Bacon Cheddar Ranch Dip #Hormel #Dip

*information for this post was in part supplied by Hormel Foods through their Hormel Extended Family Blogger program. No compensation was received for this post.

The other weekend, we hosted a game night at our house. We have always been a big game family and have always enjoyed having friends in for game night. This most recent evening was a smaller gathering with only three couples able to join us. One tradition is that everyone brings a snack to share. One of the women that I met when I first moved to town 12 years ago brought along a dip that my kids both loved. So, when we hosted family for a birthday party this weekend, I reached out to get the dip recipe to make it for party. The recipe called for bacon, to make it easy, I used a jar Hormel Real Bacon Pieces. It actually was less bacon than the recipe called for, but was just right in my opinion. I loved that it made prep quick and there was no mess from frying bacon that I had to clean up. The dip was a hit!

Bacon Cheddar Ranch dip

16 ounces light sour cream
1 package ranch dip mix
2.8 ounces Hormel Real Bacon Pieces
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients. Chill. Serve with pretzels, crackers or chips.

No compensation was received for this post. All opinions expressed are mine or those of my family. I am completing this post as a participant in the Hormel Foods Extended Family Blogger program. Hormel Foods provided some product and some of the information for this post. The recipe was shared by my friend, I don't know the original source.

Baked Wonton Cheese Sticks

No compensation received for this post. Complimentary packages of Frigo Cheese Heads string cheese were provided. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family.

Now that the kids are back to school, there seems to be more snacking occasions than normal. They seem to come home from school hungry for a snack, which works out well on days when we have sports and can't eat until after. Of course, on those days, I find myself grabbing a snack to go too! Then, there are the evenings, after the kids are in bed and I am looking for a little something to nibble on with a glass of wine, as I relax, wind down from the crazy day and watch a show.

I don't know about your house, but at our house, string cheese is a favorite snack. Personally, I am a fan of cheese of all forms and find it to be a satisfying snack. I feel good providing string cheese to the kids because I feel it is a reasonably healthy option - the pack I have at home right now is only 80 calories per serving and provides 6 g of protein and some calcium. I don't know that the kids think of it as a healthy snack, but I know that they think that it is fun to eat as they tear off string after string.

As America’s Favorite String Cheese, Frigo® Cheese Heads® String Cheese is:
- Perfect for school lunches and after school snacks
- High in calcium and a good source of protein
- Individually wrapped for wholesome and fun snacking on-the-go
- Easy to use in recipes the entire family will enjoy

Typically, I think of string cheese as a stand alone snack or an accompaniment to a bowl of crackers. But last weekend, as we geared up for the official start of football season, we decided that it would be nice to have a little snack while we watched the games. We had had our fill of chips the prior day as hosts of the fantasy football draft, so I decided that I could use string cheese as an easy way to enjoy baked cheese. I decided that breading them and trying to fry/bake them would likely turn into a mess, but figured that wrapping them up in wontons would allow us a way to have baked cheese with less mess. When I suggested the snack and started to pull out the ingredients, both of the kids were anxious to help, so I let them help me roll them up and took over when it came to bake.

Baked Wonton Cheese Sticks

Wonton Wrappers
String Cheese
Oil
bowl of water

Open the string cheese and cut each piece into three equal sections. Place on the wonton wrappers and roll up like an egg roll, using the water to wet the edges to help the wrapper seal.

Place the wrapped cheese in a skillet with oil, over medium heat. Turn until browned.

Place the cheese sticks into an oven safe glass dish and bake for 10-12 minutes at 375.

Serve with a side of marinara.

Everyone liked the baked wonton cheese sticks and agreed that we should definitely make them again.

No compensation was received for this post. Complimentary packages of Frigo Cheese Heads string cheese were provided for the purpose of sharing. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family.

Tyson Big Game Party and a splashing good time

This weekend, the family made their way to Kalahari Waterpark in Sandusky, Ohio. It seemed odd to not be at home for the Super Bowl, but we got a really good rate and decided that we could always have a little party at the Waterpark. We were going with another family, who also had some neighbors going to the water park.

Evidently, we were not the only ones that decided to take advantage of the rate and watch the Super Bowl at the water park. I was a little surprised at how long the wait was to check in and then, once inside, there was no question that there were a lot of football fans in the house. The cabanas, that you can rent daily, were full of people with football paraphernalia. Mostly, I saw Terrible Towels and other Steelers' gear, which would suggest that there were likely a number of very disappointed fans at the water park last night.

