Tailgate Recipes: Sausage Pizza Dip

I'm happy I finally got my act together enough to share some Tailgate Recipes with you at least before the season is over! Sure I've been way behind but I'm trying to change that. I figured it would be a smart move for me to share my recipes with you on say Tuesday {this week will be a Monday edition} so that you've have time to plan your meal and get the ingredients together if you wanted to make these for the game of your choice the upcoming weekend. 

I made this week's recipe this past weekend. I thought I should taste test and road test any of the recipes I pass on to you this season so that I know if they are good. It would be really irresponsible of me to pass one on to you having not tired it.

We were supposed to have a few friends over for the game so instead of making one dip, I made two. The first dip was one I shared with you last year and one that all my friends always beg me to make, and that's my Buffalo Chicken Dip. You all know my obsession with Buffalo Sauce, if it wouldn't burn so bad I'd probably freebase that stuff. Addicted what? Call Dr. Drew. 

The second dip I made was a great recipe I found on Everyday with Rachel Ray. I didn't know if I would like the recipe but I was told by a dear old myspace buddy last year that I had to try it that it would blow my mind. And secondly, of all the different Rachel Ray recipes I've made, which is a lot (she taught me how to cook) I've only ever hated one, so I'd say her record is pretty awesome. Sure it only took me about a year to try this recipe, but let's be honest I'm a bit late at everything, *coughtruebloodcough* and I'll probably be late to my own funeral.

Let's just say that the Iron Maiden {my myspace buddy's handle} was correct. This dip is absolutely knock your socks off amazing, and easy as hell to create. It's called Sausage Pizza Dip and I got the recipe from here.

Photo Credit to Kang Kim via Everyday with Rachel Ray

Please see recipe information from link marked *here* above. I added my own touches and made some changes as well. Instead of Tomato Sauce I used 1 cup of my favorite Newman's Own Marinara Sauce. Eventually I will learn to make my own sauce but this does in a pinch for me all the time - it's also great for pizza sauce as well in my opinion.

via google • This stuff is SO good!

AFTER THOUGHT ADDITION: Next time I make this recipe I would like to try to rub all the bread with down, hot out of the oven with a fresh garlic clove for an extra kick. It would also be great if you sprinkled garlic powder on the bread but I really love the bite of fresh garlic so it's a winner for me.

TAILGATE APPROVED: If you are going to do this for an actual tailgate in a parking lot, before a big game, one where you have limited access to an oven, but have electricity... instead of broiling this at the end I would recommend cooking your sausage ahead of time and adding all the ingredients together in a crock pot. Melt together until combined and dish out with a spoon onto a plate and serve with bread.

FUN ADDITIONS: After discussing with my guests about what might improve this we really didn't have much to add but my thoughts were possibly adding some pepperoni roughly chopped or on top while it bakes would be a great add on, just like pizza. If you have friends that like red onions I think that would be a great addition also to let them cook under the broiler and get nice and sweet. I also thought that a healthy addition might be cutting up green peppers for dippers instead of the bread or using pretzels or bread sticks might be a fun idea as well.

SKINNY IT UP: I never really love reduced fat cheese when it comes to melting or dips but I do think this would taste just as delicious with reduced fat cream cheese as well as the others and even as great with turkey sausage or chicken sausage. That being said I feel that everything is all in moderation. 

PERFECT BEVERAGE: Beer... hands down. I don't think anything fruity would go well with this at all.

FINAL VERDICT: My guests loved this and while I only ended up having three people over instead of the 8 that we originally expected, the left overs from this dip were just as great reheated the next day for lunch. That being said... if you're dieting or eating clean... send your guests home with this so you won't be tempted to stuff your face later, seriously, it's really hard to resist seconds the day of, let alone left overs the day after.

P.S. Buffalo Dip Addition - I have discovered that Chicken in a Biscuit Crackers are amazing with the Buffalo Chicken Dip! Last year when I made this for Mike's family and added the crackers as a dipper (Iron Bowl Game 2009) everyone raved about them. They are absolutely amazing alone but the buffalo sauce is a great kick with all the cheese.

