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Easy Leftover Turkey Enchilada Soup

easy leftover turkey enchilada soup

If you are searching for a great way to use up your leftover turkey, search no more. This quick and easy leftover turkey enchilada soup is sure to please. It’s simply a twist on the more traditional chicken enchilada soup. Certainly better than Campbells or chili’s chicken enchilada soup. As long as you have the stock prepared, you could be enjoying this soup in about 20 minutes.

How do you prepare turkey stock?

Start by boiling the leftover turkey carcass in a pot of water for 4-5 hours. You can add a few cilantro stems to the pot to enhance the flavor. Strain the stock while it is still warm. Then allow the meat to cool a bit before stripping the remaining meat from the bones.

What is the secret to the best enchilada soup?

The first secret ingredient that makes the best enchilada soup is masa harina. It is the flour used for making corn tortillas. Turns out it is also the best flour to use when thickening your enchilada soup.

The second secret ingredient is Monterey Jack cheese shredded from the block. If you by the block of cheese and shred it yourself it will melt into the soup creating a creamy broth. Do not try to melt pre-shredded cheese into your soup. It does not melt well and will always have little strings of not quite melted cheese in the broth.

Leftover turkey enchilada soup ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons avocado oil
  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 4-5 cloves of garlic minced
  • 2/3 cup masa harina
  • 5 cups turkey stock
  • 3 cups leftover turkey, cubed or shredded
  • 3 (10-ounce) cans red enchilada sauce (mild, medium or hot)
  • 1 (7-ounce) can of green chilis or hatch chilis
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
  • 1 (15-ounce) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (15-ounce) can corn
  • 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
  • 8 ounces of Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
  • tortilla strips
  • 3 avocados, diced
  • 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

How to make leftover turkey enchilada soup

  • In a large pot, heat up the avocado oil, add the onion and sauté until starting to soften, about 4 minutes. Add the minced garlic and continue to sauté for another minute.
  • Then make a roux by adding the masa harina until the onions are garlic are evenly coated.
  • Add the stock 1 cup at a time while stirring.
  • Once the stock is warm and slightly thickened, add the enchilada sauce, cumin, turkey, chilis, tomatoes, beans, and corn.
  • Optional: Stir in the shredded Monterey Jack cheese. If you choose to do this, I would recommend using cheese shredded from a block rather than pre-shredded cheese.
  • Top with Shredded Monterey Jack cheese, tortilla strips, chopped cilantro and cubed avocado.
leftover-turkey-enchilada-soupPrint recipe

If you like this soup, try my better than olive garden Zuppa Toscana recipe.

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Easy Apple Pie Recipe

slice of apple pie
slice of apple pie

I have been scrambling to use up the abundant supply of apples from my 2 apple trees. Good things do come to those who wait. The first few years didn’t provide many, but now it’s almost a chore to use up all the apples 2 trees provide. So, it seems like a great time to share my easy apple pie recipe. Sure to please! Especially if made with my best pie crust recipe, which also happens to be very easy!

Which apple variety is best for apple pie?

Honestly any variety of apple will make a delicious apple pie, except maybe red delicious which I personally think tastes like Styrofoam. My mom always likes to use McIntosh for pies because they are softer and quite tart. I actually prefer the apples stay a little more firm in my pie, so I prefer to use Gala, Honeycrisp, or Fuji.

Easy Apple Pie Filling:

  • 6 cups of peeled and sliced apples
  • 2 tablespoons tapioca
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 tablespoons of butter

Best Pie Crust Ingredients:

  • 2 Cups + 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • pinch or salt

Easy Apple Pie assembly:

Mix all of the ingredients in the apple pie filling above, except the butter. I’ll admit that I often use more than 6 cups of apples.

Prepare the bottom crust and place it in your Pyrex pie dish. Add the filling mixture. Top with the butter.

Top with the crust, add some slits, and crimp the edges as desired. See my best pie crust recipe for more instructions. Cover the edges with foil. Bake at 425 degrees F for 30 min, then remove the foil and bake for another 10 min. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool before serving.

