Simple Snacks for Entertaining

The holidays are upon us and we have friends and family coming to visit. You need to throw something together quickly!

We have some awesome simple and tasty treats you can create quickly. These are great for holiday entertaining for just the guys over for football!!

 

 Chili cheese dip recipe – so simple with just 3 ingredients!

 

 

Easy Taco Dip

 

I am getting hungry just looking at these recipes! Please share your favorites!!

 

More soon!

Nancie, Winston & Ziggy

 

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels

Ohhhhh so yummy!!!!

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Ingredients
  • 16 oz bag of pretzels
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
  2. Pour pretzels into a large bowl.
  3. Combine oil, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl.
  4. Pour combined mixture over pretzels and mix well to fully coat the pretzels.
  5. Place coated pretzels on a cookie sheet or roasting pan. I used this Pyrex.
  6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, shifting and shaking cookie sheet a couple of times during the baking process.
Recipe by My Life Well Loved at http://mylifewellloved.com/cinnamon-sugar-pretzels/

Overnight Blueberry French Toast

 

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Recipe By:KARAN1946
“This is a very unique breakfast dish. Good for any holiday breakfast or brunch, it’s filled with the fresh taste of blueberries, and covered with a rich blueberry sauce to make it a one of a kind.”

Ingredients

  • 12 slices day-old bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • 12 eggs, beaten
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

  1. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish. Arrange half the bread cubes in the dish, and top with cream cheese cubes. Sprinkle 1 cup blueberries over the cream cheese, and top with remaining bread cubes.
  2. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and syrup. Pour over the bread cubes. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.
  3. Remove the bread cube mixture from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  4. Cover, and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking 25 to 30 minutes, until center is firm and surface is lightly browned.
  5. In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, cook 3 to 4 minutes. Mix in the remaining 1 cup blueberries. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, until the blueberries burst. Stir in the butter, and pour over the baked French toast

Slow-Cooker Beefy Vegetable-Barley Soup

You can’t beat coming home from a long day at work to this awesome soup in the crock pot and ready to serve. Soooo easy to throw together before you leave for work.

Add a salad and French bread and yummy! Can you imagine the leftovers and how tasty they are!

 

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Prep Time:  20 minutes

Total time: 8 hr 50 min

Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb beef stew meat

1/2 cup frozen chopped onion (from 12-oz bag), thawed

1/2 cup uncooked medium barley

3 1/2 cups Progresso™ beef flavored broth (from 32-oz carton)

1 cup water

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1 teaspoon dried marjoram leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 cups Green Giant™ Steamers™ frozen mixed vegetables, thawed

 

Directions

1 Cut beef into bite-size pieces if desired. In 3- to 4-quart slow cooker, mix all ingredients except mixed vegetables.

2 Cover; cook on Low heat setting 8 to 10 hours.

3 Stir in mixed vegetables. Increase heat setting to High.

Cover; cook 20 to 30 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender.

 Enjoy!

Nancie, Haley d ‘Pug & Winston

Slow Cooker Loaded Potato Soup

I don’t know what your weather is like where you are, but in Colorado it is super cold, and snowing. This is an absolute must during this type of weather. Make a big pot, and warm it up with a little cheese on top. yummy!

 

Slow Cooker Loaded Potato Soup

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Yield: About 6 servings

Ingredients
  • 3 to 3 1/2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch pieces (about 7 medium potatoes, 8 – 9 cups)
  • 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced (1 cup)
  • 3 (14.5 oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 cup evaporated milk
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (6 oz)
  • 9 oz bacon, cooked and diced or crumbled
  • 4 green onions, diced

Directions

  • To a 6 or 7-quart slow cooker, add potatoes, onion, chicken broth, evaporated milk and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover with lid and cook on HIGH heat for 4 hours or LOW heat for 8 hours (poke potatoes with a fork to check make sure they’re soft).
  • Ladle out 2 cups liquid from soup mixture in crock pot into a liquid measuring cup, set aside. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. While whisking, slowly pour 2 cups liquid in measuring cup into butter mixture (it will thicken quickly). Pour butter mixture into slow cooker and stir to blend. If desired, mash potatoes with a potato masher to break down into smaller pieces or use an emulsion blender to puree. Cover and cook on HIGH heat until thickened, about 10 minutes. Turn heat off (or to warm), stir in sour cream. Serve warm topped with cheddar, bacon and green onions (you can just mix in those three remaining ingredients into slow cooker or top individual servings).
  • Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Cookies

Christmas is always the time of year that I love baking with the kids. It is such fun to spend time with them in the kitchen. Today we are sharing some of our favorite Christmas Cookie ideas.

These are the cutest I have seen and the kids love them!

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I would love to see the pictures of the Christmas Cookies you make with the kids.

Have a great day!

Nancie, Haley d’Pug & Bear

 

Thin Mints Puppy Chow

Everyone is getting ready for the Holidays and looking for some wonderful recipes for their party or gift giving. I think that everyone LOVES Thin Mints, and what can be better than Thin Mints Puppy Chow? How yummy!

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http://www.shugarysweets.com/2013/02/thin-mint-puppy-chow

This recipe has complete directions along with pictures. Can’t get any easier than that!

Have fun!

Nancie, Haley d’Pug & Bear

Double Chocolate Chip Caramel Apples

 

Double Chocolate Chip Caramel Apples

Ingredients:

6 Granny Smith apples

6 wooden sticks

1 (14 ounce) package individually wrapped caramels

2 tablespoons water

½  teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

½ cup milk chocolate chips

 

Start by wrapping a baking sheet with non-stick aluminum foil. Then, insert the wooden sticks three quarters of the way into the stem end of each apple. Place apples on the baking sheet. Meanwhile, place the chocolate chips on a plate and set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place them, the vanilla, and the water into a saucepan over low heat, cooking until caramel melts and is smooth (avoid burning by stirring often).

Dip the apples into the caramel. Use the sides of the pan to scrape excess caramel off of the apples. Then, take the apple and gently roll it onto the plate with the chocolate chips.  Place the apple back onto the baking sheet, and when all apples are coated in the caramel and chocolate chips, place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Easy Halloween Party Snacks

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

 You’ll probably have a few jack-o-lanterns as decorations for your party. Make them do double duty by reserving the seeds.  They’re a great party snack!

When carving a pumpkin, separate pumpkin seeds from the pumpkin pulp and rinse under cold water. Lightly oil a baking dish and place the seeds on the dish in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and bake at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes.

To avoid burning, and to get the most even baking, check the seeds every 10 minutes and give them a quick stir. When done, let the seeds cool and then transfer them to an airtight container.