Super Bowl (Three-Ingredient) Appetizers

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Superbowl week is generally a pretty exciting week around here.

I love to dream up new foods for a party and 

gather around friends and family for the big game.

Except, when my team gives away their chance to play in the Superbowl,

then, it's a little lackluster to think about the game

and how close we were to being there. 

Even though the Packers are also going to be watching from home,

I am still dreaming up some good treats

and want to share with you 

a collection of 3-ingredient appetizers for your own party!

Starting with the easiest…

Ranch Mushrooms…

Just add 2 packages of mushrooms, 

1 stick of butter and 1 packet of Ranch Seasoning 

to a slow cooker for a few hours. 

This picture just does not do these tasty bites justice.

Serve 'em straight from the slow cooker

or on a platter with a tooth pick. 

Next up,

Queso Blanco

Just salsa verde, cream cheese and 1 tbsp garlic powder. 

Can be whipped up in the microwave,

stirring after every 30 seconds or so. 

Or, in a mini-slow cooker 

for easy serving during the game. 

Another big hit…

Ham-Wrapped Pickles. 

Baby Dill pickles, deli sliced ham and 

veggie or onion cream cheese. 

Spread cream cheese on the ham. 

Roll up a pickle inside. 

Secure with a toothpick. 

Last, but not least, 

these amazing

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

Simply thawed shrimp, wrapped in partially-fried bacon, topped with pizza sauce

and baked for 10 minutes at 350 F. 

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

As the holidays are fast approaching, 

I've been wanting to share with you fabulous recipes for parties and gatherings. 

This one is so easy, indulgent and delicious!

Shrimp, wrapped in bacon and topped with pizza sauce.

These little bites of Italian, smokey, crispy shrimp

are signature of my brother Nick and have quickly become a traditional staple

at holidays and family trips.  

Seriously, you can whip these up in less than 30 minutes

with just THREE ingredients! 

Bacon, Shrimp and Pizza Sauce,

that's it!  

Start by lightly pre-frying 1# of bacon. 

If you have read any of my bacon wrapped entries in the past,

you will already know that 

I prefer to get the bacon started before wrapping to enhance the texture and appearance. 

One pound of raw, peeled large shrimp. 

Shrimp gets so rubbery if over cooked, so I always start with raw. 

Using 1/2 slice, wrap the bacon around the shrimp,

securing with a toothpick from the side,

to allow for topping with the sauce. 

Finally, top with about a tablespoon of pizza sauce and

pop into a 350 F oven for just about 10 minutes. 

You will know the shrimp are cooked because they are pink and opaque,

no longer gray and translucent.  

These could be made be prepped ahead of time and just popped into the oven as the guests are arriving for a tasty appetizer. 

RECIPE:

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Bake Time: 10 minutes at 350 F

Makes nearly 30 individual bites. 

Ingredients:

1# Large Shrimp - raw, de-veined and peeled

1# Bacon

Pizza Jar - small

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. 

Pre-fry bacon until lightly browned. 

Wrap 1/2 slice of bacon around shrimp. 

Secure with toothpick from the side. 

Top with 1 tbsp of pizza sauce. 

Bake for 10 minutes, or until shrimp are thoroughly cooked. 

**Pin NOW, if you haven't already!**

Bacon Wrapped Stuffing Balls

Hope you had a great snowy weekend!

I have to admit, that I don't object to the snow this weekend…other than the horrendous drive home last night from basketball.  The kids asked to go outside and play when we got home at 9 pm and they were surprised that I agreed.

Then, today the kids were outside playing for hours with various neighbor kids…which was wonderful in itself and great because it was many more hours than they would have played outside had there not been snow on the ground.

I know it's a bit early, but it feels festive and gives people of all ages a great reason to get outside and enjoy the outdoors.  

At least Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away, so the holidays are nearly upon us and I have a fabulous upgrade to an already delicious holiday staple.

Picture this scenario...

What if you told your family, "Hey, we're not having stuffing at Thanksgiving this year…."

Can you imagine the dissatisfaction?!?!

Until, you announce, "We're having Bacon Wrapped Stuffing Balls instead!"

They might forgive you then!

These are just amazing, 

but don't take my word for it…

give them a try yourself! 

