Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

This recipe idea came from my friend Kim and is REALLY simple to make. It has amazing texture and makes a great little appetizer!

Ingredients
Whole Water Chestnuts (Can)
Bacon
Soy Sauce

Toothpicks

I cut the strips of bacon into 4 pieces, each of which can be wrapped around one water chestnut. If they're a little bigger, you can just cut the strip into 3 pieces.

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Leave water chestnuts in the can and drizzle them with a coating of soy sauce. If you don't want to use all of the chestnuts you can take some out and stick them in an air tight container and store them in the refrigerator. You want to let the water chestnuts soak in a little layer of the soy sauce for maybe ten minutes... giving them a little toss occasionally so they all get evenly coated.


Take each water chestnut and wrap it in a piece of bacon. I did this by setting it toward the center of the piece of bacon and pulling each corner up around it and securing on top with a toothpick. The bacon should stretch a little to fit.


Place the bacon wrapped water chestnuts on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 450 for approximately 20 minutes. You want to keep an eye on them towards the end and judge whether they're done or not by your desired level of crispiness for the bacon.

Enjoy!

Cheesy Shrimp Dip

This was inspired by the Cheesy Shrimp Dip that O'Charley's had when I went there quite some time ago. I found the recipe online and altered it just a bit, and it seemed pretty close! It can also be made by leaving the shrimp out, as I did on New Year's Eve, if anyone is not a fan of seafood. It makes a great appetizer or snack to munch on during parties/events!

Ingredients

1 Can small shrimp
6 Ounces shredded mild Cheddar cheese (1 bag)
6 Ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese (1 bag)
8 Ounces cream cheese (softened)
1/4 Cup sun dried tomatoes (diced)
1/2 Cup Romano/Asiago/Parmesan cheese mix (can or container)
1/2 Teaspoon onion powder
1/2 Teaspoon garlic powder



Directions

Mix all ingredients together. Sometimes the easiest way to do this is by thoroughly washing your hands and just using them to knead the cheeses into the cream cheese, depending on how soft it is.


Spread mix into a casserole dish (If you have any shredded cheese leftover you can sprinkle some on top) and bake at 325 degrees until bubbly, or about 20 minutes. Watch closely towards the end as the cheese on the edges will burn before the middle gets completely bubbly.

I recommend serving with Tortitos or Fritos Scoop chips.

ENJOY!