Cheesy Bacon Crescents

You know what's good?  Cheese.  You know what else is good?  Crescent rolls.  Also, bacon (Can I get an Amen?).  Finally, you know what else is good?  Onions.  Doesn't it then stand to reason that crescent rolls with cheese, bacon, and onions all wrapped up inside would be...kind of amazing?  I think it does.

These bad boys are really, really tasty and pretty fast.  They will make you the star of any Superbowl party, they do not require years and years of work, and they are far more interesting than one more bowl of salsa and yet another bag of chips.

I love Superbowl parties because I love snack food.  I mean, isn't that the main reason anyone goes to a Superbowl party?  It's not.  Oh.  Well, it's why I go.  One year (I won't say which) we went to a pretty big party and I was quite excited but the food was disappointingly...lame.  Seriously, there were more chips and salsa than any 50 people would ever need aaannd... not much else.  No wings, way too many vegetable trays (Vegetable trays during the Superbowl?  Really?), and a whole lot of store-bought whatevers.  I was so disappointed the whole night.

On a related note, we have not yet been invited to a Super Bowl party this year.  No, I don't know who is playing or who isn't or who might be or whether or not anyone knows any of that yet.  I will not interrupt you when you are really into the game.  I will be very disappointed if we don't watch the halftime show (whether to enjoy it or make fun of it, doesn't matter to me).  I will be really annoyed if you talk through the commercials or forget to call me in when they are back on.  Like, really annoyed.  Really really.  Just trying to be honest.  But anyway, we are open for invites.  And whether my above list pleases you or makes you roll your eyes, I promise that if you invite me I will make these crescent rolls AND my awesome guacamole.  Any takers?

Cheesy Bacon Crescents
All measurements below are estimates, and can and should be adjusted to your tastes

• 2 packages Crescent Rolls
• 1 8-oz. package of cream cheese, softened
• about 1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 package of thick-cut bacon
• about 1/4 cup diced scallions 

Cook the bacon.  (By the way, have you ever cooked bacon in the oven?  Because if you don't want to get all greasy and smokey and you have a little extra time, this is the way to do it.)  

While bacon is cooling dice your onions and mix the cheese and onions together.  Crumble bacon and stir it in.  Cut crescents in half lengthwise (they will be very skinny on the bottom).  Spread some mixture down each one, roll them up, and bake according to package directions.

Notes:  You can use onion-flavored cream cheese and omit the onions, if you want.  You could also use mini-crescent rolls if you can find them.  It's best to keep the crescents in the fridge for as long as possible - if they get to room temp they are much harder to work with.

Easy Use It Up Ideas

Today was my first day actually grocery shopping for real.  I am happy to say that I did NOT get carried away, although I did have to hold myself back a few times (like the moment I almost bought more chips, even though our chip cabinet is kind of overflowing).  I actually enjoy grocery shopping and part of that is because I am a couponer.  There is a big thrill in watching the total go upupup and then go back down as soon as I scan my shopper card and hand over my coupons.  Today I also stopped by the clearance center (as usual) and bought a ton of canned goods that were dented and marked 50% off or more.  I only bought the ones we would actually use, not the things we don't use.

I am watching Extreme Couponing while I write this.  I'm feeling both inspired and disgusted.  Some of these people go through tons of work and spend tons of time to get tons of free stuff that they then donate to food banks, animal shelters, and friends in need.  I think that is awesome.  Whenever someone is having a food and toiletry drive, it is nice for me to be able to pull things out of my stockpile to donate.  But I want to be careful of my attitude.  In 1 Chronicles David was ordered to build an altar to the Lord and went to Araunah to buy his field.  Araunah, in his exuberance, offered to give everything to David for free.  David replied, "I will not . . . sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing."  I think that attitude is important to keep in mind.  I can give a bag full of toiletries to someone and feel great for passing on a lot of good stuff that hardly cost my family anything. And if I can't afford to give anything other than time and effort to them otherwise, then that is great.  But when I give them stockpile items just because I don't want to spend money or give something that is uncomfortable, I am no giving sacrificially.  Every situation is different and depends on what God as laid on your heart.  But a sacrifice, by its own definition, cannot cost nothing.

I think Araunah is important here too.  He had a great heart - he wanted to give as well.  But in his generosity, he needed not to take away from David's giving.  Sometimes we can get so excited to give something or do something for someone that we don't give them the opportunity to do what God has called them to do.  It's hard to learn to let someone help you, but sometimes we need to remember that perhaps the lesson is for them, not for us, or for both!

