{Appetizer Recipe} Chili Dog Minis

Here is another fillo shell recipe for  you to try on your family. This is so fun because it take a spin on chili cheese dogs! I think this would be a great party appetizer or a good way to use leftovers from a hot dog and chili meal! What do you think? Would your kids eat these? Would you serve them at a party? 

Do you have any go to party recipes such as this one? Share in the comments so that I can check them out! 

Chili Dog Minis

Ingredients

15 Athens® Mini Fillo Shells (1 box)
½ cup beanless chili
1 bun-length hot dog
1 slice of cheddar cheese
1 scallion, sliced for garnish

Directions

Arrange shells on an ungreased baking sheet. Spoon chili into each shell. Cut cheese into 16 slices and place on top of chili. Cut hot dog into 15 slices and place on cheese. Bake for 8-10 minutes in preheated oven at 350°F. Remove shells from the oven and garnish with scallion slices. Serve immediately.

Yield: 15 appetizers

More Fillo Recipes

Petite Pulled Porkies
Phyllo Wrapped Baked Brie with Red Pepper Compote
French Silk Phyllo Petites
Calzone Bites
Maryland Crab Bites
Easy Smore Cups

Petite Pulled Porkies Recipe

Over the years I have been amazed to see all of the recipes which use Fillo Sheets and now they sell the Fillo Shells. The shells are just the right size for mini appetizers. My guest chef from Athens shared this recipe with us today. It is perfect for game day recipes or any finger food party. Have you ever made recipes using these Fillo Shells? If so share your ideas and/or links to the recipes on your blog. I'd love to check them out.

Enjoy an easy-to-eat pulled pork dish with Mini Fillo Shells in lieu of the hoagie rolls. 

Petite Pulled Porkies

Ingredients

15 Athens® Mini Fillo Shells (1 box)
2 slices of cheddar cheese
½ cup pulled pork, sauced
¼ cup fried onions

Directions

Arrange shells on an ungreased baking sheet. 
Cut each cheese slice into eight pieces and push them into the bottom of the shells. 
Spoon pulled pork on top of cheese. 
Bake for 8-10 minutes in preheated oven at 350°F. 
Remove shells from oven and top with fried onions. 
Serve immediately.

Kitchen Tips:

Substitute pulled beef for the pork.

Garnish with sliced chives instead of or in addition to fried onions.

Yield: 15 appetizers

More Fillo Recipes

Phyllo Wrapped Baked Brie with Red Pepper Compote
French Silk Phyllo Petites
Calzone Bites
Maryland Crab Bites
Easy Smore Cups

Recipe Rehab Comfort Food Beef Stew Recipes #RecipeRehab #Sponsored #mc #Beef

We have been making comfort foods all fall and winter. This truly has been the longest, coldest winter since living here in Southern Illinois. We've been cooking our favorite comfort foods and are always on the look out for new recipes to cook, too! How about you? Have you been cooking your favorite comfort foods this winter? What are some of your family favorites? I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for the Certified Angus Beef® brand. I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

Have you ever watched the show Recipe Rehab on CBS? If so what do you think about the show? We love how the two chefs take family favorite meals, most of which are high-calorie and not so healthy, and transform them into lower calorie, healthier versions. Once they alter the recipe, the family then makes the two recipes and decide which is their favorite. 

This post is all about trying two of the Recipe Rehab's Certified Angus Beef® brand Beef Stew makeover recipes on my family. We voted for our favorite recipe and the winning recipe will be announced on Saturday February 15th during the award-winning Recipe Rehab show on CBS. 

Our family didn't try the original makeover recipe but I do know that a beef stew can rack up the calories, especially fat calories and easily top 1000 calories per serving. 

The two Recipe Rehab recipes where very healthy recipes and ranged from 364-552 calories per serving. That is perfect for a complete comfort food healthy meal. Do you try and cook healthy recipes for your family? Have you ever given a makeover on one of your not so healthy family favorites? There are a lot of ways to overhaul recipes to cut out extra fat and calories. We love what they did with both of the Certified Angus Beef® - Beef Stew recipes.

