Sausage and Cheese Nacho Dip/Baked Potato Stuffing

For the National Championship game earlier this week I made a sausage and nacho cheese dip to go with some lime tortilla chips that we had at the house. It is so simple to make and I put it together in the fondue pot (which is awesome since I always forget to use it). It is only three ingredients which makes it really easy and it's not healthy for you at all! We ended up having leftovers so I used those as the filling for a baked potato that we had for dinner last night. So, we ended up not wasting any of it which is a good thing. I think this is definitely a crowd pleaser when you are watching a sporting event!

Dip:

Ingredients
1 package ground sausage
1 block velvetta cheese
1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions
1. Brown sausage

2. add in velvetta cheese (cut into cubes)

3. stir in heavy cream until blended
* stir frequently and keep on low heat setting. Also, add more cream as needed for consistency

Baked Potato:

Ingredients
1 russet potato per person
sausage nacho dip

Directions:
1. preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. scrub potato clean under water
3. rub olive oil and sea salt on skin of potato
4. stab potato all over with fork so that you have tiny holes for baking
5. bake for 55 - 60 minutes
6. slice open and add sausage nacho dip to top for filling

Obviously, this is not healthy at all but it tastes amazing :-)

Kristin

Chili Recipe

So, I have made this chili recipe a half dozen times now and keep making small adjustments. But, I think I have finally gotten it the way I like it! The great thing about this crockpot chili is that it is so forgiving. So, I kind of dump whatever I have in the pantry in here. Since it has been snowing recently I haven't gone to the store as much so it is more of a hodgepodge. But, I think it turned out really well!

Ingredients:
1 pound hamburger meat (I use 93% lean)
3 cloves garlic (minced or grated)
1 small onion (chopped)
6 slices of bacon (chopped)
1 8 ounces can tomato sauce
1 can red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can pinto beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can lima beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can yellow corn (drained and rinsed)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 splash of Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup flour
sour cream (for topping)
cheddar cheese (shredded from the block for topping)
tortilla chips (i like the lime flavored ones)

















Directions 

1. Chop onion and grate garlic and add to a skillet with a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat. 
    Cook until onion is translucent (about 8 minutes)
2. Add hamburger meat and brown completely (about 8-10 minutes)
3. Stir frequently so meat, onions, and garlic do not burn
4. In a separate skillet, add about 6 slices of bacon and cook (normally about 10 minutes on medium-high heat)
5. Add cooked bacon, meat, onion and garlic into crockpot
6. Mix in kidney beans, pinto beans, lima beans and yellow corn
7. Mix in brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, black pepper, oregano, cayenne pepper, salt, 
    Worcestershire sauce and 1/4 cup all purpose flour and stir thoroughly (if it seems too thick add 1/4 cup water)
8. Allow chili to cook on low for 2 hours so all flavors can blend
9. Serve with sour cream topping, grated cheddar cheese, and tortilla chips!

Assuming you have the spices in the cabinet the meal costs about $12 for four servings!

Also, I sometimes omit some of the spices and the beans if I am out and throw in something else instead.

Thanks,
Kristin

Our Wedding!

Hello!

Sorry for the delay in getting these pictures posted but it's been busy lately!! We got our wedding pictures back a few weeks ago but there were so many that it took a awhile to go through and pick out the favorites :-). We had the best photographer (she is the same one we used for our engagement photos and can make everything look amazing. If you need someone in Charleston I highly recommend her. She is also really affordable which is a huge plus!

We got married at White Point Gardens at the Battery in downtown Charleston (it was gorgeous and is a city park so it was open to the public) and here are all of the guys waiting for the ladies to arrive!

Seriously, the gazebo is amazing and we were so lucky that we planned the wedding the weekend after the hurricane!

This is one of my favorite pictures! This is what I mean about Molly capturing the best moments with her photos!!

Richard did the best job with the ceremony. Andrew wrote most of it but Richard added in a few awesome surprises! I am pretty sure they are telling a funny story about how we met here...

