Fun Fall Treats and Recipes

Don't you just love fall? The cool, but not too cold, weather. The colorful trees. Fun holiday gatherings with friends and family. There are so many things to look forward to in fall! The only thing not so fun are the extra calories from all of the good food! Note to self: hit the treadmill tomorrow! haha.

Bryan and I hosted a few friends last night and I had the pleasure in making a few fall treats for them. They were a huge hit, so I thought I'd share the recipes!

Pumpkin Dip

I love this recipe for it's simplicity and light fresh taste! It only requires 3 ingredients! Yes, I said 3. I found it on my favorite website ever, Pinterest, and then my mother-in-law made a suggestion to alter one of the ingredients and she was totally right! Anyways, here it is:

1 can of pure pumpkin (15 oz.)

1 container of Cool Whip

1 package of cheesecake JELLO pudding

Mix all the ingredients together and whala! You have a delicious, light and fluffy pumpkin dip.

For presentation I carved out a pumpkin and used it as my bowl for the dip. 

I provided apple slices and Nilla wafers for dipping.

It was delicious!

Spinach Artichoke Dip 

This one is also a huge hit and I apologize in advance, because I do a lot of it to taste so it takes a little experimenting. I found this recipe on the food network website and then altered to make it my own.

I also use my dip sized crockpot. I love it! When preparing for a party, there is nothing better than being able to just throw all the ingredients into a crockpot and let it cook! It saves so much time in the kitchen and did I mention it's delicious?

1 package of frozen spinach (defrost, but don't drain)

1 jar of artichoke hearts (with juice)

1 package of cream cheese (8oz.)

2/3 cup of sour cream (I don't measure this out, I buy an 8 oz. container of sour cream and use all but approximately 1/3)

1 1/2 cups of shredded mozzarella (I don't measure this, I buy a 16 oz. package and use most)

1/2-1 cup of parmesan cheese

2-3 cloves of garlic

2 dashes of cayenne pepper

1-2 dashes of crushed red pepper

1/4 tsp. of Worcestershire sauce

Put all of these ingredients together in the crockpot and let it cook for 2 hours. In the process of cooking, stir occasionally and cook to taste! I used multigrain scoops tortilla chips for dipping.

Bryan and I had a great time preparing yummy fall treats for our friends and we even had some costume fun to add to the festivities. Our theme was '80s!

Bryan aka Mr.T

 

Gotta love me some 80s fashion!

Oh and look who joined us for some fun! This is Dottie Fox. She's the newest member of our group. Isn't she beautiful?!