Smoked Queso Dip

 This was SUPER delicious!!!  We were looking for something we could have at a Memorial Day BBQ and this was delicious!!  The smoke flavor was amazing!!!

Ingredients:

• 2 lb Velveeta cheese, cubed
• 2 lb breakfast sausage, cooked and crumbled
• 1 (8-oz) bag shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 2 (10-oz) cans diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained
• 1 cup pickled jalapeño slices
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 2 Tbsp minced onion flakes
• ½ cup milk or beer
• 3 cups hickory wood chips, soaked for 30 minutes
• 

Instructions:

• Place all ingredients except wood chips in a 9x13-inch disposable aluminum pan.
• Prepare grill. Place charcoal in a charcoal starter and light. When the coals start to turn gray, dump into the grill, placing all the coals to one side. Top the hot coals with some of the wood chips. Place the pan with the dip on the side of the grill without coals. Close grill.
• Cook the queso for 30 to 45 minutes, up to several hours, stirring periodically and adding wood chips to the top of the coals every 20 minutes. Add milk or beer to queso as it cooks to reach the desired consistency.
• Serve the dip with chips and veggie slices.

Notes:

Can use a Big Green Egg or Traeger grill instead of a charcoal grill.

I used Jimmy Dean sausage.

Can substitute ground beef, ground turkey, or chorizo for sausage.

If you are sensitive to heat, use MILD Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles.

Can use fresh onion instead of dried minced onion.

If the dip is too thick, you can add some more milk or beer to thin it out.

I garnished the cooked dip with extra tomatoes, jalapenos, and cilantro.

Can make the dip in the slow cooker, in the microwave or the stovetop. Add some liquid smoke to the mixture to get that smoky flavor.

Smoked Pizza on the Traeger

 It was the most gorgeous night ever and since there wasn't a pizza farm nearby, I made Rossy get as close as possible :)  Love myself some smoked flatbread!!!

INGREDIENTS

  

• 16 oz pizza dough
• 1 cup pizza sauce
• 1.5 cups mozzarella cheese
• 20 pepperoni slices
• 1/3 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 bell pepper diced
• 8 oz mushrooms sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning

INSTRUCTIONS

 

• Remove your pizza dough from the refrigerator - it will be easiest to work with at room temperature
• Turn Traeger to Smoke - in about five minutes the Traeger will smoke.  Be sure the lid is open for this portion. Be sure your pellet hopper is full.
• Once smoke dissipates, turn temperature dial to 500 degrees F. High heat = crunchy crust!
• Place pizza stone or pan on grill grates while it comes up to temp
• While grill is coming to temp, prepare your pizza toppings

  Gather all toppings and dough on a tray or large cutting board - as you'll be preparing your pizza on the Traeger!
• When the Traeger is up to temperature:

  Sprinkle pan with either olive oil or corn meal

  Start stretching your dough into a circular shape

  Place your stretched pizza dough onto the HOT pizza stone or pan.

  Stretch and push the dough to fill the pizza pan.

  It's really important for your pan to be HOT! This ensures that the bottom of the crust gets super crispy!
• Top the pizza with sauce, cheese and toppings.
• Close lid and grill for 10-15 minutes until cheese is golden brown

  
  
• Remove pizza from Traeger and let rest for five minutes.
• Cut & Serve!

Apple Cider Glazed Pork Chops

Always looking for new recipes so tried this one out and it was delicious!!!  Made this up with some rice and broccoli!!  Easy weeknight meal!! 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs (one package) Bone-in Pork Chops

Rub:

• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil

Apple Cider Glaze:

• 1 1/2 c. apple cider
• 1/4 c. maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp. salt

1. Light your gas or charcoal grill and heat to medium high heat.
2. In a small saucepan, prepare the glaze by combining the apple cider, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, crushed red pepper flakes, and salt. Bring to a simmer. While the cider comes to a simmer, prepare the pork rub. In a small bowl combine the brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly with a fork. Add the oil to the spice mixture. It will be the consistency of a crumbly paste. Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels, and then cover the chops on all sides with the spice rub.
3. Put the spice covered pork chops on the heated grill, and thoroughly brush with the cider glaze. Grill for about 6 minutes. Flip the chops and thoroughly brush with the glaze on the other side. Grill for about 2 more minutes, flip and brush again. Repeat this process until the chops cook for 10-12 minutes total, and reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Its okay for pork to have a little pink in the middle.
4. If you're also grilling apples, brush the halved apples with glaze and grill for about 5-6 minutes. No need to flip. Serve along with the chops.

Butter Basted Garlic Herb Skillet Steak

Ross loves steak and I have to always find new ways to make it so I can eat it too!!!  :)  This was DELICIOUS!!!!  So good -- boys loved it too!!!

