Easy enchilada dip

This is one of our family favorite throw together meals when we’re enjoying a quite night at home watching movies or football.

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef

1 can enchilada sauce

½ block of velveeta (give or take to taste)

1 small jar salsa

Tortilla chips

Brown ground beef and drain.  Add enchilada sauce and let cook for a few minutes.  Add salsa and velveeta until melted and warmed through.  Serve with tortilla chips.

If you want to give it a little more kick, use rotel instead of salsa and add a few dashes of hot sauce.  

Cold day casserole

I could call this “what I had on hand” casserole but that doesn’t seem to have the same ring to it.  Seeing how its -10 degrees here today, I wanted to bake something warm to in the oven.  The pictures do not do it justice! It’s like a sloppy joe loaded mashed potato explosion.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 can cream of mushroom

1/3 cup bbq sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s sweet and spicy)

Diced onions

Minced garlic

1 packet Idahoan butter homestyle mashed potatoes (large size)

½ stick of butter

1 block cream cheese

Shredded cheese

Bacon crumbles

Green onion

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Brown ground beef with some diced onion and a heaping scoop of minced garlic.  Drain and mix in cream of mushroom soup and bbq sauce. Salt and pepper to taste. Prepare potatoes as directed (basically mine was boil four cups of water). Whip potatoes with a fork.  Add butter and cream cheese to potatoes.

Spread meat mixture on the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan.  Then layer the potatoes over the top.  Sprinkle with bacon bits and shredded cheese. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until cheese is starting to brown.  Garnish with green onion and serve.  

Loaded Ranch Dip

A delicious party dip or game day grub.

Ingredients:

1 cup light sour cream

1 cup light mayonnaise

1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix

1 lb bacon

3 to 4 green onions, sliced

1 cup shredded cheese (I used colby jack)

Cook the bacon on both sides until crisp. Drain fat. Allow bacon to rest on paper towels until cool. Chop bacon into crumbles and set aside.

Mix the sour cream, mayonnaise, and ranch dressing mix together in a bowl.  Fold in the bacon, green onions, and shredded cheese. Chill for an hour in the fridge. Enjoy with sturdy crackers or tortilla chips.  

Chocolate cake mix bars

So rich and decadent! No one will believe how easy these are to make!

Ingredients:

1 chocolate cake mix

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter softened to room temperature

1 egg

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x9 pan with parchment paper & spray with cooking spray. Combine cake mix, butter, vanilla & egg in mixer bowl & beat until mix forms into thick dough.  Press 2/3 of the dough into the prepared baking pan (it will look like there isn't enough to cover the bottom, just keep working it into a thin even layer). Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of each type of chocolate chips. Pour sweetened condensed milk over the top in a thin, even layer. Separate remaining dough into balls & evenly distribute over the top of the chocolate chips. Press down to flatten a bit. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips. Bake 27­ 30 minutes. Cool completely before slicing. 

Buffalo Ranch Chex Mix

Ingredients:

1 bag bugles

1 box rice chex

10 oz. can dry roasted peanuts
1 package pretzels

1 box Cheez-Its zesty ranch crackers

¼ cup buffalo sauce

½ stick butter

1 ranch packet

Combine bugles, chex, pretzels and peanuts in a large bowl.  Melt butter and whisk together with buffalo sauce and ranch packet.  Pour over mixture and toss to combine.  Bake at 250 for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Break cheez-its into smaller pieces and add to mixture.  Store in an air tight container.  

Note: This makes a HUGE batch! 

Reese's Peanut Butter Cookies

This is one of my families favorite Christmas treats.  My brother, sister and I have literally pushed each other out of the way at mom's house to get these.  And there have been some pictures to torment each other over the years if we were eating them and someone was not.  

Ingredients: 

1/2 C. soft butter

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 C. brown sugar

1 1/4 C. flour

1/2 C. sugar

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1 egg

1/2 C. peanut butter

1 bag mini Reese's peanut butter cups

Mix together, roll into small balls and put in miniature muffin pan. Bake at 375 for 8 minutes. Put miniature Reese's peanut butter cup in the center of each and let cool for 10 minutes.

Hot chicken queso dip

Ingredients:

1 block (32 oz) of velveeta cheese.

1 package (8 oz) of cream cheese.

1 can (10 oz) of rotel.

1 can (10.75 oz) cream of chicken soup

1 pound of shredded chicken

2 Tbsp hot sauce

¼ cup salsa

In a crock pot, pour the cream cheese and add in the velveeta cheese after you cut it into cubes. Stir in all ingredients and cook on low for an hour.

**You can substitute the chicken for ground beef or sausage and the cream of chicken with cream of mushroom.

This was ooey gooey cheesy goodness.  Personally, next time I would add a little more hot sauce or use hot instead of mild rotel but I like things spicy.  

Crockpot cheesy corn mac

My friend Brian makes this and it’s always the hit of the party. I made it for Thanksgiving and it did not disappoint!

Ingredients:

1 can regular corn (drained)

1 can cream style corn

½ a large brick of velveeta cheese

8 oz. AE French onion dip

¾ stick of butter

1 ½ cups uncooked macaroni

Cook macaroni.  Drain and place in crockpot.  Dump everything else in.  Cook on low.  Stir as it begins to melt together.  Serve when warm.