Recipe Posts

Anyone else wondering where the heck time has gone lately? I sincerely hope it’s not just me standing here wondering how it’s almost July already!?! Summers in my friend/family/work circles are all about people making delicious dishes so we can visit (& eat!) the days away. In my case, there are a lot of food days at work because I happen to work at a fairly laid back company with some fairly amazing people! What’s a girl to do when everything that’s on the sign up sheet for the upcoming work food day is already something I would normally contribute? Make and bring in a family fave that no one at work is familiar with..of course! Why didn’t I think of that? Oh wait, I guess I kinda just did 😉 Which brings me (and now you) to the dip my family calls Fiesta Crab Dip!

This fiesta crab dip has been a long-standing family fave for about as far back as I can remember. In fact, I’ve got a great (and, by great, I mean regretfully embarrassing but still awesome) childhood memory of this dip. My cousins and I were not-so-patiently waiting for the extended family get-together’s meal to begin one fateful summer day. Much to our chagrin, the adults seemed to be in no rush to get that portion of the day underway. Obviously we were poor starving children who hadn’t had a snack in forever and we had been banished to “go play in the basement” until dinner was ready. My cousins and I were no dummies, we knew that dinner bell wouldn’t be (metaphorically) ringing anytime in our near future.

So, geniuses that we were, we decided to sneak upstairs and swipe just one serving tray of dip and one bag of chips. Our dip of choice? Fiesta crab dip! Who would notice those missing items in the smorgasbord of food already laid out on grandma’s kitchen surfaces? Apparently no one noticed. That is..until our parents finally did come downstairs to tell us dinner was ready and found that we had demolished the entire crab dip and bag of chips.

What could we say? We were just kids…growing kids at that…famished kids in dire need of some nourishment! Yeah, we didn’t fool our parents with those lines or our big puppy dog sad eyes either! On the bright side, we did make sure to share with everyone how tasty it was and that we tried to save some for everyone else, we really did. But, after so many banished-to-the-basement card games, boredom equates to hunger, everyone knows that!

Back to present day, I recently made that same dip recipe and brought it into work for a food day. It struck me as ironic that not one, not two, but multiple people said they had to have that recipe because they could eat the whole bowl themselves! This was pure validation to my childhood self that my cousins and I were indeed justified in consuming the whole dish ourselves. If adults want to eat this until they can’t eat any more then what chance did we (poor famished snack deprived kids) have? This all brings me to the most important point of this recipe: serving size is an estimate! I hope you enjoy this recipe and, for the sake of those you are serving it to, I really hope you start with a double batch 😉

This works extremely well in tortillas as a new twist on roll-ups too! (this tip brought to you courtesy of my brilliant sister-in-law!)

This recipe goes way way back in my family. Let me see now..yep, right at two whole months! If you are wondering whether this means that I’ve already run out of tried and true generations-passed-down recipes, have no fear! That is as far from the truth as could be. If you are now wondering why I’m venturing out and posting a new recipe, it’s because so many people in my family have requested it! Let me preface this post by saying that this recipe is definitely not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. Not a fan of honey mustard vinaigrette or goat cheese? Probably want to head back to my homepage and pick a different recipe to drool over. On the other hand, if you are open to the possibility of a new flavor bomb or just like the thought of a totally different kind of salad, read on my friends!

It should be apparent by now that I’m literally surrounded by amazing cooks. I can’t walk into any one of my family members’ houses without running into someone who made something delicious. Blessing? You betcha! Also a curse? Right-Amundo! What do I mean? Imagine looking forward to the next family function, holiday, or just random get together. You know you are going to eat great but you want to contribute to the deliciousness too. In most families, that’s no problem at all. Swing by the grocery store and grab a dip or salad from the deli and, voila, you brought a meaningful contribution.

