Bacon and Jalapeño Popper Dip

Bacon and Jalapeño Popper Dip
Serves: 18



My jalapeno poppers are kind of legendary, I've made them for years now, not just for parties, but sometimes for dinner, they are that good! This year for thanksgiving I was looking to recreate some of my old recipes, and I've seen a few of these floating around with the onset of football season, so I decided to give a jalapeno popper dip a try.

First things first, my dip varies from others out there, because it absolutely had to contain bacon, that is the best part of my jalapeno poppers. Next, all the recipes that I saw out there used a very small amount of fresh raw jalapenos for the dip, YUCK! Everyone knows that the sweet and smoky deliciousness of a jalapeno comes from roasting it, like in my jalapeno popper recipe, so I knew I had to keep that element.

If you were looking to make this grain-free or primal, you could omit the cracker topping or use a gluten free cracker substitute, but being that it is thanksgiving, I've decided to omit grains where it made sense for the recipe, and that way the recipes that use grains are a special treat for Thanksgiving that doesn't sacrifice flavor and texture. 

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (8 oz.)  Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup  Mayonnaise
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
8-10 jalapeño peppers, roasted whole in oven until soft, then chopped
6 slices of bacon, cooked until crisp and chopped
12 Ritz Crackers, crushed (about 1/2 cup)

Instructions:

Roast your jalapeno peppers ahead of time over an open flame, or in the oven until the skins have blistered and softened. Remove skins and chop jalapenos. If you want to tame the heat, remove the seeds inside. 

Beat cream cheese and mayo in medium bowl until well blended. Stir in cheese and peppers.

 

Once cooked and well combined stir in the bacon bits.

You can either place into a small crock pot to warm through and serve out of, or place into a small casserole dish and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.


Makes 18 Servings (2 Tbls Per Serving)

Nutritional Info: Calories 180; Carbs 13g; Protein 3g; Fat 13g; Fiber 0g

Pumpkin Pie Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin seeds are pretty much the sole reason I buy and carve pumpkins each year, I have one of those tierd stepped porches so I load up on pumpkins for both sides of each step, resulting in lots of pumpkin seeds each year.

First, I place a large bowl of warm water with about a tablespoon of salt in it, next to my pumpkins. As I clean my pumpkins I place the seeds in that bowl. When finished I agitate the pumpkins seeds with my hands, cleaning any pulp odd of the seeds. I then dump my seeds into a colander, and rinse. 

I've also soaked my seeds overnight, my mother did it, so I do it, not exactly sure why, but I think soaking your seeds in salted water results in a crispier seed after baking, I've also never burned a seed, so that may also be an effect. 

I just fill my cleaned bowl up with warm water, another tablespoon or so of salt and let the seeds sit on the counter overnight. 

The next morning I drain the seeds and lay them out flat on cookie sheets to dry out.

Once they have air dried it is time to think about seasonings. I literally have about 6 cups of seeds each year, so I make a plain salted one and then I usually pick a flavor to try out with some of the seeds.

I've done garlic powder, chili powder, and chipotle powders in the past, but this year I'm going in a new direction. Pumpkin pie spice! 

First, regular salted seeds: 

Toss seeds in olive oil and sprinkle with a course sea salt. Place on baking sheets in even layers and bake at 250 degrees to 30-45 minutes until lightly browned. Stir at least once during cooking so both sides brown.

Pumpkin pie spiced seeds:

For a sweet application I used butter instead of olive oil. Toss seeds in melted butter, 1 tablespoon coconut sugar (or brown sugar) and 2 table spoons pumpkin pie spice. 

Again, bake at 250 for 30-40 minutes being careful not to develop too much color since this recipe has sweetners with it. 

Once they are finished I keep them in mason jars and let them cool completely. They are packed with  nutrients and they are a fantastic snack to enjoy!

Pickling Vegetables

Pickling Vegetables

Makes 2-3 pints

Pickled vegetables have always been a favorite of mine, I love those hot mixes you can buy at the grocery store that contain things like cauliflower, carrots, onion, and peppers. Having so many of these ingredients available to me through either my garden or my parents massive garden, I really enjoy pickling these veggies for delicious healthy snacks all winter long. On a side note, these mixes are nearly calorie free and with such little salt added to my pickling liquid they are much better for you and much cheaper than the mixes you buy at the grocery store. 

My pickling liquid is the same whether I am pickling peppers or veggies, so you can really make versatile mixes to suit your own tastes. You could also pickle beets, zucchini, green beans, anything you desire!

For this mix I am making cauliflower, carrot and jalapenos.

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower

2 carrots

2-3 Jalapenos, depending on size and desired heat levels

2 tablespoons pickling salt

1 tablespoon sugar

2 cups of white distilled vinegar.

Chop and slice all of your vegetables, making sure they fit in the mouth of the jars you are using. I chose fairly small pieces, but was careful not to completely decimate my cauliflower so there are decent sized chunks. 

Place the vegetable mixes in the clear sterile jars and pack at tightly as possible.

Then bring your pickling liquid ingredients to a boil until all the salt and sugar has dissolved. Pour pickling liquid over the veggies, and remove any air bubbles.

Place in fridge for 2 weeks or process in water for 15 minutes for long term storage. Eat cold for ultimate crisp deliciousness.