Cheeseball BATS!

Fun, scary, black and cheesy!  I made these cute little bats for a halloween party.  They are made out of my favorite cheeseball recipe given to me by my brother, rolled into golfball size, coated in poppy seeds and accessorized with blue corn tortilla chips and black olive slices!  I got the design idea from this blog copingwithfrugality.com, but used my own cheese ball recipe.

Cheeseball recipe:

2 - 8 oz packages of cream cheese, softened
8 oz Chedder cheese, shredded
1/4 tsp Garlic salt
1/2 tsp Garlic powder
2 tsp Mayonnaise
1/4 Green Pepper chopped fine
1/4 Red pepper chopped fine
2 green onions, white and green parts included, chopped fine

Cream together cream cheese, garlic salt, garlic powder, and mayonnaise until combined and smooth.  Stir in peppers and onion.  Stir in chedder cheese.  Form into small balls, roll in poppy seeds.  Place olive slices on top for eyes.  Place in refrigerator to firm up.  Insert corn chip wings just before serving.  Enjoy!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

I really love artichoke dip. My husband and I order it at restaurants when we feel like splurging. I found this recipe years ago (allrecipes.com) and have made it a handful of times, I always get compliments when I make it. I think it ranks up there with the restaurants. You should try it!

1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (apparently you can buy marinated and non-marinated - I have always used the marinated)

1/2 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayonnaise

4 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup grated Romano cheese (I used Italian cheese blend)

1 - 2 garlic cloves, minced

Combine all ingredients in small baking dish. Cover and bake at 375 until bubbly - about 25 minutes.

Couldn't be easier - seriously.

Cheese Bread

I found this recipe in a Taste of Home magazine. Loved it when I first made it, and then made it again today for company and everyone here loved it too. Good recipe! And what's so great is that it is a fast bread recipe, you only let it rise once for 20 minutes, so you can be from start to finish in less than an hour. Awesome!

1 cup warm water

1 tsp sugar

1 TBSP yeast

1 TBSP oil

1 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used bread flour and used way more than 2 1/2 cups - just keep adding a little at a time until it reaches the right texture - soft dough but not sticky)

In a bowl, combine water, sugar, and yeast. Add oil and salt. Add 1 cup of flour, mix well, keeping adding flour little by little until a soft ball forms. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place in a bowl, cover and let rise in warm place for 20 minutes (I always heat my oven on 350 degrees for exactly 2 minutes, turn off the oven and then let my dough rise in the warm oven, works wonderful! And I cover the bowl with a lid or with plastic wrap, never a towel, this keeps the moisture in better)

Place dough on a large cookie sheet or jelly roll pan greased with olive oil. Pat dough until it stretches to the edges of the pan.

Brush the top of your dough with olive oil, just enough to coat your dough, don't drown it. Combine seasonings:

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/8 tsp pepper

Sprinkle evenly over dough.

Add 1 - 2 TBSP grated parmesan cheese and 1/4 to 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese (I used italian cheese blend) - sprinkle evenly over dough.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until golden brown.