Jo Mama's Mama's Crab and Artichoke Dip!

This dip has been around in my family for years, I remember getting the open face crab and artichoke dip sandwich at Simon and Seafort's for lunch one day and I was hooked.  My Mama decided to create her own and we have made hundreds of batches of this ever since! It's delicious and simple and so easy a non cooking person could make it! :)  This has been a hit at work potlucks, and holiday's and pretty much when I have the inkling to make it!  Here we go!!

 

Jo Mama's Mama's Crab and Artichoke Dip

 



 

Ingredients:

2 packages cream cheese softened

1 bag shredded Italian cheese

1 bad shredded Parmesan cheese

2 6 oz. cans all white crab meat 9

(obviously you can use cracked crab legs if you want, but this is more cost effective)

1 12 oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts

 

 

 

Preparation:

 

Open your softened cream cheese and stir in a bowl so it'll be easy to mix the other ingredients

 

 

Then add your drained crab meat to the cream cheese and stir

 

I always drain 1/2 of the liquid from the artichokes into the mix, its flavor and I think it makes it creamier

Then chop your artichokes has coarse or fine as you want,  I tend to go coarse.

 

Add that to the crab and cream cheese and stir in 

 

Then add the Italian cheese and 1/2 the Parm and mix well

 

Once everything is well incorporated like this 

You can put it in a baking dish and sprinkle the rest of the Parm over the top

 

Bake at 350 until cheese is bubbly and browned on the top!

 

Serve with sliced baguette (how we usually have it), crostini, crackers or tortilla chips!  This can also be made in a crock pot if you need it to stay warm for a longer period of time.  Its usually gone pretty fast though! 

 

I will post more pictures of a more put together plate on my Facebook page tomorrow www.facebook.com/jomamacooks

Check it out and LIKE and SHARE please :)

 

 

Quick and Kid Friendly "Dogs in a Duvet"

 

So, sometimes when you're a mother you have to give in and make things that you wouldn't otherwise be thrilled to make.  For me its hot dogs.  Ask my mom and she will tell you that in my youth I would NEVER eat hot dogs, I was always the one kid at the BBQ who got a burger.  I was that crazy about it.  I think at that point I really thought it was a dog and that's why I didn't like them...I've always loved dogs and would never eat one, that goes for horses too LOL! But anyway, my boys (all of them) love them. I have somehow come around to hot dogs myself but this is by far my favorite way to have to eat a hot dog.   I know this recipe has been done a million times before but those who haven't seen it, its super duper easy and guaranteed to make the kids happy.  I usually bake fries or make good ol' Kraft Mac N Cheese (which shhhhh I've figured out I can mix Greek yogurt instead of the milk and butter and no one knows the difference :))  I know we are all trying to get away from processed foods but sometimes, you just can't. In my case, we have our poor part of the year where as much as I'd love to NOT have to do it, boxed Mac N Cheese and hot dogs because its what we can afford in our budget (and when they're on a good sale I stock up for the freezer).  This is another reason why I have really decided to give moose a chance and make it a part of my diet especially since I live here in AK.  Meat costs a lot generally and with moose you can flavor it endlessly.  Anyway, I could go on and on about it but yes, sometimes you just have to make due with what you have and that's OK.   I can still make it taste better by adding things to it! 

So here we go! This all together shouldn't take more than 20 minutes to prepare and bake.  You want fast you got it!! :)

Dogs in a Duvet

So 3 ingredients are all you need!  I didn't notice when I got my crescent rolls I got the Jumbo ones and there are less roll than the regular size so I didn't get to use all my hot dogs but it was enough.  Also, I just buy what's on sale as far as the rolls, tried them all and they're all the same!

1 package hot dogs of your choice

1 package crescent rolls

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

On a parchment paper or foil lined baking sheet, press your crescent rolls a little flatter with your fingers

Then add the cheese to the long corner...how ever much you'd like :)

Add your hot diggity dog and...

Roll it up!!  (generally I use both hands LOL)

I had some pepperoni I decided to add to a couple and pep it up!

Once they are all rolled up, I always add any extra cheese to the top. 

Throw in the oven and bake @ 425 for about 15 minutes, you'll know when they're done because they are nice and golden!

Look at those!  So good, so easy!

Greek Inspired Meatloaf with Tajiki and Couscous

So I love going through magazines and looking at food to give me ideas and came across this recipe for gyro meatloaf, it what my stepping stone to this recipe.  I love to look at pictures and try to recreate and build upon things I come across. Magazines and Pinterest are great ways to come up with ideas and if you're adventurous like I am they are fun to just go with the theme and build your own flavors of what you think something should taste like, this one was fun because I used to always get a gyro at the Fair or go to that Tito's place downtown.  I wouldn't say this recipe tasted exactly like a gyro, but I got the Greek inspired flavors I was wanting in this.  My only complaint is that it was rather dry as I used moose and lamb, if I had to do it over again I would have added a little ground pork for just that extra bit of fat or maybe soaked bread in milk to squish in with my meat and maybe that would add a little to it as well.  The Tajiki I made definitely helped with the dryness in any case!

Let's get started!