Easy-Apple-Pie-RecipeDownload

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Best Leftover Pulled Pork Street Tacos, better than Hello Fresh

Leftover pulled pork street tacos
Leftover Pulled Pork Street Tacos
Leftover Pulled Pork street tacos
Leftover pulled pork street tacos.

A pulled pork leftover street taco recipe so good it must be shared. I’m a big fan of using my leftovers. It is a great way to save money on groceries. For more info on how to save money on groceries check out my other post.

I made my pulled pork on my Traeger Silverton 620. This is the recipe I used to smoke the pulled pork on my Traeger, with the following changes: instead of apple cider, I added 1 cup of apple juice, 1/4 cup honey, and 1/4 cup dark brown sugar. I did not add anything to the pulled pork after shredding it. I prefer to allow each person to choose their own BBQ sauce.

What is the best way to use leftover pulled pork?

My favorite way to use my left over pulled pork is by making pulled pork street tacos. I got the idea for this recipe from a Hello Fresh recipe. I gave Hello Fresh a try and really enjoyed it. My family ended up with a couple of new favorite recipes from our trial subscription. This recipe is a creative spin on one of our favorites. It will not work if you have already added BBQ sauce to your pulled pork.

How to prepare leftover pulled pork for pulled pork street tacos.

Put your leftover pulled pork in a frying pan. Toss it around in the pan until warmed evenly. Add sweet soy sauce to coat. I used ABC Sweet Soy Sauce. Add about 1 tablespoon of sweet soy sauce per 1 cup of leftover pulled pork, and mix. If not fully coated add 1 tablespoon of sweet soy sauce and mix, continue adding 1 tablespoon at a time until fully coated but not soupy.

Leftover pulled pork for street tacos
Pulled pork for street tacos.

How to prepare coleslaw for your leftover pulled pork tacos.

I always make coleslaw as a side dish with my pulled pork. personally, I do not like soggy leftover coleslaw so I only dress (add dressing to) what I think my guests will eat. This way any leftover coleslaw mix will last weeks in the refrigerator and I can dress more whenever I feel like eating some. Also, I’m able to switch up the dressing for different recipes such as leftover pulled pork tacos.

Here is my basic coleslaw mix: 1 head of cabbage chopped (I like to use half red and half green), 3-4 carrots peeled and shredded, 1 sweet onion chopped. This mixture will last for 2-3 weeks in your refrigerator. For this leftover pulled pork street taco recipe I use 2-3 cups of my coleslaw mix, 3-4 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro, and 3-4 tablespoons of Seasoned rice vinegar. Mix right before serving. If you prefer less crunch, mix 20-30 min before serving and add a little salt.

coleslaw with cilantro for leftover pulled pork street tacos
Coleslaw for pulled pork street tacos.

What other toppings are needed?

For my leftover pulled pork street tacos I also make a quick crema. Just add a tablespoon or two of Sriracha hot sauce to 3 tablespoons of sour cream and mix!

crema for leftover pulled pork street tacos
Crema for pulled pork street tacos.

You can also add some shredded Monterey Jack cheese.

Leftover Pulled Pork Tacos RecipeDownload

Recipe By Kristin
Course: Dinner Cusine:Aisian Mexican Difficulty:easy

Servings

16 minutes

Preparing Time

20 minutes

Cooking Time

10 minutes

Calories

kcal

INGREDIENTS

  1. 1 head of cabbage chopped (or ½ a head of each green and red cabbage)

  2. 3-4 Carrots peeled and shredded

  3. 1 onion chopped

  4. ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

  5. Pinch of salt (optional)

  6. ¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar

  7. 4 cups leftover pulled pork

  8. ½ cup sweet soy sauce (more if needed)

  9. ½ cup sour cream

  10. 1-2 tablespoons sriracha sauce ( more if desired)

  11. 4 ounces grated Monterey jack cheese (optional)

  12. 16 4-inch street taco shells

DIRECTION

  1. Prepare the crema: 

    Mix the sour cream and sriracha.  Add more sriracha if desired. 

  2. Prepare the coleslaw mix. 

    Mix the chopped cabbage, shredded carrots, and onion.  Measure out 4 cups of the mix.  Save the remainder for another use.  Add the cilantro and vinegar.  Mix to coat.  Add salt if you prefer a softer coleslaw, and mix.

