Monday, November 30, 2015

Easy Appetizers, Weekly Meals & Weekend Fun (November 30)

We had a nice, relaxing long weekend despite the kid fighting a cold. Luckily, he got better quickly.

We were invited to our friends’ house for Thanksgiving and had a great time. We contributed a seven layer dip, cheese crackers, deviled eggs, salad, bread, Prosecco, wine, beer, & cider. Easy things to make & bring - it was perfect!  

My “cheesy crackers” are a super easy, assembly-only appetizer. They are so easy to make but always well received.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the finished product - all I have is a picture with the crackers in the background...

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Double Cheese Crackers

Ingredients
  • Goat cheese
  • Shaved Parmesan cheese
  • Chives - I use 3/4 of a big bunch, but you can adjust the amount depending on much you like chives.
  • Salt & pepper
  • Crackers
Instructions
  1. Mix the goat cheese with chopped chives, salt & pepper. 
  2. Spread the cheese mixture on crackers. 
  3. Top with shaved Parmesan cheese.
I also made a 7-layer dip. I hadn’t made a layered dip for years and just played around with the ingredients. It was well liked but probably a bit heavy for Thanksgiving…. I love layered dips because you can easily change it up by changing the layers. Plus, you could make this dip a whole lot healthier by cutting out the cream cheese, sour cream, & cheese (or at least some or most of it).

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7-Layer Dip

Ingredients

Layer the following in a class container:
  1. Cream cheese
  2. Bean dip (either store bought or make yourself; it’s really easy: process in the food processor: 1 can of black beans (or cook your own), 1 - 2 T vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic, & 1 T tomato paste)
  3. Guacamole (avocados, lemon juice, salt, pepper, hot pepper sauce)
  4. Salsa (I used store bought, but you could easily make your own)
  5. Sour cream
  6. Shredded cheese 
  7. Chopped green onions
On Friday, we were lucky to escape to Half Moon Bay for the day. It was a gorgeous day at the beach. We had a good time walking on the beach.  

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And then we decided to grab a late lunch at Sam’s Chowder House in Half Moon Bay. Sam’s Chowder House, including its food truck, is well known and liked in the Bay Area. It was our first time there, and we were not disappointed. The food was delicious and we were able to sit outside at the end of November - life was good (except for the fact that the kid had a sore throat at that point).  

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We started the meal with the ahi tuna poke appetizer. It was absolutely delicious.

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Then we shared the fish & chips and the clam chowder. Both were really good.
Unfortunately, the kid really didn’t feel well in the late afternoon, but we were very thankful for a wonderful day we got to spend at the beach.

Here are the meals for next week:

Meal 1: Spaghetti & meatballs & roasted veggies.
Meal 2: Salmon burgers & a salad.
Meal 3: Lentil soup.
Meal 4: Cabbage soup - I’m going to play with this one. I randomly remembered the cabbage soup from the cabbage soup diet that was popular about 15 years ago. It’s tomato/broth based and contains lots of veggies. I will also add beans. We’ll see how it turns out.

Questions: What was the highlight of your weekend? What’s on your menu this coming week? 

Be well,
Andrea