potluck

Opening Day Potluck AND (mostly) Meatless Monday

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 8 Comments

Happy What I Ate Wednesday! If you’re in the U.S. and in a city that loves sports, you’re probably in the midst of celebrating – or have recently celebrated – Opening Day for baseball! I love baseball season (summer! and a sport I understand) and this week was Opening Day for the Cleveland Indians.

So for today’s What I Ate Wednesday, I bring you my Opening Day eats. I didn’t go to the game (which we lost, BTW); however, our office celebrated with some good food. It was a potluck for a cause – you had to donate $5 if you brought something or $10 if you didn’t bring anything and all the money goes to our local food bank.

 

The day started out pretty normal … egg whites, veggies, and some fruit for a mid-morning snack.

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Lunch was potluck time! Here’s the spread:

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And what did I have? I admit I’m not a huge hot dog fan (and you’re not reallllly supposed to have them when pregnant – darn nitrates!) so I brought my own veggie burger and lettuce (gotta get in some veggies) and also had some nachos and a cinnamon sugar pretzel bite with the dipping sauce. Those were my contribution and I loved them.

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And for a snack shortly after? Gotta have some peanuts and Cracker Jack!

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Dinner was late-ish so I had a pear to tide me over.

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And for dinner? Spaghetti squash with homemade tomato sauce and some parmesan cheese. Hit the spot! (and yes, that’s an olive stuffed with goat cheese I also had)

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Those were my Opening Day and (mostly) Meatless Monday eats. Now, some questions for you:

  • Do you like hot dogs? If yes, what are your toppings?
  • Have you ever had a corn dog? Nope! My office didn’t believe me, either!
  • Favorite sport to watch?

WIAW #39 – A SOUPer potluck

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 9 Comments

If you read my last week’s post, you saw that I wasn’t having veggies. A shocker for me – I eat veggies at least three meals a day typically (plus snacks), but last week, they just didn’t appeal to me. Good news – I’m back on the veggie bandwagon! I still haven’t been feeling them in the morning and haven’t been doing eggs, but on this day (Tuesday), I had them twice in one day. Woohoo! I’m almost back!

Here are Tuesday’s meals. It includes some veggies AND a work potluck where we all brought in soup to share!

For breakfast, I started the day with some yogurt and fruit. I mixed plain Greek nonfat yogurt with some canned pumpkin, cinnamon and Hemp Hearts and it was delicious! Does pumpkin count as eating veggies for breakfast?

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Lunch was our potluck! I had brought in a chicken gnocchi soup, but also tried some beef stew, veggie chili and gluten-free matzo ball soup. Plus some homemade fudge for dessert. And a side of raw veggies. And bread. Yup, that was a delicious lunch and I ended up in a food coma.

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homemade peanut butter fudge!

homemade peanut butter fudge!

For a snack, I had an apple. I forgot to take a picture, so here’s my mostly eaten apple from Monday. I also had some tea.

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B made me dinner! And here are some more veggies. He made salmon and broccoli and shallots and asparagus. It was so good! I’m so glad to be eating more veggies again.

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I also had another small bite of fudge. SO. GOOD.

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And that was about it! A day with some more veggies, thank goodness. Back on the vegetable bandwagon!

  • Have you ever made fudge? What’s a good recipe?
  • What’s another creative potluck my office should do? We do themes…we’ve done crockpot, salad, and soup!

More Crock Pot Deliciousness: Slow Cooker Spicy Chicken and Black Bean Soup {recipe}

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 1 Comment

Have I told you how much I LOVE my crock pot? I know I have. I’m sure I have. Well, if I haven’t – let me tell you now: I LOVE MY CROCK POT.

lovemyvcrockpot

check out my skills. i made this.

