links: new recipes to try

thanks hannah for posting that last recipe! i tried it, and it was so great. we ate it too fast for me to get a picture. but, i love using my crock pot, and i'm so glad to have a new recipe. next time i think i'll freeze half, because it's perfect comfort food that would be great to just pull out of the freezer one busy week night.

also, i tried the meatloaf cupcakes and loved those too. for real, y'all... try them! i'm attempting to clean out my pantry since we're moving soon. so, needless to say, i didn't have fresh veggies. instead, i took half a bag of frozen veggies, nuked them in the microwave, then pureed them, along with some fresh herbs (basil and oregano) in my food processor. i didn't use the beet juice in the mashed potatoes because that would freak my husband out, and also i didn't put any green onions on either-- same reason. i don't have icing bags or icing tips so instead i put the mashed potatoes in a plastic freezer bag and cut off a corner. that helped make the potatoes look more "icing" like.

i think these would be great appetizers, especially if made in mini cupcake pans. i'm sure the possibilities for being creative with the mashed potato icing and and garnish like sprinkles are endless!

lastly, tziporah sent me the link to a dish she recently tried from NPR: Chicken-And-Corn Fried Rice With Lemon Spinach. i'm definitely trying this soon...

Re: Finger Food: Spinach Dip Recipe

This past spring (i think) my mom had a dinner similar to the one you are going to, and Brentley's mom brought a really great spinach dip inside of a bread bowl. I wouldn't know where to start with making a bread bowl, but I do think that you could probably pick up a really great bread at Panera or even the grocery and cut out the middle and put the dip inside. She cut the bread that was inside the bowl into bite sized pieces and put that around the bread bowl so that we could eat the dip with the pieces of bread. The dip was so good we ate all the bread and had to pull out some crackers to finish it off...

Hot Spinach & Artichoke Dip
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach [thawed and squeezed dry]
1 pkg (8 0z) cream cheese [softened]
3/4 cup of mayo
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese
1 pkg of Knorr vegetable recipe mix
1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts [drained and chopped]
1 can (8 oz) water chestnuts [drained and chopped]
2 cloves garlic [finely chopped]

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients except 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese. Spoon into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. Bake for 35 minutes or until dip is hot.

*In my efforts to lower the calories in this dish I have used low fat cream cheese and there is no taste difference. However, when I used low fat mayo I did notice the taste was not quite the same. The dip was pretty much completely gone though, so maybe it wasn't that noticeable?