Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

No story...no prelude...just an awesome super simple recipe with pictures! Happy Friday! :)

BACON WRAPPED JALAPENO POPPERS
15 Jalapeno's
8 oz pkg cream cheese, room temp
2 green onions, sliced, just the green tops
1lb thick slice bacon


Cut each pepper in half, lengthwise. And we like it spicy, so we leave the seeds inside, but if you don't like it hot, so ahead and remove the seeds and the white membranes inside the peppers. HINT #1 When handling the jalapeno's you probably want to wear rubber gloves or if you don't have any, put your hands in a couple plastic baggies.
Mix together the cream cheese and green onions. Scoop into each pepper half. HINT #2 I put the cream cheese mixture into a baggie and pipe it into the peppers.
Cut each piece of bacon into thirds and wrap each pepper. HINT #3 the Thick Sliced Bacon that we buy has 10 slices, I just cut through the whole slab of bacon twice to get 30 even pieces. HINT #4 I wrap the bacon so that the end piece will be on the under side when it bakes it won't curl up.
Heat grill on low or oven on 350. Grill or bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until the bacon is done to your likeness. HINT #5 We cook on the grill outside...the oils from the peppers get in the air and can burn your eyes and even hurt to breathe if you cook them inside.


Enjoy!

Warmly,
Mary

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Did I ever proclaim my love for football to you? Particularly Big Red Football...Nebraska Football! Really any football will do, but nothing compares to the love and dedication of the team that you've been watching since you were a tiny little girl. I have 3 brothers and my dad and I remember many days growing up with the game on. And if you're not from Nebraska then I don't think you'd understand, but to be honest, that's about all we have here. There are no pro-teams, so we put all our time and energy and enthusiasm in backing up the legacy that we have in the Huskers! And if you've never been to a game...oh, you're missing out! Even if you're not a fan of football...it's an experience! Over 100,000 people downtown wearing red. The sea of RED! Nearly 90,000 fans in the stadium! We've had more consecutive sell outs than any other team. Friends of ours who played college ball for Michigan, Virginia Tech, and Colorado have all said that there is nothing like playing at Memorial Stadium, even as the opposing team! I have to agree...it's quite the experience. Did I tell you that in my Senior Book from High school I was named as "most likely to marry an NFL player". I kid you not! I just ran across that book the other day! Funny! Anyway, our season is over but there's still a little NFL action going on and to gear up for the Super Bowl I'm going to share with you some of our favorite Football Snacks, first up Buffalo Chicken Dip.

BUFFALO CHICKEN DIP

1 lb chicken breast, cooked and shredded or chopped
1 pkg cream cheese
1 8 oz pkg sour cream
1 5oz pkg blue cheese crumbles
1/2 cup hot sauce, I use Franks
1/2 cup ranch dressing
4 green onions, sliced

Dump everything into a crock pot or slow cooker and set to low. Stir every once in a while to get things all happy together. Once it's hot, it's ready!

Serve with tortilla chips and Enjoy!

Warmly,
Mary

Super Kicked-Up Chex Mix

Hee, Hee...I have to giggle. Besides hearing all the time, "Oh My!" "Wow!" "This is so good!" "Oh, Mary!". You know, all those expressions that people say when you've pleased their palette. People say "you made that?" or "you make your own...?" Yes, people, I make my own Chex Mix. And once you try it once, you will see why! Homemade has way more flavor and it really takes no time at all. Plus, you get to pick what you put in it. For instance I don't care for the wheat chex, those weird fake bread-stick thingees and the rye bread chips. But I love dry roasted peanuts, sesame sticks, cheese nips, and club cracker mini's. See now, you're starting to see why homemade is better than bagged! But wait, there's more...mine...made with freshly grated garlic! And kicked up with a little or a lot of Franks Red Hot Sauce! Oh ya! If you're not into heat, no problem just a few dashes, you won't even notice the heat, just the deliciousness! But if you love the heat, double the amount!

Super Kicked-Up Chex Mix

Ingredients

1 cup pretzels
1 cup Club Cracker mini's (an amazing invention)
1 cup Corn Chex
1 cup Rice Chex
1 cup cheese crackers
1 cup salted roasted peanuts
1 c sesame sticks
(OR 7 cups of your favorite items)
1/3 cup butter
2 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
1 tsp seasoned salt (I use Lawry's)
1/2 tsp minced dried onion (you could use onion powder if you want)
1 tsp Franks Red Hot sauce (more or less)

Heat oven to 250. In a large bowl mix all the nuts, crackers, cereal etc... In a small microwave-safe bowl add the butter and all the rest of the ingredients. Microwave until the butter is melted, usually no more 45 seconds. mix well and slowly pour over the cracker mixture. Stir until the butter mixture is even distributed over the cracker mixture. Evenly spread on a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake for 1 hr, stirring every 15 minutes. Let cool and enjoy! Store in an air tight container.

