Spinach Artichoke Dip

BEST OF THE TASTY CHEAPSKATE

You know how some people don't celebrate Christmas, and everyone who does celebrate Christmas just can't comprehend that (we try, but in our hearts we're really just like, "Huh?").

Well, that's kind of how I am with the Super Bowl. I just wasn't raised with it, okay. And I don't quite get the hoopla. 

Sometimes people will even invite me to their Superbowl parties. And then I always think, "Oh, how nice. I wonder who's playing." And then I think, "Well, it doesn't matter since I basically have no idea who any of those people are anyway." And then I wonder if maybe I should research it or something. I mean, is it rude to attend someone's Superbowl party and be like, "Rah, go faceless men in maroon tights!" Or some such similarly football-educated cheering statement? (Answer: Possibly.)

But then I just bring good food and all is totally well. And the people who eat the food don't even notice that you don't know maroon-tights man's name. And they don't care. Because they're just stuffing their faces and cheering. And if we could all just do more of that in life, then life would probably be a happier place (unless your team loses and then I just try to scooch away as inconspicuously as possible with, hopefully, some uneaten chips and dip). 

So happy Superbowl Sunday and many cheers to whatever men in tights you wish to win!!!

This spinach artichoke dip is the best there is. And I'm kind of old enough now that spinach artichoke chip is just a little, almost, well, retro. You should just embrace that and keep eating it.

Superbowl Sunday aside, we often eat this for dinner with sour dough bread. It's a super quick, somewhat healthy vegetarian thing (so righteous, eating dip for dinner). 

Tips for cheapening: 

1. Buy cream cheese on sale. I almost always buy it when it's $.99. It keeps for many weeks in the refrigerator. You can also freeze it if you're planning to add it to something cooked (the texture changes when frozen, but it gets melty when cooked, so it totally works). 

2. Use frozen spinach. It's cheaper and easier in this recipe

3. Cheese. This is better with decent cheese, but even cheap Parmesan works well, so don't be afraid if you didn't spend a million bucks on cheese. 

Spinach Artichoke Dip

makes one 8x8 inch pan's worth

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Cost: $4.20

cream cheese: $1.00, mayo: .10, cheese: 1.00, artichoke hearts: 1.50, spinach: .50, other stuff: .10

Note on spinach: I personally feel that this recipe is better with de-thawed, drained frozen spinach (hurray for the cheaper option). It's already mushy that way and you get a bunch of spinach in that frozen pack. If you're using fresh, cook it just until it wilts and then drain and squeeze the water out before throwing it into the dip. Otherwise, it comes out a little soggy.

Note on cheese: Feel free to mix it up. We've done all Parmesan, a blend of Parmesan, mozzarella, and Romano, a blend of Parmesan and Romano. You do want the harder (stinkier) cheeses to be the bulk of this. Too much mozzarella and it just becomes bland. 

8 oz cream cheese
1/4 C mayo
1 C Parmesan cheese
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped a bit
1 pkg frozen spinach, dethawed with the water squeezed out (or 4 C baby spinach, chopped small or cooked till wilted)
1 clove garlic (or 1/4-1/2 tsp garlic powder in a pinch)
salt and pepper to taste (feel free to taste before cooking--it's still good, not quite transcendent yet, but still good)

Beat cream cheese and mayo. Mix in garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix in cheeses. Mix in artichoke hearts and spinach.

Mix it together well.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until the edges are brown and bubbly. 

Serve with crusty bread, crackers, or raw veggies.

Veggie Ranch Pizza

BEST OF THE TASTY CHEAPSKATE

 Somehow I missed posting yesterday. I think it's called: my-kids-were-off-school-for-a-week-and-I-lost-track-of-days-and-things-like-that. Anyway, I suddenly remembered today that I do, in fact, have a food blog and it is, in fact, Tuesday, not Monday. Le sigh.

So I'm rewarding you with my very favorite pizza recipe of all time. It can be started and finished in 40 minutes, even with a homemade dough. And it's comparable to a $5 pizza in price (it can be cheaper or more expensive depending on how many and what toppings you heap on there).