I came across this recipe when we had a pot luck for work a few months ago. When I saw the list of stuff people had planned to bring to our crock pot luck (get it?) and saw it was buffalo chicken dip, chicken paprikash, some desserts, and so on, I knew I had to bring something healthy. So naturally I scrolled through one of my favorite blogs, Skinnytaste, and decided on this recipe. I made it and REALLY enjoyed it. I enjoyed it again and again actually – because there were tons of leftovers! Why’s that? Apparently “spicy” and “black beans” are scary at potluck. Yup, scary. A few of my coworkers shied away from it when they heard it was “spicy” (it’s not really) or it had “Black beans” in it. Which meant – more for me! (and it also meant that when half the office got sick from the potluck the next day everyone agreed it WASN’T my bean soup that got them sick … because none of the sickos tried it. It feels good to be cleared of the food poisoning charge) And more for B, who really liked it as well. So this week when I noticed my crock pot was looking kinda lonely (as tends to happen when its 80+ degrees out) I decided to make some of it again. Not only does cooking in the crock pot mean I’m not cooking on a hot day (it cooks for me while I’m at work!) but it also means that I can stay outside and enjoy the sunshine a little longer knowing that dinner is ready when I get home 🙂 Oh, and did I tell you that it’s low fat? (Yup, one large bowl that’s 1.5 c has less than 6 grams of fat and 300 something calories) crock pot chicken and black bean soup spicy Slow Cooker Spicy Chicken and Black Bean Soup (modified from Skinnytaste, very slightly. but look at her recipe because her pictures are way better!) Here’s what you need:

  • 2 (15 oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 3.5 c low sodium chicken broth
  • About 20-30 oz canned tomatoes with green chilies (I found 10 oz cans and 15 oz cans and used 2  of the 10 oz this time, last time I used 2 of the 15 oz cans)
  • 1 red bell pepper, minced
  • 2 jalapenos, minced
  • 4 oz can diced green chiles
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp ancho chile powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 2 skinless chicken breast

Here’s what you do:

  1. Using a food processor, combine one can of beans with 1.5 cups of the chicken broth. Puree them together and add to your slow cooker.
  2. Add the other can of beans and the remaining 2 c of chicken broth to the slow cooker.
  3. Add canned tomatoes, bell pepper, jalapenos, diced green chiles, cumin, chile powder, garlic powder, onion powder and chicken breasts.
  4. Set your crock pot to High for four hours, or Low for 6-8 hours (mine took 6).
  5. Before serving, remove the chicken and shred. Place back in the slow cooker. Serve!
  6. Original recipe suggests serving with avocado, cilantro, sour cream, etc. I just had mine plain and enjoyed it tremendously! B added more hot sauce to his.
spicy black bean and chicken soup in your crock pot

Again, Skinnytaste’s pictures are much better…look at hers.

Easy Buffalo Chicken Dip (no crock pot needed!)

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 2 Comments

Every Memorial Day,  B’s family gathers at his uncle’s house for your typical summer holiday barbecue. B’s uncle prepares the main dish, and everyone else gets assigned something else – a side dish, salad, drinks, appetizer or dessert. This year, B and I were told to bring an appetizer. After much debate, we decided to bring some sort of bean dip/hummus (we decided to make this SO good 5 Ingredient Garlicky Bean Dip) and B’s famous Bacon Blue Cheese Guacamole. But when we went to the grocery store Monday (yes, we went the Monday of Memorial Day, when everyone else and their mom was there), they had no ripe avocados. So, guacamole was out. So it was going to be either pizza dip or buffalo chicken dip. I quickly googled the pizza dip recipe, realized it would take a few more ingredients and a little more time (of course we were running a little late for that day’s bbq already) so the answer was clear – Buffalo Chicken Dip.

I’d made the dip before (honestly, what girl hasn’t brought Buffalo Chicken Dip to a party in a cute little crock pot for an appetizer before?) and knew it would be a hit. Especially if I bought those awesome Fritos scoops to dip with. And celery, because celery goes GREAT with buffalo chicken dip… and peanut butter.  But not together.

