National Guacamole Day

Even though this can be added to my (long) list of foods I happen to dislike there is no reason not to celebrate it! I have many a people in my life that absolutely adore some fresh guacamole....so peeps, this ones for you!

I found this article at FoodNetwork.com on guacamole trends and we do like trends here at One Woman's Quest. Sounds like interesting stuff. Click here, read it, ill wait.

I must say for years my mom's been whipping up a seven layer dip (ish) type thing. She does include guacamole in it and while I don't have a liking to that ingredient I do love the dip, I just pick around the green stuff. yes, I am that utterly annoying person that is holding up the line so I can scoop, pick, push aside the stuff I don't like to get to the stuff I do. Sorry, but wouldn't you prefer I actually let that for you to have as opposed to taking it in my helping and throwing it away. That's wasteful...we don't do wasteful in this house!

Anyway, here's my moms layered dip...its pretty standard but welcomed warmly at gatherings.

Layer 1- Re fried beans
Layer 2- Colby Jack shredded cheese
Layer 3- Sour cream
Layer4- Salsa ( of the medium variety)
Layer 5- Cooked ground beef
Layer 6- Some more re fried beans
Layer 7- Guacamole

Garnish with some black olives and a little more shredded cheese and green onion for good measure!

Dip in,
eLp

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Long Weekends Were Made For Fun!

Oh sweet, sweet long weekend...hurry up and get here already!

I know for a fact I am not alone in the worshiping of long weekends but what I covet the most about them.....the excuse to have our friends over for a get together. I get to try new recipes and hang with the creme De la creme. When two of your friends work at the same restaurant having either one of them at a get together is never possible on a Saturday so Holiday Mondays give us the best chance to see one of them for a Sunday party!

Last weekend I spent sometime trying to figure out what I was going to try to wow the crew with this time...I'm still working on it.

Of course there will be the staples...Spinach dip, panzanella, salsa and cookies.

What that? Did I mention salsa? You bet I did. Along with chicken, salsa ranks very high on my list of faves. Though not something to brag about, I manage to have salsa almost daily.

So, you can imagine my delight when I was surfing the blog YoungHouseLove and came across a DIY salsa making kit!

I could have died! It looked crazy tasty and I am so stoked to give that salsa a try. I am even considering making up the little kits to give to my friends as a sort of parting gift at the end of the evening. I will have to price it out first because I am certainly no made of money (I like to think differently but that husband of mine likes to burst that bubble).

I am really hoping I can pull this off because who on earth would not love to take one home at the end of the night.

Make sure to click on the YoungHouseLove link to see what on earth I am talking about!

More to come on what my complete menu will look like for Sunday so make sure to come back!

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Bufflo Chicken Sandwiches and Spinach Artichoke Dip

I love spicy anything, husband...not so much, so any chance I get to have spicy things that I can control the spicy factor on, I'm game!

Tonight we will be having Buffalo chicken sandwiches. Though I don't like to admit it (who am I Kidding..I could care less) I like short cuts. While grocery shopping, I picked up a bag of the frozen breaded chick tenderloins so I could bypass doing it my self.

The sauce is super easy. You need 2 things:

Hot Sauce
Butter
(add a smidgen of vinegar if you would like)

Cook the chicken pieces in oven according to direction on bag.

While cooking:

Place butter and hot sauce in sauce pan and let melt Slowly...very slowly!

You can change the intensity to your liking by adding more butter or less hot sauce.

Once chicken is done put in a dish and cove with sauce.

Place chicken in the oven and broil for a minute or two for a crispy sandwich.

Serve blue cheese dressing on the side.
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With the sandwiches tonight I will be serving spinach dip.


Let me tell you...I found this spinach dip recipe at none other than allrecipes.com and this is the best one I have ever tasted...ever!

I make this often when we have company.

Ingredients:

1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained
1/3 cup grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
   
3. In a blender or food processor, place artichoke hearts, Romano cheese, Parmesan cheese and garlic . Pulse until chopped, but not ground. Set aside.
   
4. In a medium bowl, mix together spinach, heavy cream, sour cream and mozzarella cheese. Stir in artichoke mixture. Spoon into prepared baking dish.
   
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

**If you are not into artichoke in your dip just leave it out and skip the blender/foor processor step...just add the cheeses and garlic to the stuff in the next step. Ive done this a few times to cut down on time since I was in a rush. Still tasted absolutly delish!

artichoke dip from allrecipes.com

sauce recipe from allrecipes.com

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