Brownie Batter Dip

A few months ago I was at a party at a friend's house and she served this fabulous chocolate dip that I new I just HAD to make!  It is so much more than just chocolate, when I learned that the recipe name was Brownie Batter Dip I wanted to lick the entire bowl!!!  My friend served it with graham crackers, strawberries, and marshmallows I have also dipped pretzels, pound cake, and nilla wafers in it.  The recipe is from Life in the Lofthouse blog.  I didn't change the ingredients, but I did reduce the amount of each of the ingredients by half to make a smaller batch.  I was making this for a small group so I did not need the large amount that the full recipe makes.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz of Cream Cheese
• 2 Tablespoons of Butter
• 1 1/4 Cups of Powdered Sugar
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons of Milk
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons of Flour
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder
• 1 Tablespoon of Brown Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
• Mini Chocolate Chips for Garnish (optional)

Cream together butter and cream cheese using an electric mixer.  Add in remaining ingredients (except chocolate chips) and mix.  Place in bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.  

Blueberry Cheesecake

It has been almost two weeks since we went blueberry picking and we are still eating the fruits of our labor!  I can't believe how fresh they still are.  (HAHA!  Yes I wrote this over a month ago... I am very behind!)  When I buy blueberries at the grocery store they usually only last a few days so I am quite impressed with the ones we picked fresh.  I guess that means that at the berries we buy at the grocery store take a long time to get there.  We picked these at Eagletree Farm in Leesburg and they never spray them with anything so they are perfect to eat right from the bush.  We have just a few fresh ones remaining, but lots in the freezer.

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 Tablespoons of butter
• 1 1/4 Cups of Graham Cracker Crumbs
• 1 (8 oz) package of Cream Cheese
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla
• 6 oz of Blueberry Preserves (I used homemade)
• 3/4 Cup Fresh Blueberries
• 6 Tablespoons Sugar

Serves 8

Melt butter in microwave.  Mix with graham cracker crumbs and press into bottom of pie plate.  Put in fridge until ready to use.  

Evenly spread layer of Blueberry Preserves on top of graham layer.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with mixer until creamy.  Next add in sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Continue beating until ingredients are well blended.  

Evenly top jam layer with fresh blueberries

Pour cream cheese mixture over blueberries and bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes.  Cheesecake will puff up slightly and turn a light golden color.  Cool completely before serving.  Store in fridge.

We have made lots of yummy treats with our blueberries this year.  Check out some of them below

Blueberry Muffin Tops


Frozen Blueberry Cheesecake Bites

Tufano Salsa Dip

 

 The Tufano family holds a very special place in our hearts. Lucy, Tracy and Sherrie all met the exact same day while working together at Bath and Body Works and we have been friends ever since. Lucy often had us over to her house for get togethers. She always made sure to have snacks for everyone. This salsa dip was something that we could always expect her to serve. It is something that you can throw together very quickly and it tastes SO good!

 

Ingredients:

• 1 Block of Cream Cheese
• 3/4 Cup Chi-Chi's Salsa (I am usually not a stickler about brands but with this it is a MUST!)
• 1 Cup Shredded Cheese (cheddar or Mexican blend)
• Tortilla Chips (my kids really like it with pretzels)

With mixer blend together cream cheese and salsa. Add in 1/4 cup shredded cheese. Blend. Pour dip into serving bowl and top with remaining cheese.

Simply Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

This is one of the easiest and tastiest recipes I make. I love slow cooker recipes because I just put the ingredients in and several hours later, we're ready for dinner!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. or so cubed beef
• 1 can golden mushroom soup (it really needs to be the golden to taste so good)
• 3/4 can beef broth (you really want the same amount as the mushroom soup so I pour into empty soup can to measure)
• 1 packet Lipton onion soup mix
• 1 block cream cheese (less fat is ok but do not use fat free- it doesn't melt and incorporate into sauce)
• I also added a couple handfuls of sliced mushrooms because I had them on hand.

Directions:

Place all ingredients EXCEPT cream cheese in slow cooker and cook on low 6-7 hours. Bring cream cheese to room temperature and put in slow cooker the last hour of cooking. Stir to incorporate the cream cheese into the sauce. Serve over cooked egg noodles or rice. Yum!

This recipe was featured on our Appetizing April Menu. Check out the entire April menu for a variety of dinner ideas!

Loaded Potato Topping

Our family likes to put this on just about any potato- including Baked Potato, Potato Wedges, Flattened Redskins, and Waffle Fries.

Ingredients

• 1/2 block 1/3 less fat cream cheese
• 1/3 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons Hormel Real Bacon Bits
• 2 teaspoons Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing Mix
• 1-2 tablespoons of milk (use more or less to adjust desired consistency)

Combine all ingredients in bowl. Mix with hand-mixer until ingredients are well mixed. Add milk to adjust consistency.

Enjoy on top of any type of potato!

This recipe was featured in Two Magical Moms March Menu Madness.  Check out the entire menu and try out some of our other YUMMY recipes!