Taco Dip

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

1 (8 ounce) package sour cream

1 (1.25ounce) packet taco seasoning

1/4 cup salsa

3 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese

In medium mixing bowl, whip the cream cheese with an electric mixer. 

Add sour cream and taco seasoning. Mix well.  

Spread in serving dish. Spoon salsa over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle cheddar cheese over top. Serve with tortilla chips.

 This recipe is a crowd pleaser! It is super easy to make and there are never any leftovers.

My new cookbook is available at schools, businesses, hospitals, and book fairs in cities across the United States.  Be sure to pick up a copy or two, when you see them.  They make great gifts!

Check back on Tuesday,
for my Tuesday's Tips & Tricks post! 

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Visit my friends blogs!

GINGERLOCKS' KITCHEN, has become one of your favorite blogs! Stop by Jordan's blog and take a peek! 

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Slow Cooker Salsa

8 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup finely diced onion
2 to 4 jalapeños, seeds and veins removed, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 teaspoons taco seasoning mix

Place tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, and garlic in slow Cooker.  Mix well.  

Cover with the lid.  Cook on low 2 1/2 to 3 hours.  

Add taco seasoning.  Salt to taste.  Mix well. Cool slightly.  

In batches, add salsa to blender or food processor.  Blend until smooth.
Cool completely before serving.  Serve with tortilla chips.

I know what you are thinking, "Taco seasoning in a salsa recipe.  Is she crazy?"  If you ask anyone, but my sister Shelley, they would say no.  Most of the time my sister would agree, I am not crazy.

There are a lot of people who are afraid of using spices, so they shy away from recipes that use several different types.  By using the taco seasoning, you get a great mix of the Mexican flavors you love in salsa, without being intimidated.

My husband prefers cooked, blended salsas to chunky salsa.  This recipe is one of his favorites.  I hope you like it too! 

My new cookbook is available at schools, businesses, hospitals, and book fairs in cities across the United States.  Be sure to pick up a copy or two, when you see them.  They make great gifts!

Check back on Tuesday,
for my Tuesday's Tips & Tricks post! 

Follow me on my Facebook page!

Visit my friends blogs!

GINGERLOCKS' KITCHEN, has become one of your favorite blogs! Stop by Jordan's blog and take a peek! 

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Grilled Salsa

Grilled Salsa

4 large firm tomatoes
2 to 4 jalapenos
1/2 of a medium onion
3 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
1/4 cup cilantro
3 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon cumin

Rub oil over tomatoes, jalapenos, and onion. 

Grill over high heat until chard on all sides.  

Remove stem from tomatoes.  Cut top off of jalapenos.  Slice jalapenos lengthwise.  Scrape out seeds.

Combine all ingredients in blender.  

Cover.  Blend until well mixed

When we were in Mexico last month, my husband could not get enough of this salsa.  After asking several people, I finally got the recipe. The key to making this salsa is getting the vegetables as charred as possible.  The more char, the better the flavor.

I am in Cape Town, South Africa.  

You can follow my trip by visiting my Facebook page.

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Prize Winning Mexican Casserole Recipes

Southwestern Chili Cheese Dog Casserole

4 cups chili, divided
8 hot dogs
8 fajita size flour tortillas
16 tablespoons Monterrey jack queso dip, divided
1 1/2 cups shredded pepper jack cheddar Mexican blend cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Spread 2 cups chili on the bottom of 11x7 or 13x9 baking pan.  Spread 2 tablespoons queso dip on each tortilla.  Place a hot dog on each tortilla, roll up like an enchilada.  Place tortillas seam down in baking pan.  Spread 2 cups chili over tortillas.  Sprinkle pepper jack cheese over top.  Cover will foil.  Bake 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

 Nacho Chicken Mac & Cheese

1 (12 ounce) box mac and cheese
1 1/4 cups salsa, divided
1 (10 ounce) package frozen cooked fajita chicken strips
1 1/4 cup shredded Mexican cheese
2 cups slightly crushed nacho cheese tortilla chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare mac and cheese according to package directions.  Spray a 9x9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. In baking dish, combine prepared mac and cheese and 3/4 cup salsa.  Mix well.  Microwave chicken strips for 3 to 4 minutes or until heated through.  Arrange on top of mac and cheese mixture.  Spread 1/2 cup salsa over chicken.  Sprinkle 1 cup shredded cheese over salsa.  Top with crushed tortilla chips.  Sprinkle 1/4 cup shredded cheese on top.  Bake 20 minutes.

