Party on a Plate Cream Cheese & Crackers

1 tub of fat-free cream cheese

1 tsp. dry Italian Seasons salad dressing

1/4 c finely chopped walnuts or pecans

 

Mix the cream cheese and seasoning together and refrigerate for at least an hour if you can. Fat free cream cheese is much softer than regular and harder to form into a ball but it can be done! You can even place it in the freezer for 30 to 45 minutes to get it good and cold.

 

Form mixture into a ball and roll in the chopped nuts. Place on a plate and serve with your favorite crackers.

 

This is a great potluck item that you can throw together quickly. I like to keep a good supply of the above ingredients on-hand during the holidays so I have nice, quick dish to take along. You can place the cream cheese mixture in a bowl if you are in a hurry and don't have time to cool it down enough to form a ball.

 

Optional: 

You can add finely chopped baby shrimp to this. 

 

Get creative. Don't have nuts on-hand? Try rolling your cheese ball in some dried parsley.  Or serve it without the nuts. 

 

This is a party favorite!

 

Enjoy!

Peach Salsa

PEACH SALSA

I just made this up and it's delish!!

You may adjust the ingredients to suit your taste:

2 peaches (I left the skin on for color)
1/3 Walla Walla sweet onion, choppped
2 limes (squeeze juice into salsa)
1 jalapeno, chopped. I use the whole thing because I like it hot
Cilantro ~ enough to your liking.

I did not put salt in this as I'm afraid it won't go well with the peaches.

I'm going to try this on top of my brown rice for dinner. I think it will be good on top of a greeen salad, chicken, or just scooped out of the bowl with a spoon.  Nice combination of flavors here. And, I love the color. Hope you'll try it!

Susan's Twice Baked Taters

Susan's Twice Baked Taters (So Easy!)

Ingredients:
Russet Potatoes (however many you want)
Cream Cheese or Sour Cream (adjust)
Shredded cheddar cheese  (adjust)
Milk (adjust)
Salt & Pepper


Bake several russet potatoes in 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. Be sure to pierce the potatoes before baking or they will explode. I use a knife to pierce on the side of the potato where I'm going to split it later for this recipe.

Take your hot baked potatoes and split them in half long-ways. Quickly remove the potato from the skin with a spoon into a mixing bowl. It's going to be hot so you might use a pot holder to keep from burning your paws. Place skin on a baking sheet or cast iron skillet to stuff later.

In your mixing bowl, add shredded cheddar cheese or any cheese you care for. Use whatever amount you'd like. I try to go lite on the cheese because frankly we don't need that much fat. Add either sour cream or cream cheese or both if you wish. Today I used some fat-free cream cheese that I wanted to finish up. Add milk, salt & pepper to your liking and use a mixer to blend. Add enough milk to make consistency of mashed potatoes. I tend to use a little less because I like my taters a little dryer. 

You can spoon the mixture back into the skins or use a pastry bag and get all fancy with it. I decided to get fancy today!  You can add a little shredded cheese to the top or bake them naked. Get creative. You could had bacon bits ~ that would be fun!

I love this pastry bag.

Stick 'em back in the 350 degree oven for about 15 or 20 minutes to reheat.  Today I'm putting these in the fridge and will reheat them later for supper. These reheat very nicely and I promise if you take them to a potluck straight out of the oven, they will disappear in a heartbeat.

Enjoy!




Notes: These are a great, easy, inexpensive side dish to take to potlucks or dinners but you can really dress them up with extras like bacon bits, chopped green onions, a little paprika, a sliced jalapeno on top for your spicier friends. I also like that you can make them ahead and serve them the next day. 4/3/11 Update: I froze two of these to see how they would reheat later. They were perfect! So ... I'll be doing this again and freezing some for later. Great to add to lunch or dinner. I love these!

Cheese Hearts

I love my little heart cookie cutters. My favorite use is for making heart shaped cheese slices. 

You should try it!

Oven Pan Fried Red Potatoes

Our son-in-law made these for Gene's 60th birthday party and I came home with a hankering for them. I've made them 3 times since then so I felt they were worthy enough for my 'favorites' blog. A great side dish to go along with anything else you might be baking in the oven.  Great for breakfast, too! Also, a special shout out to Sandra Firestack whose cooking blog inspired me to start my own blog for my favorite things to cook.  You should visit Sandra's blog!!

• Slice up your red potatoes. You can make them thick or thin, you choose.

• Spray Pam in the bottom of your cast iron skillet or cookie sheet.

• Spray the tops of the potatoes with Pam after you lay them in the pan.

• Sprinkle with Oregano and salt & pepper or whatever seasoning you like.

• Bake in 375 oven for about 20 - 25 minutes. Turn them over and bake for as long as it takes to cook them through.  These thins ones took a total 40 minutes. 

The beauty of these oven pan fried potatoes is you don't have to use any oil or grease.  They are heart healthy taters.  Enjoy!

You're gonna love these!