Also, I am really obsessed with the fascinator that Ann made me. She is so talented and I am definitely getting another one for Night at the Races in May.

And it's official!! Also, walking down the steps is more challenging than it looks ;-).

So excited that all of my family looks fabulous here! It's hard to get 10 people too look at the camera at the same time. Just missing Josh and Luke!

Luke made it to the reception though!! You can't see it in the picture but he has a bow-tie and suspenders!

While posing for pictures downtown before the reception two exchange students from Poland and Germany asked to take a picture with an American bride and groom! We are hopefully trending in Europe ;-).

Instead of a traditional guestbook we used Alyssa's and Kyle's wedding idea and got a local cookbook instead! This way we will read all of the well-wishes regularly while we are cooking in the kitchen!

We did an oyster roast for our appetizer at the start of the reception for all of our friends and family! Hello... it's oyster season in Charleston!! 

This was seriously the best cake. It was amazing and Andrew and I got cupcakes from each layer so we could sample everything later.

Jan made the BEST place cards out of oyster shells for us and half of our centerpieces were sweetgrass rose bouquets that we got from Mae Hall.  If you aren't familiar with the history of Sweetgrass baskets in Charleston I linked it above. It's an art that is in danger of dying out. I am a little obsessed with these baskets :-).

As we were leaving! Seriously best day ever :-). I have about 2000 pictures so i'm still working through them all so be on the lookout for some more of the reception!

Kristin

Engagement Photos at the Battery

Hi Everyone,

Last week Andrew and I did an engagement photo session so we could pick out a photo for our save the dates! Be on the lookout for one :-). Basically, we didn't have any pictures that were high enough resolution and quality to really look good on an invitation (and I really wanted to have the dogs in the pictures). We found a really awesome photographer on theknot.com and we are also going to use her for the wedding. She is Molly Joseph from Molly Joseph Photography and she was really nice and knew exactly what to do! Not to mention she worked with our unruly dogs like it was no problem!

Here are some of my favorite pictures (I definitely have already put them in frames all over the house)!

We decided that we wanted to take the pictures downtown near the battery since it is so pretty and there are a lot of good places to snap a picture (and it is pet friendly at the park)!

David came along to hold the dogs when we weren't taking a photo with them and I am pretty sure he hated me afterward :-). They were a little excited to be downtown and see so many other dogs walking around!

Surprisingly, Pippa was not a fan of getting her photo taken but Molly snapped this amazing photo ofo her actually looking at the camera!

I am pretty sure I am going to print this out as an oil on canvas for Andrew to have at his office! I think it looks really distinguished :-).

This one is my personal favorite at the pineapple fountain! And I love that it is in black and white.

And this one is the save the date! The dogs look happy and we are looking at the camera so it's a win!

I am really glad we got these pictures taken and I am still impressed the dogs (mostly) behaved!

Kristin

Crockpot Baby Back Ribs

Hi Everyone,

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! I have been using my new crockpot nonstop and we just made the best recipe for ribs. I would highly recommend trying this out (especially for social events)! It was really easy to prepare and to clean up and was ready in a relatively short amount of time. I got the recipe from a Slow Cooker cookbook from William Sonoma that I got for Christmas! I served this with vegetables and homemade bread.

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

1 small yellow onion (finely chopped)

3 cloves of garlic (minced) 

1 cup ketchup (I used Heinz)

3 T Worcestershire sauce

3 T dry white wine (I used some chardonnay from my wine club: https://www.clubw.com/2ctss1w1q0).

1 t lemon zest (I omitted this the second time I made the recipe)

1.5 T fresh lemon juice

1.5 T brown sugar

1.5 t dry mustard

1.5 t chili powder

1 t ground cumin

¼ t celery salt

Salt

1 t hot-pepper sauce

5 pound baby back ribs (The second time I used regular back ribs that the butcher cut for me. This was the butcher’s recommendation and we could not tell a difference in taste. Also, they were very meaty and cost ½ the price of the baby back ribs)

Directions:

Sauce:

Heat in T of oil in a saucepan over medium heat

Add the onion and garlic to cook for about 5 minutes

Stir in the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, brown sugar, mustard, chili powder, cumin, celery salt, and a dash of salt.