  3. Prepare the pulled pork.

    Put the pulled pork in a frying pan and warm it while mixing.  Add the sweet soy sauce.  Mix until coated but not soupy, add extra sauce if needed to coat the pork.  Remove from heat.

  4. Assemble the Tacos.

    Warm the taco shells if desired.  Top with pork, slaw, crema and cheese.

NOTES

    You can store the extra coleslaw mix in your refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.

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Better than Rachel Ray’s Italian Mac ‘n Cheese

better than rachel ray's Italian mac n cheese

It has been 15 years since I first tried Rachel Ray’s Italian Mac ‘n Cheese. A friend from my mom’s group brought me the dish after I had my third child. It was part of a meal train we put together to help out moms for the first couple of weeks after giving birth. Of the meals I received, this one was by far my favorite. I asked my friend for the recipe and for the past 15 years I have been modifying this recipe. I believe I have perfected the recipe now, because it is always a hit at my home. I am now ready to share with you my Better than Rachel Ray’s Italian Mac ‘n Cheese recipe.

Please feel free to compare my recipe with Rachel Ray’s Italian Mac & Cheese. My recipe is better because it has onions and because it has more sauce. The sauce in my recipe is also more flavorful due to the addition of more tomatoes and seasoning.

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Italian Mac ‘n Cheese Recipe

Ingredients:

1 Pound of Penne pasta

1 Pound bulk Sweet Italian sausage

12 Cremini Mushrooms (1 package), sliced

1 onion, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 Tablespoons butter

1/2 Cup flour

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 can of each: chicken broth, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

8 ounces of whipping cream

8 ounces of Italian Blend shredded cheese

1/2 Cup shredded Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Directions:

Prepare the pasta according to package directions. Drain and pour into a pyrex baking dish.

Brown the sausage, drain and set aside. Add the olive oil to the pan and sauté the onion until slightly softened. Add the mushrooms, garlic and butter. Toss to evenly coat, add salt, and continue to sauté until the mushrooms begin to soften. Stir in the flour until evenly coated. Slowly add the chicken broth, add a little and stir until the sauce thickens, then add more and stir. Repeat this process until the whole can is incorporated. Add the undrained can of diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning and pepper. Mix until well combined and return to a simmer. Return the drained sausage to the pan and add half of the shredded Italian blend cheese, mix until melted. Add the whipping cream and mix constantly until the sauce returns to a simmer, then remove from heat.

Pre heat the broiler to high. Pour the sauce over the pasta and mix. Top with remaining Italian blend cheese. Place the dish under the broiler for 3-5 min until the cheese in lightly browned. Serve with parmesan cheese.

If you like the recipe, you may also like my Better than Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana.

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Pharmacist Shares Immune Boosting Granola Recipe

Immune boosting granola pharmacist recommended

Customers are flooding into local pharmacies in search of immune boosting supplements. Many of these immune boosting ingredients can easily be included in your diet. It’s much less expensive to eat your vitamins than to purchase supplements. I’m a pharmacist and I would love to share my recipe for Immune Boosting Granola. Granola is a quick and easy breakfast or snack that can easily be added to any daily meal plan. Add some to you favorite yogurt or just pack it for a quick and easy snack.

Disclaimer: The statements made regarding this recipe have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The efficacy of this recipe has not been confirmed by FDA-approved research. This recipe is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Immune Boosting Nutrients

In order to make an immune boosting recipe, one first needs to know which nutrients are known to boost immunity. I have compiled a list of immune boosting vitamins and minerals, because adding more to your diet can help boost your immunity.

Vitamin C- There is research to support Vitamin C supplementation in reducing the length and severity of respiratory infections.1 Vitamin C plays an important role in immune response.

Zinc – Plenty of research is certainly available supporting zinc supplementation in reducing the length and severity of infections.1 Zinc is an important player in immune response.