Just start with softening 1 medium, chopped onion in 1/2 cup of butter. 

While the onion is getting started, the bacon got pre-fried a bit too. 

I have enough bacon-wrapped experience

 to know that the final dish is just a little better 

if the bacon has been pre-fried a bit first.

Provides some of that fabulous bacon-y texture that we all love while cooking off some of the fat.  

The key in pre-frying is to ensure that it doesn't get too done.  

It still has to be soften enough to be pliable,

not so brittle that it crumbles.  

If that happens, just throw it in with the stuffing as the next best option!

Back to the onions and butter. 

Add 3 cups of chicken broth and bring it to a boil. 

Once boiling, remove from heat and

 add about 7 cups of cubed and seasoned stuffing. 

If you are all about the home made stuffing, 

I commend you. 

Problem is that we don't generally eat much bread around here, 

so I didn't have anything to stale.  

Stir the stuffing and broth well. 

And just keep stirring because it will take a while for the stuffing to absorb the moisture. 

Feel free to give it a few minutes, 

(check on the bacon)

and come back for more stirring. 

It is OK if the stuffing begins to break up. 

It needs to be rather soft to form into the stuffing balls. 

Scooping out about 1/2 cup of stuffing, 

form into balls. 

These are about a single serving size. 

However, anyone who really loves that Thanksgiving food-coma,

may want more than one of these. 

All 9 stuffing balls, got their own little piece of heaven, uh, I mean bacon. 

Secured in place by a toothpick. 

Baked for 350 F for 30 minutes. 

I can't really say enough good things about these….

If you ever are tempted to jump off the gluten bandwagon, 

these would be the best possible reason!  

Bacon Wrapped Stuffing Balls
Recipe:

Prep Time : 15 minutes

Bake Time : 30 minutes

Serves: 9

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Butter

1 medium onion - chopped

3 cups chicken broth

7 cups of seasoned and cubed Stuffing Mix

1/2 lb bacon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F

Saute onion in butter over medium heat in a stock pan. 

Add 3 cups of chicken broth, bring to a boil. 

Remove from heat and add the stuffing mix.

Allow to sit and soak up the liquids. 

Lightly, pre-fry the bacon. 

Using approximately 1/2 cup of stuffing, form into a ball. 

Wrap with bacon and secure with a toothpick. 

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. 

Baked BBQ Monterey Chicken

Welcome to November and all of the wonderful things that come along with it,
including an extra hour in your day and brighter mornings.  

How did you use your extra hour yesterday?

We definitely felt less rushed all day and enjoyed a long evening
including baking as well as a couple games of Scattegories and Would You Rather?

I think we are going to have to implement some evening walks or something else active 

to break up the evening and fend off my desire to go to bed at 7 pm.

Despite having longer evening hours, 

I am certain that doesn't mean you want to spend more time cooking, 

so this easy Baked BBQ Monterey Chicken recipe is just the recipe for you.

Just start with a layer of BBQ sauce in the bottom of the baking dish.

Then, place the chicken in the dish.  

I used 4 large chicken breasts, about 3 lbs, that I cut into 3 tenders each.

The tenders were topped with more BBQ sauce and brushed to spread evenly.

Then baked at 375 F for about 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked to 165 F.  

Finally, the BBQ chicken was topped with
shredded cheese and crumbled bacon 

 and broiled for the last 5 minutes before serving to your hungry dinner guests!

Knowing what I know now, 

I would have loved to serve these tasty chicken tenders over a bed of lettuce 

for a perfect combination of flavors and textures.

Seems like once the cooler temps move in, so do the cooked veggies, 

as I'm always looking for something to warm the body and soul.  

But warm and flavorful protein on a bed of lettuce 
would be an ideal combination!

RECIPE:

Serves 4

Prep time : 5 minutes

Cooking time : 35 minutes

Ingredients:

3# Chicken Breasts - cut into 3 tenders each

BBQ sauce of your choice - we use Sweet Baby Rays
2 cups Shredded Cheddar cheese 
6 slices of bacon - crumbled

Directions:
Prepare the 9x13 baking pan with a layer of BBQ sauce. 
Place the chicken tenders in the pan and top with more BBQ sauce. Spread evenly. 
Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes or until internal temp reaches 165 F. 
Top with shredded cheese and crumbled bacon. 
Broil for 5 minutes. 

