Mashed Potato Quesadillas

2 cups mashed potatoes
6-8 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1/4 cup sliced green onions
8 flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup salsa
1/4 cup sour cream

Stir together mashed potatoes, bacon and green onions and warm in a skillet until heated through. Spread mashed potato mixture onto 4 tortillas, spreading to within 1/2 inch of the edges. Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the mashed potatoes and top with the remaining tortillas. Spray each side of quesadilla with cooking spray.
Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Place a quesadilla into the preheated pan, and cook until golden brown and crispy, then turn over and continue cooking on the other side until browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining quesadillas. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Pumpkin Dip

1- 8 oz cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups pumpkin (fresh or 15 oz can)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger

Mix cream cheese and powdered sugar until well blended.
Mix in all other ingredients.
Refrigerate to firm it a bit.
Serve with vanilla wafers, ginger snaps, apple slices, etc.

Freezes very well.

Pumpkin Pie Dip

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Gingersnap cookies (graham crackers, Nilla Wafers, etc)

1. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth

2. Beat in the pumpkin, sour cream, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and ginger until blended.

3. Serve with gingersnaps.

4. Refrigerate leftovers. (Yield: 4 cups)

Bean Salsa

1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans
1 can black eyed peas
1 can white corn
1 cup green pepper
1 cup celery
1 cup onion
1 tomato
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¾ cup cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
½ cup oil
1 tablespoon water


1. Drain and lightly rinse all caned goods, place in large bowl.

2. Dice green pepper, celery, onion and tomato into small bits, not much bigger then the beans, place in bowl.

3. In a saucepan combine salt, pepper, vinegar, sugar, oil and water. Bring to a boil stirring often.

4. Let cool, and then pour over beans, stirring to combine well.

5. Refrigerate 24 hours.

**Serve with scoop style tortilla or corn chips**

Chex School Fuel

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
6 Tablespoons butter or margarine
3 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups Corn Chex cereal
4 cups Rice Chex cereal
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Cover cookie sheet with waxed paper. In large microwavable bowl, microwave brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup uncovered on high 1 or 2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute, until melted and smooth. Stir in baking soda until dissolved. Stir in cereals.
2. Microwave on high 3 minutes, stirring after each minute. Spread on a cookie sheet to cool, about 10 minutes. Break into bite-size pieces.
3. In microwave bowl, microwave chocolate chips uncovered on high about 1 minute 30 seconds or until chocolate can be stirred smooth (bowl will be hot). Drizzle chocolate over snack. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until chocolate is set. Store in airtight container.

*You can also add 1 cup of broken pretzels, 1/2 cup honey-roasted peanuts, or 1/2 cup raisins with the cereals.

Seven Layer Taco Dip

INGREDIENTS
1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
1 (16 ounce) jar salsa
1 large tomato, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 bunch chopped green onions
1 small head iceberg lettuce, shredded
1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese



DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, blend the taco seasoning mix and refried beans. Spread the mixture onto a large serving platter.
Mix the sour cream and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Spread over the refried beans.
Top the layers with salsa. Place a layer of tomato, green bell pepper, green onions and lettuce over the salsa, and top with Cheddar cheese. Garnish with black olives.

Spicy Pea Guacamole

2 - 10oz packages frozen peas, thawed
2 TBSP lime juice
2 TBSP reduced fat sour cream
1/2 tsp. salt
Garlic, to taste
1 small red onion, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro
1 Roma tomato, chopped

1. In a food processor (or blender), combine the peas, lime juice, sour cream, salt. Puree until smooth.

2. Transfer to a bowl and add red onion, cilantro, and tomato. Stir to mix.

Mandarin Orange & Turkey Roll Ups

4 10 inch tortillas
1/2 brick of softened cream cheese
1 small bunch of green onions chopped
1 small can of drained and chopped mandarain oranges
1 cup fresh spinach
4 slices smoked turkey breast

Spread each tortilla with softened cream cheese. Lay one slice of turkey breast on each tortilla. Place several spinach leaves on each tortilla. Sprinkle each tortilla with green onions and mandarin oranges. Wrap each tortilla tightly, cut into pinwheels.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

20 oz. Pineapple Tidbits
1 Small Green Pepper, chopped
1 1/4 c. Sugar
2 Tbsp. Cornstarch
1 tsp. Chicken Flavor Instant Bouillon
1 c. Liquid from the Pineapple (add water if you don't have enough)
1/2 c. Ketchup
1/2 c. Vinegar
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1 lb. Frozen Meatballs

1. In saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, bouillon.
2. Add pineapple liquid, ketchup, vinegar, and garlic.
3. Cook & stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.
4. Add tidbits and green pepper. Cook until heated through.
5. Add meatballs to crockpot and pour sauce over top (appetizer) or add meatballs to saucepan and heat through if serving right away.

**Good as an appetizer or a dinner, served over rice**

Beer Bread

3 C All Purpose Flour

41/2 tsp baking powder

1/2tsp salt

3 1/2 tbs brown sugar or white

1 12 oz bottle of beer

1 to 3 tbs melted butter optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees spray a 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray. Combine all dry ingredients. Pour in 12oz of beer. Stir until well combined. The batter should flow like molasses. Add water or flour to achieve desired consistency. Pour into greased pan, add melted butter if desired. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Use different flavors of beer to change the taste. For example use Sam Adams Cranberry Lambic and add dried fruit. For light bread use pilsner or ale. This bread slices well. For a dark bread use amber or bock. This is a yeasty bread and is a good substitue for rolls. The variations are endless. Enjoy!!

Crockpot Sausage Dip

1 brick of cream cheese
1 can Rotel tomatoes, undrained
1 pound of ground sausage (I use Bob Evan's Italian)

• Brown and drain the sausage. Return meat to skillet.
• Add cream cheese and stir until melted. (I cut the cream cheese up so that it melts more evenly)
• Add can of tomatoes and stir until mixed.
• Put into a crockpot to keep warm. Serve with tortilla chips.

*You can make this spicy by using spicy sausage or the spicy tomatoes. My mom subs out the cream cheese and uses Velveeta for a more "con queso" taste.*