Vitamin D – There is some evidence that vitamin D could reduce the risk of Influenza and COVID-19 infections and death.2

Vitamin B6- A deficiency in Vitamin B6 reduces your ability to make antibodies to fight off infection. Vitamin B6 could help strengthen immunity.3

Vitamin E- Immune response is enhanced by Vitamin E. It can provide protection against infections.4

Selenium- The immune system relies on adequate dietary selenium.5

Immune Boosting Ingredients

I selected my granola ingredients to include as many immune boosting vitamins and minerals as possible so they can help boost immunity. Here is a list of my ingredients because it is important to understand why they were included in my recipe.

  1. Elderberry syrup (find it here): Elderberry syrup is also used to enhance immunity. Elderberries are high in flavonoids, Vitamin A and Vitamin C. It may also help reduce symptoms of viral infections by stimulating immune response.6
  2. Matcha (find it here): Another natural superfood, matcha is green tea powder. It is made by grinding green tea leaves into a fine powder. Regular consumption of green tea could decrease influenza infection rates and cold symptoms.7
  3. Hemp hearts(find them here), pumpkin seeds and Flax Seeds: I included all of these mostly for the zinc and omega 3 and 6. These polyunsaturated fats also have been extensively studied for their role in immune health.8
  4. Nuts: These serve as a good source of selenium and zinc. I also chose Brazil nuts because they have the highest amount of selenium. Cashews are also high in zinc.
  5. Sunflower seeds: These seeds also have some healthy fats, but I chose them mostly because they are an excellent source of vitamin E. They are also a good source of selenium and vitamin B6.
  6. Ginger: Can also help reduce the severity of respiratory infections.9
  7. Blueberries: Another natural superfood. Blueberries are a good source of Vitamin C. I included them because they are one of the best sources of antioxidants, mostly flavonoids.

Immune Boosting Granola Recipe

Ingredients:

4 Cups Oats

1 Cup mixed nuts (cashews, almonds, and Brazil nuts)

1/4 Cup sunflower seeds

1 Cup shelled pumpkin seeds

1/4 Cup hemp hearts

1 Tablespoon matcha powder

2 Tablespoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt

2 Tablespoons flax seed

1/3 Cup dried cranberries

1/2 Cup shredded dry coconut

1/3 Cup dried blueberries

1/2 Cup honey

1/3 Cup Peanut butter

2 Tablespoons Elderberry Syrup

1/3 Cup coconut oil

Directions:

First preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix together the oats, nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp hearts, matcha, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and flax seed. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl mix the peanut butter, coconut oil, honey, elderberry syrup. Once mixed, pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix until evenly coated.

Cover a Jelly Roll Pan with parchment paper. Spread the granola over the paper. Bake for 15 min. Remove from the oven and mix in the dried coconut. Bake for 10 more minutes. Remove and mix again. If the coconut is not completely toasted, bake for 2 more minutes or until most of the coconut is toasted but not burnt. Lastly, remove from the oven and stir in the dried fruit while the granola is still warm. Finally, allow the granola to cool to room temperature. Although it is difficult not to finish it all in one sitting, you may have some leftover. If so, you can store in an air tight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Immune Boosting Granola Served with Yogurt
Immune-Boosting-GranolaPrintable recipe

Granola makes a great gift!

References:

  1. https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/90495
  2. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/4/988
  3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28367454/
  4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6266234/
  5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30200430/
  6. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1271/bbb.120112
  7. https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/23/7/1795
  8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6834330/
  9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7019938/

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How to Make Fabulous Smoked ribs

best smoked baby back ribs

Finally, after multiple attempts, I have been able to perfect my fall off the bone smoked baby back ribs. These ribs are fabulous! I’ve tried 3-2-1 recipes in the past; but in my opinion this recipe is better than 321 ribs. They are certainly award winning according to my family. I want to share this wonderful recipe for how to make fabulous smoked ribs with you.

Smoked ribs Ingredients

2 racks of Baby Back Ribs

4 Teaspoons garlic powder

4 Teaspoons Traeger Pork and Poultry Rub

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup apple juice

4 Tablespoons Dark Brown Sugar

BBQ sauce to taste

How to prepare fabulous smoked ribs

The first step is to remove the silver skin from the baby back ribs. This may have been done by your butcher, but if not it’s a really simple process. Just turn over the rack and use a paper towel to find the skin and pull to remove. Once the silver skin is removed season both sides with garlic powder and a generous portion of Traeger Pork and Poultry Rub.