"So good it'll make you wanna slap yo Mama!" • via google

P.S.S. If you're on a diet or watching what you eat I apologize in advance for this post. I promise to at least have a few healthier options to add to these in the future. And for the record, I did want to have veggies on a platter for people to eat, but the person in charge of veggies was not able to come over so it was total carb overload central!

P.S.S.S. Yes...  I know this isn't P90X approved but honestly it was a cheat day so get off my back! And by the way I'm finished with the X and I will write about it this week!

Needless to say - both of my teams won this weekend and I couldn't have been happier!!! RTR & GO STEELERS!

I hope you all are ready for this weekend's big games!!! I know it's only Monday but it will give us something to look forward too! And If you're a Titans or Jaguar fan you have a big game to watch tonight sooo, LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!

fixation friday: skinny jeans

It's Fixation Friday! I meant to post all this on Monday, or Tuesday, or even Thursday but my week has slipped away from me and now it's been dubbed my Fixation of the week... I'm talking about Skinny Jeans. Here's my quest to get a bit more fashionable... one item of clothing and it's mate at a time... Enjoy!

So here I am... one last recovery week to go of P90X. It's been a long road, one that I've had one too many pit stops on and bumps along the way but I do see the light at the end of the toll road tunnel. The price I've had to pay has been minimal considering all the gains I've reaped from the program. I will get into all of that with my final P90X wrap up here soon, in the meantime I figured I'd talk about some rewards.

When I started this journey I hadn't thought about rewarding myself with anything - truth be told getting in better shape was the only thing I could think would benefit me or make me happy at the time. Add to that a smaller jean size and a renewed confidence to sport shirts without sleeves in public and I figured I was rewarded enough. Cue last weekend...

Mike and I went out for some window shopping. I had seen a few items I was lusting over and decided to go ahead and purchase while we were out and about. First on the list was a pair of boots. The last pair of boots I purchased were for Halloween many moons ago and not only are they uncomfortable, but I doubt they'd look cute over or even under jeans at this point. They are SO last season circa 2000n'late! That being said the only other boots I've splurged on in the past few years were a pair of F-Uggs, which is what I like to call Faux Uggs. They are a brand name (Simple) but I sort of feel cheesy announcing that. I couldn't afford Uggs at the time and now wish I would have saved my pennies. These boots work great, they have kept their shape and are still in one piece - even after sporting them to many camping trips, outdoor fun and walking just about everywhere. My main issue for not purchasing cute boots was this - I don't wear skirts, ever. In addition to this face, I only wear boot cut jeans, boots are rarely seen when you're sporting this style. This is something I want to change but without the right footwear why bother. With my growing love for skinny jeans, boots were the logical first step. To be fair I could have purchased the skinny jeans without boots, since they look so cute with ballet flats, but I'll be honest the of all the flats I own, all but 2 pairs KILL my feet. My feet are trained to wear two types of shoes without crying in agony. 1 - Flip flops and 2 - Sneakers or Boots w/ Socks. Yes I wear heels, and often times I love them, but usually they are sandals in the summer with wedges or I wear them in the winter and regret every. single. step.  Ok, holy crap where was I? Oh yes! The boots I was coveting I knew I couldn't pass up. Every time I see a pair of boots or item that I love, if I don't purchase the item right then and there, they are gone the next time I search for them. Sure there might be a few left but they are always size 6 or smaller. Sorry folks I have man feet. I can wear 9.5's but I swear by a good solid 10 to prevent pain. While in Target a few weeks ago I found the greatest pair of "any occasion but black tie event" boots. They are just the right shade of almost pale brown and almost gray.  I'm a very picky and frugal person I hate to buy items I can't see myself wearing everyday. I do like a great splurge every now and then but when you're trying to save money, and pay off debt something so versatile goes a long way. When we arrived at Target I was sure that the boots I was longing to purchase, in my size, would be gone - not only were they still there (total sign from the shopping gods of course) but there were 2 pairs in size 10. So not only was I in luck,  but I could be picky and make sure mine didn't have spots or imperfections. This NEVER happens (sure sign #2). Happy as a lark I grabbed the boots and tried them on again and was still in love. Mike wasn't sure he sort of gave me a strange look, but since when do we listen to boys when we make shoe choices? Ok that's a lie, Mike has great taste and often times he will suggest something and I'll be all "EW are you insane?" an then I try it on and it's "PERFECT" and I have to listen to the "I told you so." a few times. To say I was over the moon for these boots is an understatement. I didn't bat an eye lash at the thought of purchasing them, they were my splurge for the season and I have a feeling with the low heel and ability to go with everything I own they will not only get worn out for a night on the town but also for work and anything else I can think of.