After checking in, we played in the water park for the balance of the afternoon. we learned that my daughter was just a smidge too short to ride on most of the "big" slides. Even for the family tube slide, you had to be 42" and accompanied by an adult. That was okay by her. She had a great time riding the same slides over and over. Her favorite was definitely riding the raft in the wave pool. My son was able to go on everything and came close to doing that. I didn't ride with him on Sunday, but I did on Monday. Around 6 pm on Sunday, when we were all feeling a little worn out and a bit hungry, we headed back to our room to change. After everyone was ready, we gathered in our friends' room to watch the big game and enjoy a multitude of snacks and dinner.

I had been invited by Tyson to enjoy a Tyson Big Game Party, with Tyson Any'tizers, and that is exactly what we did. The Tyson Any'tizers were actually a perfect solution for enjoying a party in a hotel room that was equipped with an in-room refrigerator and a microwave. We took along some plates and bowls to warm our Any'tizers in the microwave them and serve them. In the past, I have always prepared them using the oven, but was presently surprised at how easy it was to prepare them in the microwave (and they still tasted super yummy!). With the variety of Tyson Any'tizers available, we were able to meet the tastes of everyone, from the adults to the toddlers. We had Buffalo Style Popcorn Chicken Bites, Dippin' Twists with Kickin' Honey Mustard, Homestyle Chicken Fries and Popcorn Chicken.

The kids enjoyed their dinner/snacks picnic style on a blanket that had been placed on the floor. The rest of us used the table and chairs (just two) and the beds. We ate and watched the game on the reasonably sized, flat screen TV at the hotel. It was a lot of fun and a very unique Super Bowl experience. It was a lot like a regular party though, with hot wings, popcorn chicken, chicken dippers, nachos and cheese, veggies and dip, cheese balls (the puffed snack), and more. It was a little difficult to set out the food - we lined some of it up on the dresser in front of the TV, but it worked for us. A good time was had by all.

No compensation was received for this post. We received coupons for free Tyson Any'tizers, as well as a gift card, to help us host a Tyson Big Game Party.

Pretzels and Cheese Dip

A long while back, my cousin started bringing this amazing dip and soft pretzels to family events. It was really addictive. I'm not sure whether it was the cheese dip or the pretzels that made it so enticing, but it was. She had a bakery near where she lived that made these wonderful pretzel rolls and bites. I got the recipe from her for the cheese dip, but couldn't find pretzel bread anywhere. Wanting to recreate the experience at home, I tried frozen soft pretzels and I must say, they just were not the same. Recently, I stumbled upon a recipe for soft pretzels and decided to give them a try. With some Google research, I learned that I what I had been missing all of these years was a good boil in some water and baking soda. Boiling in this alkaline bath really helps to give the pretzels the finish that was expected. Of course, they say that lye is a better alkaline bath, but I don't keep that on hand, so at this point, I will take their word on it. Somewhere out there, I even found a post by someone who had done some side by side comparisons with and without the baking soda bath, egg wash, etc. It was informative - but alas, I didn't save the links.

Cheese Dip
One 8oz. block of cream cheese
One jar of Old English cheese

Mix well.

Soft Pretzels
1 1/2 c warm water
1 pkg active dry yeast
6 T butter, melted
2 T brown sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
4 1/2 c all purpose flour
1/2 c all purpose flour, for adjusting dough
2 T Vegetable oil
water w/ baking soda, 1 Tbsp of baking soda per cup of water
1 egg, beaten with a bit of water
Coarse sea salt

Combine the water, yeast, butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix with dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Add the salt and 4 1/2c flour. Mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the bowl. Add additional flour about 1 T at a time, as needed to get the right consistency. Remove dough from the bowl and form into a ball on your counter.

Add vegetable oil to a bowl and rotate to coat the bowl. Add the ball of dough to the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with towel and let rize until dough has about doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 425 (I use the vent from my oven to be the warm place where I have the dough rise).

Bring the water to a boil and add the baking soda. (be careful, it will bubble up when you do!)

Now, decide whether you are making pretzels, bites, or rolls. This will impact how you divide it. If you are making pretzels or bites, I would divide the dough into 10-12 pieces and roll into long ropes. For pretzels, twist them into braids on your counter. For bites, cut each rope into 1" pieces. (I got about 175 bites!) Add the pretzels to the boiling water and allow to boil for about one minute each. If your pan fits them, you can boil more than one at a time. Place the boiled pretzels on a greased cookie sheet (I used cooking spray). Brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. (I didn't have any coarse sea salt, so I used just a bit of regular sea salt.) Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

Serve with cheese dip or mustard. Perfect for a game time or anytime snack.

This post shared at the Ultimate Recipe Swap: Super Bowl Food and It's A Keeper Thursday.