Spinach Artichoke Dip

This is a lower fat version of this yummy dip and we were all pleasantly surprised with the results - in fact it disappeared rather rapidly! You can see our beautiful table decor consisted of Black Friday ads before dinner. :)

Spinach Artichoke Dip

2 C (8oz) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

1/2 C fat free sour cream

1/4 C (1oz) grated fresh Parmesan

1/4 tsp black pepper

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 (14oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1 (8oz) block reduced fat cream cheese, softened

1 (8oz) block fat free cream cheese, softened

1/2 (10oz) pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, sour cream, 2 tablespoons parmesan, and next 6 ingredients in a large bowl and mix until well blended. Spoon mixture into a 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup mozzarella and 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown.

Serve with baked tortilla chips, veggies, or assorted crackers.

Recipe from Cooking Light.

Goat Cheese Pistachio Ball

This is a sweet cheese ball that we had for Thanksgiving yesterday. It would be pretty for Christmas with all those green pistachios!

Goat Cheese Pistachio Ball

4 ounces plain goat cheese, room temperature

8 ounces low fat cream cheese, room temperature

2 Tbsp honey

1/2 dried thyme leaves

1/2 C pistachios, chopped

Blend cheeses, honey and thyme with a mixer until combined. Form into a ball - you can use a spatula to try to do this but as is often the case your hands work best!

Place chopped pistachios on a plate or cutting board and spread them out. Put cheese ball on the nuts and carefully roll around to cover the ball with nuts. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour until firm.

Plate and serve with assorted crackers, sliced baguette, or fruit slices.

Recipe altered ever so slightly from Family Circle magazine.

Mint Chocolate Ganache Cake

We've just been having all sorts of cooking adventures around here lately!  Becky, Avery and I had this one together. After Becky perused the Lion House Cakes and Cupcakes book, we all agreed that we should just make the cake on the cover because it looks and sounds fabulous. Chocolate and mint, right?  Ganache, to be more specific (i.e. really, really good chocolate).  For starters, our cake, uh, didn't exactly look like the one on the cover:

Apparently we missed something.  Our mint frosting part was a little lacking in the stiffness and there was waaay more than you actually needed.  Maybe we should have watched the bonus dvd that comes with the book to get some tips because here's what our cake did after we had cut it up to serve everyone:

I turned back to look and the top layer had just slipped and flipped right off onto the counter!  Ha! :)  Really, we weren't impressed with the taste so much either.  So why am I posting this?  Becky is going to remake it sometime and make all the corrections we talked about and make it fabulous, right Becky?
I'll post the original recipe, but tell you here that we decided that it doesn't need the whipping cream and the cool whip.  It just makes too much and things get runny with all that extra mixing.  We would just try the whipped cream and maybe use a stabilizer.  We also only made 3 round and used the rest of the batter for mini cupcakes.  Also, the mint flavoring is so not enough.  Definitely add more than it calls for.  In fact, you'll need more than 1/4 tsp, which wasn't enough either.

Mint Chocolate Ganache Cake

Cake
2 chocolate cake mixes, any flavor

Ganache
1 c. heavy cream
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Whipped Mint Frosting
3 c. heavy cream, whipped until stiff
1 8 oz container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/8 tsp mint flavoring (or more according to taste)
1-2 drops green food coloring
1 (7 oz) semisweet chocolate bar, chocolate molding chocolate, or chocolate bark, for chocolate curls
Mint leaves, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour four 9-inch round cake pans.

For cake: Prepare and bake both cake mixes according to directions on box.  Allow to cool completely or freeze to make it easier to frost and assemble.

For ganache: Place cream in a small saucepan and heat on medium heat until bubbles start to form around the edge of the pan.  Remove from heat. Pour chocolate chips into cream and stir until smooth. Set aside.

For frosting: Gently fold together whipped cream, whipped topping, mint flavoring and food coloring.  Do not beat.

Trim the tops off 3 cake layers where they start to round from the side to the top. Place 1 layer on serving plate, cut side up.  Place one-third of the ganache on that layer and spread it so it will slightly run down the sides.  Place one-third of the frosting on top of the ganache and spread just to the edge of the cake.  Place second cake layer on top of frosting and repeat with ganache and frosting.  Repeat with third cake layer.  Garnish with chocolate curls and mint leaves.

For chocolate curls: Warm chocolate bar 10 seconds in the microwave and then peel with a vegetable peeler.

Fizzy Caramel Apples

I saw this quick and easy recipe for caramel sauce that stays soft even in the fridge so I whipped it up to use for dipping apples.  Wow!  What a surprise!  We ate them with Granny Smith (i.e. tart) apples and when you combined the two there was some sort of chemical reaction that made them taste fizzy!  The caramel doesn't taste that way on it's own, so there must be something going on there with the apples. Really kind of funny.
So, if you're up for a bit of a caramel apple adventure, give this a try!

Caramel Sauce
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. granulated sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. buttermilk (or soured milk)
2 T. corn syrup

Combine in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.  Continue boiling for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and add:

1 T. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda

Mix well.  Cool and store in the refrigerator.

Turkey Chili

We made this chili for our ward's Trunk or Treat dinner and it was delicious. I think this is Jeff's favorite chili now, and of course it's just the right thing on cold snowy evenings. : ) The original recipe called for 6 medium zucchini halved lengthwise and sliced, but I didn't have anymore zucchini and Jeff probably wouldn't have wanted them in there anyway. The recipe also says, "If you like beans in you chili, garbanzos right out of the can are great in this". I added one can of Great Northern beans, but I bed the garbanzo beans would be good, too. This makes a large batch - you can easily cut the recipe in half, or freeze half of it for later.

Turkey Chili

1 Tbsp olive oil, plus more if needed
3 lbs ground turkey
2 medium onions, finely chopped (I only used about 1/2 of a medium onion)
2 bell peppers (green, orange, yellow or red)
2 (1 ounce) packages taco seasoning mix
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp chili pepper flakes
1/4 C. tomato paste
2 (14.5 ounce) cans beef broth
2 (7 ounce) cans salsa
2 (14.5 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
2 (7 ounce) cans chopped green chili peppers
Optional:
2 bunches green onions, chopped
2 C. sour cream
2 C. shredded cheddar cheese

Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble turkey into the pot, stirring with a wooden spoon to break apart the turkey. When the turkey is close to done, add the onion and bell peppers. Add a little more oil, if needed. Continue browning turkey, onions and peppers until turkey is cooked through and no longer pink. Season with the taco seasoning, coriander, oregano chili flakes and tomato paste. Stir until everything is evenly coated with seasonings. Continue cooking for 2-3 minutes more. Pour in the beef broth, and simmer to reduce liquid slightly, about 5 minutes. Add salsa, tomatoes, and green chilies, and continue cooking at a moderate simmer for ten minutes.
Ladle the chili into serving bowls. Top with sour cream, green onion and cheddar cheese, if desired, and serve.
Serves 12

Recipe altered from allrecipes.com