{"id":9522,"date":"2013-02-18T00:01:31","date_gmt":"2013-02-18T05:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=9522"},"modified":"2013-02-17T23:59:34","modified_gmt":"2013-02-18T04:59:34","slug":"at-home-with-gch-appetizers-week-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/02\/18\/at-home-with-gch-appetizers-week-3\/","title":{"rendered":"At Home with GCH: Appetizers Week 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here on our At Home with GCH <\/strong>blog, Monday\u2019s are always focused on healthy but oh-so-yummy!<\/em> recipes.\u00a0 This month we are doing a series on appetizers<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 As I confessed last week: I love appetizers! Whether you call them tapas, small bites, hors d\u2019ouerves, antipasto, or simply appetizers; no matter what you call \u2018em\u2026I like \u2018em!\u00a0 One of my favorite things to do on a weekend evening is to have some folks over, set up a board game, put appetizers and beverages on the buffet…relax and have fun!\u00a0 But that\u2019s me! I would love for you to leave a comment below sharing with us YOUR favorite appetizer(s)!<\/p>\n

This week we are making Guacamole<\/strong><\/span> and Six Layer Mexican Dip<\/span><\/strong>…Vamanos<\/em>! (Let’s go<\/em>!)<\/p>\n

Guacamole<\/strong> is so simple to prepare from fresh ingredients.\u00a0 And when you make it at home you are able to leave out any preservatives or other unhealthy additions.\u00a0 The main ingredient in any guacamole recipe is AVOCADO.\u00a0 Avocados, which are fruit, are considered a very healthy plant-based fat which is comprised of monounsaturated (the good stuff) fat that is easily metabolized (burned).\u00a0 Here are some nutrition facts (based on one whole avocado):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Guacamole Dip\"IMG_0154\"<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1 ripe avocado
\njuice of \u00bd small lemon (try Mayer lemons!)
\nKosher salt, freshly ground pepper
\n1\/2 ripe tomato, seeded and chopped
\nOR 12-15 grape tomatoes, halved
\n1\/8 small Vidalia onion, very thinly sliced<\/p>\n

Halve the avocado; remove pit very carefully.<\/p>\n

Scoop out the fruit into a glass or ceramic bowl, and mash roughly with the lemon juice and approximately 1 teaspoon kosher salt and pepper to taste.<\/p>\n

Stir in the cut-up tomatoes and onions.\u00a0 Taste for seasoning, adding if necessary.<\/p>\n

Should be served immediately.<\/p>\n

_________<\/p>\n

Six Layer Mexican Dip\"IMG_0159\"<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
\n8 ounces of jarred salsa (I used black bean & corn variety)
\n12 ounces sour cream
\n2-3 tablespoons homemade taco seasoning*
\nGuacamole (see above recipe)
\n8-12 ounces shredded sharp cheddar or colby jack
\n1 (6 ounce) can black olives, sliced<\/p>\n

Heat refried beans in the microwave for approximately 1 minute in a 1\/2\u20142 quart clear glass\u00a0 container just \u2018til warm.\u00a0 Remove from microwave.\u00a0 Spread into an even layer.<\/p>\n

Pour salsa over beans and smooth into an even layer.<\/p>\n

Mix homemade taco seasoning with sour cream; spoon onto the salsa layer, spreading gently.<\/p>\n

Spoon guacamole evenly over the sour cream mixture; spreading if necessary.<\/p>\n

Scatter shredded cheese on top of the guacamole; and then distribute olive slices on the very top.<\/p>\n

Serve with your favorite tortilla chips!<\/p>\n

Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1\/4 cup chili powder
\n3 tablespoons dried minced onion
\n1 tablespoon garlic powder
\n1+1\/2 teaspoons salt (optional, I do not include it)
\n2 teaspoons dried oregano
\n2 teaspoons ground cumin
\n1 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
\n2 teaspoons paprika
\n1 teaspoon black pepper
\n\u00bd teaspoon cayenne pepper
\n1\/3 cup cornstarch<\/p>\n

Place all ingredients in a small glass jar; shake really well \u2018til all ingredients appear to be evenly distributed.\u00a0 (To substitute for the mix that comes in a yellow package: use 3 tablespoons of mix and 1\/3 cup water for each pound of meat.)<\/p>\n

God loves you!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2665\u00a0 <\/span>(Don\u2019t ever forget that!)<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2665\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> coleen<\/p>\n

_________________________________<\/p>\n

If you would like to send a personal message to Coleen concerning this series, you may email her at: Coleen@girlfriendscoffeehour.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here on our At Home with GCH blog, Monday\u2019s are always focused on healthy but oh-so-yummy! recipes.\u00a0 This month we are doing a series on appetizers.\u00a0 As I confessed last week: I love appetizers! Whether you call them tapas, small bites, hors d\u2019ouerves, antipasto, or simply appetizers; no matter what you call \u2018em\u2026I like \u2018em!\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":9523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15],"tags":[1648,9296,1805,235,425,1804,483,1803,1807,1806],"class_list":["post-9522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-at-home-with-gch","tag-appetizers","tag-at-home-with-gch","tag-avocado","tag-coleen-hayden","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-guacamole","tag-healthy-but-oh-so-yummy","tag-mexican-layered-dip","tag-nutrition","tag-taco-seasoning","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/IMG_0154.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-2tA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9522"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9529,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9522\/revisions\/9529"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}