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SF, CA, United States
Hi my name is Katie I hope you enjoy my blog :) I talk about everything from food to politics to babies so make sure to follow me or come back and visit :) Find me on youtube also katiefershadybaby or email me at katie11cohen@gmail.com

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Cream Cheese Cheddar Cheese Bean Dip in 15 Minutes



I have never made this and any been left over, people love it! This recipe is a general guideline on how to make it but you can switch around the proportions to your liking, or make more, its very easy and quick!

Ingredients:
-Butter
-2 cans of refried beans (small cans)
-1 8oz bar of cream cheese
-1 cup favorite grated cheese
-Favorite hot sauce
-Tortilla chips
Preparation: This only takes about 15 minutes to make!
Heat up the oven to 400
grease a medium oven safe pan

Step One:
Get a decent sized sauce pan and heat up a quarter of a stick of butter. When the butter and pan are heated some dump in the cream cheese.  It will be hard to mix until it has heated up some.
Step Two:
Heat the cream cheese over medium-high heat until it is all melted and blended with the butter, you will have to mixed the cream cheese a lot to get it to a smooth consistency.
Step Three:
Pour the cream cheese into your oven safe pan, then pour your refried beans into the pan that the cream cheese was just in. Heat the beans for a little bit.  You don't have to wash the pan or anything between uses because it is all going to be mixed together anyway, but you may want to add butter or spray the pan to keep the beans from sticking.
Step Four:
Mix in the taco seasoning and hot sauce to your liking.  You might not need to use the entire bag of seasoning depending on how much you are making and how strong you want it.  I usually use tapatio for the hot sauce but you are free to use whatever kind you like.  I only use this because that is usually what is laying around lol.
Step Five:
Turn off the heat and add the beans to your oven pan with cream cheese. Mix the bean and cream cheese together but not completely. There should still be pockets of cream cheese.  I like a lot of cream cheese but it is really up to you.
Step Six:
Cover the top of the bean dip with shredded cheese and bake until the cheese is melted on the top.
Take it out and let it cool a little bit. Eat the dip warm though it is the best this way.

If you are taking this somewhere like a pot luck or party I would make a lot because it always looks like more then it is and it goes quick! Even if it doesn't stay hot it is good cold, and it can easily be reheated!



If you want to make your own tortilla chips:
Ingredients:
-Corn tortillas (Thin)
Preheat your oven to 400
Cut tortillas into four pieces each. Then brush the front and back of each with oil and salt and bake for about 7 minutes. Check it frequently though so you don't over cook them, they will get harder as they cool.

You can also deep fry your chips in oil, that is a little more difficult but really good.  To test to see if the oil is hot enough dip the side of a tortilla in it to see if it bubbles if it does then its ready.  Also make sure to salt your chips right when they come out of the fryer so the salt sticks.
I also like to make my taco shells this way.  You just put the entire taco shell in the oil and use tongs to fold it in the shape of a taco shell while it is frying.
I hope you like it tell me if you try it and like it :)
Hey any suggestions on a recipe you really want or if you need help with your recipe let me know.  I can make anything you want and make sure it is the best and even to your preferences!

just let me know :)

Ricky Gervais on CNN: But are They Really Offended? No!


                       
Article first published as Richy Gervais on CNN: "But are They Really Offended? No!" on Technorati.
               On CNN Pierce Morgan interviewed Ricky Gervais about his views on being an atheist.  Gervais explains that people who are not atheist should not be offended when he jokes about not believing in god.  What appealed to me about this is not the atheist aspect or Gervais, that is how I found the video, but that is not what struck me about it.  I find it baffling that this needs to be clarified.  If you were to watch anything Ricky Gervais does you realize that he is never really that offensive when it comes to religion. Religious people aren’t really offended they just grab onto that phrase for dear life.  They think that it makes them look poor and defenseless, when really they are the majority and we are the minority.

                        I can speculate as to what is really going on here.  People are afraid and mad when people openly admit to not believing in god.  Imagine being taught that not believing in god is the worst thing you can do, ever in your life.  It is so bad that it never even crosses your mind that there might not be a god, that isn’t even an option.  You have been taught that the BEST thing you can do is believe in god without question, even if it means dying saying he is real when you could have saved your life to deny it.  It is that engrained in them.  I talk about it so emotionally because that is what I was told my entire life and if that wasn’t bad enough I believed it.  When I was younger I saw an interview Bill Maher did with Larry King.  He gave his reasoning for being atheist, and what I got out of it was this: who is the better person? The person who is a good person because if they aren’t they will be severely punished with torture and fire, OR the person who is a good person because they just think they should be.  It is understood that you will benefit from being good to others, just because you would want to be treated that way.  Not just who is a better person but what makes more sense?   That would scare anyone.
                        The issue is when a Christian declares that they are Christian they are actually saying; my religion is better than yours.  People can take that offensively, especially religions like Hinduism, with people who believe that you can worship in whatever ever way you want, some of them are Christians.  They believe in the same religion that condemns them to hell for eternity for being Hindu.  When an atheist says they don’t believe in any of it they aren’t saying that, they aren’t making these attacks.  In fact, that is one of the reasons I hate religion, things like that, the hating and the fighting.  All over something imaginary, different religions poke and pick at each other.  I as an atheist am not trying to pick at this disgusting scab that is religion, I want to put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. 
                        I am not offended when other people say they believe in god so why are they offended when it is reversed?  I cannot speak for them but I have no fear in what I believe. There is nothing someone could tell me to change my mind.  I am not afraid to defend my position or for it to be challenged, in fact I welcome it.  Learning and questioning is important to stay grounded.  Hey, please believe what you want, really it is ok we don’t mind.  But please don’t lie and say you are offended when we say hey, we don’t believe what you do, because you aren’t. How am I supposed to argue against “offended”? It’s a cop out.

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