Six-Layer Dip (Southern Living 1981)

Layered dip was made for a party! 

Or at least a large group. Or at least a group of which I will be a part. Yum!  I have always been a fan of the layered Mexican dip, even though it commonly features my arch-nemesis - olives. I even eat it with the olives! I know, right?

You are about to discover the world's best six-layer dip because...no olives! Yay! I like being in charge.

Here's the original recipe:

I followed my mom's recommendations on this one and added the refried beans to the bottom. See her writing? In red? And again in blue. I followed both sets of directions! Yay me! I think it was good to have a little less tomato, so it was more garnish-y than layer-y.

 Layers in progress!

 

I changed a bit about the guacamole portion of this recipe. I don't know what they were going for with mayonnaise in guacamole, because I've never heard of such. I made guacamole how I always make it. 3ish ripe avocados, lime juice, cilantro, jalapeno, salt...everything to taste (The Hubs' taste actually, because I'm not a connoisseur of guacamole).

Otherwise it was the same. Except of course, no olives. And less tomato. And I used some of the extra cilantro in the tomato layer. Added freshness and yum-ness.

I made it for our Sunday School - we hosted a lunch a few Sundays ago. Everyone liked it. Except my boys - who didn't have it. I can tell you they wouldn't have liked it though. Know why? Beans.

Baby Girl liked this one! I gave her the bottom two layers (being careful to stay away from the jalapenos), and she really seemed to like it! Especially when I gave it to her on a chip.

~Audry

Country Pride Pork Cops (Southern Living 1979)

Country Pride Pork Chops (slightly updated) = delicious

I can almost guarantee that I'll always vote for something that comes from off the grill.   This recipe did not disappoint.

We have eaten this recipe twice in the month of July, trying it with different cuts of pork chops.  The first time we made this recipe, we used thin sliced pork loin chops.  We had about six pork chops weighing in at a little more than 1.2 pounds.  Using this cut of meat, the meat was definitely well marinated.  The pork chops tasted really good.  We used more sugar the first time, too, than the second time.  We all agreed it was better without as much sugar, because you could taste the smokiness of the grill a little more.  And why grill something if you can't tell it's grilled?  The second time, we bought two center cut pork loin chops that weighed in at just a little over one pound.

The verdict?  The thinner pork chops definitely had a stronger taste of the marinade.  However, we actually preferred the thicker cut of meat - taste-wise and presentation-wise.

 K-man said this is a recipe that could impress people.  Easy to prepare and impressive?  Is there a better combination when it comes to a meal? 

This recipe did need some tweaks - I mean, do people actually still cook with MSG?  I do remember our mom having a small jar of MSG growing up, but I do not have MSG on my spice shelf and do not plan to keep it around.  So, here's how I updated Country Pride Pork Chops. 

Country Pride Pork Chops (Updated from Southern Living 1979)
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup red cooking wine
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/16 teaspoon ginger
1-2 pounds center cut pork loin chops

Combine first 7 ingredients in a 1 gallon ziploc storage bag; mix well.
Place the pork chops into the ziploc storage bag; close and refrigerate overnight.  Our meat ended up marinating at least 18 hours for each version of this recipe. I do recommend flipping the bag over when you wake up in the morning.
Grill chops 6 to 8 inches from heat.  Ours only took about 30 minutes to cook.  However, this can all depend on how hot your grill gets - so make sure that you use a meat thermometer.  Don't want anybody to get sick from undercooked pork!

This recipe is a winner.  Quick, easy, delicious. 

Lindy

Baked Chicken Nuggets (Southern Living 1981)

Lindy assigned me this recipe. It was one I had scoped out and planned to make if no one assigned it to me. Chicken Nuggets? Win! 

Here's the original:

 

I used a mixture of panko and Italian seasoned breadcrumbs. It was simply what I had on hand. Because I used the Italian breadcrumbs, I left out the thyme and basil. It was good! I'm sure there would be no harm in doing both, but we're a family who likes to dip our chicken, and the light Italian-y flavor was good for those who like to dip. I also tried dipping half in milk and half in butter (like the recipe instructed).

 

On the pan ready to be cooked.

But no picture of already cooked. Sorry! I'm 0-2 or 3 this month. eck. 

The Hubs loved these. He preferred the dipped in butter ones, while the boys preferred dipped in milk. The ones dipped in butter were crispier, but I thought both were very good. The Hubs said they were way better than the kind you buy in the freezer section at the store (man, does this guy know who makes his dinner or what?!?).

We'll definitely have these again. Easy, tasty, and bake up quickly. It would probably be a good one to make and freeze either baked or unbaked!

~Audry

Blueberry Crumble (Southern Living 1981)

 This is actually a recipe from April, but I had to go back in time for it, y'all! 

I took the kiddos to pick blueberries at a local you-pick farm. It is too fun! So we went back! Really, have you ever been to a you-pick farm? We loved it - I couldn't recommend it more! Freshly picked blueberries are SO MUCH better than the kind you get at the store. WOW! I want to grow some at home! Except...I'd kill them. Or they just wouldn't grow from the seed. It's a wonder I manage to keep these kids alive and healthy because I promptly kill every plant that enters our home (or yard). Sigh.

