One of the current staples in our diet right now is this tangy Buffalo Chicken Dip. I originally made it a little over three years ago after it was suggested to me as a use for shredded chicken on Facebook. At the time, Mike wasn’t a fan. He thought it was too spicy, so I didn’t make it again.
However, my friend Laura had the dip at her house several months ago when we were over for one of our dinner gatherings and Mike chowed down on the stuff. I took that as my sign to make it again. Apparently he only likes new foods if I am not the one to make them… But that’s an entirely different issue.
I pre-shred several pounds of chicken at one time by cooking a 5 lb. bag in a large crockpot and then giving it a spin in my Kitchen-Aide. I freeze in ½ pound baggies and just pull two out when I want to make this dip.
In a small crockpot, place the chicken (if still frozen, let it thaw in the crockpot for a little while first before adding the other ingredients), Buffalo sauce, dressing, cheese, and cream cheese. Stir occasionally until heated through and well combined. Serve with chips and celery sticks.
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Since then, I’ve made this dip at least once a month. It’s great for lunch, delicious as a pre-dinner snack while the kiddos are eating their dinner (Mike and I usually eat after they are in bed), and best with lots of chips while watching Bears football. This past Sunday, we watched football at the Kilmartin’s and enjoyed a variety of Buffalo Chicken dip inspired goodies. My girls donned their new Bears attire, which proved to be good luck for da Bears as well!
Since we moved to Oglesby a little over 3 years ago, I’ve been blessed to meet many people and make several friends in our little community. One of my besties is Laura. I first met her at lapsit (library story hour) when I would take Bo and she was with her son, Cade, who is just a bit younger than Bo. She was one of those people that I knew instantly I could be friends with.
It took a little while — but eventually I took the leap and invited her and her littles to meet us at the park when my girls were still tiny babies. Eventually, I started inviting them over to play and it spiraled from there. Ultimately, I think I won her over when I took her dinner when her youngest daughter, Cara, was born. My French silk pie is great for winning people over. 😉 Now it feels odd when we both have busy weeks and we don’t see each other because usually we see each other every couple of days — and text daily.
What I love most about Laura is that I never feel like she is judging me. She’s totally Type-A (like me) but in a very laid-back way that makes it seem easy. I can be myself — flaws and all – and it doesn’t seem to phase her. She likes me just as much when I haven’t showered and I’m wearing my black yoga pants as she does when we’re able to escape out for dinner and shopping together and I actually wear grown-up clothes. I don’t have to censor myself either — she already knows I’m crazy. 😉
We’ve been switching off hosting dinner for all of our brood every couple of weeks and I always leave Laura’s house with a new recipe I want to try to make myself. She claims to not be a great cook, but her recipes are always perfect — family-friendly, relatively quick, and not a ton of ingredients. Perfect for busy moms of three like us!
Pull the hash browns out of the freeze and place in the sink or a large bowl to thaw for a few hours. Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9x13 inch pan with PAM. In a large bowl, combine the hash browns, soup, sour cream, shredded cheese, and butter. Mix well. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour. Great served with crockpot BBQ chicken or crockpot ham.
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We had these cheesy potatoes the last time we ate at Laura’s and I texted her earlier this week for the recipe. I made them on Monday and I’ve eaten a helping the last 5 lunches and dinners. They are that good! For some reason, my kids won’t eat them — but I think they are odd. Only my kids would refuse to eat gooey, cheesy potatoes!
These brownies are to die for — ooey, gooey, and delicious! These have become my go-to recipe when we are invited to a friend’s house for dinner. They are always a hit — with kids and adults alike – and seem fancy but the recipe is actually very simple.
Tonight, we’re going to our friends, the Cetwinskis. I hope that Jen doesn’t mind that I mangled the pan of brownies before bringing it over so I could take a picture of one. And I did actually eat that bite that’s on the fork. The caramel was still warm and extra mmm!