Just the right shade to go with everything! • via target.com

Once I grabbed the boots I knew in my heart it was time. Time for what you ask? The time had come to brave the fitting room and to prepare myself to hate skinny jeans. (Yes, I am often a glass half empty personality when it comes to fashion, my body and how they work together). I figured the only reason I would try them would be so I could shove them down into my boots. If I never wore them another way I wouldn't care. The jeans were all on sale and I even snagged a few pairs on clearance to try on. After the slow ass sweet old woman at the dressing room check out counter let me into changing area I gave myself a pep talk... "Remember Kelly, these may not work, there's no shame in that - just try them on with an open mind." To be fair I wasn't just prepping myself to try on the skinny jeans, but also for the fact that since I started P90X I haven't tried on any new bottoms or clothing other than shorts and tank tops early in the summer when I was still in bigger sizes. With a deep breath I tried on the first pair... low rise... FAIL! Dumb ass you should have known better than to try to pull on the low rise... NEXT! I don't know what it is with my personally but I have a real, save the best, or the ones you want the most, for last kind of mentality with almost everything (seriously it's horrible, with food I eat the whole plate just to get the good bite last... I should just get it over with like ripping off a band-aid and eat the best bite quickly and first, right?)... Pair of Jeans #2:  mid-rise boot cuts, sure they weren't part of the mission but I am in the market for some new jeans in all types at this point. Pulling them up was a breeze... I paused.... I blinked... I almost crapped my pants... these fit? Scratch that, they fit great! And they are a size smaller than what I was when I started P90X... not only that, they're loose... they hug but they don't cling... they fit but they don't pinch. HOLY SHIT! That's all I could think. I took off the boot cuts and put them in the 'maybe' pile.

Working my courage up to try on the mid rise skinnies, I tried on a pair of legging type pants first. I can't call them jeggings because they were not denim, they were cotton and so adorable. I don't know how comfortable I would have been in these but I did like the fit and the fact that they still had pockets even though I doubt much more than a credit card would be flattering to anyone in these if it was shoved in the back pocket. However, under a sweater or coat, totes cute. Certainly on my list of "things I'd like to purchase for the winter" list.

There it was the moment of truth... as I unfolded the mid rise skinny jeans I saw studs on them... not just one or two mind you but I think that Billy Idol bedazzled the crap out of these pants... I shrugged and thought, "OK I'll try them on, and if they are OK I'll search for a less blinged up pair". Once I could get them situated properly over my calf muscles (benefit of P90X-getting my dance legs back)... it was all smooth sailing... I couldn't believe how much I like how they looked. I was still a bit skeptical of the hip to ankle ratio but I liked what I saw - minus the damn studs.

Upon leaving the dressing room I smiled to Mike, which he knew was a good sign, and told him I needed to find a less blinged out pair, he agreed. Thankfully I did. They are a very dark wash which I like, and much more flattering than the faded pair I tried on. It was set. I found my first pair of trial skinnies, and I was SO excited.

