Denise's Cheeseball

I remember watching Denise make this cheeseball many times for the holidays, not only when we were growing up, but after we had families of our own. I finally asked her for the recipe and now we make it for the holidays, game nights, and sometimes just because. :)

16 oz. cream cheese
4 oz. velveeta
very finely chopped green onion
1-2 teaspoons mustard
Bon Appetit Spice
Pecans or walnuts, finely chopped

Mix cream cheese and velveeta until well blended. Add mustard and the Bon Appetit spice and green onion. Shape into a ball and roll in the chopped nuts.

Denise, you can correct me if I left anything out. :) I've made a couple of changes to it over the years that my family likes. I can't find Bon Appetit spice, so I use Mrs. Dash instead. Rather than regular yellow mustard I like to use stone ground mustard. My family prefers it without the nuts so we simply scoop it into a dip bowl. Also, if you are a fan of seafood, one of our favorite things to add to it is shredded imitation crab. I usually have to make one batch with crab and one without and either way it gets gobbled up fast!

Bacon Chicken Crescent Ring

Here is a quick little dish that my family really enjoys. We have used it as a main dish or as a snack. It also reheats well so any leftovers we have evaporate quickly.

2 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls

6 chicken tenders - cooked and shredded or chopped

1-1/2 C. shredded cheese

3/4 C. Mayonnaise

6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled - I just use real bacon bits (from Costco)

1 Tbs. Italian salad dressing mix

Grease a large pizza pan or cookie sheet. Unroll the crescent roll dough. Place the dough triangles in a circle around the pan with the wide end overlapping a few inches from the edge of the pan. The points of the triangles will hang over the edge. Cook the chicken - I add some garlic salt to the chicken when I cook it for flavoring. Combine the chicken, cheese, mayo, bacon and Italian dressing mix. Spoon the mixture over the wide ends of the triangle. Fold the points of the triangle over the filling. Bake 375 for 20-25 min. or until golden brown.

Enjoy,

Keliki