A lot of the couponers on this show, though, seem pretty ridiculous to me.  I understand the thrill - getting 2 or 3 things free is so much fun.  Getting 20 or 30 is probably a huge rush.  I'm grateful for how hard my husband works so I can stay home with my son, and couponing is one of the ways I help and try to show him my gratitude.  But we both recognize that time is still more important than money.  Jeremy doesn't work late hours because he wants to have quality time with me and Malachi.  And I just don't see the need to put 40 hours a week into couponing to save money but end up feeling like I'm still working and getting no time with Malachi!

There is also a difference between good stewardship and greed, and James reminds the rich "It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure."  I always want to look at my motives - why am I buying all this?  Will it actually help our family?  Will we actually use this down the road (before it expires)?  Can I give this away?  Can I leave enough on the shelf to respect other shoppers?

That was a big rabbit trail.  All that to say that a couple weeks ago I got a can of refried beans for about 20% of the normal shelf price.  Because I wasn't doing my regular shopping I didn't have any frozen burritos in the house and let me tell you - I love me some frozen burritos.  I don't know why I love them so much, but I really do and they make me super happy.  So I decided to make some myself.  I mean, seriously?  It can't be that hard....

Except it can.  Jeremy will tell you, I STINK at rolling burritos.  I just can't do it right.  My stuff always falls out, and he always does it for me.  I made 4 burritos, and by the fourth one I had it down.  Woohoo!  Ingredients: refried beans, tomatoes with green chilis, cheese, tortilla.  Freeze.  Reheat later.  Eat.  Be happy.

Another fun and easy thing I like to make is homemade applesauce.  It is seriously SO MUCH BETTER than jarred, it's plenty sweet without added sugar, and it's pretty easy.  The hardest part is peeling, coring, and slicing all the apples.  I used a lot of apples for this.  Maybe 10-12?  Peel them, core them, slice them.  Put them in a stock pot with about half an inch of liquid (you can use water, apple juice, or apple cider).  Simmer them slowly with the lid on, stirring occasionally, until they mush easily with a wooden spoon.  Then you can either put them through a food processor to get the very smooth texture you would find in the store, or you can mash it with a potato masher for more textured, rustic applesauce - definitely my preference.  I also add some cinnamon at the end.

Different types of apples cook at different times.  Really firm apples like Granny Smiths take longer than soft apples like Golden Delicious.  Also, different apples create quite a different taste.  Granny Smiths alone would make a much tarter applesauce.  Pink Ladies alone make it super sweet.  If you care, think it through.  I personally don't care much.  I used a mix of varieties and textures and cooked them all for the same amount of time because I like my applesauce rustic and I'm not too picky.  Do what you prefer.

Homemade applesauce is generally only cheaper if you buy your apples in season from an orchard or a farmer's market.  Apples can get really overpriced at the grocery store, so you want to think through the value before you take the venture.

White Queso Dip with Beer

I am watching the Olympics Opening Ceremonies right now.  I love the Olympics.  I have always loved the Olympics, which is weird, because I don't really like sports and I don't watch much of the Olympics once they are on each year.  In the 2010 winter Olympics my husband developed this very odd obsession with curling, and I was forced to watch hours and hours and hours of it.  I guess it's kinda cool.  But goodness.  Aside from that, though, I have seen all the big moments (i.e. Michael Phelps, the 2002 bribed pairs-skating, etc.) but not much else in between.  But I absolutely LOVE the opening ceremonies.  I love the excitement, the music, the magic, and of course, all the countries.

I have been a very reluctant American for most of my life.  I am grateful for this country, but I've never been particularly patriotic, I'm not big on politics at all, and I probably am a little too hard on the U.S. of A.  I don't like to admit that I'm pretty much an Americanized American - I'm not a third-culture kid, I'm not a missionary kid, I don't really speak anything fluently other than English, but every part of me yearns to travel and speak a million languages and eat all sorts of weird food and feel like a citizen of some other country.  That may explain why my one month in Brazil shaped a huge part of my adolescence and changed who I am as an adult.  It may explain why I will try anything once and have eaten (among other things) frog legs, baby squids, cow hoof soup, wild turtle, and wild boar.  It may explain why I love teaching English as a second language, but I love even more to make friends with my students and learn about their culture.  It may explain why I sought out random restaurants in NYC that served food I knew I wouldn't find anywhere else.  It explains a lot.

I've always wondered, though, what I would miss if I moved abroad.  I think I'd be really surprised.  I'm sure I'd miss a lot of important things, but I think I'd also miss dumb stuff like Goodwill and Velveeta cheese.

My baby brother is staying with us this week, and he specifically requested that I make this queso dip I made one other time he was here.  So I agreed, and then proceeded to change the ingredients and add some beer (because cooking it is the only way I can have any now, although thankfully my pregnancy body isn't craving it this time like last time I was pregnant - ha!).  Thankfully, he seemed to enjoy the dip regardless.