Not to big, not too small but jussssst right! • via target.com

I was worried about how long they were and the scrunching at the bottom but once I saw this image online I knew I was A-OK! I have worn them twice so far - once out for an evening and once again to work and while they do seem to slouch mid day I am still loving them and will contemplate buying a more expensive and nice pair for myself may be for my birthday in December. (Again I'm on a budget and buying a ton of clothing is not on it). Add to my cute jeans the pair of boots that are both cute and practical and I'm so excited about cooler weather.  I still would like to purchase some boots with heels but again, I may have to wait for birthday money to pull that off.

So tell me - I know I'm behind the times with this but are there any of you that still can't embrace the skinny jean trend??

No Way José!

FINALLY THE TUSCALOOSA RECAP: Brought to you by the makers of procrastination!

So first off let me apologize for taking not one, but three? weeks to recap about my amazing weekend in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. When I say work has been crazy, I haven't been lying.  With working late hours and coming in early there has been no time or energy for anything, much less blogging. I hope that this thorn in my side of O.T. actually comes to a halt soon, even though I've loved the extra money in my pocket.

Anybenjamin! For the record I've only ever been to one other college football game, it was a championship game held at the local university here in my current hometown. I've never been to a big SEC team's game, a Big 10 game, or even to a game at my own alma mater. It's fair to say that other than one professional football game years ago during pre-season (Skins vs. Eagles) I've never truly had the LIVE FOOTBALL EXPERIENCE! That was until a few weekends ago.

Shortly after receiving these in the mail...

{see the little Trojan helmet, yes, these are visitor tickets won off ebay - for a bad ass price!!!  You never would have known we were in the visitor section, the entire stadium was red and white all over, minus the very lower rows of our section that were gold and royal blue}

As soon as I held the tickets in my hand, I started to get excited - not on the outside mind you, but on the inside. I've always been a girl that's a bit of a "glass half empty" type. I just try not to get too emotional until it's absolutely necessary. Needless to say that true excitement factor started brewing the night before we were to head to Tuscaloosa. This made it difficult to sleep - I had visions of McElroy and Trent Richardson dancing in my head.

We woke up bright and early - thankfully I did all the real "glamour" work the night before. Toes painted a lovely shade of gun metal gray, hair straightened with a hint of red reflecting in it, outfit all picked out, koozies packed into our new rolling cooler and over night bags prepared. To give you an idea of how much we flew by the seat of our pants on this deal... we had no formal place to sleep that night. We were heading to Tuscaloosa on a hope and a prayer that someone we were friends with there would give us a place to rest our head. Our original plan? We were going to set up a bed in the back of my Jeep Cherokee complete with sleeping bags... one downfall, an hour into the trip I realized we forgot out pillows. No worries, we planned on being drunk off a Crimson win anyway so we'd be fine. 

The ride was long, but enjoyable. Half way through I fired up the iPod. While spinning on random it landed on a Grateful Dead song. It seemed so fitting. Riding with the windows cracked the weather was a brisk and comfortable 70 degrees, unheard of in Alabama this time of year, but then again it was really early in the morning. Mike and I decided to tune up the Dead's greatest hits and roll on through to Tuscaloosa.

We made one pit stop to grab a couple of red bulls and a pack of razors. I'm sure the girl at the counter thought I was crazy. What was the razor pack for? Don't worry I wasn't going to shave my head like a Munk Tebow, I was actually aware that I had missed a spot shaving my armpits that morning and I knew it would drive me insane all. day. long. if I didn't handle it... Trip to the bathroom, swipe of the razor, $5.00 later and I was good to go. Seriously, would have driven me insane in my tank all day knowing that stubble was there - *issues?*.

From there it was on like Donkey Kong - we arrived soon enough into the great town of Tuscaloosa. The town was still a bit sleepy but the game day buzz was alive and well. The town was all decked out in red and white and most of that was on each and every person we saw on the street. With every passing minute we were in town the crowd grew and grew. Mike and I parked up the road from the central strip of the town and walked to our first destination. The Houndstooth. Truth be told I was really craving breakfast, but there didn't seem to be anywhere on the main strip providing eggs, cheese, and grease for me to down... instead we opted for a 10:30 AM brew and a bbq sandwich both were amazing and the perfect way to kick off game day.

