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Velveeta Chili Dip

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This is one of my family’s favorite holiday dips. It’s very easy to make for a few or for a crowd and so delicious! It doesn’t contain Watkins products but is a must when winter weather rolls around.

1 lb. (16 oz.) Velveeta Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cut into cubes
2 cans (15 oz.) chili, without beans
1 small can diced green chilis

Mix Velveeta, chili, and diced green chilis in 2-qt. microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 5 min. or until Velveeta is melted, stirring after 3 minutes. You can also mix ingredients and heat in a sauce pan on the stove or heat in a small crock pot.

Serve hot with tortilla chips, corn chips, or assorted cut-up vegetables. ______________________________________________________________________________

Eleisia Whitney is a Watkins Home Business owner. She enjoys cooking and baking with Watkins extracts, spices, herbs, and sauces for healthy meals. Eleisia publishes a Watkins Newsletter, “Around the Kitchen Table,” that brings you recipes, cooking and health tips, and contests for free Watkins products. Read the current issue at http://www.everydaynecessities.com/nov15-06newsletter.htm
Visit her at http://www.everydaynecessities.com/ and
http://www.WatkinsOnline.com/eleisiawhitney

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What do you do with Spiced Dip?

I have discovered a wonderful Homemade Gourmet product that all my children like. It is called Spiced Dip. Now it sounds a bit strange, but you can make many things with it. My family and I have two very special recipes that we make with the Spiced Dip, one is a fruit dip and the other is a topping for pies or cakes.

Let me explain something right away. The Spiced dip is a sweet dip not spicy hot. I wanted to get that out of the way in case you were thinking that it was a hot dip. LOL

First Recipe for Spiced Dip as a fruit dip

1 Spiced Dip

1 7oz jar of Marshmallow Creme

1 8oz Cream Cheese

Mix all three ingredients until smooth and creamy

Serve with cut up apples, strawberries, or other fruit

Second Recipe for Spiced Dip as a topping

1 Spiced Dip

1 8oz. Cool Whip or whipped topping

Mix together until well blended. Put in the refrigerator for about an hour before serving. Enjoy on top of Gingerbread, Brownie Pie, or Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake.

We all look forward to an opportunity to eat this delicacy.

The Spiced Dip is available in a Bulk Seasoning size too for the holidays. There are recipes to make pork chops and pork roast. I have enjoyed both.
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Stacey Walker has a Homemade Gourmet Home Business. She uses her Homemade Gourmet products regularly for cooking fast and easy to prepare meals. She is currently using Homemade Gourmet in her meal planning and when teaching her children to cook. Visit her website at www.4minutemeals.com

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A Two Year Old in the Kitchen? AAAHHHH!

Today my two year old, Daisy, helped me make lunch. (She is the one with the curly blond hair in this picture.) She was in charge of manning the microwave. I pushed “cook,” “3,” and “5.” Daisy pushed “start.” She was so proud of herself. She looked a me with a huge smile, a little giggle, and clapped for herself. “Yeah for Daisy.”

For lunch we had rice and beans. We like to eat them with tortilla chips. I asked her to carry the tortilla chips to the table. She was surprised that I would ask her to carry them because I had already put them in the dish. She felt so proud of herself walking the tortiall chips to the table. She walked them straight to Daddy. “Yeah for Daisy,” she cheered for herself again. The whole family chimed in. We all clapped for her.

She was so proud of herself today for helping to prepare lunch. She did not do much by adult standards, but for a little person, a two year old, she contributed a great deal.

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Stacey Walker has a Homemade Gourmet Home Business. She uses her Homemade Gourmet products regularly for cooking fast and easy to prepare meals. She is currently using Homemade Gourmet in her meal planning and when teaching her children to cook. Visit her website at www.4minutemeals.com

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Mashed Potatoes with Sour Cream

Mashed Potatoes with Sour Cream� is an easy make-ahead mashed potato recipe. Enriched with sour cream and cream cheese, these stay creamy and moist. This recipe can� be made the day of your dinner or a day or two ahead� so you can spend more time with your family. This recipe can also be doubled if you have a large guest list.�

9 large russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
6 ounces cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup butter
1 pinch ground� Watkins Pepper
Salt to taste
Chives or Watkins Paprika

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil; add potatoes, and boil until soft, about 20 to 25 minutes. Drain well and place in a large bowl.

Combine potatoes with sour cream, cream cheese, butter, salt, and pepper. Mix with an electric mixer or potato masher to your desired consistency. Keep potatoes warm in oven until ready to serve. Sprinkle with chopped chives or paprika. Serves 8.

If you are making this dish ahead, omit the chives and refrigerate. When ready to serve, put the potatoes in a casserole dish, dot with butter and bake in a 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes.� After the potatoes are baked you can mix� in a� little milk to thin if needed. Then sprinkle with chives or paprika, if desired.