Instead of using a traditional marinara sauce, it uses a mayo ranch sauce that I personally feel goes with whatever vegetables (and meats) you want to heap onto this thing.

Truthfully, once you've got that magical ranch sauce going, you can put almost anything on this and it is divine. Originally, when we began making this we always used chicken. Then we branched out into other meats.

My favorite meats with this pizza: Pepperoni, bacon (oh bacon), chicken, sausage (we've even used polska kielbasa and it was amazing, like the love child of sausage and pepperoni). Or any combination thereof.

My favorite veggies: Olives, spinach, artichokes, thinly sliced (or grated) zucchini, mushrooms, grated carrots, green onions, regular onions (sliced VERY thin).

Favorite cheese: Mozzarella obviously, but on this pizza, it can be delicious combined with cheddar or Parmesan.

Favorite dough: My very favorite is this 2-minute dough. But I don't always have the foresight to make it ahead of time. For a quick dinner-hour dough, try this one.



One more note: Instead of the broccoli listed below, you can use broccoli and cauliflower or just cauliflower. It will be chopped until it is very small--almost crumb-like.

Okay, let's make this thing.

Veggie Ranch Pizza
Makes one jelly roll pan of pizza (yes, that's what we use) or two medium-sized round pizzas
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes-ish
Cost: $5.80
dough: .40, mayo: .40, ranch powder: $1.00 (slightly more expensive if you buy individual packets; we buy the powder), meat: 1.00, broccoli: .50, veggies: .50, cheese: 2.00

Two-minute dough or Right-before-dinner Dough

2/3 C mayonnaise
1 packet Ranch powder (or 3 Tbsp)
1 SMALL head of broccoli (or 1/2 of a large one) chopped into smithereens (which is totally a cooking term; but seriously, you want it chopped until it's crumb-like
1/2 C Meat of your choice (about 1/2 C of chicken or bacon, or a bunch of pepperoni)
1/2-1 C Vegetables of your choice (about 1/2-1 C total)
8-12 oz. (or about 2 C) Mozzarella cheese, or a combination of mozzarella/cheddar/Parmesan

Make you dough. While it rests, combine mayonnaise with Ranch powder.

Spread your dough on a well-greased pan. I love to use olive oil to grease my pans for pizza. And if the dough gets sticky, you can add a little olive oil to your hands to make spreading easy.

Spread the Ranch/mayo on the dough.

Sprinkle the finely-chopped broccoli.

Add vegetables and meat.

Add cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the edges of the cheese are beginning to brown just a bit.

Hot Chocolate: Two Ways

BEST OF THE TASTY CHEAPSKATE

It's hot chocolate season around here. (See picture below.)

My kids have been playing in the snow every day and today we went to enjoy a friend's huge hill. 

So I thought I'd share a few of my favorite hot chocolate recipes. 

The first is the recipe I grew up with my mom making on snow days just like these. It's incredibly easy, fantastically cheap, and so much more delicious than anything you'd get out of a packet. 

The second is a Creamy Milk Chocolate that will cost a little extra. It's high-falutin' like that. But so amazingly creamy and rich that we often have it for dessert. 

Easy, Perfect Homemade Chocolate

Serves 1 (or 2 small mugs) 

Prep time: 3 minutes

Cost: $.20 ($.10-.20/serving)

sugar: .02, cocoa: .03, milk: .15

2 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp cocoa

1 C milk

Stir sugar and cocoa together in a saucepan and then whisk in milk. Heat, stirring as you do. Don't boil. 

Creamy Milk Chocolate Hot Chocolate

serves 4

Prep time: 4 minutes

Cost: $1.05, or about $.26/serving

Chocolate chips .75, milk: .30

3/4 C milk chocolate chips (preferably something higher quality like Ghiradelli or Guittard)

2 C milk

1/2 tsp vanilla (or 1/4 tsp almond extract)

Melt chocolate chips with a portion of the milk, Gradually whisk in remaining milk, stirring as you do. Whisk until smooth and to the desired heat. Don't boil.