Taco Dip

We don't do a lot of warm dips around our house, but we are always scrounging for snacks while watching the Olympics or football or soccer.

I had this planned for Sunday night, but we had a filling mid-day dinner so I made it for lunch today, while friends were over. Food is always better when you can share with friends.

Taco Dip

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. ground beef
1 can refried beans (I used one with jalapeños)
1 packet of taco seasoning
8 oz. sour cream
2 C shredded cheddar cheese (Katie used 4 cups!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet brown the ground beef over medium heat, drain. Mix beans, cooked ground beef and taco seasoning. Spread bean mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. (I used an 8x11 glass dish.) Spread the sour cream on top of the beans and then top with cheese.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until cheese is bubbly. Serve with Frito Scoops.

Recipe Given By: unknown

Homemade Caramel Sauce

A friend gave me a can of Sweetened Condensed Milk that she had boiled in the can for a couple of hours on the stovetop.

This was the purest tasting caramel dip that I've tasted, much better than the containers you buy in the produce section. No preservatives!

When talking about this idea to others I've heard horror stories of the banging of the can in the pot and even worse of the explosion of the can.  So doing a little research I found these safer preparations for Sweetened Condensed Milk Caramel sauce.  Just follow this link to learn more.

We're still enjoying the first can, but I look forward to trying one of these alternative preparations soon.

U - Ugly Dip

I had to search the web for a "U" recipe so I haven't made this dip, but the reviews were quite positive. Seems easy...and ugly.

Ugly Dip

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, drained
1 (7 ounce) can Mexican-style corn, drained
1 green onion, chopped

Stir the cream cheese, mayonnaise, diced tomatoes, corn, and green onion together in a bowl. Serve immediately or chill.

Yields: 4 Cups
Recipe Given By: Allrecipes. com

Do-It-Yourself Teppanyaki

On May 9th I shared a Fried Rice Recipe with you that included an amazing sauce. Many years ago, our dear friends, the Valenzuela's, had us for dinner and served us a Japanese meal that centered around food cooked on a griddle in the middle of the table. It was accompanied by The Sauce. Here's the recipe and pictures of us sharing the meal with my in-laws.

The Sauce

Ingredients:

½ C soy sauce
½” of ginger, sliced
¼ C water
1 t. sesame seeds
½ C brown sugar
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 drops Tabasco

Boil these ingredients for 1 min., then strain and serve as a dipping sauce. (Can be doubled.) Serve with white rice.

Heat a griddle and spread with margarine. Cook cook raw beef, skinless chicken breast, scallops, shrimp, Napa cabbage, bean sprouts, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, Chinese eggplant and peppers.

Recipe Given By: Sofia Valenzuela/Jon Sugimoto

We try to keep the shrimp and scallops to the outside so they don't get overdone and the chicken right down the middle where the griddle is hottest. Napa cabbage lays across the cooked meat or vegetables and wilts as it steams.

Here's what our table layout looks like. We keep the raw meat separate from the vegetables. You can see Katie in the background taking photos for the blog.

This photo shows our place settings. We each have a small bowl of rice and a small bowl of the dipping sauce. The margarine is on hand in case the food begins to stick. Most of the vegetables taste better with a little margarine coating the cooking surface anyway. We try to have forks to turn the food and chopsticks to eat with, but when it's family we don't follow that rule strictly.

This is a do-it-yourself teppanyaki meal.

Japanese: teppan (griddle) + yaki (broiling).

douzo omeshiagari kudasai (Japanese: Enjoy your meal!)

Fruit Dip

Fruit Dip

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
7 oz. marshmallow crème
2 C. whipped topping
T. sugar

Combine all ingredients and beat until smooth.

Serve this with grapes, oranges, apples, bananas, peaches, and strawberries.

Recipe Given By: Aunt Ellie Couch
Hint: I leave out the 2 T. sugar; it doesn't change the flavor. I do not serve with grapes, oranges or peaches - too messy, but I do serve with cantaloupe, and pineapple.

Fried Rice w/ The Sauce

My all-time favorite "leftover" meal! We can use up grilled meat, random vegetables, and leftover rice to make the most delicious Asian-American entree. We always make a huge batch and it doesn't last long around our house. *The Sauce is the secret - so yummy!

Fried Rice

Ingredients:
1-1 ½ T. olive oil
1 ½ slices of onion, cut fine
1 ½-2 carrots, cut fine
sm amount of broccoli, cut fine, if desired
½ cob corn, if desired
¼ C water
1 chicken bouillon
2 italian squash, cut fine
2 eggs
1 ½ T olive oil
1 ½ T butter
leftover white rice (@ 2 C)
leftover meat

In a skillet, add 1-1 ½ T of olive oil and cook onions until clear. Then add the carrots, broccoli and corn, cook and stir for a few minutes. Then add ¼ C water and a chicken bouillon cube and squash. Cover and steam until squash is clear, about 5 min. Put these vegetables in a bowl. In the same skillet over med-high heat, scramble 2 eggs in 1 ½ T each of olive oil and butter. Be sure to break the yolks. Put in leftover white rice, and stir to get brown, about 5-7 min. Then add the vegetables and any leftover meat and stir to get warm. Add 4-5 T of “the sauce” or any soy based sauce, stir.

Recipe Given By: Mark Martens

The Sauce

Ingredients:
½ C soy sauce
½” of ginger, sliced
¼ C water
1 t. sesame seeds
½ C brown sugar
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 drops Tabasco

Boil these ingredients for 1 min., then strain and serve as a dipping sauce. (Can be doubled.) Serve with white rice.

Recipe Given By: Sofia Valenzuela/Jon Sugimoto