For the meatloaf:

2lb Moose burger (if you don't have moose use 1lb ground beef and 1lb ground pork)

1lb ground Lamb

1 egg

about a cup breadcrumbs

2 green onions sliced

1 handful spinach chopped (gotta sneak those veggies in sometimes:))

zest of 1 lemon

1/2 tub Feta cheese

Fresh thyme, mint, oregano, dill (I'll get to measurements in a minute)

6 cloves garlic minced

salt and pepper

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp cumin

1 tomato sliced

1/2 onion thinly sliced

Package of Pita Bread

For the Tajiki:

About 1 1/2 cups Greek yogurt

Zest and Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 sprig dill chopped

2 cloves garlic finely minced

1 big or 3 small English cucumbers halved and seeded

salt and pepper

For the Couscous:

1 Box Couscous (hey, we gotta do somethings the easy way :))

 1 cup frozen peas

1 handful grape tomatoes sliced in half

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

fresh thyme and Italian parsley

1 tsp chicken base

1 cup water

OR

1 cup chicken broth

Preparation of the Meatloaf

So once you have everything chopped, zested and minced

I start my mixing the two meats really well, with my clean washed hands, then mixing the egg in as well until well incorporated.

 Then mix in your bread crumbs in (I used Panko because it was all I had, I already mentioned this but I would reccomend just soaking a few pieces of bread in milk and then squeeze it out really good. 

Then mix in your salt and pepper, coriander and cumin

Then add your fresh herbs, green onion, garlic and lemon zest

Then add your spinach, you can certainly omit the spinach but I sneak stuff in at every opportunity with my boys!!!

Ok, so we are all mixed up now!

At this point I couldn't find my rack to put my meat loaves on so thanks to my friend Rebecca, gave me this fantastic idea to make a "rack" out of thick slices of potatoes and onions

I made 2 loaves--side note I was nice and only added the feta to 1 loaf, I did want boys to eat this LOL!  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes @ 350 remove the foil and let brown on the outside ( I wish I could have come up with a topping at this point that may have helped with my dryness issue) If someone comes up with something let me know!!

Preparation of the Tajiki

Slice the cucumber(s) in half and scoop out the seeds with a spoon

Thinly slice them and then place in a colander and sprinkle salt over them, this will help draw out the moisture of the cucumbers so you don't have runny tajiki.  I left them in the fridge over night but I'm sure an hour or so would do the trick!

Chop up your dill, mince the garlic and zest the lemon

Add to the bowl of cucumbers, isn't this pretty?!

Add about a cup of Greek yogurt (you can add more if its too thick)

Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper and stir to combine.  I made mine a couple days in advance so the flavors could marry a little better.

Preparation of the Couscous

Cook the couscous according to directions using chicken broth instead of water.

Add frozen peas once the water has soaked into the couscous and put the lid back on to warm them through.

Stir in the peas, minced garlic, fresh herbs and tomatoes

Then squeeze your lemon over the top!

This couscous was so good, and I had it cold for lunch the next day and added feta! Yummy!!

So there you have it! if you have pita bread, drizzle olive oil over the top and pop them in the oven until a little crisp. Serve with thinly sliced tomatoes and onions. 

 

Though there were a few things I'd do differently for this meal, all in all I got the flavors I was looking for and the boys ate it up!  

Mom Meal: Quick protein packed spinach salad with lemon vinaigrette

This is what I call a mom meal. Something quick and delicious we as moms can enjoy with out having to hear complaints from in my case, the boys of my house because I'm serving them salad.  Sometimes its just not worth the battle to me, I just make something different.  this was a night where I made the boys mac n cheese and chicken nuggets and I didn't want that; they would ALL be content if I just made it every night, I swear.  So I did a quick fridge look through and came up with this salad, I had some spinach, cucumbers, onion, tuna and eggs on hand so I decided to throw it all together.  It worked, I suppose it could be a take on a nicoise salad but I was lacking a ton of ingredients for that.  The lemon vinaigrette was fantastic as well and if I was smart I would just keep some on hand :)  The pictures aren't the greatest this time because I wasn't really paying close attention, but you'll get it. 

Protein Packed Spinach Salad

So  I started with a bowl of spinach

Found these awesome local eggs @ Sagayas!!  Until I someday have my own chickens..

I only used one egg in this recipe, but I like to have a couple in the fridge

I also had these baby English cucumbers so I sliced 1 up thinly and put in to my bowl of lettuce (I used the rest to make tajiki which is going to top my gyro meatloaf on Monday:))

Had this little pouch of tuna that I decided to use, not bad but I'd rather squeeze the water out in a can, this is kinda gelatinous. I also thinly sliced onion, and peeled and cut my egg into 5 wedges but forgot to take a picture. 

For the Lemon Vinaigrette

3 tablespoons Olive oil

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon mustard

Juice and zest from 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon bouquet garni (or what ever fresh or dry herbs you want to throw in)

1 clove minced garlic

 So I used olive oil, 1/2 a lemon (juice and zest), salt, pepper, bouquet garni 

Rice wine vinegar and mustard, generally I'd use Dijon or spicy mustard but I was out of them. Good ol yellow mustard does the trick in a pinch!

So whisk everything in the bowl until well incorporated, I also added a clove of garlic and the lemon zest.

I put everything on top of the bed of spinach, and added Parmesan cheese. Bonus points if you know the flower the egg is arranged after :)

There you have it- a healthy, quick, vitamin and protein packed meal...took 15 minutes, would have been less if I had the eggs already boiled. Its all about using what you have on hand sometimes and thinking outside of the box! The lemon vinaigrette is the bomb too, on any salad!