A few weeks ago I conducted an informal survey on an issue of critical international importance: do the internets prefer Cheez-Its or Cheese Nips?

And the Cheez-Its, they won handily.

As a result of The Post About The Cheese-Flavored Crackers, I received a couple of recipes via email. And I thought I would share them. Because heaven knows we all need to find more ways to incorporate cheese-flavored crackers into our diets.

Hallelujah.

Squash Casserole
(recipe courtesy of Moriah)

2 cups cooked summer squash
3/4 cup butter
2 eggs
salt to taste
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup chopped onion (I sauteed the onion before adding it to the casserole)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 small can evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed)
2 cups Cheez-Its, crushed
extra grated cheese for top

Mash squash, add all other ingredients and mix well. Spread into buttered casserole dish, then sprinkle top with extra cheese. Bake for 40 minutes at 375 degrees.

Cheez-Its Chicken
recipe courtesy of Kami

2/3 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons onion flakes (or onion powder)
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 cup Cheez-Its crumbs
2 Tbs. sesame seeds (if you’ve got ’em)
8 oz. chicken tenders or cut up chicken breast strips

Preheat oven to 425. Combine 2/3 cup mayonnaise, onion flakes, and dry mustard in a shallow bowl and mix well. Combine the cracker crumbs and sesame seeds in a shallow bowl and mix well. Dip chicken in mayonnaise mixture, then coat with cracker crumb mixture. Arrange on baking sheet covered in Reynolds Wrap and sprayed with Pam or something similar. Bake the chicken until juices run clear, about 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy, everybody!

And thanks, Moriah and Kami!

Hey. You know that part of the recipe? Where they tell you to make sure you have a 12-cup Bundt pan?

Well they are not kidding.

You don’t even want to know how long it took me to clean up this mess.

Or how many times the lyrics to “MacArthur Park” ran through my head.

Earlier today I was walking through Walmart while talking on the phone with Big Mama, and she was in the middle of a Deeply Moving Story when I stopped in my tracks and said, “HOLD ON!”

“What? WHAT?!?!” she asked, no doubt worried that I’d run over someone’s foot with my shopping cart or strolled past the diet Coke without remembering to put a 24-pack in my cart because, believe you me, both of those things would have been terribly traumatic indeed.

Especially forgetting the diet Coke.

The mere thought of it sends a cold chill down my spine.

“THE CREAM CHEESE!” I replied. “THE CREAM CHEESE IS NINETY-EIGHT CENTS AGAIN!”

All Big Mama could do was laugh. Because really, what else can you do when confronted with the reality of my crazy?

But still. I cannot help it that rows upon rows of less-than-one-dollar brand-name cream cheese fills me with all measure of joy.

It also fills me with all measure of empty calories, but that is another story entirely.

So in celebration of the fact that the Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese, IT IS A BARGAIN RIGHT NOW, I thought I’d post a couple of cream cheese-centric recipes.

Consider it my Christmas gift to you.

And to your cardiologist, as well.

Both of these recipes come from my sister-in-law Janie, a girl who loves a good, cream cheese-laden appetizer as much as I do and doesn’t make me feel the least little bit guilty when she makes these two dishes and I stand over them like some sort of guard dog.

RAAAAAAAAR-UFF!

White Rotel Dip

3 packages of pork sausage (mild or spicy is fine – but use at least 1 maple-flavored)
4 packages of cream cheese
2 cans of Rotel tomatoes

Brown sausage and drain. In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients and heat until cheese is melted, being careful to stir often.

Serve with tortilla chips.

And if you’re worried about eating cream cheese AND sausage in the same dish, don’t worry because the tomatoes are TOTALLY healthy, and therefore you’ll be just fine.

Captain Rodney Cheese Bake, aka THE BEST THING YOU WILL EVER EAT IN YOUR WHOLE LIFE EVER

1/2 cup mayonaise
8 oz. cream cheese-softened
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2 green onions chopped
6 Ritz crackers crumbled
8 slices cooked, crumbled bacon
1/2 cup Boucan Glaze (Oh my merciful heavens at the sheer volume of deliciousness in this stuff. It should be illegal. But I am so glad that it isn’t.)

Mix first 4 ingredients, then spread in a square casserole dish. Sprinkle crackers on top. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Then sprinkle bacon on top and drizzle sauce over all. Serve with your favorite crackers, pita chips, etc.

Then praise the Lord. Praise His holy name. He is faithful and worthy of all your cream cheese-induced praise.

Hallelujah.

When some people are bored, they clean.

I, on the other hand, like to create spontaneous bloggy carnivals when roughly four people mention that they think it might be fun.

Because, really, I have no life.

And because making sub-par, low-resolution bloggy buttons is fun!

So this Friday, if you’d like to join the fun (Hello, you eight future participants! Can’t wait to see your soup!), just post your favorite soup or stew recipe(s) on your blog, then come over here and sign the Mr. Linky.

Then we can all spend our weekends perusing recipes like the wild women that we are.

And so that we don’t spoil too much of the fun, I’m going to close the comments on my previous post – save your recipes for this Friday.

This button is way too big for a sidebar, and since we’re going to do this thing in, like, three days, there’s really no point for sidebar-age anyway. But if you’d like to post the button in a post, here’s the code:

<a href="https://www.boomama.net/?p=1906" target="_blank"><img src="http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h134/boomama205/Souptacular.jpg" border="0" alt="It's A Soup-Tacular!"></a>

And who wouldn’t want to post a button of such high quality? It is quite literally worth fractions of pennies.

So remember: SOUP’S ON this Friday! (I’m so sorry. SO sorry. I couldn’t resist. The punny temptation was more than I could bear. I am terribly ashamed.)

And if you already posted a recipe in the comments of the previous post, feel free to post it again on your blog this Friday. Even if you’ve posted it on your blog before.

Why, you ask?

Because WE LOVE REDUNDANCY! IT IS OUR FRIEND!

See y’all tomorrow.

Several of you have commented and emailed about the asparagus casserole I mentioned in my post on Thanksgiving Day. I am more than happy to share the recipe, but you really need to understand something from the get-go: aside from the fact that there’s a green vegetable involved, there’s absolutely nothing healthy about this dish.

Unless you’re on some sort of high-fat eating plan.

And if that’s the case, well, quite frankly, I applaud you.

And while I guess you could certainly steam some fresh asparagus and then make this casserole, I think that doing so would probably eliminate some of the critical additives and preservatives that you find in canned asparagus.

So canned asparagus it is!

My aunt C. has made this casserole for family dinners as long as I can remember, and it is absolutely one of my favorites. I don’t know exactly what makes it so tasty, but I have a feeling that it’s probably all the butter and cheese.

Because those two ingredients have never, ever let me down. Oh no ma’am they haven’t.

Serve with steak, pork or chicken. Watch fat settle in thigh area. Then refuse to care. Because OH, it is delicious.

Deeeee-licious!