Loaded Cauliflower Casserole

Here's a wonderful cauliflower casserole that will meet your baked potato desires. It is delicious.

Ingredients:
2 lb cauliflower florets
8 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided 6 oz and 2 oz
8 oz shredded Monterrey jack cheese, divided 6 oz and 2 oz
8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 tbsp heavy cream
1 cup green onions, chopped
2 clove garlic, grated
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Steam cauliflower until tender.
2. Soften cream cheese and mix with the heavy cream.
3. Mix 6 oz of cheddar and 6 oz of jack cheese into the softened cream cheese.
4. Stir in onions, garlic, salt, and pepper.
5. Drain cauliflower, smash with potato masher, and then add in the cheese mixture and mix all together.
6. Pour into 2-3 qt dish and sprinkle on the last of the cheddar and jack cheese.
7. Cover with foil and bake 25 minute at 350.
8. Remove foil and bake until cheese is bubbly and brown on top.

This is best served like loaded mashed potatoes and topped with potato toppings like bacon, sour cream, butter, etc.  It is a wonderful side dish for just about any meal.

When we made ours, we put the bacon in the cheese mixture, but it made it kind of soggy, so we recommend adding to the top like bacon bits on mashed potatoes.

This recipe is based on one from Louanne's Kitchen.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

There's probably hundreds of variations on this dip, but this is one that we made recently and I really loved it, so I wanted to post it.

Ingredients:
1 whole rotisserie chicken or 2 (10 oz) cans of chunk chicken or whatever chicken you want to use.
2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
1 cup Ranch Dressing
3/4 cup hot sauce (Franks Red Hot works great)
1 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Shred and cut-up the chicken into small pieces so that is like shredded beef.
2. Heat the chicken and hot sauce in a skillet over medium heat.
3. Stir in the cream cheese and ranch dressing.
4. Cook and stir until it is well blended and warm.
5. Mix in half of the shredded cheese and move the mixture to a slow cooker or glass pan.
6. Sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese over the and cook on low in a slow cooker or heat in the oven until hot and bubbly on top.

One thing I will try next time is Blue Cheese dressing instead of ranch and maybe even blue cheese sprinkled on top. It goes great with celery, crackers, chips, or pork rinds.