This is the classic recipe, which we call Sue's Dip because our dear friend Sue brings it to everything and no one will ever allow her to ever bring anything else to any event ever.  Mine is below.

White Queso Dip with Beer

• 2 lbs. Velveeta Queso Blanco
• 1 can tomatoes with green chiles (original spice level, or hotter if you like)
• 1 pound spicy pork sausage, cooked and crumbled
• 1/2 bottle of light beer

Cut Velveeta into cubes, combine all ingredients in crock pot, and cook until bubbling.  Allow to bubble for about 30 minutes, then turn to warm until read to eat.  Serve with scoop chips, because they are easiest to load up.

Guacamole

Oh, people. Guacamole has got to be one of my favorite foods on the planet. Avocado, lime, onion... You just can't go wrong. When I make it for a crowd, I use six or more avocados. When I make it for myself, I use at least two. Heh. For me, guacamole is a meal. And I'm proud to say that my son also loves it, and will eat it by the spoonful.


Last night our church had our annual meeting. My husband and I took some time and laid out our philosophy of missions and our vision for the future. It was so exciting to see the number of people interested in missions and interested in doing missions the right way. After a couple weeks preparing for the meeting, a lot of time in prayer, and some mad-dash last-minute stapling, it was so edifying to see it come to fruition and hopefully make a real difference. We are blessed with a pastor who fully supports missions and really desires to be intentional about it.

The last two times I made a big bowl of guacamole, it was for a group of people who had come alongside me to do life together. One was my small group and the other was the group of women in my Bible study. Sharing a meal I think is so symbolic of sharing life. I wish Americans would just learn to slow down, eat together, and get into each other's lives. I'm so grateful for the people who have gotten into mine. That one-on-one or small group intentional relationship is so valuable. Mature people willing to pour into you with their life experience and spiritual wisdom is what discipleship is all about. And truly, "missions" is just discipleship in another culture. It's not going and doing but going and being.


I'm grateful for these people who have been vulnerable enough to make a difference in my life. And for them, I made guacamole. I guess I use guacamole to show love.

Guacamole
This recipe is for a crowd. Adapt the measurements to meet your needs. Also, I've never measured anything for this recipe before, because it's really about your own personal tastes. But since several people have asked me for my guacamole recipe, here you go.

~6 hass avocados
~1/2 yellow onion
~about 5 ounces of grape tomatoes, or other sweet, ripe tomatoes (I use grape tomatoes because they are the only ones I like from the grocery store. If you have access to fresh tomatoes or a farmer's market, that would be great, too.)
~2-3 juicy limes
~1/2 bunch of chopped cilantro
~1-2 teaspoons salt, to taste

Slice the avocados down to the pit, longways, all the way around. Then twist the two halves away from each other and it should look like this:

Remove the pit, then use a large spoon to scoop the meat out of the avocado into a bowl. (Be careful not scoop any of the skin.)

Mash your avocados with a large fork or, my favorite method, with a potato masher. Chop the onion and tomatoes into small chunks, to your preference. Chop the cilantro, and stir it all in.


Add the juice of both limes, plus the zest of one, then the salt to taste. Keep adjusting seasonings until you like it. Sometimes I feel like I keep dumping the lime and salt! Don't hold back.

Jeremy couldn't wait for me to finish my picture before he took a bite.

Pizza Balls

I was NOT going to blog about this. This is one of those "recipes" I'm not particularly proud of because A) It doesn't really qualify as a recipe and B) Everyone has already seen it on Pinterest and C) It's kind of embarrassing. But we made it Friday night, and then again on Tuesday night, and that's when I realized, ok this is good. And easy. And cheap. And maybe some of my "readers" (Hello?) would appreciate that.

On a different note, my March New Year's Resolution (I have one for each month) is to cook 4 Julia Child Recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. That'll be a different story.

Pizza Balls

~1 can refrigerated biscuits (8)
~1 bag pepperoni
~1 bag mozzarella cheese
~1 bag real bacon bits (or whatever other toppings you want)
~1 tablespoon olive oil
~non-stick cooking spray
~garlic powder
~parsley
~marinara sauce

Pre-heat oven to 350. Spray muffin pan with non-stick spray. Open biscuits and fill as follows: Spread out one biscuit until it's about 50% wider than before. Sprinkle a tablespoon of cheese, sprinkle a teaspoon of bacon bits, and place 3 pepperonis in the center, then fold the biscuit back together and place folded side down in the muffin pan. Brush the top of each biscuit with olive oil, then sprinkle garlic, parsley, and a little extra cheese on top. Bake for 15 minutes. Dip in warmed marinara sauce and eat!