It's the season for sitting around the TV and watching a great game.
A good football game or the World Series is a great excuse for me to whip up some game day snacks! It's a must in my book. We were watching the World Series the other night and I felt the urge for something hearty and hot to snack on during the game. Which led me to whip up something easy; Sloppy Guiseppe Fries!
Hot, meaty and cheesy....my kind of snack!
The best part of this dish is that it uses leftover Sloppy Guiseppe filling from the sandwiches I made the night before. So all you really need to do it make oven fries, heat the meat filling and put it all together. An easy 30 minute snack!
So if you are enjoying a great game and want a hearty snack try this dish. The men and kids in your life will go wild over it!
Sloppy Guiseppe Fries
serves 2
2 medium russet potatoes
2 T. olive oil
1 T Italian seasoning
1 c. Sloppy Guiseppe filling
Garnishes: shredded mozzarella cheese, diced tomatoes,
sour cream, chives
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel and cut the potatoes into this wedges. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle Italian seasoning and spread out in to a single layer on a baking pan. Cook until golden brown, about 30 minutes, turning the fries over half way through the cooking time.
Heat the meat filling in a microwave safe bowl on high for 2 minutes, or until hot. Remove fries from the oven and place on a platter. Top with meat filling. Add garnishes as desired. Serve.
It's always fun to celebrate Halloween.
We've had some great parties at my house with Vampire Coffins, Witches Brew, and Jason hanging around amongst the fog and the dry ice patches everywhere. Great times also calls for festive food.
A special punch is a must. The rest, can be themed or not, but should be autumn inspired and easy on the preparation so you are spending time tricking or treating instead of cooking.
This year to get in the mood for Halloween we went to the Rise of the Jack O' Lanterns. A huge display at Descanso Gardens of about 5,000 professionally carved pumpkins. Amazing work, amazing creativity! We are in the mood now.
Take a look at some of my favorites.
Now, back to the food...
Here are some of my favorite ideas to serve this Halloween.
Monster Mash - This is my all time favorite snack to make for Halloween. Everybody loves this stuff! The colors and the flavors all screammmm Halloween!
Sloppy Guiseppe's - An Italian spin on a standard Sloppy Joe. An easy dish to put together before trick or treating. AND, the kids love em'!!
Crescent Roll Mummy Dogs - who wouldn't love to bite into this little mummy? Another easy dish that tastes sooo good.
Mom's Beef Stew - I'm actually making a batch of this right now! Imagine that! There is nothing more perfect that this hearty beefy vegetable soup on a chilly night. I like to serve this in a hollowed out pumpkin used as a tureen. Perfect!
Baby Acorns - These are so cute and totally remind me of fall. Simple to put together and a great project to have the kids help make. A wonderful little dessert or snack.
Chocolately Hot Chocolate - Let's not forget the best drink after a night of trick or treating. This hot cocoa will warm you up with it's creamy sinful flavor.
Make sure to have a safe and devilishly, ghoulish, and spooky Halloween!
Finally, Finally, F i n a l l y!!!!
The weather is starting to change and we got a burst of cool days. We even got some dark looking clouds, but sadly no rain. Here in Los Angeles we need rain....can anyone bring us some rain please?
So taking advantage of the nice cool weather I decided to get out my slow cooker and try a new soup recipe I found over at Gimme Some Oven. Ali has a great food blog and I just fell in love with this easy soup recipe. It features my favorite Mexican flavors. What's better sounding than Chicken Enchilada Soup made in the Slow Cooker??? not much!
So out came my slow cooker, and I had all items already on hand in my pantry (love that) and some chicken from the freezer. Most of the ingredients for this are ready made...but let me tell you what. This soup's flavors are OFF THE HOOK! No kidding.
One secret to this dish....good quality enchilada sauce. Pick one you really really like. You can also adjust the heat of the soup by the heat of the enchilada sauce. I don't particularly like 'canned' enchilada sauce. The tinny taste bothers me. I either use a good bottled one or strangely enough a package of sauce mix where you add tomato paste really tastes good. My favorite bottled sauce is from Sprouts. A new medium spiced sauce with great flavor.
I just threw everything in the crock pot before leaving for work. Turned it on low and let it cook for about 8 or 9 hours and when I got home....OH MY HEAVENS!
Sinfully delishhhh!
Really.
Try this....now.
It's perfect for fall. Great for a weekend, or perfect for Halloween night.
Chicken Enchilada Soup
serves 4-6
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound)
2 cups good-quality chicken stock
1 1/4 cup red enchilada sauce, I used Sprouts brand
2 (14-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 (15-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 white onion, peeled and diced thinly
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
garnishes: chopped fresh cilantro, shredded cheese, tortilla stripsAdd all ingredients to a slow cooker, and stir to combine. Cook for 3-4 hours on high heat or 6-8 hours on low heat, until the chicken is cooked through and shreds easily. Use two forks to shred the chicken.
Serve warm, with optional garnishes.
You can also refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 5 days. Or freeze it for up to 3 months.
adapted from Gimme Some Oven