How to prepare the Traeger Silverton 620 for ribs

Clean the Traeger from any previous cook. Ribs can be really messy so you should use a Traeger tray liner to protect your grill. This Trager grill liner is slightly wider that the liner that came with my Silverton 620 grill, but it is bendable and actually provides more coverage. You could just use foil for this step, but the tray liners do work better. Initially I tried to clean the tray between cooks, but I ended up finding the best cost saving option to be lining the tray with foil. This way I just remove to foil and reapply clean foil to the tray. I get several uses out of each tray, and keep my grill clean. Fill the hopper with Traeger Signature Blend Pellets. Preheat the Traeger to 200 degrees F.

How to make fall off the bone ribs on the Traeger Silverton 620

Place the prepared ribs directly on the rack of the preheated Silverton 620 Treager grill. Smoke at 200 degrees F for 2 hours.

Baby Back ribs prepared to smoke

Line a 21 x 13 Inch foil pan with aluminum foil, make sure there is excess foil to wrap the ribs.

Remove the ribs from the grill, use a hand held Probe Thermometer to check the meat as close as possible to the center between two ribs. The internal temperature at this step should be approximately 150 degrees F. Turn the Traeger Silverton 620 temperature up to 235 degrees F.

Smoked baby back ribs

Place the ribs in the foil lined pan. Drizzle the ribs with honey, approximately 1/3 cup.

baby back ribs drizzled with honey
Baby back ribs drizzled with honey

Pour one cup of warm apple juice over the ribs. Then sprinkle each rack with dark brown sugar, approximately 2 tablespoons each.

baby back ribs with dark brown sugar
Baby back ribs with dark brown sugar

Tightly wrap the foil around the ribs and return to the Traeger.

Baby back ribs wrapped in foil

Smoke the foil wrapped ribs for 2.5 hours.

How to make your own BBQ sauce

While your ribs are smoking prepare your own BBQ sauce.

BBQ Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons mustard

3/4 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

2 tablespoons apple juice

Mix all ingredients together in a sauce pan over low heat. I highly recommend the Ballarini Parma sauce pan for this. If you choose to buy one you will thank me when it comes to clean up time. Stir occasionally while maintaining a simmer. Taste your sauce. If it is:

Too sour? Add more apple juice or brown sugar

Too sweet? Add more apple cider vinegar

Not enough mustard, garlic, onion? Add more of those ingredients.

Continue to simmer until sauce is slightly thinner that you would desire your BBQ sauce to be. It will continue to thicken as it cools.

homemade BBQ sauce
Homemade BBQ sauce

Final step for perfect fall off the bone baby back ribs

After your wrapped ribs have smoked 2.5 hours, remove them from the Traeger Silverton 620 with, heat resistant silicone gloves , and once again check a temperature with a hand held probe thermometer. The temperature at this step should be approximately 200 degrees F.

Use a silicone basting brush to coat the top side of each rack of ribs with your homemade BBQ sauce.

Smoked baby back ribs coated with BBQ sauce

Return the ribs to the Traeger. This time they go right on the rack, unwrapped. Continue to smoke at 230 degrees F for 30-40 minutes or until the sauce is tightened.

baby back ribs with sauce on the Traeger
Baby back ribs with sauce on the Traeger

Remove from the Traeger with large tongs, slice or break apart and enjoy!

smoked baby back ribs
Smoked baby back ribs

Hope you enjoyed learning how to make fabulous smoked ribs.

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Zuppa Toscana – Better than Olive Garden

Zuppa Toscana
Zuppa Toscana - Sausage Kale and potato soup

I’m not intending to share an Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana copy cat recipe, because I really like their Zuppa Toscana. However, I feel my homemade Sausage Kale and Potato soup is better than Olive Garden. I’m sure you will too.

This soup has been a favorite at my house long before I even tried the Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana. It all began with a recipe for Sausage and gnocchi soup, that I modified and modified until it became in my opinion, perfect!

Read on and you will find directions for my version of Zuppa Toscana, but if you prefer I also have a link to a video and a printable recipe below.