Party On Friends! Enjoy!

Warmly,
Mary

Southwest Chicken Roll-ups and Games

Today I have a recipe and some party details for you! I have been getting some questions about details of the Lady Bug party and will try to answer some of them on here for you.

Little princess turned three but her friends ages range from 1 - 7, so the activities that we chose were fun for everyone. 

*After all the guests had arrived we sat down and made Lady Bug Crowns. Prior to the Party I cut 2" x 22" strips of red poster board and various sizes of small black circles. We assisted the kids in decorating their strip with the circles then we stapled sparkly pipe cleaners on for antennas. 

*Our next activity was Lady Bug on a Leaf. Now that we had a room full of lady bugs, we needed a game for them! Prior to the party we cute out large leaf shapes from green construction paper. There was one leaf per child for the first round of this version of musical chairs. Playing fun music for kids, the kids moved around the room until the music stopped. Then they needed to race around to find a leaf to sit on! Since some kids were little and were unfamiliar with musical chairs, we did have a leaf for each to sit on just that first round. But after that, we removed a leaf each round just like regular musical chairs. Even the little ones enjoyed playing!

*Our next two activities were enjoyed outside. We created a Lady Bug Bean Bag Toss game out of card board and I sewed little black bean bags. Once again a bag all for all ages!

*The final activity before the food was served was an Obstacle Course. It was just a series of motions to get from one end of the yard to the other. Pretty basic but the kids enjoyed it. It got them moving and made them feel like they were really involved. Simple Fun!

All the kids had a blast and I am still hearing them talk about it! You don't have to have anything spectacular, kids just like to be kept busy!

 As far as decorations, my mom picked up some plates and napkins, invites, a balloon (the rest I just drew black dots on red balloons) and notepads at a party store near her. Ribbon, stickers and some other small things we got at Michaels. The rest of it, I made. There wasn't a lot around here with Lady bugs, but really all you need is something that is red with black dots!

Today's Recipe:

These of course are super easy and very flavorful! They aren't spicy, because we were mostly feeding children, but if I were serving them at an adult party, I would have spiced them up a bit with a can of green chiles or jalapenos. None the less, they are a yummy snack!

They are the ones on the bottom right hand side

Southwest Chicken Roll-Ups

Ingredients

2 cups cooked chicken breasts, diced

1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, room temp

1 1/2 cups chunky salsa

1 pkg taco seasoning

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

2 green onions, chopped (greens and whites)

Handful of cilantro, chopped

Tortillas, I used spinach (the green ones) and jalapeno and cheddar (the orange ones)

Mix all the ingredients together except the tortillas. Spread a spoonful of the mixture on the tortilla, roll tightly and slice into 1 1/2" pieces. This made about 5 tortillas for me.

Warmly,

Mary

Perfect Chicken Salad and a Giveaway!

I love chicken salad sandwiches. I don't usually make them, because I have never had a recipe for a good one until now!

We are not mayo fans so I'm using nonfat plain yogurt. I don't know why I didn't think if that before, I use it in place of mayo and sour cream all the time. And it makes for the best base for this recipe!

I will be making this all summer now. You don't need little lady bugs and sir bugs for an excuse to eat this healthy and tasty salad/sandwich!

The cute little bites on the bottom left

Perfect Chicken Salad Cups

Ingredients

2 c chicken breast, cooked and diced

2 celery stalks, chopped

1/2 c walnuts, chopped

1 c red grapes, cut in half

2 green onions, sliced (the whole thing the white and the green part)

1/3 c mayonnaise

1/2 c plain nonfat yogurt

2 tsp dijon mustard

45 phyllo cups (optional)

Make sure all your ingredients are cut, diced or chopped. In small mixing bowl add the yogurt, mayo and mustard. In a large mixing bowl add everything else except the phyllo cups. Now stir in the dressing mixture to the chicken mixture and mix until well combined. Now serve! Yes, it is that easy!!

I put a about a tablespoon in each phyllo cup and had a sandwich today with the left overs. You can serve yours on a croissant, which I would have done had I not been feeding tiny mouths! Regular bread or crackers would be perfect too! Shoot, if you want, eat it with a spoon!

You will not regret this healthy lunch!

GIVEAWAY

 

Today I am also doing a giveaway! Because it was a princess's birthday and I think these are the cutest little hair bows ever! I'm going to give one set away! Even if you don't have a little ladybug in your home to give these too, I'm sure you know a little lady bug who would love to have these in her hair!

All you have to do it "Follow" my blog and leave a comment...any friendly comment is fine and will qualify you for an entry! You have a until this Friday June 17 at 12:00pm cst to enter. At which time the winner will be announced! YAY!

Warmly, 

Mary