 

Ingedients

• 1 large beef steak, such as ribeye, t-bone or NY strip
• kosher salt
• black pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons real butter
• 2–3 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 3–4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed once with the flat side of a large knife

Set steak at room temperature and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle both sides with kosher salt and let sit for 15-30 minutes. When ready to cook, heat a 12-inch cast iron pan on the stove top to medium/medium-high heat. Add olive oil and tilt pan so oil covers surface. It should be hot and shimmery.

Blot steak once again on both sides with paper towels and then sprinkle liberally with black pepper, and lightly with a little more kosher salt.

Place steak in pan and sear for about 2 minutes, then flip and sear other side. After flipping the first time, add the butter to the pan and add in the rosemary and garlic. Reduce heat to medium, or medium low if necessary (butter should still sizzle and foam, but not burn). Use a spoon to spoon up butter and ladle over steak (carefully use a potholder or towel to handle pan, tipping if necessary to spoon butter). Continue basting in butter, flipping occasionally so you are basting both sides, until steak reaches an internal temperature of 130-135 for rare, 135-140 for medium rare. We recommend you do not cook past 150 degrees. Remove steak from pan and place on cutting board, tented with foil. Let rest 5 minutes and then serve with pan sauce spooned over the top.

JoJo Potatoes

 I was asking friends for go to meals this spring cause I felt we were in a rut -- got this from my neighbor Tiffany and it was SO YUMMY!!!   Evan loves potatoes so anything I can do to make them different is key -- hahaha.  These were great!!

Dill Pickle Grilled Chicken Wings with Spicy Ranch Dip

We went out for Kimmy's bday last week and had these amazing dill pickle wings, so had to try to make some myself since I live with the WING MEN!!  They were SUPER delicious!!!  Make em up :)

Serves 6

All you need:
2 pounds chicken wings (I prefer Smart Chicken brand for this)
Juice from 1 jar of pickles
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon dried dill
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Dip –
2 tablespoons ranch dressing
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup hot giardiniera relish (or hot sauce)
Pinch salt

All you do:
1. Place wings in a 13×9 pan and pour pickle juice over. Cover and place in the fridge for 2 hours.
2. Remove wings from the brine and pat dry with paper towel. Place in a large bowl and toss with olive oil, dill, garlic powder, pepper and salt.
3. Preheat grill to medium (about 350 degrees). Grill the wings for 20-25 minutes (depending on the size of your wings), flipping occasionally.
4. Meanwhile, combine the spicy ranch dip ingredients in a small bowl.
5. Place the wings on a platter and serve with pickle spears and spicy ranch dip on the side.

Bunny Mix

Hosted Easter Vigil with Sodahls and wanted to  do a Easter charcuterie -- found this recipe and figured I would put on there!!  It got eaten right up!!!

Serves 10

 INGREDIENTS

• ▢1 ½ Cups funfetti cake mix
• ▢1 lb white almond bark
• ▢8 cups Rice Chex
• ▢2 cups mini pretzel twists
• ▢¼ cup powdered sugar
• ▢2 cups fruit mini marshmallows
• ▢Easter Sprinkles
• ▢2 cups pastel M&Ms
• ▢2 cups Cadbury eggs

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour the funfetti cake mix onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes to kill any bacteria in the raw cake mix.
  1 1/2 Cups funfetti cake mix
• Melt the almond bark in a large microwave safe bowl in 30 second increments until melted.
  1 lb white almond bark
• Once the almond bark is melted and smooth, add in the cereal and pretzels. Gently stir to coat the pretzels and cereal with the almond bark. Be careful not to crush the rice cereal as you add it in.
  8 cups Rice Chex,2 cups mini pretzel twists
• Place the coated cereal and pretzels into a jumbo sized zipper top bag (or split it into two gallon size bags). Add the powdered sugar and cake mix into the bag with the cereal mixture (or split between the two bags) and shake gently to coat the cereal and pretzels in the powdered sugar and cake mix.
  1/4 cup powdered sugar
• Add the rest of the ingredients – marshmallows, spring sprinkles, and Easter candies like Easter M&Ms and Cadbury mini eggs – into the bags (or split between the two bags). Shake to mix the add-in ingredients throughout the white chocolate coated cereal and pretzels to finish the bunny snack mix!
  2 cups fruit mini marshmallows,Easter Sprinkles,2 cups pastel M&Ms,2 cups Cadbury eggs
• Pour the mixture into a bowl and serve!

TIPS & NOTES:

Make sure to use a bag (or bags) large enough that you have space to mix the ingredients around so they can get evenly coated. If you try to put everything into one gallon-size bag, it may fit but you won’t be able to shake it to coat. You can also try to do this in a large bowl, but the bag option is much cleaner and easier.

Store any leftovers from this Easter bunny bait recipe in an airtight container either at room temperature one week or in the refrigerator for two weeks.

Double or triple this recipe easily to make a big batch by just increasing the ingredients