Spicy Goat Cheese Dip

Since Im fessing up to my astronomical failures as a cook allow me to confess to another ridiculous thing I cannot manage to succeed at.  Nachos.  You heard me correctly.  Melted cheese and tasty fixings over chips.  Couldnt be simpler, right?  Anyone can do that.  Yeah anyone except me it would seem.  Having never attempted to make them before I thought the broiler would be the way to go.  30 seconds later I was waving out the fire on my organic blue corn chips.  Another dinner ruined.

In my defense nachos were never something we ate in my house growing up.   And the horrible alien cheese sauce drenched corn chips at the fair or the mall arent nachos those are just wrong.  So I dont have a food memory of this dish to lead me to create a long forgotten favorite recipe.  All I had was a strange craving for cheesy corn chips after eating a quick meal at the Great Dane (a locally famous brew pub with good beer and a gluten free menu) and being mocked by the monster nacho plate being eating by people at a neighboring table.

Giving up cheese in Wisconsin is like giving up on snow in the Arctic, it just isnt possible.  It is everywhere and it knows where to find you when you least expect it.  Once you stop eating it you suddenly notice how prevalent cheese is.  Where as you once thought phrases like "cheesehead" or "the cheese state" are just cute metaphorical terms of endearment we use to talk about the area, you know now that the place literally is made of dairy and you cant escape seeing it.

Ive gotten pretty good at ignoring all the amazing cheese this town has to offer and hardly mind that everyone around me makes yummy noises while nibbling on their latest gourmet cheese discovery at parties.  But everyone once in a while as I happily eat my bunless burger and salad a little rodent somewhere in my head will start screaming "Cheese!"  I try to ignore it but it gets more specific, "Ooey gooey sinful cheese drenched macaroni and cheese hot and fresh out of the oven!"  Then things go down hill into something along the lines of "Nachos! Nachos! Nachos! Nachos! Nachos!"  Until the part of my brain that hasnt been taken over by gerbils riffles my brain to find a solution that will make the cheese obsessed brain animals happy and not make me sick.  Anyone who read my vegan mac and cheese post knows that it is no small order to fill.

Thankfully I have a very understanding fella who is no longer surprised that the woman he lives with occasionally (okay on a very regular basis, shut up) goes crazy and insists that directly after lunch we must go to Whole Foods so I can look into making nachos immediately.  It probably helps that he usually benefits from my moments of madness by being rewarded with delicious food for the low low price of doing my endless dishes.

So the only way I could see this nacho thing going down was to indulge in goat cheese which I allow myself every couple of weeks because it doesnt seem to negatively effect me too much and lets face it I need some sort of cheese or I really will snap in the face of all this temptation.  However the goat cheese dribbled chips burst into flame because nachos under the broiler probably wasnt my greatest idea ever.  The cheese sauce I salvaged off of the wreckage on the other hand was amazing!  So whereas I cannot suggest asking me to ever making you something as simple as nacho I can tell you that this accidental goat cheese creation is a great dip.

Now world please do tell me how in the hell does one make nachos?

Spicy Goat Cheese Dip

1 5-ounce log goat cheese
1/4 cup heavy cream or coconut milk
1-2 chipotle peppers, chopped
1-2 teaspoons adobe sauce from chipotle peppers
1 jalapeno, finely chopped


Place goat cheese in a oven safe bowl.  Heat for 20 seconds or so until it becomes soft and easily mixable.  Add heavy cream or coconut milk until the cheese is the constancy you like, you might not need all the liquid depending on the goat cheese youre using.  Stir in the chipotle, adobe sauce and jalapeno until well combined.  Place in oven at about 375 degrees until cheese begins to brown on top.  Serve warm with good quality corn chips.

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30 Weeks

As I get closer to the end of my pregnancy... only 10 weeks left but whos counting... Im having more and more emotions come to the surface. Mainly Im pretty much terrified at the thought of physically having this baby. I know, I know... millions of women do this all this time, but I am so scared at the thought of pushing this human being out of my body. YIKES! Dan has been really good about giving me encouraging words and promising that he will be right by my side the entire time, which does help with my anxiety (a little bit).

I have increasingly become more uncomfortable and frustrated as time passes. I hate how extremely exhausted I feel all the time, how I cant physically do what I use to, how shaving my legs is almost impossible, how I just plain hurt all over, how Im suffering from horrible acid reflux, how I have to pee constantly... and the list goes on. I know its all part of being pregnant and this is something I wanted and feel blessed to be capable of, but it has been a really hard adjustment for me recently when Im use to living a different way. I also am having a really hard time wrapping my head around that I no longer have any usable muscles in my stomach. My brain can tell my stomach muscles to flex, but there is nothing there to do so. Its a very odd feeling to me. And how long will it take me to get myself back into shape? Im already looking into the next 5K I can run this summer!