The two recipes we tried were Beef Stew with Barley and Hearty Beef Stew. Both recipes were enjoyed by my family for different reasons. A few didn't like the mushrooms but they know to pick them out as well as the one person who doesn't like carrots. We loved all of the veggies in the recipes. Everyone LOVED how tender and tasty the beef was to eat in both recipes. 

We loved how tasty, hearty, and healthy the recipes were. Out of the two, my family loved the Beef Stew with Barley the most. We hope you give them a try and see which is your favorite. Check out the links above for more beef recipes!

Here is our family favorite Beef Stew with Barley recipe:

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds Certified Angus Beef ^® sirloin tip, cut into 1 1/2-in. chunks
• 1 pound crimini or button mushrooms, cleaned
• 2 cups fresh spinach, rough chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon or large pinch of kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 1/2 cups (or half a bottle) pinot noir
• 3 cups low sodium beef stock
• 1 large bay leaf
• 1/2 cup quick cooking barley
• 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Add mushrooms, spinach, garlic, tomato paste, thyme and oregano to food processor. Pulse lightly until vegetables are roughly diced and mixture comes together.
3. Pat cubed meat with a paper towel to absorb excess moisture; this helps beef brown when seared. Season beef with salt. In large Dutch oven or pot on medium-high heat, add one tbsp. olive oil. Working in batches so as not to crowd the pot, brown beef a few minutes on each side. With slotted spoon, remove browned beef and reserve.
4. Add remaining olive oil to Dutch oven, and then the diced onion, carrots and celery. Sauté for 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium and add mushroom mixture, mixing well with wooden spoon. Place meat back in pan; then add the wine and stock (liquid should cover meat and vegetables). Add bay leaf, cover pot and place in lower part of the oven. Cook for 40 minutes.
5. While beef is stewing, add barley and 2 cups water to a medium pot. Bring barley and water to a boil; lower heat and simmer 10 minutes or until tender. Strain any excess liquid.
6. After 40 minutes, remove pot from oven and stir cooked barley into stew. Return pot to oven so stew can continue to cook 10 more minutes, or if time permits, up to an hour. The longer stew cooks, the more tender the beef will become.
7. Serve stew in a shallow bowl and garnish with freshly chopped parsley.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 552

Fat: 25 g

Saturated Fat: 10 g

Cholesterol: 142 mg

Carbohydrate: 25 g

Dietary Fiber: 5 g

Protein: 46 g

Sodium: 367 mg

Iron: 5% of Daily Value

Hearty Beef Stew

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds Certified Angus Beef ^® sirloin tip, trimmed of excess fat, cut in 3/4 – 1-in. cubes, and patted dry on paper towels
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 5 cups no-salt-added beef broth
• Canola oil spray
• 1 pound yellow onions, diced in 3/4-in. pieces
• 1 pound baby carrots
• 6 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and quartered
• 1 cup dry white wine (sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio)
• 6 celery stalks, cut into 3/4-in. pieces
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 ounces tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, minced (or 1 tsp. dried)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 pound cauliflower, cut into florets
• 8 ounces fat free sour cream
• 8 pinch fleur de sel

Instructions

1. In 2-quart mixing bowl, whisk flour and beef broth together until any lumps are gone.
2. Spray pot or Dutch oven (6-quart) with oil and place on medium-high heat. When pot is heated, brown beef in three batches, adding more spray for each batch. Do not overcrowd pot; its bottom should be visible.
3. Spray nonstick sauté pan with oil and heat on medium high. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until brown and soft. Remove from pan and reserve; repeat with carrots, cooking until browned.
4. Once beef is browned, add mushrooms to Dutch oven and cook for 1 minute. Add wine; cook until reduced by half, about 3 minutes.
5. Return browned beef to Dutch oven; add caramelized onions and carrots, as well as celery, garlic, tomato paste, thyme leaves, bay leaves and ground pepper. Stir in flour and beef stock mixture.
6. Bring pot to a simmer, then reduce to low heat and cook for 45 minutes, or up to 2 hours if time permits. (The longer the stew simmers, the more tender the beef will become.) While stew is simmering, occasionally check it and skim any excess fat from the top.
7. Bring 4 quarts water to a simmer in large pot. Place cauliflower florets in simmering water and cook 8 minutes or until tender. Drain and keep cauliflower warm.
8. Remove stew from heat and stir in lemon juice. Divide cauliflower equally among 8 bowls, then ladle stew over cauliflower. Garnish each bowl with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with small pinch of fleur de sel.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 364