Happy US Thanksgiving -� November 23

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Eleisia Whitney is a Watkins Home Business owner. She enjoys cooking and baking with Watkins extracts, spices, herbs, and sauces for healthy meals. Eleisia publishes a Watkins Newsletter, “Around the Kitchen Table,” that brings you recipes, cooking and health tips, and contests for free Watkins products. Read the current issue at http://www.everydaynecessities.com/nov15-06newsletter.htm
Visit her at http://www.everydaynecessities.com/ and
http://www.WatkinsOnline.com/eleisiawhitney

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Holiday Wassail and Mulled Wine

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Hot spiced apple cider is one of our favorite holiday drinks.� A blend of whole spices is perfect for cider or mulled wine, and adds a delightful holiday ambience as simmering potpourri.

Wassail

3 cups apple juice or cider
3 cups cranberry juice cocktail
1 cup water
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Watkins Cider Brew

Pour liquid ingredients and brown sugar into a large saucepan or crock pot. Place� cider brew in a coffee filter or cheese cloth tied with a piece of string and add to the pan or crockpot. Place over medium heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Mulled Wine

1 tablespoon Watkins Cider Brew
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice
1 orange, sliced
1 1/2 cups dry red wine

Place Cider Brew in metal tea boil or small piece of cheesecloth tied with a string. Place in a large kettle with brown sugar, water, juices, and orange slices. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in wine and heat but do not boil.� _____________________________________________________

Eleisia Whitney is a Watkins Home Business owner. She enjoys cooking and baking with Watkins extracts, spices, herbs, and sauces for healthy meals. Eleisia publishes a Watkins Newsletter, “Around the Kitchen Table,” that brings you recipes, cooking and health tips, and contests for free Watkins products. Read the current issue at http://www.everydaynecessities.com/nov1-06newsletter.htm
Visit her at http://www.everydaynecessities.com/ and
http://www.WatkinsOnline.com/eleisiawhitney

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Holiday Cooking Tips and Substitutes

The winter holidays are just around the corner. Here are some holiday tips and substitutes to help take some of the stress out of your holiday cooking.

If your stuffing recipe calls for poultry seasoning and you are out, substitute

3/4 teaspoon dried sage, crushed, and 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed, or 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram, crushed, for each teaspoon of poultry seasoning used in the recipe.

How much stuffing do I need to fill the turkey?

Allow about 3/4 cup stuffing for each pound of ready-to-cook turkey. For example, a 12-pound bird will hold about 9 cups stuffing. If your family loves stuffing, you may want to make extra stuffing to bake in a casserole beside the turkey.

If you are cooking stuffing in a casserole add a little extra broth so the stuffing isn’t too dry. Bake covered for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the foil or lid a few minutes before removing from oven if you like the top of the stuffing browned.

Add an extra 15 minutes to the cooking time of any dish or casserole that you prepared ahead of time and refrigerated, such as stuffing, baked sweet potatoes, mashed potato casserole, or vegetable casserole.

If your holiday recipe calls for raw egg whites, substitute

pasteurized dried egg whites. They can be found in the baking section of supermarkets or grocery stores or in speciality food stores. Do not use raw or slightly cooked egg whites (or yolks) because they may contain harmful bacteria.

If your pie recipe calls for pumpkin pie spice and you don’t have any, substitute

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves for 1 3/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice. This enough spice for one 9-inch pumpkin pie.

If your pumpkin pie recipe calls for evaporated milk and you don’t have any, substitute

regular milk in the recipe, but the pie will not be quite as rich. You can also substitute cream.

If your recipe calls for a 16-ounce can of pumpkin and your supermarket only has 15-ounce cans of pumpkin, substitute

a 15-ounce can of pumpkin. It won’t affect your recipe.

If your recipe calls for apple pie spice and you are out, substitute

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice for 1 teaspoon apple pie spice.

You can purchase Poultry Seasoning, Apple Bake Seasoning for apple pies, and Pumpkin Pie Spice and all your other spices, herbs, and extracts at Watkins Online Store

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Eleisia Whitney is a Watkins Home Business owner. She enjoys cooking and baking with Watkins extracts, spices, herbs, and sauces for healthy meals. Eleisia publishes a Watkins Newsletter, “Around the Kitchen Table,” that brings you recipes, cooking and health tips, and contests for free Watkins products. Read the current issue at http://www.everydaynecessities.com/nov1-06newsletter.htm
Visit her at http://www.everydaynecessities.com/ and
http://www.WatkinsOnline.com/eleisiawhitney

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Turkey Cooking Hotlines

If you are preparing Thanksgiving dinner and cooking your very first turkey or are unsure about preparing the turkey and stuffing, you can call any of the following hot lines during the holiday months:

Meat and Poultry Hot Line: 800/535-4555 (or in Washington D.C. call 202/720-3333)

Butterball Turkey-Talk Line: 800/323-4848 (800/833-3848 for individuals with hearing or speech impairments)

Reynolds Turkey Tips Line: 800/745-4000

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Eleisia Whitney is a Watkins Home Business owner. She enjoys cooking and baking with Watkins extracts, spices, herbs, and sauces for healthy meals. Eleisia publishes a Watkins Newsletter, “Around the Kitchen Table,” that brings you recipes, cooking and health tips, and contests for free Watkins products. Read the current issue at http://www.everydaynecessities.com/nov1-06newsletter.htm
Visit her at http://www.everydaynecessities.com/ and
http://www.WatkinsOnline.com/eleisiawhitney

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Kids Can Cook Kit–Great Gift

How excited would your son, daughter, niece, nephew, or neighbor be if he/she could cook a meal that tasted great for their family? Can you see the since of pride that child would have? She would see the smile on her dad’s face when he bit into a great tasting dessert. He would see the surprised look on his mom’s face when she saw how easy it was for him to prepare. Mom would think, “Wow this tastes really good! I should have him cook all the time.”

