Game Day Eats: Warm Spinach & Artichoke Dip

I so enjoyed having the day off yesterday. I'm still working on my quilted table runner, and I spent the day with my mom getting it done! Of course I'm feeling sleepy and overall not ready to tackle work today. I get so spoiled when I have a day off! I must have snoozed my alarm like 5 times this morning. Are you a snoozer?

Moving on to something happy. Like this:

There are like...1 billion spinach and artichoke dip recipes out there. Seriously, I've counted.

I came across a Martha Stewart recipe a while back and had saved it in my recipe binder. When we were at a loss as to what to make for this past football Sunday, I pulled out the binder, came across this recipe and decided to give it a go. I'm sooooo happy I did. I made a few changes and added artichokes. I think it adds a little more texture and flavor. Artichokes rule!

Once I pulled the browned and bubbly dip from the oven, Shaun and I settled in with the Giants and Jets. Since both games were so bad that it felt like we completely wasted a large chunk of our lives, I was psyched that at least we had this delicious dip to make the day a bit better :)

Warm Spinach & Artichoke Dip
*Adapted from Martha Stewart
1 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained very well
1 can artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
1/2 cup milk
1 8oz pkg reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
3 dashes Frank's Red Hot
1 C shredded mozzarella, divided
kosher salt
ground pepper
cooking spray
tortilla chips, crackers or baguette slices, for dipping

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat and sautee the onions until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sautee 1 minute more. Mix in the spinach & artichokes and heat through. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Meanwhile, add milk to the saucepan and warm over low heat (don't boil). Whisk in the cream cheese. Mix the spinach mixture back into the milk mixture. Add 1/2 C mozzarella, Worcestershire, Red Hot, salt and pepper. Mix well and pour into a baking dish lightly greased with cooking spray (I used a pie plate). Top with 1/2 C mozzarella cheese and bake for 20 minutes until lightly browned and bubbly.

Serve with tortilla chips, crackers, baguette slices, pita chips or your left arm. This dip is delicious on anything!

So there you have it. An easy and delicious dip, perfect for football Sunday or any day!

Questions of the Day:

Do you have a go to dip recipe?

Are you a snoozer in the morning?

If I Was a Stay-At-Home Wife + Spinach Pinwheels

If I was a stay-at-home wife, our apartment would be clean.

If I was a stay-at-home wife, our laundry would be done.

If I was a stay-at-home wife, our closets would be organized, our bed would be made and our walls would be painted.

If I was a stay-at-home wife, Shaun could pick whatever he wanted to eat that night for dinner...and I’d make it!

Or, I’d simply find anything I could in my pantry and refrigerator and try creative ways to use up what we have.

The latter would probably be the case.

Last week, I had a few days off from work between Christmas and New Year’s. With that whole snow storm thing, I was trapped in the apartment for a solid 2 days, which kind of made me feel like a stay-at-home wife. So you know I got my cooking and baking on. When I realized I had a sheet of puff pastry still in my freezer, left from my Christmas Eve vegetable tart, I simply had to find a way to use it. And then when I found a simple recipe on the back of the package, I knew it was primed for some changes to make it even more delish.

Shaun claimed it was one of my best creations ever. So I guess he won't mind if I just come up with dinner on my own after all :)

Spinach & Onion Pinwheels
*Adapted from Pepperidge Farms
1 sheet puff pastry (1/2 of a box)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp water
1 C mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 C Parmesean cheese, grated
1 onion, sliced
1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
kosher salt
flour, for dusting the pastry
butter & olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a skillet, cook the sliced onions in a bit of butter and olive oil on very low heat until they soften and start to brown. Mix them frequently so they don't burn. We are starting the carmelization process here, but I don't think mine got quite that far. Roll out the pastry with a bit of flour. Brush some of the egg over the entire pastry. Stack the spinach and onion on top.

 

Add the cheeses and roll it on up. Carefully.

Slice off the edges so you're starting with clean, sharp ends. Slice up the pinwheels.

 

Lay them on a foil-lined baking sheet, sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.

Brush the tops with the egg mixture. Bake for 15 minutes, until browned and bubbly.

Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Though this is a great party food (and will probably make an appearance at our green-themed Jets party this Saturday night), we had it for dinner along with some butternut squash puree (another bystander of my use-everything-in-kitchen-raid).

 

So there you have it. A yummy, easy dinner that took almost no time to prepare. We both loved the sauteed onions in these pinwheels since it gave them an extra, subtle boost of flavor - completely worth the extra time to let them brown on the stovetop. Though I suppose with a dinner this easy, there's no reason to become a stay-at-home wife.

So what do you think? Do you ever go on a kitchen raid to use up what you have? What's the craziest concoction you've ever come up with?