Or I guess this should really be called "oven-dried tomatoes".. Either way, it's a fabulous way to enjoy leftover tomatoes without losing them to the composte pile. This recipe is definitely an eye-baller. It's hard to give exact measurements depending on the amount and size of tomatoes used. That being said, it's hard to mess up. We love to have these dried tomatoes around to throw into sandwhiches and pasta. I freeze mine once I'm done and Sweet Pea loves squeezing the juice out of the "matoes"... just takes a bit more clean up in the end...

Ingredients:
As many ripe tomatoes as you want to dry (Roma and cherry are nice because they have less juice)
Extra virgin olive oil
Minced garlic or garlic powder
Basil or favorite Italian herbs
Salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 200F

Cut the eye of the tomato off and squeeze all the juice out. For larger tomatoes, I cut the tomato in half. For smaller, like cherry, I leave it whole

Put the juice free tomatoes in a bowl and pour enough olive oil to coat all the tomatoes (as a reference I pour about 1 Tbs oil for about 2 cups tomatoes)

Add herbs and garlic (as much as you like) and salt

Put seasoned tomatoes in a single layer on a pan and check on them every hour. I cook mine until they're slightly tough but still soft. I don't like them too crunchy. It can take anywhere from 1-4 hours. Mine usually take 2 hours but times will very with the size of tomatoes and ovens.

This was my attempt to be very sneaky and get Sweet Pea to consume her loathed veggies. It worked... sort of. She had a full square right out of the oven. Cheap and some of my gal pals really enjoyed them as well, so they were a success all the way around. These are great for brunches, showers, or afternoon snacks.

Ingredients:
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1 10oz package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup flour
1 tea salt
1 tea baking powder
1/2 tea garlic powder
1 onion, diced and sautéed, or 1/2 tea onion powder (to make it easier)
2 Tbs butter, melted
1 8oz package shredded sharp cheddar, or about two cups

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F

Reserve about 1/2 cup sharp cheddar then mix all the remaining ingredients together. Seems simple, I know.

Dump mixture into a greased baking dish (8x8 would be a good size) and top with the remaining half cup of cheddar

Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden on top. Enjoy!

Now this is football food. I can't take credit for this dip but oh my word it's divine. A friend of mine brought this to a party and all of us left with the recipe. I made a few tweaks but it's pretty much the same. Cheap and I like to munch on this some weekends to feel very American. We can actually get Franks hot sauce in the UK for a reasonable price. Serve it with tortilla chips and make a lot!

Ingredients
1 large chicken breast, cooked and shredded (I cook mine with a slow-cooker in chicken broth. It makes it extra moist and really easy to shred)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup Ranch or blue cheese dressing
3/4 cup Franks hot sauce
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese


Directions
Preheat oven to 350F

Stir together chicken and hot sauce and spread in the bottom of a greased 8x8 dish

Stir cream cheese and dressing together (sometimes it helps to warm in microwave)and spread over chicken mixture

Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and bake for about 20min or until bubbly

Serve with tortilla chips- enjoy! I'm proud to be an American.

Oh, garlic! Let me count the ways... One of nature's medicines this gem seems to be jammed packed with goodness. With my extensive (5 minute) Google search it looks as though garlic lowers cholesterol, helps prevent the common cold, improves circulation, keeps mosquitoes away, and the list goes on... So why not slather it on some bread?! Let's do it!

Ingredients:
3 heads of garlic
olive oil
salt

Serve on Crusty bread

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F

Rub off any excess, dangley skin from the garlic head. Slice off the top of the head (about 1/4 inch down)

Place garlic heads, cut side up, on a large strip of foil. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a generous amount of salt.

Wrap foil around all 3 garlic heads and whack them in the oven until tender, 45 min. (Makes your house smell great).

Serve with crusty bread. Scoop cloves out with a butter knife and then mash and spread. FAB!

When it comes to dipping sauce, I used to be an olive oil skeptic. I never really understood the restaurants that gave you a plate of plain olive oil and bread. My thought was always, "butter tastes much better than this tasteless goo". Now I know olive oil purists might gasp at the thought of my unrefined taste, but the truth is, extra virgin olive oil that holds substantial flavor is expensive. And remember, we're cheap. But this puppy right here is my answer. I could dip bread in this tasty olive oil for weeks. It still contains the health benefits of olive oil and brings out a much stronger flavor than oil alone. It's EASY, classy, and sure to win big fans.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons parmesan cheese, grated
fresh ground black pepper

Plain French or Italian bread (I recommend plain because flavored breads compete with the flavor of the oil)

Directions:
Pour olive oil onto a saucer (my Ikea saucer has a blue dot in the middle, so that's why it's colored a little funky)

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix.

Serve with warm bread. Let the dipping begin!

Always an inexpensive crowd pleaser, this ancient Aztec cuisine has persevered through the centuries. With longevity like that, it's worth a taste. Now, I can't vouch that this recipe is how the Aztecs made it, but it's darn good anyway.

Ingredients:
2 avocados (the cheapest ones I've found in the US are at Aldi)
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 roma tomato, diced
1 small onion, diced
1/2 tea garlic powder or 2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 tea salt
1/4 tea cayenne pepper

Optional: 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (if you have it around, I highly recommend it)

Directions:
Scoop avacado pulp into a small bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix and smash, mix and smash...

You're done. Easy as pie (Actually, it's much easier than pie).

This is obviously great with tortilla chips, but if Cheap and I are digging into a midnight dish we sometimes bake salted tortillas in the oven until crispy. Makes it an even healthier dish.