Labor Day

Labor Day always means a reason for a party at my house and that means food for 10 to 15 people. This year I tried 2 new recipes and both turned out great for a change. I don’t know about you but I can make the same recipe 10 times but the day I count on it, it seems to fail or I forget about it in the chaos and it burns. Ah, truly a happy holiday!

 

The menu for the cookout was pretty traditional. You know, stuff like ribs and mac and cheese. I keep trying to make mac and cheese and sometimes it turns out and sometime it flops. I’ve been on a mission to find a recipe I can make that will turn out every time. I think I may have found a recipe that works.

This recipe started when I realized I didn’t have enough cheddar cheese. (I know who runs out of cheese when you’re planning on making mac and cheese?) Anyway, I had Velveeta cheese and cream cheese with chives and about a cup of pepper jack cheese. So that’s what’s in my mac and cheese. I don’t know why it worked but it did. I didn’t get a picture of it at the cookout so I made it again in crocks so I could take some to my mom tomorrow. (It’s Wednesday so it’s my day to take her grocery shopping.) Anyway, here’s the recipe

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                            Mac N’ Cheese My Way

                                  8oz elbow macaroni, cooked to al dente, drained

                                  ¼ cup onion, diced
                                  2 Tablespoons butter
                                  1 cup milk
                                  1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
                                  6oz cream cheese with onion and chive
                                  16oz Velveeta cheese, chopped
                                  1 cup Pepper Jack cheese, shredded 
                                  1 cup crushed potato chips
                                  1 Tablespoon butter, melted

 

Sauté the onion in 2 Tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add milk and Worcestershire sauce. Reduce heat to low. Add cream cheese and Velveeta. Stir until melted. Add Pepper Jack. Remove from heat and fold in cooked macaroni. Place in greased 9x11 baking dish or crocks.

 

In a small bowl combine potato chips and melted butter. Sprinkle over mac and cheese and bake at 340 for 20 minutes or just until top is browned.

 

 

I also needed a dip for the party so I thought I’d try a variation on a taco dip. I’ve tried recipes with a cold layered dip served with chips but I’m getting kind of bored with it so I seasoned some ground beef with taco seasoning. Then I mixed some cream cheese with crema and salsa. I spread that on top. Put it in the oven and topped it with cheese.

After it was cooked, I added the cold stuff.

 

I turned around and it was gone so I guess everyone liked it. I got a picture of it before we ate it. It sure looked good. It would be great at a football party. You could probably even make it look like a football field. Ah, maybe next party. Here’s the recipe. Hope you enjoy it. If you don’t have crema, sour cream will work.

 

 

 

 

 

                                                       Touchdown Taco Dip       

                                    1lb ground beef

                                    ¼ cup onion, diced
                                    2 teaspoons taco seasoning, more if you like
                                    6oz cream cheese, room temperature
                                    ½ cup crema or sour cream
                                    1/4 cup salsa
                                    8oz Pepper Jack cheese, shredded
                                             
                                    Lettuce, shredded
                                    Tomatoes, diced
                                    Green onion, diced
                                              
                                           Tortilla chips or small taco shells

 

Brown ground beef and onion over medium high heat. Add taco seasoning and remove from heat. Spread into bottom of 9x11 baking dish.

In a small bowl combine cream cheese, crema and salsa. (I used a mixer) Spread mixture on top of ground beef. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Top with Pepper Jack cheese and bake 5 minutes more to melt cheese. Remove from oven and garnish with lettuce, tomatoes, onion and taco shells or chips.