Fat: 9 g

Saturated Fat: 3 g

Cholesterol: 89 mg

Carbohydrate: 29 g

Dietary Fiber: 6 g

Protein: 37 g

Sodium: 549 mg

Iron: 4% of Daily Value

Do you have a family favorite stew recipe? Is it healthy? Can you give it a makeover if it isn't? What do you think you could cut out or what would you replace? Check out the ingredients in these two recipes and maybe you can get some ideas on what to cut out or add. 

We found that using Certified Angus Beef ^® made a huge taste difference in both the recipes. The meat was tender, flavorful and didn't dry out being baked or cooked on the stove top. Some ingredients can't be replaced or shouldn't be replace in a recipe. If you have any questions on what you should cut out let me know in the comments and I'll try and help!

Bohemian Guacamole Recipe and Tecate Fresh Salsa

We can eat Mexican food anytime at our house. We love it! I am drooling over this Bohemian Guacamole recipe and fresh Tecate Salsa recipe which were shared with me. Do you have a favorite guacamole recipe or salsa recipe? If so please share it with me in the comments below and I'll come over and visit! We love trying out new recipes!

Bohemian Guacamole

Ingredients:

·         2 large ripe avocados

·         1/3 cup tomatillo salsa

·         2 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro

·         Salt

·         4 sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil)

·         _1/2 cup Bohemia beer

·         _1/4 cup diced roasted red peppers

·         Tortilla chips 

Directions:

1.    Cut avocados in half by rotating the knife all the way around the pit. Twist the two halves apart, then scoop out the pits.  With a spoon, scoop the pulp into a large bowl. Coarsely mash with the spoon or a potato masher. Stir in the Guacamole Mix, cilantro and salt to taste. Divide equally among three serving bowls.
2.    Mix sun-dried tomatoes with beer and microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes. Let stand until tomatoes are softened. Strain off beer and coarsely chop tomatoes. Stir tomatoes and red peppers into the guacamole. Season with salt.
3.    Serve the guacamoles with Frontera Tortilla Chips.

Here is their salsa recipe, too! 

Tecate Fresh Salsa

Ingredients:

·         2 cups fresh tomato, peeled and diced

·         ^1/2 cup (4 oz.) Tecate beer

·         ^1/4  cup (2 oz.) chopped onion into 1/8 inch

·         ^1/8 (1 oz.) seedless Jalapeños without seeds and diced

·         ^1/8 cup (1 oz.) finely chopped fresh cilantro

·         ^1/2  tablespoon of salt

Directions:

1.       Combine all ingredients on a bowl and refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving

* Tip: do not remove the seed of the Jalapeños to make the salsa spicier

More Mexican Recipes

Mexican Taco Soup and Tortilla Soup
Pico de gallo 
Pico de Gallo 2
Robert's Corn Dip
Stuffed Corn Bake
Sweet Mexican Corn Cake
Texas Straw Hat
Tortilla Mexican Pinwheels
Tres Leches Cakes

Valentine's Day Week Menu Plan Monday

Honestly it seems like it was just Christmas but here we are already approaching 6 weeks into the new year and celebrating Valentine's Day! Time is flying even though the cold weather seems to be dragging on and on and on.

Here is one of our weekly menu plans. I hope that you find our menu planning helpful. I love looking at other menu plans for inspiration. How about you? If you have a menu plan on your blog feel free to leave the link in the below comments. I will stop in and visit! Have a super week and Happy Valentine's Day.

