DIPS!

With our new & improved WGLR website, I can keep a fe recipes at a time on the Midday Buffet page at WGLR.com, so I am a bit behind moving som eover into the archives! These two dips were the Crock of the Week over Christmas & New Year. Both are good year 'round, and especially with the Superbowl just around the corner. Great for parties! Both can be kept warm in the crock pot for hours to serve and enjoy.

Crock Pot Reuben Dip

• 1 8oz brick cream cheese
• 2 cups shredded swiss cheese
• 1 lb. corned beef, finely chopped
• 1 can sauerkraut (about 15oz can), not drained
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup Thousand island dressing (depends on how soft you want the dip)
• 1 to 2 loaves rye or pumpernickel cocktail party bread

Cube up the cream cheese and add to the crock with the shredded swiss cheese and the corned beef. Give that all about a half hour on high to melt together. The add the can of kraut, stir. Add the thousand island dressing until it is the consistency you want (it will get a bit thicker as it cooks together). Continue to cook on high for about another half hour until it is all heated through. Then you are OK to keep it in warm to serve and enjoy for a few hours. Spread on the cocktail bread to eat. YUM! Store leftovers in the fridge, and just warm leftovers in the microwave.

Crock Pot Salsa Spinach Queso Dip

• 1 8oz brick cream cheese, cubed up
• 1 lb Velveeta, cubed up
• 1-10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, drained
• salsa of your choice, about 12-16 oz (or 1 can Rotel if you want more kick)
• a handful of chopped up fresh cilantro (optional, but tasty!)

Throw the cheeses in the pot and add the other ingredients on top. It will take about an hour on HIGH for everything to melt together nicely, stir every 10-15 minutes to keep it all blended and melting evenly. Then just set on warm for people to enjoy for hours! We used tortilla chips, but I think chunks of bread or cocktail rye would work nicely with this dip too.
You can use light versions of the cream cheese and Velveeta (2%) if you would like.
Happy New Year! I hope 2013 is a great year for you all!

This kind of weather begs for soups and stews to be eaten. Crock Pots and soups go together like PB & J. So this week, I am offering an easy-to-throw-together soup for your enjoyment! I took this recipe and tweaked it some by adding a few extra ingredients, to make it more like it's name...Crock Pot Bacon Cheeseburger Soup! Serve this with a chunk of crusty bread, and you are all set.

Crock Pot Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

1 lb ground beef
1 container Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cooking Cream, Original flavor (I used the garlic flavor since the original was sold out, it was good!)
8oz Velveeta (I use the lighter 2% variety)
1-15oz can diced tomatoes
5oz DILL pickle relish
1 small onion diced
6 slices bacon, crumbled (I used the Real Bacon Pieces by the salad dressings to save time...DON'T use the fake pink bacon bits, or you'll get pink soup!)
1 bag frozen shredded hash brown potatoes (about a pound and a half to a 2lb bag)
32oz chicken broth (I used low sodium)

Brown and drain the ground beef. Cook and crumble the bacon. Then add all ingredients into the Crock Pot. The Velveeta will work better if you dice it up instead of throwing in the whole chunk. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6, stirring every hour or so.