Zuppa Toscana (Creamy Sausage Kale and Potato Soup) Recipe

Ingredients:

2 Pounds ground bulk Italian sausage

8 medium potatoes peeled

2 bell peppers, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

8 cups chicken stock

2 cup heavy cream

1 bunch of kale, stems removed

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Brown the Italian sausage in a frying pan until cooked through.

Set aside on a paper towel lined plate to drain, because you will not want all that grease in your soup. Meanwhile sauté the onion and peppers with the olive oil until slightly tender.

Add the chicken stock and potatoes to the pan.

Put the drained sausage back into the pan and, bring to a boil.

Reduce to simmer until potatoes are tender.

Add the half and half.

Rip the kale into small bite size pieces, or chop with a chef knife.

Add the kale to the soup and simmer for 3-5 min. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper. Enjoy!

If you would prefer to see these directions in a video, you can find it on my YouTube channel.

Zuppa Toscana RecipePrintable

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How to make Authentic Polish Pierogi

Pierogi served with sauteed onions and sour cream
Pierogi served with sauteed onions and sour cream

It seems fitting to add a Pierogi recipe to my blog today because it is National Pierogi day. I happen to have an authentic pierogi recipe from my husband’s Polish mother. He was able to get the exact measurements from her back in the 90’s when he had an assignment to complete for school. His assignment was to submit a recipe for an ethnic food. It was a bit of a challenge to get the exact ingredient quantities and directions from his mother. Initially when he asked her how to make Pierogi, she said “make dough, then put in the filling, then boil them.”

He ended up having to spend an afternoon watching her and measuring everything she did in order to obtain this recipe I’m about to share with you.

Pierogi basic dough Recipe

Ingredients:

4 cups of all purpose flour

250 mL of water

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

Directions:

Mix flour and salt together and sift. Add the eggs and water and knead until dough is smooth and stretchable.

Sprinkle flour over the table where you will be rolling the dough to prevent sticking. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it is approximately 1/8 of an inch thick. Cut out the dough with a 3 inch round cookie cutter. It’s really nice to have a cookie cutter with a handle since you will be making so many cuts.

Put your favorite filling (filling recipe below) in the center of each circle.

Stretch the dough around the filling and pinch together to avoid leaking during boiling. Use the handle of a butter knife to make a decorative edge. This step takes practice.

How to boil Pierogi

When pierogi are stuffed and pinched together, put 8-10 of the pierogi into boiling water. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. When pierogi begin to float, boil for another 3-5 minutes. Continue to boil the remaining pierogi.

Pierogi Potato & Cheese Filling recipe

Ingredients:

5 Medium Potatoes

1/4 pound cheddar cheese

1 medium onion finely minced and sauteed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Boil the potatoes until tender, drain and mash. Shred the cheese and add to the hot potatoes so it melts. Add salt pepper and sauteed onions, mash to mix.

Pierogi Sauerkraut Filling recipe

Ingredients:

1.5 cans of sauerkraut, drained

2 finley chopped onions

1 package of mushrooms, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions: Sauté the mushrooms and onions with salt and pepper. Add the mushrooms and onions to sauerkraut. Put the mixture through a meat grinder.

Serving Pierogi

Saute Onions and pierogi in a frying pan until lightly browned. Serve with sour cream.

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Easy Fritos Bean Dip Appetizer for all occasions

Rich results on Google's SERP when searching for 'Party Appetizer Recipe'
Easy Bean Dip

I love this Easy Fritos Bean Dip recipe, because it always goes. It works great when you need a quick and easy recipe for a party appetizer. People love it and are always asking me for the recipe. It can take on any shape and can be decorated for different for any holiday and all occasions.

Easy Fritos Bean Dip Video

Bean Dip Recipe

Ingredients:

1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, softened

1 9 ounce can Fritos Bean Dip

4 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese

3-4 green onions, sliced

1-2 Roma tomatoes, diced

10-12 black olives, sliced

Instructions:

Blend the Fritos bean dip and softened cream cheese until smooth and uniform. Hint: If you can’t find Fritos Bean dip, try this Copycat Recipe.