So, the first time we went blueberry picking, I asked the boys what they wanted to make. Junior wanted to make a cobbler and J-Boy wanted to make a pie. (Of course. Does anyone else's kids do this? If we have more than one choice, it's like a law of nature that they  MUST pick opposites. If you know how to change this, let me know!) 

So, we went pie the first time. The second time I knew we'd need to make a cobbler. I couldn't resist trying out this recipe, even though it wasn't in the right month!

 Here's the original recipe:

I made a few modifications. Fresh blueberries (of course), about 1/4 cup sugar, and I also used about 2T of flour to keep the juice thick. I used the juice of 1/2 a lemon. 

I followed the topping directions pretty closely, except I went a little light on the brown sugar. I try to leave out some sugar whenever possible.

So, here's the haul that went in to the crumble. 

 

Notice the blackberries? The boys found a wild blackberry bush entwined with one of the blueberry bushes. They were pumped and went to town picking. Junior asked me to include them in the crumble.

The berries with the sugar, but before the flour got involved. I think.

Here's the topping ready to go.

Action shot. Maybe I was also falling? Not sure.

Y'all. This. Was. Fantastic. We had it for dessert when some dear friends of ours were over for dinner. It was 100% approved by all.  It even got "2 kicks" of approval from our friends' in utero little one! :)

Well, Junior didn't like it, but I'm attributing that to the fact that 1. He doesn't like fruit, and 2. He put chocolate ice cream with it. Not a good combination in my opinion.

There was only one teeny serving left. I accidentally had it for breakfast the next morning. Yum! I was so into it, I forgot to take an after picture! This is a winner recipe. Go pick some blueberries. Eat some. Make some crumble. It's a win.

~Audry

Chops in Sherry (Southern Living 1979)

Very good and very easy.  That about sums up this recipe.  The picture I took of it wasn't very good, but this is something that's definitely worth trying.  Tweaks included choosing thin sliced pork chops, which allowed the cooking time to decrease.  The major tweaks were that I skipped the mushrooms and used white cooking wine instead of sherry. 

Chops in Sherry
6 thin sliced loin pork chops
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup white cooking wine
1 cup carton low-fat sour cream

Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper; brown on both sides in well-sprayed skillet.  Remove chops, and place in shallow casserole dish.  Combine sherry and sour cream.  Cover and bake at 375F for 35 to 40 minutes, or until done.

This main dish was a big hit with K-man and the kids.

Lindy

Savory Beef and Vegetables (Southern Living 1979)

For some reason this recipe caught my eye in the July section of the 1979 Southern Living cookbook.  Not sure why, because I knew that I wouldn't be able to cook it like it prescribed.  Mushrooms?  A jar of onions?  Pepper strips?  No, I knew none of those things would work for my (picky) husband or even for my not-so-picky children.  Did I mention that I don't like mushrooms either?  Despite these "minor" issues, I wanted to give it a go.  And with all my tweaks this was a huge success for my family.  When I asked K-man what I could do to make it better, his response was "nothing."  :-)

Savory Beef (adapted from Savory Beef and Vegetables (Southern Living 1979))
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1-2 t brown sugar (I used closer to 1 t)
1/2 t salt
1/8 t pepper
1-1/2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T apple cider vinegar
2 T white cooking wine
1 pound steak (I used sirloin), cut into 1-inch cubes
1 T cornstarch
Noodles (I used whole-wheat rotini)

Combine tomato sauce, brown sugar, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, and wine into a gallon size ziploc bag; mix well.  Add steak; make sure the steak is well coated with the liquid mixture.  Marinate overnight in refrigerator.  Mine marinated about 19-20 hours.
Remove steak from marinade.  Add cornstarch to marinade, stir well, and pour into a skillet.  Add steak to skillet; simmer 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Meanwhile, cook noodles.
Serve over noodles.

Lindy

Banana Breakfast Bars (Southern Living 1979)

These were from the June section of the 1979 cookbook.  I only changed a couple of things to make them more kid-friendly, and they turned out really well.  Little Man and Little Miss also helped me with the baking - taking turns pouring in ingredients.  Only one crying incident that I can remember, because she stirred "some" of the oatmeal right out of the bowl.  She helped clean up the mess, and we just continued right along with the baking.  I really enjoy having them helping me.

Banana Breakfast Bars (Southern Living 1979)
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
4 cups quick-cooking oats
3 mashed ripe bananas
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins

Combine butter and sugar; cream until light and fluffy.  Add egg, beating well.  Stir in oats, banana, salt, and cinnamon; mix well.  Add raisins, stirring well.

Spoon batter into a sprayed 13- x 9- x 2-inch baking pan.  Bake at 350F for 45 minutes; allow to cool in pan.  Cut into 2-inch bars.  Yield: about 2 dozen.

I cut them small as directed above, but that made them more like cookies instead of breakfast bars, at least for my kids.  :-)

Lindy