Monday-Crockpot Rockin' Ribs, Canellini Bean Salad and Coffee & Chocolate Brownies 

Tuesday-Savory Pork Roast with Apple Stuffing and Sweet Peanut Butter Cheese Ball Dip 

Wednesday- Tomato & Ravoli Soup, Focaccia and No Bake Valentine Treat

Thursday- Definitely having leftovers. In case there aren't enough, I will plan my Beer Chicken (easy crock pot recipe) because it can be frozen and saved for later. Another go to recipe is our  Ranch and Bacon Pasta Salad which I always have the ingredients on hand. Dessert Mini Chocolate Chip Pie

Friday- Nachos using the leftover chicken from yesterday. Do you have a Nutella fan in your house? If so, check out these tasty Nutella recipes!

Weekend - Check out my recipe box at the top of my blog for even more ideas!

Featured Cookbook of the Week-101 Soups, Salads & Sandwiches Gooseberry Patch Cookbook 

I've linked up at OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday link party.  

Sweet Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheese Ball Recipe

I'm a visual learner! I see a picture of a recipe or a plate of food and that is how I decide if I want to make it or not. That is where this peanut butter ball recipe came about. The week of Super Bowl Sunday I found it on Google Plus. I knew that I had to make it for my family and friends. Stop over and visit the original recipe (I made a few changes) at A Worthy Read. I love her blog! 

So are you a visual learner? Do you see something and that is how you decide if you want to cook it for your family?

Sweet Peanut Butter Cheese Ball Dip

Ingredients

8 oz Cream Cheese softened
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
1 cup Peanut Butter
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup mini Chocolate Chips
1 cup Peanut Butter Chips

Directions

1-Combine all ingredients, except chips, in a mixing bowl to combine.
2-Form mixture into a large ball and roll into the peanut butter and chocolate chips. Another variation is to use a cookie dough scoop and form bite size balls. Roll each into the chips.
3-Cover and place in fridge for at least 1 hour before serving.
4-Serve with Nilla Wafer, Graham Crackers, etc. 

Need more sweet recipes?

Best Ever Cup Cakes
Brown Butter Cereal Bars with Candied Bacon
Chocolate Chip Dip
Kahlua Tiramisu
Sweet Nutella Recipes

Discount Prom Dress Online Shopping for Teens

Soon it will be time to go prom dress shopping with your high school teens. We have three teen girls and have one left to shop for this year. None of the girls have shared dresses because all of their sizes and styles are so different. So each girl, we do make sure we get the best price and value for their style. When is prom for your daughter? Have you ever considered online shopping? This is a sponsored post but my own opinions are shared here. 

This year we will be checking out prom dresses at DressFirst for easy, online shopping. The site has more than just prom dresses. They have holiday dresses, evening dresses, wedding dresses and more! Our focus will obviously be prom dresses for Emily. The fun thing about online shopping is that you can look at any time of the day which is great for our busy schedule.

Shopping is very easy on DressFirst. They have easy to click categories to quickly narrow down our choices for length, style, size, price, color, fabric type and more! Within a minute of looking around we had our first look narrowed down to 34 dresses! Amazing!

I love the prices on the discount prom dresses on their website. If your budget is like ours, anything does not go price wise. We have to set a budget and look for dresses within that budget. Any price over the budgeted price, we make our teens pay the difference. Most always they stick to our budget which is the most sensible choice for them.

How about your teens? Do you have a set budget? Even if you do not have a budget I strongly suggest you check out the dresses at DressFirst. They are show stopping beautiful and we found short and long dresses in all of the color choices and prices we were looking into. As with any online ordering, make sure that you read their return policy so that if you have any problems you know what to expect. As an added bonus to the discount prom dresses they do at times offer free shipping. Guess what? Right now they do have free shipping. Good luck shopping with your teen for prom dresses this year! I hope she finds the right dress at the right price!