Friends for dinner

I'm trying to think of other descriptors for some of my favorite recipes besides "yummy"...but it's hard : ).  It's the first word that comes to mind when I think of some things I made the other night when we had friends over for dinner.  I'm glad that we're trying to do this more.  It's good fellowship for Joe and I, it's a chance for the kids to learn how to act around guests (I really think that my kids don't have a clue about what "personal space" is), and we also work together to get the house straightened up.  Here are some recipes for a couple of things I made.  I may have posted these recipes before, but I was too lazy to try and scroll through past posts to find out (it's been that kind of day).  I hope you enjoy.  I know that these are not necessarily diet friendly.  Does taco seasoning have bad stuff in it?  I'm not sure.  I think there are recipes for homemade taco seasoning, though.  I guess I need to do more research : ).  Like I said...it's been that kind of day...and really that kind of week.  I'm exhausted.  But I still wanted to post these and you can adapt them as you see fit.

Caramel Fruit Dip

Ingredients:

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

8 oz cream cheese, softened

Directions:

1. Mix ingredients together in a food processor, blender, or with a mixer (I did a mixer and it works great)

2. Make sure to blend the cream cheese.

3. Refridgerate until needed.

Easy, right?!  And it is delicious!  I served it with lots of fruit...strawberries, apples, and oranges.  It's also great with grapes and bananas.

Wontons

(This is the official recipe, but I adapted it to make it a taco wonton.  I'll put my adaptations in parentheses.)

Ingredients:

1 pkg of wonton wrappers (I found some round ones and they worked great!  I also got them in the organic section and there was no soy listed on the ingredients.)

1 lb mild sausage (I used ground beef cooked with chopped onion and a chopped garlic clove)

16 oz sour cream (I lowered it to about 8 oz)

1 pkg dry ranch mix (I used a little less than 1 pkg of taco seasoning)

12 oz cheddar cheese, shredded (I used about 1 cup)

12 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded (I didn't use any mozzarella)

black olives, diced (I didn't use these, either)

Directions:

Cook and drain sausage (for me, beef, onions, and garlic in olive oil).  Mix sour cream and ranch mix (taco mix).  Add cheese.  Add olives.  Add meat.  Mix well.  Place wonton wrappers in muffin pan (I used a mini muffin pan), dip spoonful of mixture into each.  Bake at 375 for 7-8 min.

I love how these come out.  The wonton hardens and you can just pick them right up.  Perfect for a party or finger foods.  I did the taco ones, so I served it with lots of lettuce, cilatro, and salad fixings.  You could basically do a deconstructed taco thing.  They are addictive!  : )  You could really do all kinds of fillers of your choice.

Now I will hopefully head to bed soon!  On Friday I will be posted a review of the new Veggietales movie...and will be giving away a free copy!  Just come by and post a comment on that blog post and you'll be put in the drawing. 

Happy munching! : )