Recipes: Easy Taco Dip

So this recipe, I pretty much made up on the fly.  It takes some time, but the amount of work required is minimal.

Ingredients:
1.5-2lbs Hamburger
2 packets of your favorite taco seasoning
2/3-3/4 c. water
1 Tbs garlic powder (I love garlic powder!)
1 jar your favorite salsa
1 can of diced tomatoes
20 oz cubed Velveeta
1 jalapeno
Tortilla chips

Directions:

Begin browning hamburger meat.

In a crockpot, add tomatoes, Velveeta, salsa (i prefer medium) and jalapeno.

Brown and strain hamburger.  Mix in taco seasoning and garlic powder and add water (use more or less based on amount of meat).  Bring to a simmer and add meat to crockpot.  Mix well.  Leave crock pot on low for a couple of hours at least until the cheese melts.  The amount of time it will take is based on how warm your crokpot it and how frequently you stir it.  But if you give it 1-2 hours by itself, it will be ready to serve!  

*If you don't like hot foods, you can get a mild salsa, mild taco seasoning, and no jalapeno

Recipes: Easy Peach Cobbler

This is a great one and always a hit! And just in time for peach season...

Instructions:
Prepare 3-4 cups of fresh/ frozen or canned fruit.  Drain frozen and canned. Just make sure the bottom of your 9-10" pie pan is covered but not overflowing. 

1c. flour                          
1c. sugar
1 t. baking powder
1 egg  well beaten
Mix all this together with a fork.  It will be lumpy and partly dry. 

Dump over you fruit and level slightly with your fork.

Melt 1 stick of butter and pour over crumbs.

Now get a hand full of brown sugar and sprinkle on top.
 
Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes (when I use lots of fruit and a 10" pan, it can take as long as an hour). 
 
 The time can vary greatly depending on the amount of fruit. 
 The crumbs should be browned on top.

 
***A couple of suggestions for this one. I like using 8 souffle cups instead of a pie pan. If you use a pie pan and try to serve the dish warm, your cobbler will loose its shape and get all runny. The souffle cups make for perfect portion size and you can put a scoop of vanilla ice cream right on top and it will melt into the dessert. (Souffle cups can easily be bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond).

Second suggestion is just make sure the bottom of the pan is covered in fruit, but not layered in it. Especially if you use canned fruit. Otherwise the mixture will bubble over and create a big mess in your oven.

If you use canned fruit, buy the light syrup variety and rinse the peaches after straining makes for less of a mess.

A dash of cinnamon in the mix makes this so good!***