This recipe originated from Mike’s Aunt Cindy. She made these for a family get together several years ago and they’ve been one of our favorites ever since!
Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter. Blend dry cake mix, butter and ⅓ cup of evaporated milk in a medium size bowl with a spatula. Take ¾ of the batter and press into a 9 ½ by 13 pan sprayed with Pam or greased. Bake 6 minutes. While baking, melt the caramels and the other ⅓ cup evaporated milk. When done baking, sprinkle morsels on top, then pour caramel mixture over the top. Drop bits of remaining batter on top of the caramel. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes. Devour! Great with vanilla ice cream.
There is never a dull moment here at Casa de Weitl and our Memorial Day weekend has been no exception. I left as the sun was rising on Saturday morning to pick up my mom and bring her to our house for a few days. We stopped briefly in Tuscola and still made it back here before 1:30. Seven hours of driving is a long haul – and lucky me, I get to do it again on Thursday!
We arrived to find Mike and the trio putting together the new twin beds for Anna and Clara’s room which turned out very cute. Now we just have to finalize the rest of their room decor! By the time the beds were put together, it was nearly dinner time, so we all headed to Delaney’s for a quick dinner.
Bo’s ear was swollen to five times it’s normal size on Saturday and not long after, Anna’s eye started swelling and was completely swollen shut by the time she woke up on Sunday (look closely at the photos above… and this is after two days of medication!). I tried to take them to the Y care clinic but they wouldn’t see them since it was Anna’s eye. We know that it was caused by some type of bite, but we aren’t 100% sure what kind. We thought it was mosquitoes at first, but now we are leaning towards a possible spider bite? Anyway – Bo, Anna, and I spent Sunday morning at the ER and came away with three prescriptions for each of them and orders to liberally apply bug spray and limit sun exposure as much as possible. Fun. Clara stayed home with Grammie while Daddy worked in the yard during this debacle.
On Sunday evening, we enjoyed our typical pizza and movie routine with the kiddos watching Winnie the Pooh and the grown-ups watching I Don’t Know How She Does It after the trio was in bed. The movies were fine, and our movie made me laugh several times, but there really wasn’t a lot of plot to it. Sometimes that’s a good thing though…
Monday morning, we headed to a local strawberry patch to pick strawberries. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived at 9:15, nearly all of the strawberries had been picked over. We managed to pick about a quart of pinkie sized berries. Just enough for strawberry pie! That was probably long enough to have Bo and Anna in the sun anyway – but I had big plans for lots of strawberries. Needless to say, we had to supplement with some store-bought berries for a few other recipes I’m planning this week.
In the midst of all of our normal routines, we are also in the process of potty-training the girls. We’re one week in of constant, vigilant effort (we’d tried for a couple of hours before without much luck – this time I was serious about it!) and it’s going very well. Anna’s only had one accident each of the last two days and Clara hasn’t had any since Saturday morning. I probably just jinxed it – not to mention the eww factor of talking about potty training in a recipe post – but meh. Such is my life.
After lunch today (we had these baked Monte Cristos with raspberry jam – which I highly recommend) Bo and I made strawberry pie. Bo was a big helper and mashed the strawberries for the sauce and arranged the whole strawberries in the pie. Such tiny little strawberries! We’ll be grilling out this evening and topping off our dinner with a slice of fresh strawberry pie. Happy Memorial Day!
Cut the stems off the strawberries and wash thoroughly. Mash about half of the strawberries and pour into a saucepan. Add sugar, water, Jell-O, and cornstarch. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until boiling. Let boil for one minute and then remove from heat and allow to cool. Meanwhile, arrange the remaining strawberries in the pie crust. Once the sauce is cool to the touch, pour over the berries and refrigerate for several hours. Serve with whipped topping. Yum!
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Each Monday, I’ll showcase a family and kid-friendly recipe to share with your family. Please let me know if you try one of my recipes! Enjoy!