Yes, Im complaining... and truly I shouldnt be because in the grand scheme of things I have had an easy and healthy pregnancy so far. Life is good and God has blessed me a thousand times over with this amazing experience. I need to soak in every moment that I have because one day Ill look back and wonder where the time went. I am truly grateful even though I may sound like a Negative Nancy.

My sweet Remi Bear saying hello to his baby brother or sister! Goodness I love this dog!

Anyways... back to the stuff you might want to hear about. Currently, our June Bug is the size of a cabbage and weighing in at about 3 lbs. The baby will double or even triple in size up to my due date. When the baby moves... boy do I know it!!! I usually feel it mostly during the evening time when Im settling down from a long day. Its nice to lay beside Dan and have him feel all the jabs Im getting. I had my glucose test several weeks ago and passed all my labs just fine, which I was so thankful for because several of my friends who have had babies have not. More recently, I had an appointment and the babys heartbeat was 158 and Im measuring right on target. Currently, I have only gained 22 pounds, but it sure feels like a lot more to me. The doctor asked me if I had been having any contractions (which I have been since 5 months along, but they are just Braxton Hicks) and told me that if I start having really hard ones that I need to rest for an hour and if they continue then come in. There has been a lot of talk about pediatricians, touring the hospital, classes I could take, etc. Since I have not been having any problems I will have my next ultrasound at 36 weeks just to ensure there are no surprises before the baby is born and that the head is down.

Other than that, my parents have been a big help with assisting us in arranging the nursery, assembling the crib, and moving all sorts of furniture around since Im pretty worthless with lifting anything at this point. For the most part Dan and I have things where we want them to go, we just need to hang shelving and pictures up to finish it up. Im sure there will be a nursery post come along when we are ready to show it off. 

I think that is all the news I have to share with you right now. The time is getting closer and closer so I will try to make sure to update you as I find things out along the way.

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On Sheep Wolves and Sheepdogs

Many of us have recently seen the movie that just came out called American Sniper. Of course, being married to a SWAT sniper, my husband and I were really excited to see it as well. I must say that the movie was outstanding and boy did it tug at my heartstrings since I could relate in many ways to things that were portrayed in the movie. However, one of the things that has continued to float in my head is the story of sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs that they touch on in the movie.

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The following is an excerpt from On Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs by Dave Grossman

One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me:

“Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident.” This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another. Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.

Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.

I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty, blue robin’s egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.

“Then there are the wolves,” the old war veteran said, “and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy.” Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.

“Then there are sheepdogs,” he went on, “and I’m a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf.”

If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.

If you find yourself with the sheep…please hang with the sheepdogs!

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Being the wife of a police officer I have heard this story many times before seeing it played out in this movie, but it is so true of the world we live in today. For me, it is tiresome to constantly hear all the cop bashing on the news, in social media, and even from people I come in contact with every day.  When did our society turn our police officers... the men and women that put their lives on the line for you and me everyday... into the enemy?? When will our society lift up the sheepdogs instead of the wolves? All I know is how incredibly thankful I am for the sheepdog in my life!

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White Bean Dip

This is what dinner looks like when I neglect to plan out recipes ahead of time.  Dont get me wrong, it was delicious but more random than Im used to.

The fella and I were both hungry and uninspired.  All we had were a couple random vegetables and a bunch of dry beans that no one wanted to put the effort into boiling.  Then while looking through the oddities of my cupboard I found one can of white beans neither of us could remember buying.  Not one to look down upon random dinner providing beans, I whipped them into a dip I remembered seeing in my food blog browsing earlier in the day.  And tada we had protein and an almost balanced meal.

Im not a fan of raw garlic (its not a fan of me either I found out in my elimination dieting so at least the feeling is mutual) so I cooked mine before adding it.  But if youre a the garlicky-er the better type and loss in a few cloves raw, this is the easiest dip imaginable.  Its like hummus for when youre all hummus-ed out or not in the mood to plan ahead for soaking chickpeas.  Especially on the forbidden corn chips this dip was extraordinary. 

White Bean Dip

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 cups (or 1 15-ounce can) cooked white beans

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup vegetable broth
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 a lemon, juiced 
salt and pepper, to taste


If you decide to cook the garlic, saute it briefly in the olive oil over medium heat just until it is no longer raw before tossing in the food processor.


If using canned beans, drain and rinse them, then place in food processor.  If using dried beans, cook 1 cup of white beans of your choice using your preferred method and put in food processor when cooked through.


Put all of the remaining ingredients in the food processor with the garlic and beans and pulse a few times until the mixture is very smooth.  Check the seasoning to see if more salt, pepper or thyme is needed.  Also add additional liquid at this point if you would like the dip to be thinner.  Blend again until well combined. 

Modified from an original recipe at Affairs of Living blog.

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