR transfer all dip to a slow cooker and top with remaining cheese and cook on low until ready to serve.

Best served with celery sticks, carrot sticks and my favorite...Chicken in a Biscuit crackers.


Crockpot Weenies
LOOOOVE these! My grandmama always makes em at Christmas time, but I also love them for tailgating.

2 packs all beef weiners, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large jar yellow mustard
1 large jar grape jelly

Mix equal parts of the jelly and mustard in crock pot and then add weenies. Cover well to coat and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Serve with toothpicks.

S.O.B. Dip
Stands for South Of the Border, of course....

(2) 8 oz. packages cream cheese
2 cans Hormel chili with beans
2 cups shredded cheddar

Press cream cheese blocks into bottom of large casserole dish. Pour in the 2 cans of chili and top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Can top with jalapeno peppers if you wish!  Serves best with scoop style tortilla chips.

Best Crab Dip
8 oz cream cheese
2 T. whole milk
1 T. horseradish
1/2 lb. crab meat
1/3 cup toasted almond slivers
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything in small casserole dish and top with almonds. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Serves best with Ritz crackers.

Asian Slaw
16 oz. bag coleslaw mix
1 bunch of green onions, chopped thinly
small package sunflower seeds
small package slivered almonds
2 packages chicken flavored Ramen noodles (just the uncooked noodles...set packets of flavor aside)

1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar
2 packages of the seasoning from ramen noodles from above

Mix top group of ingredients except for raw noodles in large bowl.  In another bowl, mix second group of ingredients well and pour over slaw mix. Cover and refrigerate over night. Before serving, add raw ramen noodles and mix well for great crunch!

Cornbread Salad
1 package ranch dressing mix
8 oz. sour cream
2 cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained
3 large chopped tomatoes
2 green onions, chopped
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
6 strips cooked bacon, crumbled
1 cup mayonnaise
9' pan cornbread, (i use jiffy mix in the box)
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar

Combine ranch mix, sour cream and mayo and set aside.

In your serving bowl, place half of the cornbread, crumbled up.  Top with half of beans.

In medium bowl, combine chopped tomatoes, peppers & onions and layer half of the mixture over the beans. Top with half o the cheese, bacon and corn, then the reserved salad dressing mix. Repeat layers, using remaining ingredients. Cover and chill at least a couple of hours before serving. MMMMM!!!

Goodie Bars
these should be the 8th deadly sin.

1 box yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 T. butter, melted (and yes, that is TABLEspoons...)

8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
8 T. butter, melted (mmhmmm, another tablespoon. )
1 16 oz. box powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Combine cake mix, 1 egg and 8 T. butter with mixer. Press into the bottom of a 13x9 casserole dish.

In large bowl, beat remaining ingredients, adding the powdered sugar in a little a time.  Spread over cake crust in the casserole dish and bake 45 minutes at 350.  Be careful not to over cook em! They're supposed to be gooey in the middle.

Happy Tailgating and happy start to college football season!

Can I get a GO GAMECOCKS?!

martha moments: mama's crockpot lasagna

perfect.

crockpot.

easy.

so easy you don't even have to cook the noodles.

makes house smell yummy.

italian.

requires little to no cooking skill.

but yet tastes like you have tons of cooking skill.

perfect for entertaining.

delicious.

mama's crockpot lasagna

you'll need:

1 lb. ground beef

1 onion, finely chopped

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 (29 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 (12 ounce) package lasagna noodles

12 ounces cottage cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

directions:

1. In a large skillet over medium heat cook the ground beef, onion, and garlic until brown. Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt, and oregano and stir until well mixed. cook until heated through.
2. In a large bowl mix together the cottage cheese, grated parmesan cheese, and shredded mozzarella cheese.it's easiest just to mix it with your bare hands.
3. Spoon a layer of the meat mixture onto the bottom of the slow cooker. add a double layer of the uncooked lasagna noodles. break to fit noodles into slow cooker. top noodles with a portion of the cheese mixture. repeat the layering of sauce, noodles, and cheese until all the ingredients are used.  meat sauce mixture should end up on top.
4. cover, and cook on LOW setting for 4 to 6 hours.
   
   bon appetit!
   
   
   
   

martha moments: bbq apple chicken in the crockpot

a must try! and so easy!

bbq apple chicken in the crockpot

you'll need:

3-4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup bbq sauce
1-2 apples--cored, peeled and grated (any variety will do, i tried it with granny smith)
juice of 1 lemon
6-8 slices of bacon
salt and pepper to taste

Wrap 2 pieces of bacon around each chicken breast and place in bottom of crockpot.

Mix grated apples, lemon juice and bbq sauce in a small bowl and pour over chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

martha moments: french onion soup in the crockpot

i love a crockpot. that's no news to you. there's just something fabulous about putting things into a wonderful pot, plugging it in, going to work and coming home knowing that dinner is READY. it's close to magical.

if you want this one for dinner, make sure to make it in the morning, as the total cook time is 8 hours.

this one's a keeper if you love french onion soup. (i do, i do!)

you'll need:

1 large sweet onion (Vidalias work great), thinly sliced
1/4 cup butter, cut into cubes
2 cans (14.5 oz each) of beef broth
2 Tablespoons sherry or additional beef broth if you don't want to use sherry
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 slices of French bread, toasted
4 slices of Provolone cheese

1. Spray the crockpot with cooking spray lightly, then place the sliced onions and butter in the pot. Cover and cook just the onion and butter on low for 6 hours or until the onion is tender.

2. Stir in broth, sherry and pepper. Cover and cook an additional 2 hours.

3. Ladle soup into serving bowls (oven safe, see below) and top with slice of toasted french bread and cheese.

4. I like to then pop the bowl into the oven under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese gets all bubbly.

martha moments: chicken 'n dumplins!

and not just chicken 'n dumplins, chicken 'n dumplins in the crockpot.

crockpot=easy.

Ingredients:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 (10 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces

Directions:

1. Place the chicken, butter, soup, and onion in a slow cooker, and fill with enough water to cover.
2. Cover, and cook for 5 to 6 hours on High. About 30 minutes before serving, place the torn biscuit dough in the slow cooker. Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center.