Cheese Dip Mini Pizzas

Cheese Dip Mini Pizzas 

You made a fantastic No-Tell cheese dip. Your friend brought over a Queso dip. Both were great but the crowd did not finish them.  Mini-pizzas are a fun way to use your leftover cheese dip. You could even whip them up, mid-party, instead of buying frozen minis.

No-Tell Cheese Dip (gluten free)

No-Tell Cheese Dip

A favorite on game day is a steaming crock of processed cheese dip. Okay, okay, I can admit that a certain velvety cheese, the one that can be stored at room temperature as long as a twinkie, melts easily into something that is yummy on nachos. It also has some magic property that keeps it from curdling when you add tomatoes and chopped chilis. (Is that what is inside a Stretch Armstrong?)

In the interest of sodium reduction, I made a similar dip to the famous favorite that is quick and easy. Sharp cheddar cheese contrasts with tangy tomatoes and chilis. Ready in minutes, it pairs perfectly with corn tortilla chips. If you make too much, you can use it for Mini Pizzas.

Homemade Corn Chips (vegan, gluten free)

Homemade Corn Chips

Last night, I made homemade tortilla chips. It is really a two-part process: making the tortillas, then baking them into chips. G-man and the Cadet ate two tortillas each before I could bake them into chips, which was no surprise. They both go crazy for plain flour tortillas, too.

For the first step, I followed this recipe, using a cast iron skillet. The tip to roll the tortillas out between sheets of waxed paper is a helpful one. I let the tortillas cool a few mibutes before following this recipe, the instructions for making them into chips. Instead of brushing the triangles with oil, I used my little pump sprayer. (If you have a friend of co-worker who sells Pampered Chef, grab one of the oil pump sprayers when you see a catalogue going around.) The recipe suggests baking the triangles for twelve minutes or more, but I found our chips to be crispy within seven.

The tortillas that were rolled thinner were crisper without getting too brown. I lightly sprinkled them with lite salt before sharing them with the family.

Homemade Snack Crackers

Snack Crackers- Sweet Tomato and Garlic Parmesan

Home made crackers are easy to make and you get to control the sodium and omit the hydrogenated weirdness of store bought. They take a few minutes to prep, but I have help: G-man's job is to prick the dough squares with a fork. He prefers his crackers unseasoned, and today he disappeared with a plate of plain ones fresh from the oven.  Next time we make these, we'll make the seasoned ones first so my helper sticks around a little longer.

Pineapple Hummus (gluten free, vegan)

Pineapple Hummus

We love hummus. Warm, it's a great dip for tortilla triangles and veggies. Straight from the fridge it's a sandwich spread or burrito filling. Traditionally, hummus made with cooked garbanzos, tahini (sesame paste) olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice.

We were out of lemon juice.  I had the garbanzos, olive oil and tahini in the blender and made that grim discovery. No lemon juice... But we had a fresh pineapple. Why not? Once the pineapple was blended in,  we separated the mix into different bowls to try out seasoning combinations. Would you believe that pineapple overpowers coriander? Bummer. The best combination was ginger and garlic. A little heat would have been nice, but our kids are in a no-heat phase. Perhaps some crushed red chilies?