Spread the mixture in a dish or on a plate. This is where you can get creative with the dip. Because the dip can take on any shape, you can put it in a football shaped serving dish for a Super Bowl game day party, or a Christmas tree shaped serving dish for a Christmas party. Get creative!

Top with the shredded cheese.

Layer with tomatoes, onions and olives.

Easy Bean Dip
Easy Bean Dip

This is another opportunity to get creative. For example, you could arrange the toppings like Christmas ornaments on a tree shaped platter. You can also pipe on sour cream using a frosting bag to create some fun designs. See my Easy Bean Dip Recipe Halloween designs below.

Halloween Themed Appetizer

Spider Web Halloween themed Bean Dip Appetizer.

To make your Easy Bean Dip more festive for a Halloween party you could decorate it like a spider web. For the spider web I used a piping bag with a #4 tip to pipe on full fat sour cream. I topped with a couple of spider rings which I removed before serving. I still wanted the other toppings so I added them to the edge of the design. If you are really crafty you could make spiders out of olives.

Grave Yard Halloween Themed Bean Dip Appetizer

For more Halloween appetizer fun you could also make your Easy Bean dip into a grave yard. For the grave yard, I piped full fat sour cream on Wheat thins using a piping bag and a # 2 tip . Then I arranged the crackers like grave stones. I added a bat ring and a couple of skull rings too, but I removed them before serving.

Race Track Themed Appetizer

I made this appetizer for a post season Cross County Party, but you could use it for any race themed party. I just folded a label over 2 toothpicks for the finish line. I secured the toothpicks with 2 whole olives which I pushed down into the dip.

Easy Bean Dip Printable RecipePrint

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Easy DIY Guacamole Recipe

guacamole
national guacamole day

Today is national guacamole day! So I thought I should share my favorite guacamole recipe. Be sure to check out my links below to learn how to pit an avocado with a chef knife and how to mince garlic without a garlic press. DIY guacamole sure beats buying the store bought variety. Enjoy my favorite authentic guacamole recipe.

How to make guacamole

Easy guacamole recipe:

Guacamole Ingredients:

3 Avocados

1 medium onion finely chopped

3 garlic cloves

juice of one lime

3 roma tomatoes diced

2-3 jalapenos diced

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons fresh cilantro minced

Directions:

Pit peel and mash the avocados. See how to pit an avocado for a quick tutorial. Mince the garlic. See how to mince garlic without a garlic press. Slice the lime in half, to obtain more juice place the halves in a microwave for 15 seconds before juicing. Mix all ingredients. Enjoy this guacamole recipe with tortilla chips.

Love jalapenos? Check out my jalapeno popper recipe.

How do you pit an avocado?

Slicing and pitting an avocado is a simple process if you know what you are doing. All you need is a chef knife a kitchen towel a cutting board and a spoon to scoop out the delicious nutritious fruit. Anyone can enjoy making their own guacamole!

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How do you mince garlic without a garlic press?

I’m not a big fan of crowding my kitchen with tools and utensils that are only able to form one task, uni-taskers as Alton Brown likes to say. One thing no kitchen needs is a garlic press. It is so easy to peel and mince garlic with a good quality chef knife. The Chef knife can be used for may other things and takes up less space than a garlic press. Every kitchen needs a chef knife, no kitchen needs a garlic press. Enjoy making your own home meds guacamole!

Is Guacamole good for you?

All of the ingredients in guacamole except for salt are very healthy. Most of the benefits of guacamole are in the healthy fruits and vegetables. Avocados are an excellent source of healthy fats, fiber, and many vitamins. Onions, tomatoes, peppers, limes and garlic are all healthy fruits and vegetables. The only unhealthy thing about eating guacamole is that it is most often served with tortilla chips.

Do you have to serve guacamole with tortilla chips?

If you want to keep your guacamole healthy you can exchange the tortilla chips for baked whole grain pita chips, or spread it on a slice of whole wheat toast. You can also use it as a sandwich spread along with other healthy sandwich topping such as turkey, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, on whole wheat bread or wrapped in a whole grain tortilla. Guacamole also makes a great side for eggs or chicken breast.

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