The Kids Can Cook kit comes with FIVE foods that are so easy a kid can cook them. Each kit includes: PBJ Crumb Bar Mix, Chicken Noodle Soup Mix, Western Meal Casserole Mix, Raspberry Velvet Fruit Dip Mix, and World Vision Bread for Life Mix. It also comes with Red Play Clay, which children love to play with. There is also an exclusive “Kids Can Cook Flyer” with a grocery shopping list (for the items in the kit)� and interesting trivia facts.

This is a great gift for someone learning to cook or wants to learn to cook. Got a son, daughter, niece, nephew, or neighbor that would love to learn how to cook? This is what you should get him/her. Give a child a skill that will help them in their future.

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Stacey Walker has a Homemade Gourmet Home Business. She uses her Homemade Gourmet products regularly for cooking fast and easy to prepare meals. She is currently using Homemade Gourmet in her meal planning and when teaching her children to cook. Visit her website at www.4minutemeals.com�

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In the Kitchen with Little People

� My two year old always wants to help in the kitchen. She is constantly taking the stool from one end of the kitchen to the other. She is also under my feet, so much so that I almost fall over her at least a few times.

I like to try to include her in meal time preparations. Meal time preparations include not only preparing the food, but also setting the table. My two year old wants so much to be “big” like her older sister and brother. She wants to do what they do.

Here are a few ways that I have included my two year old in meal time preparation in an attempt to help her feel “big” and to keep her out from under my feet.

Ways to help:

• Have her add the seasoning to the food during preparation
• Have her help mommy stir the food for dinner
• Give her a bowl and spoon to stir
• Have her put the salad dressing on the table
• Give her the silver ware to set the table (Of course the first few times she did this, the silverware ended up on the couch, but after a few tries she got it to the table. )
• Clear her place at the table (She began this one recently, and she is doing well.)

My little person, Daisy, enjoys being a helper. She likes to contribute and help with the family meal time. It helps her to feel valued and important, also known as “big” to her.

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Stacey Walker has a Homemade Gourmet Home Business. She uses her Homemade Gourmet products regularly for cooking fast and easy to prepare meals. She is currently using Homemade Gourmet in her meal planning and when teaching her children to cook. Visit her website at www.4minutemeals.com

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Holiday Brunch Recipes

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If you have guests coming for the holidays now is the time to start planning your menu. Serve one of these Breakfast Bake recipes with fresh fruit and a basket of bagels,� muffins, and breads� for a delicious breakfast or brunch.�

Breakfast Bake (Ham, potatoes, cheese, eggs)

1 to 2 cups diced fully cooked ham�

3� cups� frozen hash brown potatoes

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)

1 tablespoon instant chopped onion

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (8 ounces)

1 cup Original Bisquick mix

3 cups milk

1/4 teaspoon Watkins Black Pepper

4 eggs

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease rectangular baking dish, 13×9x2 inches.

2. Layer ham, potatoes, bell pepper, onion and 1 cup of the cheese in baking dish. Stir Bisquick mix, milk, pepper and eggs until blended. Pour into baking dish; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours but no longer than 24 hours.

3. Bake uncovered 40 to 45 minutes or until light golden brown around edges and cheese is melted. Let stand 10 minutes. Makes 12 servings.

Breakfast Bake (Sausage, potatoes, cheese, eggs)

1 to 2 packages (12 oz each) bulk pork sausage

1 medium bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)

1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

3 cups frozen hash brown potatoes

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (8 oz)

1 cup Original Bisquick mix

2 cups milk

1/4 teaspoon Watkins Black Pepper

4 eggs

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease rectangular baking dish, 13×9x2 inches. Cook sausage, bell pepper and onion in 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sausage is no longer pink; drain. Stir together sausage mixture, potatoes and 1 1/2 cups of the cheese in baking dish.

2. Stir Bisquick mix, milk, pepper and eggs until blended. Pour into baking dish.

3. Bake uncovered 40 to 45 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 1 to 2 minutes longer or just until cheese is melted.� Let stand 5 minutes. Makes 12 servings.�

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Eleisia Whitney is a Watkins Home Business owner. She enjoys cooking and baking with Watkins extracts, spices, herbs, and sauces for healthy meals. Eleisia publishes a Watkins Newsletter, “Around the Kitchen Table,” that brings you recipes, cooking and health tips, and contests for free Watkins products. Read the current issue at http://www.everydaynecessities.com/nov1-06newsletter.htm
Visit her at http://www.everydaynecessities.com/� and
http://www.WatkinsOnline.com/eleisiawhitney� �

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