Three Cheese Vegetable Dip

Oh, my freaking yumminess. This was way too good not to blog about. I love making dips. I'm often the one who brings the spinach and artichoke dip to the party and it's gone before half the party is over. But, what excuse do I have to make such deliciousness without a party to go to? How about if we add a few more vegetables to the mix? Will it still be yummy and have enough nutrition to count as lunch? The answer, I say with a very satisfied tummy, is yes.

This recipe is big enough to take to a party, or have for lunch with leftovers to enjoy as a snack or to stuff into an omelet for breakfast the next morning.

Three Cheese Vegetable Dip

two pkg cream cheese

two cups of milk

four cloves of garlic (pressed or minced very fine)

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup finely chopped fresh baby spinach (or frozen, but be sure to drain and chop finely)

1 can sauerkraut, drained (or 1 can artichoke hearts, finely chopped)

1 cup shredded mozzarella

2 tbs grated Parmesan

Melt the cream cheese in the milk, in a pan on the stove. As it melts add in the garlic, salt and pepper, carrots and spinach. Cook until thick and creamy. Add in the sauerkraut and cook a little longer until warm and bubbly. Take off of the heat and add in the cheeses. Stir until cheese is melted and serve warm with whole grain tortilla chips or cool and serve with vegetables.

Apple Kugel

I absolutely love to create something wonderful from something most people would probably throw away. If you cook too many noodles for dinner, what can you do with the leftover noodles? Why, make a delicious Kugel for breakfast the next morning! For this Kugel, I also incorporated some wrinkly, bruised apples that my girls would probably refuse to eat, but were still perfectly yummy. It baked up into a delicious custardy comfort food - similar to a bread pudding - that Stella and I devoured!

Apple Kugel

2 cups (or so) of leftover noodles (We used whole wheat egg noodles today, but other noodles will work well too.)

2 or 3 small apples, diced

4 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

Additional sugar and cinnamon to sprinkle on top

(Can also add some walnuts or pecans)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the cooked, cold noodles into a baking dish with the diced apples and stir around to distribute evenly. Mix together the rest of the ingredients, blend until frothy and well mixed. Pour over the noodles and apples. Cover and bake for an hour or until center is set. Serve warm by the spoonful!