Apparently, cream cheese is a necessity for every appetizer known to man. Or, at least, known to me.
On Thursday night, Smitty and I took a field trip to the grocery store. I had my list of ingredients and a couple extra recipes for good measure. (Smitty had conveniently accidentally forgotten her wallet at home, so she wasn’t able to buy her ingredients and supplies.)
When I realized just how many bricks of cream cheese I needed, I had to laugh. And flash back to this post of BooMama’s. Look, if BooMama says it’s good stuff, you know it to be true, right?
I decided to forgo the fruit dip, mainly because buying three different kinds of fruit and cutting it up just seemed so . . . expensive . . . and time-consuming. (Only the best for my friends, you know.) But even so, I bought three blocks of cream cheese.
I have no idea how many rectangular foil packs of goodness were sacrificed for Smitty’s cheesecake squares. But let me tell you right now, it was well worth it. After Mark ate his leftover pieces on Sunday, he got himself off the couch, looked at me and said, “Okay, I’m going to drive to Smitty’s house now and get the rest of the leftovers.”
Smitty lives about an hour away. He did not drive there. But oh, he was tempted.
Anyway, this post is supposed to be all about the cooking and the recipes and the yummy treats we gorged snacked on Saturday night. So here you go. To compliment the awesome hamburgers that Mark grilled and the rocking mix tape Smitty and I burned, we had tortilla rolls and MexiDip. (And veggies and brownies and beans and chips and . . . ugh, no wonder I thought I was going to die from a stomachache by the time I fell into bed that night.)
And if you’re wondering where the photos are, you can just keep on wondering. After taking about a trillion pictures Friday night and almost missing my daughter’s first real steps (can I get a WOO-HOO!?!), I decided to put the camera down and just live on Saturday. Imagine that. (But don’t get used to it. I am sure it won’t become a habit or anything.)
Tortilla Rolls
10 burrito-sized flour tortillas
1 block (8 oz.) cream cheese
8 oz. sour cream
1 cup finely shredded cheddar (that’s fancy shredded for those of you who, like me, hate grating)
1 small can green chilies (or 2/3 of a large can, if you live on the edge)
Mix up all ingredients except tortillas (because that would be weird). Spread on tortillas and roll up. Refrigerate the 10 rolls overnight or at least for a few hours. Then slice into pinwheels. Eat the ends, because nobody wants to see those on your platter. Serve with salsa.
This is a recipe that can be a little healthier, although nothing will help you if you eat 47 in one sitting. I may possibly speak from experience. Low-fat tortillas, cream cheese, sour cream and even cheddar lessen the damage. Although, for the record, I went full fat this time. Unh-huh.
MexiDip
2 blocks (8 oz.) cream cheese (yes, I said 2)
1 can Mexicorn
1 small can green chilies
1 can Rotel (diced tomatoes with green chilies)
1 can chopped olives (I don’t love olives, so didn’t use the whole can. Just couldn’t do it.)
Mix it all up and refrigerate overnight. Make sure you drain the corn and Rotel. It will look disgusting, but I guarantee your guests will ask for the recipe. And hog the bowl. Mine did. And, in fact, that was my response when I ate this for the first (second, third and fourth) time at my cousin Sondra’s house. It may look ugly, but it is tasty.
Have you tried any new recipes lately? For a few to add to your cookbook, check out Rachel’s Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale. And this post will be linked to Friday Family Recipes, as well as Tasty Tuesday (which is hosting The Finer Things in Life’s Bloggy Progressive Dinner!).
Photo by House of Sims
That cheesecake was heavenly! That and the espinaca on Sunday… ;)
I had to laugh because I have a friend who gives me such a hard time about how there is ALWAYS cream cheese in my recipes. He'll say, "So, Amber, besides cream cheese, what's in this stuff?" We even took a picture of all of the cream cheese in our cart once. Let's just say we should have received a quantity discount. I am going to try these recipes and the ones you linked. And CONGRATS on the first steps! That's worth a cream cheese splurge…or six!
WOO HOO! That is so exciting!
And the food sounds yummy too. :)
Yummy! I can't wait to try the MexiDip. My favorite cream cheese recipe is a cheesecake recipe I got from a friend who went to live with Jesus a few years ago. I'll share it, but don't ever give my secret away, because I get lots of compliments on it:)
Marilynn's Cheescake
2 graham cracker crusts
16 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 small can vanilla frosting
Beat cream cheese with frosting. Spread in crusts. Refrigerate for several hours before serving.
Like I said, keep it secret so people still think I am amazing when I serve it;)
Maybe we should call cream cheese "appetizer cheese" or something? Busy, that recipe sounds AWESOME. And it will be our little secret. ;)
Hurray! (since whoo hoo has been done)
and yum!
you and smitty throw an awesome party! the cream cheese themed food…DE-LISH! still dreaming of the awesome burger…mark will have to give my hubby his secret tips! overall an amazing time! thank you for getting us together!
oh, and am rocking to my "mix-tape" while working!
I have a great recipe for cream cheese cupcakes. I'll have ti share soon.
This week I did White Sangria. Hope you'll link up over at Momtrends Friday Feasts:
http://momtrends.blogspot.com/2009/07/fridays-feasts-white-sangria.html
GREAT!!! recipes, I need to try the MexiDip. I have lots of recipe that call for cream cheese. THANKS!!! Geri
I love recipes with cream cheese! I posted a recipe a few month's ago for some tortilla/pinwheels that are similar to this, but it has black beans in it. They're really good! I'll have to try the version you have posted here too.
These recipes sound so good!! I can't wait to try them, thanks for sharing!