{hers & his breakfast of champions}

I don't know why I didn't think to take a picture of our great view. From where we sat to enjoy our breakfast the street of the strip was right in front of us, great tunes were playing on the outside speakers of a bar across the way and in the distance above the downtown buildings we could see the very tops of Bryant-Denny Stadium. Then again... look at what's in front of me... I was hungry and this was the ONLY thing on my mind... well that and the fact that I was about to rip the overhead television off the wall if they mentioned Tebow's name one more damn time!! Sorry Gator fans and Bronco lovers I'm over him... O-V-E-R-OVEROVEROVER!

{My first view of the Stadium driving by... EEEE GIDDY!}

After a meal and waiting on Mike's younger brother J.O. to meet us we decided to walk around a bit. Like I said the entire town was buzzing with excitement. I wasn't sure what to expect in coming to T-town, I had no idea what the surrounding areas looked like, no clue what it meant to tailgate at the school and no idea where we were supposed to go and park. While walking I discovered that basically if you owned property close to the strip or the stadium you could make BANK selling parking spots. Seriously... $20 a pop! Many of the kids in the area will take their cars elsewhere and sell their spots in their apartment complex on game day, smart move kids! Thankfully we didn't have to worry about parking, instead Mike's sister-in-law's family lives in Tuscaloosa about three blocks from the Stadium and her brother-in-law is an employee of the school. This was perfect. Not only did we have a secure place to park the Jeep but remember my comment about sleeping in the Jeep, at least now if we did, we'd have a secure and quiet neighborhood to do this in. And yes, we're just that ghetto. WHAT? WHAT?

One's we arrived at the A's house we were able to hang out with Mr. and Mrs. A and their adorable little girl K, as well as Meet Mr. A's family who was in town for a visit. So far the morning was perfect the sun was bright and shining the weather was perfect (although in retrospect a black tank top was a super bad idea! I was getting a bit too hot outdoors most of the day due to it), and we were surrounded by friends.

We finally met up with J.O. and his girlfriend B and made our way over to where B's family was tailgating. Remember when I said I had never tailgated, or been to Tuscaloosa, well I was shocked to find out that people actually not only let you buy a spot to park your car, but will rent you a spot to park your RV as well! Random parking lots all over town were loaded to capacity with RV's, campers and cars.  B's father has his spot rented for the entire season and it's a great place to set up camp! Right near campus and you can see the Stadium as clear as day from the lot. Prime tailgating spot. I guess I was expecting one huge parking lot for the tailgating, close to the stadium. A place you could wonder around and see people - I guess I was thinking more along the lines of pro-ball, not college ball. In the end it was rather interesting getting to walk around campus and see all the tents set up on the Quad and all of the students partying and wandering around before game time.

We spent the early part of the afternoon before the game at B's family's RV enjoying free food, lots of tasty snacks and other games on the big screen. This definitely was the perfect Tailgating camp complete with it's own bathroom. No searching for a public restroom needed. Here we are, probably into our 3rd beer of the day... I think, but who was counting? Not me.

Hanging with the B Family In Tuscaloosa... you can see the stadium wayyy back behind my head}

After we got our fill JO and B wanted to give us the tour of the campus. B used to go to Alabama and knew just where to take us. We enjoyed not only the campus but the Bryant Museum as well. It's nice to be a part of this schools huge history...even if I've only officially been a fan for the past 4-5 years. I got a little weepy in the museum, maybe it was PMS or maybe it's just that he was quite a coach and it is quite a legacy but I just enjoyed every moment of it. I also found out that "The Bear" coached for one year at the University of Maryland. That made me smile, being a girl from Maryland and all that.

{Me, Mike, JO & B outside the Bryan Museum via rolltide.com}

NOTE: I forgot my houndstooth scarf I planned to wear for the game! GRRR!

{view of the Bear's Desk as it was in his office at Alabama}

Hey Packer fans I know it's hard to see but he does have a Green Bay

Mug on his desk filled with pencils.

