Three Crowd Pleasin' Party Dips! Think~ Super Bowl!

I love munchies! I wouldn't exactly categorize myself as a sports fan, (although Mike and I did make the trek to the 2009 Super Bowl) but if a sports party includes a pot-luck of snacks--well then, sign me up! 
Here are three easy TASTY dips to feed and please the fans.

Seven Layer Mexican Dip

*Photo from the Grand Rapids Press

*This recipe was inspired by a very similar one posted by Karlee on LLS.  I've added my own twist to it.  Thanks Karlee!  This is a great one!

7-Layer Mexican Dip

• 3 medium ripe avocados, peeled,cored,mashed
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro, no stems
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 to 1 whole minced jalapeno pepper, seeds removed.
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2-1 package taco seasoning mix
• 2  9oz cans bean dip
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 bunch green onion, chopped
• 1 (3 ounce) can black olives (sliced or chopped)
• 1 (8 ounce) package shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Mix avocados, cilantro, lime juice, minced jalapeno & salt.
2. Mix mayonnaise, sour cream, and taco seasoning mix.
3. Layer ingredients as follows.
4. Bottom layer: Bean Dip.
5. Second layer: Avocado mixture.
6. Third layer: Sour cream mixture.
7. Fourth layer: Tomatoes.
8. Fifth layer: Onions.
9. Sixth layer: Olives.
10. Seventh layer: Cheese (I like to use Colby Jack cheese).

11. Top with extra sour cream/olives/salsa, etc. if desired.

Hot Artichoke Parmesan Dip

 

Drain artichoke quarters.  I leave mine like this but you can chop them a bit if you like smaller bites.

Add Mayo.  (use a good Mayo like Best Foods).

Freshly grate Parmesan cheese. (do not  use powdered or pre-grated cheese, it will not melt properly)

Add cheese to artichoke/mayo mixture and stir to combine.

Spread into a 9"X13" pan. 

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20-25min.  Until top is lightly browned and bubbling.

You  need a hearty cracker for this dip.  I like to serve it with Roasted Garlic Triscuits. 

Hot Artichoke Dip

2, 15oz cans Quartered Artichoke, drained.

1 cup Best Foods Mayo

1 cup freshly finely shredded Parmesan cheese.

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Spread in a 9"X13" pan.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 - 25 min.  Until top is lightly browned and bubbly.

Hot Buffalo Chicken Dip

Pick the meat off a Rotisserie Chicken

 

Mix chicken with buffalo sauce.

Spread softened cream cheese in the bottom of a 9"X13" pan.

Layer Buffalo chicken mixture on top of cream cheese.

I made a batch of Hidden Valley buttermilk ranch

Spread ranch over chicken mixture.

Sprinkle Mozzarella cheese over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 min or until heated through.  Serve with tortilla chips or celery (for low carb).

Buffalo Chicken Dip

1 whole rotisserie chicken

2 8oz packages cream cheese, softened

1 to 1 1/2 cups buffalo wing sauce

1 cup blue cheese or ranch dressing

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Pick the meat off a rotisserie chicken and combine with buffalo sauce in a mixing bowl.

Spread softened cream cheese on the bottom of 9"X13" pan.

Spread buffalo chicken mixture on top.

Spread blue cheese or ranch dressing on top of chicken mixture.

Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Bake 350 degrees for 20 min.

Serve with tortilla chips or celery (for low carb).

Fun Archive of Bento Lunch Ideas

Since I started making Bento lunches before I started blogging.  I thought I'd post some Bento lunch archive photos not yet featured on the blog.  I've tried to list supplies and describe foods used, but please feel free to ask me any questions in the comments and I will reply.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar






Caterpillar is ham, face made with nori punch, and leaf food picks for anteni, carrot flower
Cheese butterflies
wheat thin crackers
edamame in silicon Wilton baking cup
watermelon with veggie food picks
gogurt
oreo stix
lemonade


Hair Club for Hot Dogs



I just cut a hot dog in half, broke uncooked angle hair paste in half, then stuck the uncooked noodles in the top of the hot dog like hair. Next I boiled the hot dogs (with hard noodles sticking out the top) for 6 min and this was the result. The kids had a blast nibbling the hair. I used a nori punch for the faces and bow food picks. I plan to play around with this idea some more



Hello Kitty & Bunny Friend w/ berry fruit salad

 
Here's the kit I used to make the rice HK characters (they were pretty easy with the kit)






The Good Fairy, Little Bunnies Foo-Foo & a Field Mouse.




