Smores on a Stick!

Totally stole this from gimme some oven via notmartha.org. Maybe borrowed is the better word.

Anyway, after you made cookies but before you leave:
put a bunch of sticks into large marshmallows
crush a bunch of graham crackers into little pieces and put into a shallow bowl
melt a bunch of semi-sweet chocolate in another bowl

1. Dip marshmallow-on-a-stick into chocolate, using a spoon to help spread a thin layer of chocolate all over, including all around where the stick goes in.
2. Dip chocolate-covered-marshmallow-on-a-stick into the graham cracker crumbs, pressing in on each side to pick up biggish pieces, and a spoon to coat the top.
3. Place on parchment paper, or a serving type platter.
(optional)4. Refrigerate or put into treat baggies or both.
(non-optional)5. Enjoy!

Definitely a good crowd pleaser easy dessert. The sticks and the bags I have on hand, so those aren't counting towards the total costs. I think it'd be about $5ish. Used generic low-fat grahams (albertsons, <$2), generic marshmallows (albs, $1.50), and tollhouse semi-sweet chips (albs or vons $1.88 right now). Used about 1/6 the grahams, 1/2 the mallows and 1/2 the chips.

Anyway. Probably not the healtiest thing ever, but delicious!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

This is based on Alton Brown's recipe. And on what I had on hand. Note, his recipe only said it yielded a 'batch', so I doubled it. And made waaaay too much. Oh well. Easily halved.

Ingredients
3 cups frozen chopped spinach (i use the loose bags because I like the convenience. boxed would have to be thawed and squeezed dry)
1 box frozen artichoke hearts, diced small
3 jarred artichoke hearts, diced small
1 clove garlic, minced (would double next time)
12 oz reduced fat cream cheese (aka neufchatel)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2/3 cup shredded parmesan
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt

Cook frozen artichoke hearts (before dicing) in a small amount of water until tender. Drain. Dice.
Microwave cream cheese with garlic, adding in a cup of spinach at a time and stirring between heatings.
Combine mayo, sour cream, parmesan, artichokes, red pepper flakes and salt. When cream cheese/garlic/spinach mixture is thoroughly warm and melty, combine with sour cream-mayo mixture.
Realize you made a whole lot, and put about half into a bowl. Microwave another 30 seconds or so, to meld everything together.

Can be topped with additional parmesan and baked, if desired. I didn't want to turn the oven on.

In addition to being a great dip, can be used as a pasta sauce, if thinned with milk. Or on baked potatoes. :D

Nutrition: I dont want to scare you! :D