{Can you tell how excited Mike was taking pictures in the museum?

He took a TON but I won't bore you with all of them.}

ROLL TIDE!

{Campus Landmark The Denny Chimes}

After our tour it was time to get our drink on. The four of us walked downtown and hoped in and out of a few of the great bars on the strip. Most were extremely packed which is to be expected on game day but we found a great little underground bar, the Bear Trap to get some drinks, some air conditioning and some good conversation before heading to the game.  I was introduced to "Baby Bombs" this weekend by B and JO. I had no idea you could get a Jager Bomb in a mini size!!! Much easier to deal with and much easier to walk after drinking as well!

{Mike & I before heading inside for the game}

{Me & B sipping on water. How cute is her outfit?}

Soon after our cocktails it was GAME TIME! Mike and I were so excited we could hardly contain ourselves. Walking into the stadium we caught the end of the Spirit Parade with the Cheerleaders, Big Al the mascot and most of the Million Dollar Band! I think I was about as excited as the 8 year old boy in front of me about all this, thankfully I'm potty trained or there might have been a mess on the floor!

I won't lie... I got chills walking into the stadium. It was loud, it was bright, and it's beautiful! We found our seats and holy CRAP were they awesome!!! Thank you again Mike for bidding on them and thank you Ebay seller for letting these go!

I wish I could give you a better idea of our seats, they were great and we were right where the Tide ran out onto the field. It was great, minus one thing.

See the lady in the foreground... see the mini couple behind us in the background... yep... we don't look smashed in there but we were. TIGHT, TIGHT, TIGHT!  There could have been a bit more room for us, but what can you do... they're benches. I now have a smaller ass (thank you P90X) and I'm the one paying the price for it. It was close for comfort but the crowd was loud and ready for a great night - the Tide delivered!!!

Stupid shadows messing up my cute pictures! Before Game Time!

FINAL SCORE: ALABAMA 48  / SAN JOSE  3

The entire game was amazing!!! I hated to leave it but by the middle of the fourth quarter I realized if we wanted to eat anywhere locally after the game, we needed to leave early and get a seat ASAP at a local place. We met up again with JO and B (they had different seats) and we made our way to a great little bar in town Buffalo Phil's. You all know me and chicken wings and buffalo sauce it's hard to pass up so that's exactly what I got... only I got tenders instead of wings. It took us 15 minutes to get a table, but once I ordered dinner it took them 5 minutes to bring it to me! (I'm sure it was under a heat lamp but seriously, CARE? They were good, juicy and 100% devoured in minutes!). Add to this a visit from Mr. and Mrs. A and we all had a great time sharing some laughs and drinks to end a great day.

My only disappointment with the evening was that apparently the whole town parties the night before the game, not after. That makes NO sense to me... if you have a great game you're supposed to party it up afterwards and celebrate but I guess because all the kids celebrate the night before.. they're too pooped to party again that next night. FOR SHAME! We didn't turn in early, but we didn't exactly WOOP it up that evening either.

After a long night of hanging out, and seeing the town thankfully we were able to crash at B's family's condo in Tuscaloosa. Her whole family hadn't shown up as originally planned so we had run of the couch which I was SO thankful for. I may say I'm a tough cooking but the jeep was TRULY a last resort  in my mind.

The next morning was a bit rough. I slept in my contacts, not the smartest move at all. Mike and I are the types that wake up and we're ready to go. We had to wait to get JO up to take us back to our Jeep and on our way back home.

All in all we had an amazing time and we are already planning our trip back. We don't have tickets for the Homecoming game but we figured we would have just as much fun hanging with B's dad at his RV watching the game and friends at their tent on the quad that we wouldn't need tickets. The atmosphere alone is worth the fun!!! We've been warned we need to come the night before the game this time though... so we shall see.

So tell me - have you ever been to a big college game? Who's your favorite team? And remember let's all be respectful here! I will be the first to say I'm not a fan of Florida, but I don't down any of my girls and guys personally if they are fans.

HAPPY FALL & FOOTBALL! ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!