In my family, the only things straight from the store are the accompaniments to the original creations (chips for the addicting new dip my sister-in-law made, fresh herbs for the sauce or dressing my sister just whipped up, crackers for the cheeseball recipe my other sister invented). Oh yeah, and most of my immediate family adds insult to injury by not even buying some of those staple items. They have the audacity to grow their own veggies and herbs and tackle making their own bread and buns and tortillas. Meanwhile I’m just sitting over here wondering how I killed that succulent plant that supposedly needed zero attention and asking myself if it’s ok to eat tortillas two weeks past the date on the package 😉

Cue this new salad recipe. Easter was coming up fast and my siblings and parents seemed to have every possible drink and food choice mapped out and everyone was bringing or making something incredible. I knew I needed to step up my game and not just bring one of our go-to salads…I needed to bring something new and oh so tasty! So, I did what any self respecting adult does, I panicked and went to the closest grocery store on my lunch break the week before Easter and prayed that something genius would come to me as I walked (hungrily) through the aisles.

Thank my lucky stars that the closest grocery store to my work is a Trader Joe’s. They just so happened to have honey goat cheese and candied pecans and pre-packaged Brussel sprouts with heavens light shining down and beckoning me! Just kidding, that didn’t even come close to happening. BUT the Brussel sprouts and honey goat cheese were on sale and the candied pecans were mostly an impulse purchase. As I walked out (toting numerous bags filled with other items that my empty stomach told me I desperately needed), I knew what my next step would be. Wasn’t there some Brussel sprout salad somewhere on Pinterest that I saved? Jackpot!!! Next thing I knew, I was combining a couple recipes and adding in extra ingredients to create this salad. It went over a little too well at Easter and I have since brought it to multiple gatherings and repeatedly been asked for the recipe so here we are folks! I hope you enjoy this as much as me and my family do!

It’s official, summer is here in full force! That means meals are changing from being thrown in crockpots to thrown on grills and everything is starting to include fresh produce. Whether your produce comes from the grocery store, the farmers market, or your very own garden there is just something about fresh veggies that screams ‘SUMMER’ at us!

Growing up on a farm I never fully appreciated the value of having so much fresh food at our fingertips..literally. I remember helping my parents till the dirt, hoe the rows, plant the seeds, and water the various fruits and veggies for that year’s garden. As kids, we didn’t have any issue putting in that work because we knew the end result would be us getting to pick snacks every time we walked by the garden later on. Those were the days…stopping and grabbing a handful of green beans and rubbing the dirt off them (and onto our shorts) as we walked away crunching on them.

This is the first year I’ve attempted a container garden…actually it’s the first year I’ve attempted any kind of garden. I’m not jinxing myself by saying anything since it’s early but, so far, at least some of the items I planted are somehow surviving. Remember, I’m the same woman who managed to let a succulent plant (also known as impossible to kill plants) die just a few weeks ago… I won’t lie, the stress of trying to ignore my lack of green thumbs has been worth it. It’s fun to see my own daughter now running outside each day to check on “her” garden just like I used to do as a child. We are both obsessed with sneaking cherry tomatoes straight from the plant outside our deck whenever we get the chance. I am overjoyed at the level of love my kid has for healthy food and can only pray that continues as she continues to grow. Thankfully for both of us and our love of healthy stuff, my family has no shortage of recipes that center around garden fresh produce. This week’s recipe is a simple layered dip that you can adjust to your personal likes and dislikes quite easily. It is also simply stunning with so many colors of the garden on one plate!

Because of that, I knew this dish justified better quality pictures than those I usually snap on my phone midway through the process. I just so happen to have an amazingly talented sister-in-law who is, quite conveniently, also a fantastic photographer. The pictures this week are courtesy of her and I know you will enjoy them as much as I do! Please head to Facebook and search for her page @khphotographynebraska if you are looking for some incredible photos yourself! Whether it’s pictures for your own blog or website, family pictures, or really anything you need in/around the Omaha area, she’s got a great eye and takes some stellar pictures! If you need some convincing, check out this week’s simple recipe and gorgeous photos below as well as the pictures she’s got on her Facebook page 🙂

Teaser alert: wait until you see what she did with photographing Mom’s Monster Cookie recipe!!! I wanted to eat the screen the pictures looked so yummy…stay tuned for updated pics on that one!

Ok, sorry got a bit off track there but I am just so excited about her venturing into food photography! Now, where were we? Oh yeah, back to the healthy gorgeous fresh dip. I think you’re all ready for the food by now so keep scrolling for the latest family favorite recipe. I seriously hope these pictures convey just pretty this dish really is and I hope you get the gist of the recipe and how completely customizable you can make it. Enjoy and cheers to summertime!!!