Hot Pizza Dip

I did make quite a bit of changes for this recipe, but it was pretty awesome.  I'm really grateful for the Joelen for providing the idea for this dip.

Hot Pizza Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese,softened
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 small green bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 2 ounces pepperoni sausage, chopped
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup pizza sauce
• garlic bread for serving
• 1 lb ground beef (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cook garlic bread according to package.
3. Brown grown beef (if using).
4. Saute butter, mushrooms, bell pepper, and onions.
5. Mix herbs and cream cheese.
6. Spread cream cheese mixture in the bottom of a 9 in oven-safe dish.
7. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses over cream cheese mixture.
8. Add ground beef.
9. Add pizza sauce.
10. Add the remaining cheese.
11. Add mushroom, pepper, and onion mixture.
12. Top with pepperoni.
13. Bake for about 10 minutes, until warmed through.
14. Serve with garlic bread.

My changes:

• I decided to add ground beef, because my husband firmly believes that it has to have meat in order to classify as dinner.
• I used about double the amount of mushrooms & pizza sauce as recommended.  
• I used peperoni slices instead of sausage.
• I used green onions.
• Instead of using parsley, basil, & oregano I decided to use a tablespoon of Italian seasoning because it was easier and what I had.

Update: So I think this is one of those recipes that you can't really screw up.  I made it again tonight but skimped on the pepparoni and green onions because I didn't have them.  I also cooked the onions, mushrooms, and butter with the ground beef and it was super yummy.  Highly reccomend and love the versatility.

Mexican 6 Layer Dip

I'm going to link to several recipes in this post, because I used a basic recipe for dip (which can be found here).  But instead of using that avocado layer, I combined two recipes for guacamole (which can be found here and here).  So the setup here will be a little different.  I'll explain what I did for the guacamole, and then for the dip.

Guacamole

  

Ingredients:

• 3 Avocados (peel & pit)
• Juice of one lime
• 1/4 red onion (chopped)
• Small handful minced cilantro
• 1 small clove of garlic
• Salt & pepper to taste

 Directions: 

1. Peel & pit the avocados (I use a spoon to take the pit out, which is the hardest part IMO; then I slip the spoon under the avocado & scoop it right out- so easy).  Place avocados in a bowl and mash- I started just mashing with a spoon and then switched to a potato masher, worked like a charm.
2. Chop the red onion (you could add more, but my husband isn't crazy about red onions so I used a minimal amount), add to bowl and mix.
3. Juice the lime, add to bowl and mix.
4. Chop the garlic, add to bowl, and mix.
5. Chop the cilantro, add to bowl, and mix (you may want to add slowly & taste as you go alone if using fresh cilantro- it's much stronger than dried...but in a good way).
6. Add salt & pepper to taste.

6 Layer Dip

 

Ingredients: 

•  16 oz refried/black beans
• Homemade guacamole
• 1 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 pack taco seasoning
• 3 tomatoes 
• 1/2 cup sliced olives
• 16 oz shredded cheese
• Tortilla chips

Directions:

1. Chop the tomatoes & olives (if so desired)
2. Mix the sour cream & taco seasoning.
3.  Spread beans in the bottom of a large dish.
4. Add  guacamole.
5. Add sour cream/taco seasoning mix.
6. Add cheese.
7. Add tomatoes.
8. Add olives.
9. Serve with tortilla chips & enjoy!

My changes: 

• As mentioned, I used the above guacamole mixture instead of just mashing the avocados- it was AMAZING!  On it's on I thought it was okay, but mixed with the rest of the ingredients Oh. My. God. (said in the voice of Janice from F*R*I*E*N*D*S).
• The original recipe is for a 7 layer dip, but one of those layers is onions.  Since I already had red onions in my guacamole, I decided to skip this layer.
• While this was a great vegetarian recipe (even my husband, who is the ultimate "I am man, I eat meat" kind of guy, loved it), you could easily add a meat layer with ground beef or shredded chicken.  
• This recipe was SO easy to prepare, AND I didn't have to turn on my oven or even microwave (a big plus in the summer).  It's surprisingly filling & delicious- I'm sure I'll be making it again soon. 
• One thing- have a HUGE bag of tortilla chips.  The delicious salty chips with the cool, smooth taste from the guacamole & sour cream...my mouth is watering... 

Tzatziki Take 2 (& some chicken pitas)

So this was a much better turnout than the first time I tried tzatziki (read about that disaster here). 

Tzatziki and Chicken "Gyros"

But, I really didn't measure anything.  For the tzatziki I diced about half a cucumber, as finely as I had patience for.  The I added a bit of olive oil, 2-3 tablespoons plain yogurt, salt, pepper, garlic, and dill weed to taste.

For the chicken I took 2 chicken breasts and sliced/diced them, then cooked with olive oil and garlic powder.  I bought some white pitas and warmed them up in the microwave.  Then I put the chicken and tzatziki in the pita and added slices of red onion, lettuce, and diced tomatoes.

  So...ingredients:

Cucumber

Olive oil

Plain yogurt

Salt

Pepper

Garlic powder

Dill weed

Chicken breasts

Pitas

Red onion

Lettuce

Tomato

Tzatziki

I have a bit of a love affair with tzatziki.  It's delicious.  Well, at least when made correctly.  This recipe did not work out well for me.  It was okay, but it was not nearly as good as true tzatziki.

Tzatziki

Ingredients

• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 medium cucumber, cut in half longwise and thinly sliced
• 1 tsp chopped, fresh dill
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients together in a bowl and mix.
2. Chill until serving.

My Changes

• I have never had chunky tzatziki.  Ever.  From respectable nice Greek restaurants to fast food Middle Eastern grills, I've never been served chunky tzatziki.  And this was very chunky.  I tried to mash the cucumbers with a potato masher, I tried to use a blender...all that happened is that I ended up with wannabe tzatziki sauce EVERYWHERE.  Perhaps this is my fault and I just didn't mince them as finely as the author meant...I don't know.  But it wasn't pleasant.
• This was too lemon-y for me.  I have another recipe that doesn't use lemon, and I'll be trying that next.
• I could not find fresh dill.  At all, and I looked hard.  I used dill weed (which just does not sound like something I should be cooking with at all), and I don't think it was the same.  But it may have been thrown off by the lemon or something, I don't know.
• Also, I used traditional plain yogurt instead of Greek yogurt which may have also affected the flavor.  I'm going to continue trying to use it in other recipes since I bought a huge bowl of it, but I definitely plan to try both types eventually.