Recipe Swap Monday- Memorial Day!!!

Since I know along with 3 day holiday weekends come a lot of traveling and if you are anything like my family a lot of bbq's so I decided to post a simple and quick dip recipe that is a crowd pleaser at all our gatherings. :)

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

1 box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. grated parmesan
1 c. shredded part skim mozzarella
8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
4-6 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. hot pepper sauce
1 (14oz) can artichoke hearts, drained

• Squeeze all excess liquid from spinach, place in a food processor with sour cream, parmesan, 1/2 c. mozzarella, cream cheese, garlic, pepper, and hot sauce.
• Process until just blended but still slightly lumpy. Add artichokes and pulse to form a chunky mixture.
• Place in a 1 quart baking dish. Top with remaining mozzarella. Bake until bubbly, about 30 mins.

I like to serve with sour dough bread or tortilla chips

Head on over to Anissa at Our Chaotic Life for more Recipe Swap Monday.

May's Cheesecake of the Month

Now that it is starting to warm up I think a nice tangy citrus cheesecake would be appropriate so this month cheesecake is an oldy but goody around my house.


Key Lime Cheesecake

2 pkg. cream cheese
1 tsp. key lime peel*
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. sugar
3 tbs fresh key lime juice*
2 eggs
1 honey maid pie crust
1 c. cool whip

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Beat cream cheese, sugar, peel, lime juice and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, mix until just blended. Pour into crust.

Bake 40 mins. or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate at least 3 hrs. overnight if possible. Top w/ cool whip just before serving.

*You can substitute regular limes if key limes aren't available (turns out just as good. )

Sweet And Sour Meatloaf

Yeah it's Monday again and that means Recipe Swap Monday. I found lots of yummy looking recipes to try last week. Head over to Anissa at Our Chaotic Life to check out more wonderful recipes. :)

So this week I am sharing a recipe that helped me to appreciate how good meatloaf can be. I was never a meatloaf person, when I thought of comfort food meatloaf never came to mind, however my family all seems to really like it and I got tired of making a dinner that I didn't want to eat so I tried out a few meatloaf recipes before I found this one and ever since I've found it I can now enjoy meatloaf night with the family. I am going to try adding cheese next time though after seeing Sandra's over at Full Bellies, Happy Kids cheese stuffed meatloaf I've decided one more addition couldn't hurt.

Anywho here it is:

Sweet and Sour Meatloaf

Meatloaf

1 pd. ground beef

1 1/2 tsp. Worchestershire sauce

1 tsp. salt

2 tbs. onion powder

1/4 c. rolled oats

1/4 c. bread crumbs

2/3 c. milk

Sauce

1/2 c. Ketchup

2 tbs. cider vinegar

4 tbs brown sugar

1 tbs. onion powder

6 tbs. water

For the meatloaf, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine the ground beef, worcestershire sauce, salt, onion powder, oats, bread crumbs, and milk. Place the meat mixture in a loaf pan. Bake for 20 mins.

For sauce, combine the ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, onion powder and water. Pour the sauce over the meatloaf after it has cooked for 20 mins. Reduce the over temp. to 375 and bake the loaf for an additional 40 mins.

Lemons Anyone???

This weekend I was using quite a few lemons to cook with so I decided to look up other everyday uses for lemons and here are a few of the ideas I found at gomestic.com:


~Cut a lemon in half and place in dishes for air fresheners.


~Clean and deodorize your microwave by placing 4 tablespoons of lemon juice in 1 cup of water. Place in microwaveable bowland boil for 5 minutes. The condensation from the boiled mixture will enable the microwave to be wiped out easily, and will deodorize the oven.


~By adding a teaspoon of lemon juice to rice while cooking you can prevent your rice from sticking.


~Lemon or orange peels tossed regularly into the garbage disposal will keep the garbage disposal smelling fresh.

~Dry and achy hands and feet can be relieved with a mixture of lemon juice and olive oil used as a massage. The skin will feel softer too.


~Remove the foul odor of fish or the stain of berries from your hands by washing them first in lemon juice and then with soap and water.

Recipe Swap Monday

This is my first Monday participating but Anissa over at Our Chaotic Life is hosting a recipes swap and since I like food I thought this would be a perfect way to share and get some good recipes. So Here goes I don't have pics hopefully next week but here is the recipe

Creole Shrimp w/ Garlic and Lemon

1 pd. large shrimp, shelled and deveined

1 1/2 tbs minced garlic

1 tbs creole seasoning

1 red bell pepper

2 tbs. vegetable oil

Juice of 1 lemon

1/4 c. chopped parsley

• In a bowl, toss the shrimp w/ the garlic, creole seasoning and bell peppers



• In a skillet, saute the shrimp in the oil over moderately high heat, turning the shrimp once, until just white throughtout.



• Add lemon juice and parsley and serve.

There it is 7 ingredients 3 steps quick easy and good I ate it over rice. :)

Before & After

Shrimp Ceviche

This recipe since I got it a couple years ago has become one of my husbands favorites so I figured today would be as good as any to share it.

Shrimp Ceviche

3lbs shrimp cleaned
6 limes juiced
1 c. cilantro leaves
1 serrano chile, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 cucumber peeled and diced
4 lg. tomatoes, diced
4 lemons juiced
1 red onion
3 tbs. tomato paste
Salt and Pepper to taste

• Layout shrimp in bottom of dish. Pour lemon and lime juice over them.
• Refrigerate 3 hrs.
• Toss w/ remaining ingredients and refrigerate for one hour longer

That's it simple and tasty we usually just eat it with tortilla chips.

Sorry bout the after picture didnt realize my camera wasn't focused. It's about time to upgrade.

Happy Cinco De Mayo

Meatless Monday Roundup

Interested in sharing your meatless monday recipes, experiences or just get some good recipes visit Native American Momma's page and sign up for her Meatless Monday Roundup.