Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Cream Cheese- 8 ounces

Mayonnaise-1/4cup

Sour Cream- 1/4 cup

Fresh Parmesan Cheese- 1/4 cup

Italian Mix Cheese- 1/4 cup

Mozzarella Cheese-1/3 cup 

1 bunch of Fresh Spinach

1 Jar of Artichoke Hearts

1 teaspoon of pink Himalayan salt

2 tablespoons of garlic powder (substitute for 2 fresh garlic cloves)

1/2 teaspoon of crush peppers

1 teaspoon of seasoned pepper

1/2 tablespoon olive oil (for cooking spinach)

 

Rinse and cut the stems off the fresh Spinach. Make sure the spinach is thoroughly rinsed and drained before placing it into the skillet. .

Pour the olive oil into a skillet a let it sit for a minute or two. Once the skillet is hot place the spinach into the skillet

 

Turn the spinach over a few times until it becomes soft.

 

Once the spinach is soft, remove from the heat and drain it in a strainer. I cut the spinach in thirds to make it easier to mix.

Remove the hearts from the jar. Personally I normally use fresh artichokes, however I did not have time to prepare a fresh artichoke for this recipe. Pour the artichokes in a bowl with the juice, heat the bowl up for 2 minutes. This softens the artichokes a little more. Remove the hot artichokes from the juice and dispose of the juice. Cut the hearts in half. This make them easier to mix up, when they are ready to add with everything else.

Place the artichokes and spinach in a strainer and drain the remaining juices.

Combine all seasonings together in a large mixing bowl

Add the spinach and artichoke in with the seasonings and stir until all of the ingredients are thoroughly mixed

Place the dip in a glass cooking dish. Layer with a 1/4 cup of Parmesan Cheese and add another layer of Mozzarella cheese (1/4 cup)  to top it off. Sprinkle a handful of crushed peppers (1 tsp.) on the top for color and or presentation. If you want your dip to be a little hotter, add more crushed peppers

So I placed this in a countertop oven at work. It cooked a little more than I preferred, however there were no complaints. Cook for 25-30 minutes on a 350 degrees. Remove and serve with tortilla chips or crackers and Enjoy!

Pineapple Margarita

Pineapple juice- 1/2 cup

Tequila- 1/4 cup

Triple Sec- 1/3 cup

( You can add more or less of each ingredient to appease taste buds)

 5pieces of 2-3 inches fresh pineapple slices 

1 1/2 cup of ice

Combine all ingredients into blender.

Blend until ice is completely crushed and blended and drink is thoroughly mixed.

Take 1/2 a lemon and rub it on the rim of the glass, dip the glass rim in sugar. Add the margarita and garnish with a fresh pineapple and Enjoy! 

Hennessey Side Car

2 ounces of sweet and sour

2 ounces of sparkling cider

3 ounces of Hennessy.

I coated the rim with sugar, for personal preference to lessen the strong blow of the liquor! Pour and Enjoy!

Salsa Verdé

This is a little under 2 pounds of tomatillos

Remove the skin. Once you remove the skin they will be a little sticky. Rinse thoroughly and place in a medium size pan to boil  

Place in pan to boil for 25 minutes 

I used  half of a banana pepper that had changed from its original color of light greenish yellow to orange. I creates a little heat and adds more flavor.  

1/2 yellow bell pepper

1/2 green bell pepper

1/2 white onion

3 cloves of peeled garlic.

Once I skin the white onion I place the onion directly on the stove on a high heat to blacken it.

Once the tomatillos are soft, combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend for 60 seconds

Let salsa cool down by placing in refrigerator for a couple of hours. You can add 1/4 cup of water to keep the consistency in tack. Serve with chips, over tacos or any other food and Enjoy!

Bake Parmesan Zucchini

Take 3 green zucchinis. Wash them and remove the ends 

Cut the zucchinis into fourths the wide way 

Fresh shredded parmesan 

Thyme- 1 teaspoon

Basil- 1 teaspoon

Sage- 1 teaspoon

Black salt-1/2 teaspoon

Granulated Garlic-1 teaspoon

combine all seasoning together once they are measured out.   

Sprinkle oil olive over sliced zucchini 

 Mixed and spread seasonings after oil olive is directly applied to the zucchini

Bake in a preheated oven on 375 degrees for 20 minutes. You can eat them whole or slice them. Enjoy!

Salmon over broccoli or asparagus wrapped in foil

A really quick, easy prep weekday dinner with lots of flavor

Remove salmon from package and rinse. Let it dry a little and prepare to slice. Slice the salmon into fillets about 3-4 inches wide

Rinse desired vegetables. I used broccoli and asparagus for this recipe 

Take broccoli crowns and place them on a piece of foil. The foil can be 15x12(inches) Sprinkle the vegetables with olive oil and sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder .

(broccoli)

Take your fillet and lay it directly over the vegetables. Add additional seasoning to the fillet.

(Asparagus)

I used sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder for both layers of my seasoning.  Cut a fresh lemon into 6 slices. Place 2 slice on each fillet. Top the lemon slices with dill, sprinkling lightly.

 

Wrap the fish and vegetables into the foil and place on a flat cookie sheet. Make sure no air can get to the fish. Ensure foil is completely covering everything. Preheat oven to 400. Cook for 45 minutes 

Once your fish is cooked thoroughly, remove lemons and Enjoy!  

Country Fried Potatoes

Although you only see 2 potatoes, I used 3 med sized potatoes 

Skin them and slice them into smaller pieces. Heat a skillet up on a med to high fire. Add 1/4 cup of cooking oil, coconut oil or olive oil to the skillet. Wait for the oil to get hot before you place the potatoes in the skillet.  

1/4 white onion

1/4 red onion

1/4 yellow bell pepper

1/4 green bell pepper

Add to skillet once the potatoes have been added 

1 pinch of black salt 

1 teaspoon of Pappy's

1/2 teaspoon of six pepper blend

1/2 teaspoon of rosemary garlic

1 teaspoon of creole seasoning

Stir all ingredients and add 1 tablespoon of water and let simmer. Once the water is absorbed into the potatoes the potatoes will begin to stick to the skillet, continue to stir until some of the potatoes get a little brown to them .

Once the desired amount of brown is reached, serve immediately and Enjoy!  

Salsa

 1 med size tomato

4 Roma tomatoes

1/3 red onion

4 gloves of peeled garlic

1 banana pepper

 I put all of the above ingredients in a baking dish lined with aluminum foil. I drizzled olive oil over the vegetables and placed them in my broiler on high for 20  minutes. The goal is to roast the vegetables to where the skin turns a little black and they soften.  Once the vegetables are somewhat blacken place all items in a food processer and pulse.

Add 1/2 bunch of cilantro

1 tablespoon of Cumin

1 teaspoon of sea salt

1.5 teaspoon of garlic powder

Blend in the seasoning until the vegetables reached desired consistency.

Place in a bowl or as you can see I used a mason jar. Store in the refrigerator for a few hours to cool down and serve with chips. Enjoy!  

Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken