Taco Dip

Parties and dip go together like salt and pepper or puppies and unicorns or pedis and massages, don't they? I mean, a good dip is what makes a good party. (Or it does for me, but I'm usually the one who awkwardly and possessively hovers around the snack table, pouncing on anyone who dares approach my delineated territory.) So for all you party animals, here's a fabulous, easy, cheap dip recipe, courtesy of my cute friend Nicole.Ingredients: 1 8 oz pkg softened cream cheese, 1 small container of sour cream, 1/2 c salsa (or to taste), 1 packet of taco seasoning, lettuce, cheese, tomato, olives

Directions: In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese, sour cream, and taco seasoning. Layer this on the bottom of a tray or dish. Spread the salsa on top of this. Top with the rest of the ingredients. Grab a bag of chips, and try to share. Yeah, I dare you to share. In fact, I double dog dare you to let anyone else even taste it.

Garlic Smashed Potatoes

I have a wonderful friend who gave me 2 bulbs of fresh picked garlic. Have you ever seen fresh garlic? It's beautiful! The stuff they sell at the grocery store is dried up and wrinkled, but the fresh stuff is soft and a bit onion-y looking. The cloves inside taste just the same, and it's easier to get to them. So what does one do with two whole bulbs of fresh garlic? Make stuff, of course! And garlic smashed potatoes was right at the top of my list.Time Needed: 20 minutes
Level of difficulty: easy
Materials needed: 4-6 red potatoes, 1-2 cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, salt and pepper, to taste

Directions: Slice potatoes into chunks and put in a pot with the garlic. Cover with cold water and salt water. Bring to a boil and boil until fork-tender. Drain off the water and mash potatoes and garlic all together. Put in butter, milk, and cheese (add more if needed to get desired consistency) and mash together. Top with salt and pepper and enjoy!

Easy home solutions - banana hanger

I don't know about you, but I always have bananas laying around and getting in the way of everything. So my hubby came up with THE easiest solution ever, and you can make your own in less than 3 minutes. Enter the banana hanger.
Take an old wire hanger, and cut a piece off the straight edge. Bend the ends over on themselves - one should look like a small loop and one should make a fishhook. Nail a small nail on the backside of your cupboard and stick the small loop edge over the nail. Then, hang your bananas on the fishhook edge. Voila!
Linked up at Little Brick Ranch and Tatertots and Jello

Blueberry Crisp

Courtesy of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook
Time Needed: 50 minutes
Level of difficulty: easy
Materials needed: 5 cups frozen or fresh blueberries, 4 T sugar, 3 T flour, 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2 c packed grown sugar, 1/4 c flour, 1/4 t nutmeg or cinnamon, 1/4 c butterDirections: Preheat oven to 375. If fruit is frozen, defrost it. Mix fruit with sugar and 3 T flour. Put in a 2 quart baking dish. Mix oats, brown sugar, 1/4 c flour, and nutmeg. Cut butter into teensy little pieces, and cut into oat mix. Mixture should look like crumbly sand. Sprinkle over blueberries and bake for 30-35 minutes if using fresh fruit or 40 minutes if using thawed fruit. Fruit should be bubbly and soft and crumble should be brown and crispy. Serve warm with ice cream (because why wouldn't you eat it with ice cream?).

Linked up at Little Brick Ranch and Tatertots and Jello

Revisit: 90 Minute Cinnamon Rolls

The best thing in the world is probably a hot cinnamon roll right out of the oven and smothered in cream cheese frosting. And, if you've been following, you know about my 90 minute cinnamon roll recipe. (If you don't know about it, you should know about it!) So when the opportunity to make them for myself and for others presents itself, I am totally on board. Well, just this week, our church did a fundraiser for some youth programs, and I made an obscenely huge pan of cinnamon rolls to put up for auction. Well, I am proud to say that they went for $105!!! Nothing makes you feel validated quite like that! And if that's not a vote of confidence for trying these cinnamon rolls, I don't know what is!

Dinner

This was the easiest dinner ever, and I felt like I should show it off:


Spaghetti and sauce (covered in parmesan), breaded chicken cutlets, Caesar salad, homemade garlic bread, and fresh berries with stevia (turns out I love that stuff). Total prep time: 15 minutes. Score!

Just for laughs

This week, I decided to embark on some loaves of my half and half bread. However, I had to go to an appointmentment and couldn't finish the bread. Enter the husband. I called him and gave him strict instructions on how to finish the bread, including the fact that it should be done rising exactly when he got home from work. Well, when he got home, he came home to the dough all done rising for him...We both got a good laugh, and he made some great loaves after cleaning up this little mess.

Happy Birthday, Relief Society

We threw a fabulous Relief Society birthday party this week. And, of course, the crafting and baking came to fruition and I took some pictures to blog about.

The cake I made:
The cupcakes I made:The fruit, veggie, and cheese trays that the beautiful women put together:
The hummus and pita chips (droooooool):