Football Munchies

I found a great recipe on Macheesmo.com for an Artichoke, Olive and Cheese dip. The Macheesmo.com blog has great recipes which are usually really easy to make and taste delicious. I have been craving olives lately so this dip was perfect to serve to the guys while they are watching football. Oh who am I kidding? I made the dip for me, and the guys just got lucky they were at the house to enjoy it :)


Artichoke and Olive Dip (Adapted from a Bon Appétit recipe)
Makes a 2 quart oval dish or 9×9 dish of dip.

- 1 (15 ounce) can artichoke hearts, chopped-
1 (8-10 ounce) jar olive tapenade, no specific brand needed-
1 Cup grated Asiago or Parmesan cheese-
1 1/2 Cups grated Monterey Jack cheese-
1/2 Cup fresh basil, chopped (plus some for garnish)- I didn't have any, so I used a little dried basil
1 Serrano pepper, diced (optional)- - I used pickled jalapeno slices... probably about 10 and I didn't taste the heat. Next time I'll add more.
Salt and pepper-

To make this dish you chop the veggies, shred the cheese, stir, place in a bowl, cook (30 minutes in a 400 degree oven) and serve.

I goofed a little and didn't have the olive tapenade on hand, so I chopped up black and green olives and added about a tablespoon of olive oil to the mix. I also added pepperoncini's to the dip, which added a bright flavor to the dip. This dip was really cheesy and delicious. We used Stacey's Pita chips and they were hearty enough to stand up to this dip. I'm sure you could use crackers or different chips, but you might need a spoon to scoop the dip onto your chip.

Sunday Munchies

Most Sundays during Football season we have people over. We have the Direct TV football package which gives us all of the football games. Jim and his friends are HUGE football fans and even bigger fantasy football fans. We love having people over on Sundays and I love feeding those guys.

Last week I did something quick to feed the guys... used crescent rolls and filled them with various meats and veggies. I used turkey and pepper jack cheese for one of the sandwiches and roasted red bell peppers, banana peppers, and Havarti cheese in the other. They turned out soooo good! Once I rolled up the goodies in the middle, I baked it for about 15 minutes.

These little suckers were really good, and the best thing is that you can use anything you have in your fridge to make these sandwiches

Some of the cheese oozed out, but it was still tasty

The final product!