NEW! Hot Corn Dip Recipe

Love this recipe that Jennifer made for our Favorite Things party.  It is even simpler thatthe other recipe I use for hot corn dip, and I could eat this stuff by the boat load.  Luckily she left me the leftovers!

Ingredients:

1 (15 ounce) can white corn, drained

1 (15 ounce) can yellow corn, drained

1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with

green chile peppers, drained

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

½ t. chili powder

½ t. Garlic powder

Cilantro to taste

Instructions:

1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.       In a medium baking dish, mix white corn, yellow corn, diced tomatoes with green chile     peppers, cream cheese, chili powder, garlic powder and cilantro 3.     Bake for about 30 minutes until bubbly, then enjoy with tortilla chips!

No more menus and Favorite Things 2012

Well, as you may have noticed, I’ve failed miserably in the menu planning blog posting over the last two weeks.  It’s been a great two years (almost) of posting menus, but I think I’m calling it quits.  Of course, we will still be planning our weekly menus before we hit the grocery store, but I’m just not going to stick to posting it here every week.  Given the busy-ness of the upcoming holidays, our plans change day-by-day, hour-by-hour, so while there are groceries for meals at our house, there is no exact plan for when to fix them.  December has been an insane month for us, with the birth of our niece, the end of the semester for Ryan, and a crazy hectic work schedule for me.  I’m HOPING things settle down these last two weeks of 2012 and that we get to enjoy lots of fun with family and friends. 

Last night, I got started by hosting a fun holiday party with the girls from my job.  We had a “favorite things” party where we each picked our favorite thing and gave it to all the other girls.  We set a budget (around $5) so that we wouldn’t end up going too crazy, since there were 6 of us in the group, each of us had to buy five $5 gifts. 

Our favorite things included….

Me… Honey from The Fresh Market and a honey dipper from Mast General, along with a loaf of my homemade bread

Amy… Silver Hoop Earrings fromHandPicked

Andrea… Bath & Body Works Hand Sanitizer with a bedazzled carrier to attach to your purse or keychain

Jenna… fuzzy socks (confession, already wore mine last night after everyone left)

Jennifer… a cute jewelry hanger to organize necklaces and earrings

Lorraine… Heel to Toe Feels Like New Foot Softener & Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Lemon Verbena Counter Spray

Menu Plan Monday (Year 2, Week 49 & 50)

It's been a whirlwind of a week, we have a brand new niece as of December 1st, so I never got our menu posted last week!  Here's what I can remember and what we're eating this week.  Cannot believe there are only 2 weeks left in 2012, but we are READY for 2013 to get here!

12.3.12 - Homemade Pizza
12.4.12 - Dr. Pepper Crockpot BBQ
12.5.12 - Leftovers
12.6.12 - ate out at El Chico
12.7.12 - Seriously, I cannot remember what we did for dinner on Friday
12.8.12 - Spaghetti at Home
12.9.12 - Jenny made Chili, so we ate with her!

12.10.12 - Thai Chicken Bites & Rice
12.11.12 - Smothered Beef & Bean Burrito Casserole
12.12.12 - Pork Tenderloin & Sweet Potatoes  **Our 3rd Anniversary** (Not going out to celebrate because Ryan has an exam the next morning)
12.13.12 - Dinner out to Celebrate our Anniversary & End of the Semester!
12.14.12 - Woody's Pizza on Folly Beach
12.15.12 - Supper Club Dinner out in Charleston
12.16.12 - JWC of Lake Murray Holiday Social

Menu Plan Monday (Year 2, Week 48)

If you're like me and you jut read that this is week 48, you might've had a minor freak out that 2013 is a mere 4 weeks away. (Mainly, I'm freaking out because I have an anniversary and Christmas to celebrate between now and then, and absolutely no shopping has been done!). Perhaps I should jump on those cyber Monday sales!

With Thanksgiving followed up by the big Carolina-Clemson weekend, I've done nothing but eat eat eat for the last 5 days. (Oh, and decorate my house and my sisters house for Christmas).

There isn't an exact plan for the week because we have several activities going on, but rest assured, it includes lots of lettuce!

Hopefully I'll be back in the swing for the first week in December with some new recipes!

Menu Plan Monday (Year 2, Week 47)

This week I’m trying a little something different with my menu plan.  I stumbled upon this first recipe and then decided, hey, I’ll see what else she makes that looks good, and low and behold, both recipes this week are from Iowa Girl Eats.  So maybe for a few weeks I’ll pick all my recipes from a single source and let you know what I think.  These recipes also sorta feel like Fall to me, which is important since it’s Thanksgiving week! 

11.19.12 - Apple-Cheddar Chicken Tartines with Honey-Dijon Roasted Potatoes

11.20.12 – Mini BBQ Cheddar Meatloaves & leftover Honey-Dijon Potatoes

11.21.12 -  Leftovers/Preparing for Thanksgiving!!!

11.22.12 - THANKSGIVING

11.23.12 – Jenny’s Pre-Carolina/Clemson Party

11.24.12 – Clemson/Carolina Game

Other Recipes from Iowa Girl Eats that I want to try…

Kickin’ Green Chili

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Beer, Cheese & Corn Chowder

I started with this recipe from Pioneer Woman, but also wanted to add a beer in for more flavor, so I changed the ingredients slightly to accomodate for the beer.  Also, found some Shredded Kraft Pepper Jack w/ Philadelphia and decided to go for that rather than grating up two blocks of cheese (I know, laziness).  

1/2 stick butter

1 onion chopped

1/2 pack bacon, cooked and chopped

3 bell peppers (red and green), finely diced

2 cans summer crisp corn kernels, drained

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 and 1/2 cup chicken stock

1 beer

2 cups half and half

2 cups shredded pepper jack ( I used the Kraft w/ Philly Pepper Jack w/ Red & Green Jalapenos)
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar 

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Cook onions for a couple of minutes, then add bacon, cook another minute, and add peppers.  Cook until tender, then add corn.  Cook another minute and then sprinkle flour over the top, pour in broth/beer and stir well to combine.  Allow this to thicken for a few minutes, then reduce heat and add half-and-half.  Cover and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes.  Finally, stir in cheese.  Once cheese is melted and soup is hot, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve ASAP!

I didn't plan ahead and buy bread bowls, so I served mine with tortilla chips, which was pretty darn good if I do say so myself!  This recipe brings together lots of my favorite things (cheese, corn, bacon, beer, and of course a little mexican flavor with the peppers!!)

Menu Plan Monday (Year 2, Week 46)

11.12.12 -Meatball Gyros

11.13.12 - Thai chicken bites & rice

11.14.12 – Girls Night Out for me, TBD for Ryan

11.15.12 - Grill + Salads

11.16.12 - Pioneer Woman’s Corn Chowder

11.17.12 – USC vs. Wofford Game – Making Homemade Cinnamon Bread for Tailgate

11.18.12 - Leftovers/TBD