Serve with rice and a salad. 

Bacon Bleu Burgers topped with Herb and Carmelized Onion Mayo

Ok, fine, the cat is out of the bag.

We don't always eat healthy...

But, when we do indulge, we are sure to save it for ourselves, uh, protect our children from it. Yeah, right, that's what we do.

Truth be told, it was a rare occasion when all three kids were gone and when I asked Jerry what he wanted for dinner he said steaks or burgers.

No brainer for me...Burgers it is!

I enjoy a good steak, when someone else prepares it for me, but I'm no connoisseur of selecting or preparing a good steak, so I'd rather leave that to the professionals.

Besides, there are so many good fun things to do with burgers!

And a steak wouldn't leave me with much to share with y'all.

It didn't take long to scan my mental burger wish list and come up with these amazing babies...Bacon Bleu Burgers.

And, here Jerry just thought he was getting plain-Jane burgers…boy was he wrong! 

Starting with the most obvious AND delicious ingredient

fried up 4 slices of heaven, uh, I mean bacon. 

Crumbled the bacon into a bowl with the 1# ground beef and about a cup of crumbled bleu cheese. 

Also added 1 tsp of seasoning salt, which was completely unnecessary.  

Combine all of that deliciousness. 

Divide into 4 patties and throw on to grill (or grill pan, as the case may be). 

While the burgers were cooking, sliced up some leftover onion. 

Thought that some caramelized onions would be a nice topper. 

I was right!!! 

They cooked down and browned right up! 

Another fabulous topping could be some herbed mayo.  

Snipped some fresh basil and parsley from my deck,

Gave them a rough chop and mixed them into about a cup of mayo.  

Nice fresh condiment to compliment the burger. 

(The left over onions were mixed in for an even better sauce!)

Here is my burger, with the onions mixed right in the mayo…

(See how Jerry gets the fancy plate too!)

So fabulous!  

RECIPE:

Yield: 4 - .25 lb burgers

Ingredients:

4 slices of bacon

1# ground beef 

1 cup of crumbled bleu cheese

Half of an onion - sliced

1 cup mayo

handful of fresh herbs (basil and parsley)

Directions:

Cook and crumble bacon. 

Combine bacon, bleu cheese and ground beef. 

Divide into 4 burgers and grill until done. 

Brown the onion for a burger topper or mayo ingredient. 

Chop up fresh herbs and stir into mayo. 

Ham Cobb Salad

Again, we are finding ourselves amidst another glorious weekend in southern Wisconsin!  Just can't get enough of these highs in the 70's with lots of sunshine and a light breeze.  These days are so perfect.

In fact, today I may or may not have napped on the deck for an hour…ahhh!

That was much needed after a great night in Chicago taking in the sounds of the legendary Billy Joel.  So grateful to have a friend within earshot of Wrigley.  We hung out on the deck, enjoyed a perfect summer and with the Piano Man himself serenading us!

I'll take it.

Now, back on the home front, needing to get back to healthier meals…it is so crazy to me that one night can throw me for such a loop…but, it is certainly OK to happen from time to time!

Thought I'd share with you today my Cobb Salad, which would be perfect for a Sunday lunch or evening on the patio.

Enough veggies to make it healthy and enough protein to fill you up!  Probably why Jerry requested it.

And, like most of my recipes, the options are endless… just make it work with whatever you have on hand.

Meat, veggies, cheese, throw 'em all together with some bacon on top and you are golden!

The base of this salad was a head or two of leafy romaine, freshly chopped. 

I know those bags of salad are so convenient, but the fresh stuff lasts so much longer and tastes better too!  

Then, just start piling on the goodies.  

One cup of cubed ham. 

One cup of corn (I generally use frozen). 

Four hard boiled eggs 

(somehow I managed to misplace my handy-dandy egg slicer)

Two chopped Roma tomatoes.  

I love to add chopped avocado to everything and anything possible.  

Done!

Of course, top with crumbled bacon. 

Finish with your favorite cheese…1 cup of shredded cheddar. 

There was much debate around what kind of cheese to add. 

And, most of them will work great!  

Mix it up, try new things…what do you love on your Cobb salad?