If you’ve never made Buffalo Chicken Dip, here’s the recipe I use. It’s a hybrid of quite a few other recipes I’ve seen but it’s my favorite.  I think I’ve got the ratio of buffalo sauce to ranch JUST perfect! Enjoy 🙂

buffalo chicken dip

Buffalo Chicken Dip 

Here’s what you need:

  • 4 cooked boneless chicken breasts (about 10-12 oz total) OR 2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained. Yes, they make chicken in a can, not to be confused with Chicken of the Sea, which is tuna, as Jessica Simpson now understands (no idea what I mean? Check out this video. Sorry for the sidetrack but it’s very important you watch this video because you may understand what happened to Nick and Jessica’s relationship).  Anyway, I’ve made it both ways, and I hate to say it – but you can’t really tell a difference when you use real vs. canned chicken.
  • 1 cup Frank’s Red Hot Wing sauce
  • 3/4 -1 cup ranch dressing – I use full fat Hidden Valley Ranch because I can’t stand lowfat Ranch. I use 3/4 c but if you are sensitive to hot sauce (or can’t stand the heat) definitely use the full cup.
  • 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese at room temperature. I use 1/3 less fat cream cheese because I think it tastes just as good. Unlike lowfat Ranch (see note above).
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded part-skim cheddar cheese, divided in half

Here’s what you do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 325.
  2. In a skillet over medium heat, heat up chicken and hot sauce, until heated through.
  3. Stir in ranch dressing and cream cheese. Continue cooking and stir until well blended and cream cheese is no longer lumpy. Then add in half the cheddar cheese and continue mixing until melted.
  4. Transfer mixture into a casserole dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar cheese over top and then cook in 325 degree oven for 10ish minutes until cheese is bubbly. Serve warm with celery and those awesome Fritos scoops. If you’re bringing to a potluck, you can save the cooking in the oven until you get there. OR you can just heat up in the microwave for 2-3 minutes when you get there. And sit back, relax, and watch everyone enjoy your amazing dip!

Some thoughts to ponder –

  • Do you like buffalo chicken? I love anything buffalo flavored! Buffalo chicken salad. Buffalo roasted chickpeas. Buffalo chicken wraps. Buffalo chicken soup. I once made B stop on our drive out to NY in Buffalo so we could try the original buffalo wings. 
  • What’s your go-to potluck recipe?
  • Do you like low-fat substitutions? I generally do, but I can’t stand lowfat ranch dressing. The smell makes me feel sick, too.
  • Do you celebrate Memorial Day with a cookout?
buffalo chicken dip

Heat chicken, hot sauce, cream cheese and ranch dressing in a skillet.

Add half cheddar cheese and cook through.

Add half cheddar cheese and cook through.

transfer into a casserole dish and sprinkle with remaining cheddar.

transfer into a casserole dish and sprinkle with remaining cheddar.

enjoy! If you're bringing to a potluck, feel free to set aside a little for yourself to enjoy pre-event :)

enjoy! If you’re bringing to a potluck, feel free to set aside a little for yourself to enjoy pre-event 🙂

Pumpkin Pie Dip

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / Leave a comment

Happy Halloween! ‘Tis the season for pumpkin! As you may have noticed, I’ve been busy whipping up some pumpkin recipes these past few weeks. Soft pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting, pumpkin blondies – yum!

Now, for the easiest pumpkin pie recipe of all – and still delicious – pumpkin pie dip. My friend Ali shared a version of this recipe with me a few years ago and it’s become a staple in my stomach house every fall. Serve it with apples, pears, ginger snaps, nila wafers, or cinnamon sugar pita chips. Or eat it with a spoon – it’s THAT good!

easy pumpkin pie dip

Pumpkin Pie Dip

Here’s what you need:

  • 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened (I used half full fat and half 1/3 less fat cream cheese)
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
  • 2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

Here’s what you do:

  • Make sure cream cheese is fully softened – I left mine out of the fridge for 30+ minutes before starting the recipe. Once softened blend cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth.
  • Gradually add in the canned pumpkin. Stir in pumpkin pie spice.
  • Chill until serving. I served mine with apples and cinnamon & sugar pita chips!

easy pumpkin pie dip