Friday, August 15, 2014

TGIF with some Taco Dip!

With Judah working Saturdays, Fridays are no longer as "special" as they used to be, but I still love it when Friday comes :D This week felt like it went by really fast! Granted Judah only worked half a day Monday and not at all on Tuesday, but time still flew by!  I actually made Judah wake up early this morning so we could put a French Toast Casserole in the oven to bake for breakfast. It was delicious so the recipe will soon follow, don't worry.

The McNuggets are doing very well. They are eating hay and running around like crazy! They are still incredibly adorable and are starting to show their personalities. Brownie is much more reserved, whereas Cocoa is loud and chirpy. I'm afraid that Brownie might actually be a boy :/ I'm waiting til they are a little older to know for sure, but at three weeks he would have to be separated if he is actually a boy. They're so little it's difficult to tell and know for sure. Also, Cocoa's ears unfolded so it's difficult to tell who is who by looking at them, haha.







My friend Molly asked about this recipe a few weeks back and I am finally getting around to sharing! We got this recipe through one of my mom's friends years ago, but it is so good that it makes an appearance at every Pierson household event, no lie! Christmas, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, random summer party, you'll be sure to find Taco Dip.  The proper name for it is "Sh!t Dip" (lol), but I guess we can rename it to the PG-approved "Taco Dip". Either way you call it, it's delicious and super easy to make!

Yumm!!!
Taco Dip
     8 oz cream cheese
    16 oz sour cream 
    1 pack taco seasoning of choice
    2 cans Hormel chili or homemade recipe (below)
    2-4 cups cheese
    black olives, optional

In a 13x9 pan, spread the cream cheese along the bottom. (I made a slightly smaller version for Judah and myself so that's why I have it in a round pie tin in the pictures!) It would help if you leave it out of the fridge to soften first. Then mix the taco seasoning with the sour cream and spread that on top of the cream cheese.


Next spread out the chili. I highly recommend using chili with beans, but it's your choice! I personally hate how many additives are in canned chili so I finally tried this recipe with homemade chili and it was soooo good. (See below). Top with cheese - feel free to put as much as you want, but I recommend not putting on so much you can't see any sour cream underneath it. Too thick of a layer will make it very difficult to dip the chips through without breaking! And I will admit that the amount I put on the pan in the pictures was too much :( still tastes good! You just really need to dig through that cheese!
Finally, you can top with some black olives if you like them. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until the cheese is fully melted. Serve with your favorite chips (I recommend Tostitos' multigrain scoops) and enjoy!


Clearly Judah and I were enjoying this dip for dinner!

Now, if you're like me and hate artificial ingredients, you can use this simple homemade chili recipe instead of the store-bought canned version! I have to give credit to my mother-in-law for this recipe. It's the first homemade chili recipe I have tried and absolutely loved! Funny story... I shared this recipe with my roommates in Texas, a couple that I had recently moved in with, and I didn't realize that Kacie had been in the habit of portioning out leftovers so all you had to do was reach in, grab and go. Well, I had made a double batch of chili and divided it between two LARGE containers. Her husband, not knowing I didn't portion, took the full container to work that day and managed to eat his way through the ENTIRE thing! I didn't find out until I got home from work and Kacie explained, "Schyler probably won't eat dinner, he is really full from the chili!" Ooops... He claims there were no ill effects to so many beans, haha. Unfortunately we didn't have leftovers for lunch all that week either. Anyways, on to this easy recipe...

Homemade Chili
    1 lb ground beef, optional
    1 can tomato paste
    1 can tomato sauce
    1 can diced tomatoes
    1 can dark red kidney beans
    1 can mild chili beans
    1 packet chili seasoning
    
If you are using ground beef, cook that up in a large pan and drain. Then add all the ingredients (I drain the dark red kidney beans, but not the chili beans) and mix together.


I personally don't like diced tomatoes, so I blended mine in the food processor first. 

Mix it all up...

Mmm!

 If you are putting this directly into the taco dip, you can skip heating it so it doesn't start to warm the sour cream and cheese early, but otherwise let it warm in the skillet for 10-15 minutes and then serve. 




  (I said above, but this was just a little too much cheese...
We had trouble getting the chips to go through!)


Yum... This recipe is great, but be warned, it is HIGHLY addicting! Football season is right around the corner, I'd recommend trying this dip out with some friends over to watch a game :)

Happy Friday!

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