Remember Little Bunny Foo Foo?
http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/l007.html

My kids love me to sing Bunny Foo Foo to them so that was my inspiration for today's meal.
My dh is traveling and took the good camera, so I had to use Elyse's little camera to take the photos...I apologize for the quality but you can get the idea.
Fairy sandwich cutter is from

http://www.thelunchpunch.com/
Picks I got from jbox but you could probably find them by searching "bento food picks" on ebay.
Mouse I made out of a strawberry w/ almond slices for ears, corn nose and green bean tail (basically what I could dig up with leftovers in frig).

The Froggy Pond

Frog sandwich cutter is from

http://www.thelunchpunch.com/
Duck Food picks purchased off ebay.

Bunny, Flowers, Hearts & Butterflies



Today we have a strawberry Gogurt, Motts cinnamon apple sauce, organic chocolate milk and then the sparkle HK bento box (from jbox.com) contains...
Ham roses: I cut ham in strips and rolled to make flowers.
Bunny hard boiled egg: this was super easy! I just used an egg mold like in this former blog post:
http://thelemonista.blogspot.com/2010/11/thankful-turkey-bento-bento-egg-molds.html
and Voila!!!
The bunny's hair flower is a royal icing flower from www.fancyflours.com
Pepperage Farm brand butterfly crackers and cheddar cheese hearts cut with a little cookie cutter. The blue kitty fork you can find on ebay and jbox.
Frog ice pack is from Target :-)

*This was my first Bento lunch, ever! 
Royal Panda Bento

The little blue elephant container holds ranch to squeeze on the carrots
Ham & cheese princess crown sandwich with removable heart.
Fresh strawberries with panda food pics
Yogurt covered raisins in reusable silicone heart shaped cup.
Bento box is from Borders books!
The sandwich cutter is from
www.thelunchpunch.com
the rest of the supplies I ordered from Japan from this site http://www.jbox.com/

Happy Lunch Packing!
~The Lemonista

Marizpan Cookies ~ Frogs & Peas!

I've been making marzipan cookies since I was a little girl.  My mother would work with us for hours making all sorts of little fruits and vegetables with this cookie dough.  She would pack an assortment of our artistic cookie creations in a fancy box and send it to our teachers each year for Christmas.  Problem was that the cookies were so darling, no one could bring themselves to eat them!  But trust me, these are a delicious shortbread-like cookie with a wonderful bakery taste.

A few years back I sat scratching my head for a last minute New Years gift idea.  I had just finished a daily Play-Doh session with the kids and my mother's marzipan cookies popped into my head.  The kids loved the little frogs I made for them out of Play-Doh, so I thought, "Why not cookie dough."  Well, these were the result~





We passed these Happy New Year frogs out around the neighborhood and they were an instant hit.  I've been making them every year since.   Here's how:

Shape your dough into a lopsided ball.


Form frogs mouth on the rim of a glass.


roll two balls for feet.


Press feet on thicker side of frogs body.


Set your frog on a parchment lined cookie sheet and chill for 30 min.
Bake for 30 min at 300 degress and let cool completely.


Add pre-made royal icing eyes from Fancy Flours by attaching them with a dab of icing.
http://www.fancyflours.com/sugar-eyes-small.html
Or, make your own eyes by piping white icing dots with a black icing dot in the middle.





Time for the pink tongue.  I generally use a # 65 Ateco tip with pink icing to make the tongue, but tonight I thought I'd give it a try with a zip-lock back with the corner snipped off.  This method works well if you don't have cake decorating supplies.




When I finished, I let the icing dry and then boxed these little guys up in mini Chinese take-out containers that I bought at Hobby Lobby.





Just to show you the sky is the limit with what you can create with this dough, I also made some green peas.  Grin.


To make the peas, start with your pod.


Lay the pod on a parchment lined cookie sheet and roll three tiny peas.


Add your peas to the pod.






Fold up the sides of your pod and pinch the ends into points.


Place your finished peas into the frig for 30 minutes and then Bake for 30 min at 300 degrees.
Let cool completely.  I packed these in cute mini pink Chinese take-out boxes. 


Marzipan Cookies

1 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. Almond Extract
1/4 tsp. Vanilla Extract

Cream butter and sugar.  Mix in extracts.  Gradually mix in flour. 
Make dough desired color with food coloring.  Keep in mind that you can separate dough and make a couple different colors.

Shape dough into desired shapes.  (If you can work with Play-Doh, you can work with cookie dough)
Chill shapes on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes.  Bake at 300 degrees at 30 min.
Allow cookies to cool completely before decorating.
Makes around 4 dozen cookies.

Happy New Year!
~ The Lemonista