One of the highlights of being at the Iowa State Fair was judging cooking competitions!    I judged sugar cookies, desserts, scones, casseroles, and bread contests.  There are fabulous cooks in Iowa and it is very hard to pick a winner.

 

I am really glad you don't know who makes the dishes you are testing.  As it turned out, many of my friends won or place in the contests I judged.  My friend Darrellyn, won second place in the, "Quick and Easy 5 Ingredient Casserole Contest", with the above, Southwestern Chili Cheese Dog Casserole recipe.

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Restaurant Salsa

Restaurant Salsa

2 to 4 jalapeno peppers, seeds and veins removed

1 small onion, quartered
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin

In blender container, combine jalapeno peppers, onion, cilantro, and 1/2 of tomatoes.  Cover.  Blend well.  Add remaining ingredients.  Cover. Pulse until blended.

We eat a lot of salsa at our house, and it is not just because we live in New Mexico, it is because we love it!  This recipe is one of our favorites.  You can customize the heat in the salsa by adding the peppers to the blender at the end, tasting after every addition, until you arrive at the desired heat.

When the fresh tomatoes are looking a little on the not so tasty side, there is no need to fear; thanks to canned tomatoes you can have salsa any time of the year.  Our grocery store sells fresh jalapeno peppers all year long.  If you can't find fresh jalapenos in your store, you can substitute canned diced jalapenos.

           

Last Sunday the Passion Radio Network, where I have my "Fast Food Friday's" show and where I co-host an afternoon drive time show called, "Cross Connection" with my husband Stan, had Michael W. Smith in concert.

It was an incredible concert!  He not only played his new songs, but he also played some of my old favorite songs like, "Friends are Friends Forever".    

Michael W. Smith with my cookbook.

Michael W. Smith and his crew had dinner before the concert.  I prepared the above Restaurant Salsa recipe, my Mediterranean Salsa, and my Caramel Banana Trifle for them.  All three recipes were a big hit.

The Winner of the Giveaway is:

Gloria of Canela Kitchen

Congratulations Gloria!  

Please email me your address at mykindofcooking@gmail.com

A special thank you to Melynda of Mom's Sunday Cafe, for posting my Pretzel Toffee recipe!  Please check out her fantastic blog, you will be happy you did!

Check out my friend Bo's

Le Creuset French Oven Giveaway! 

Linked With:

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully 
follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Stop by and visit Ashley, at What Does A Songbird Sing.  She posts recipes and exercise tips on her blog, and who couldn't use a little more of both!

Recipe: Mediterranean Salsa

Mediterranean Salsa

3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup fine chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tomatoes, seeded, chopped
24 green olives, chopped fine
2 Anaheim Chiles, seeded and chopped fine
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt

In large saucepan over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until lightly browned.  Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low.  Simmer 5 minutes.

This recipe has a unique blend of flavors and the perfect amount of heat.  It is from the first cookbook I wrote, MILD TO WILD MEXICAN COOKBOOK.  The recipe was a last minute addition.  The designer called me, saying she needed one more salsa recipe to complete the Appetizer section of the book.

I had already put all of my salsa recipes in the cookbook, so I had to create a new one.  As I opened my cabinet, I was praying for inspiration.  The first thing  that caught my eye, was a jar of green olives.  I immediately thought back to a conversation I'd had earlier in the day with Fareed, the owner of my favorite radio station, Passion Radio, where I do my "Fast Food Friday" segment.  We had discussed how much we both loved Mediterranean food, so when I saw the green olives, I knew I had to make a salsa with them in it. It only took two batches of salsa to get the desired blend of flavors.

My husband loves this recipe, so It is probably the one recipe that I make the most.  When I am creating a recipe, and I get it just the way I want it, I will seldom make it again.  I have to keep coming up with new recipes, because I am always working on a new cookbook, and you can't do that if you keep making the same recipe over and over again.

MILD TO WILD MEXICAN COOKBOOK, will soon be republished by my current publisher. 

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Check out my post about the Giveaway for details.

Visit my blogging buddy, Bo's Blog (say that three times fast), 

Bo's Bowl. Not only does he have great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!