Bring ingredients to simmer and then reduce heat to low and stir occasionally for 15 minutes.

Stir in hot pepper sauce (you can add in more than recommended for taste)

 Transfer to a bowl to cool (can be stored in refrigerator for up to 24 hours)

Ribs:

Cut the racks into individual ribs.

Preheat the oven to broiler and put a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet and arrange the ribs.

 Broil the ribs for 6 minutes per side (total of 12 minutes).

 Place the ribs in the slow cooker and add the sauce. Make sure ribs are coated evenly.

Cover and cook the ribs on low for 5-6 hours.

Transfer ribs to plates and pour on remaining sauce from slow cooker.

 Serve immediately!

Enjoy!

Kristin

Easy Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Hi Everyone,

This week I made one my favorite desserts! I have been making this for years because it is incredibly easy and affordable to make. In high school my mom had this cookbook from the Cake Doctor that had this Chocolate Chip Cake and I make it pretty much every time that I needed a dessert for a function. I have included the recipe below and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

• Butter and flour for coating and dusting the Bundt cake pan
• 1 bar German Chocolate
• 1 box plain yellow cake mix
• 1 box vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 pkg. semisweet chocolate chips. (I buy the mini size)

Directions:

•  Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter and flour your baking dishes (I prefer a standard bundt cake dish, my mini bundt cake pans or loaf pans) and shake out the excess flour.
• Chop the chocolate bar into large chunks and place in a food processor or use a hand grater until the bar is finely grated. It is essential that it is finely shaved so that the bar is evenly distributed throughout the cake.
• Place the cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl and blend with an electric mixer on low for 1 minute.
• Stop the machine and scrap down the sides and blend for another 10-15 seconds.
• Stop the machine and fold in the grated chocolate with spatula

• Place the mixer speed on medium and beat for 2 additional minutes.
• Turn off the machine and fold in the chocolate chips.
• Once distributed, pour the batter into the prepared pans. I prefer my mini Bundt cake pans!

• Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes for cupcake sized portions and 50 minutes for large Bundt cake pans. The cake should be golden and spring back slightly when pressed with a finger.
• Invert the cake and allow to cool completely (about 30 minutes) before serving!

Enjoy!

Kristin

Easy Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup Recipe!

Hi Everyone!

I am a little embarrassed that it has been so long since I have updated with a new recipe. But, we moved over Christmas and we have been really busy unpacking and setting up the new house (Pippa and Jasper are loving the bigger yard and pond!).

For Christmas my parents got me a new crockpot (I have been wanting this All Clad one for over a year and it was finally on sale and slightly more affordable) so I have been using it as much as possible!

Last night I made a new Chicken Enchilada Soup recipe mostly because I caught some kind of bug while traveling in Seattle and Columbus for the past two weeks and wanted soup. I didn’t take many pictures because it is was literally the easiest thing ever and just required combining ingredients!

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of diced tomatoes
• 1 can of black beans
• 2 cans of sweet corn
• 1 cup of rice (I used Arborio)
• 1 onion (diced)
• 3 chicken breasts
• 1 Tablespoon of cumin
• 1 Tablespoon of Chili Powder
• 2 cups of chicken stock

Directions:

1. Combine diced tomatoes, black beans, corn and diced onion in crockpot
2. Place chicken breasts across top
3. Add 2 cups of chicken stock
4. Mix in Cumin and Chili Powder
5. Cook on low for 6 hours
6. Stir in 1 cup of rice
7. Cook on low for 1 hour
8. Serve

Let me know what you think!

-         Kristin