Easy 2 Ingredient Recipes

So many times I’ve wanted something simple to cook that I might be fortunate enough to have the ingredients on hand for, and saving me a trip to the store.  Every time it happens though I either draw a blank, or I’m missing one of the ingredients.  As these easy recipes only take two items to make, they are just up my alley and really lessen the chance that I won’t have one of the items necessary to make something.  I’m sure there are a lot of others that think like this as well so here you go!  You single people cooking for yourselves, you know what I mean.  These recipes might not be enough to make an entire meal but they’ll calm your appetite or be simple additions to a larger meal at another time, or on hand for a quick snack. Enjoy!  

(Each image is a link to the full recipe.)

How To Make Strawberry Margarita Jello Shots

How To Make Strawberry Margarita Jello Shots

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs. of Strawberries
  • 6 oz. of Margarita Mix
  • 1 Cup of Tequila
  • 2 oz. of Triple Sec or Grand Marnier®
  • 3 oz. Strawberry Flavored Jell-O®
  • Sugar and Limes (for garnish)

Note: You may use mint leaves for garnish instead of the sugar and limes.

Scoop Out the Strawberry with a Melon Baller

Prepare the Strawberries

Choose the largest strawberries that you can find. Wash and dry them. Cut the bottom part of the strawberries so that they can stand upright. Then, cut the top part of the strawberries.

Using a melon baller, scoop the inside of the strawberries very carefully without punching any holes or breaking the strawberries.

Make Strawberry Margarita Jell-O

Make the Strawberry Margarita Jell-O

Boil 6 ounces of margarita mix. Place the strawberry Jell-O in a bowl and add the boiling margarita mix. Stir well until the gelatin dissolves completely. Add the tequila, triple sec or Grand Marnier and stir.

Refrigerate the Strawberries

Refrigerate the Strawberries

Place the strawberries on a plate and fill them with the strawberry margarita gelatin. Put the plate in the refrigerator. Refrigerate for at least four hours or until firm.

Leave any remaining strawberry margarita gelatin outside the refrigerator. You might need it to refill some strawberries that leak.

Note: Some strawberries will leak. Just wait until the initial gelatin sets and then refill the strawberries with more gelatin. Any spilled gelatin on the plate can be scooped with a spoon.

Strawberry Margarita Jello Shots

Garnish the Strawberry Margarita Jello Shots

Rub the rim of the strawberries with a lime wedge. Dip and rotate them in sugar, not salt, to coat the rim. Garnish with key lime wheels.

Note: If you don’t have key limes, you may use regular limes. Cut the lime wheels into small triangle limes.

Beer And Cheese Dip

I have made this before and its divine. Its perfect for BBQ’s, football season (which it will soon be here in Australia) or just a relaxed night at home. This is best made the night before as all the flavors gel together overnight. Enjoy, and if you make it let me know what you think!
 
BEER CHEESE DIP
16 oz Cream Cheese, softened
32 oz Velveeta Cheese, cubed
3 cloves Garlic, minced
2 jars Old English Cheese
18 oz Dark Beer, stirred to remove bubbles (1 1/2 bottles of beer)
2 Loafs of Round Bread (not sliced)
1 Tbsp Parsley for garnish
 
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, mix cream cheese until smooth.
Add the two jars of Old English Cheese and incorporate with the cream cheese until smooth.
Add 1/2 of the cubed Velveeta Cheese into the cream cheese and mix until smooth.
Blend in the 3 cloves of garlic.
Blend in one bottle of beer.
Add the remaining Velveeta Cheese and blend.
Add in the remaining beer.
With the mixer on medium high, blend the cheese until smooth. Be sure to keep you beaters in the cheese mixture as much as possible to reduce the amount of air in the cheese. This will take about 5 minutes. You can add more beer if your dip is too thick.
To prepare the bread bowl, cut a lid out of one of the loafs of bread and remove.
Scoop out the bread out of the center of the bread to make a “bowl”. Set that bread aside, you will use it to dip. Take care not to tear through the bread or your dip will leak through.
Take the other loaf of bread and cube it into 1″ cubes.
Pour the beer cheese into the bread bowl and arrange the cut up bread around the bowl.
Garnish with parsley
Serve immediately or make up to 3 days in advance. Store leftovers in the fridge.
 

Pocket Taser Stun Gun, What A Great Gift For The Wife!

Last weekend I saw something at Larry’s Pistol & Pawn Shop that sparked my interest. The occasion was our 15th anniversary and I was looking for a little something extra for my wife, Julie. What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sized taser. The effects of the taser were supposed to be short lived, with no long-term adverse affect on your assailant, allowing her adequate time to retreat to safety….??

WAY TOO COOL! Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home. I loaded two AAA batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I was disappointed. I learned, however, that if I pushed the button AND pressed it against a metal surface at the same time; I’d get the blue arc of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs. AWESOME!!!

Unfortunately, I have yet to explain to Julie what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave.

Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn’t be all that bad with only two triple-A batteries, right?

There I sat in my recliner, my cat, Gracie, looking on intently (trusting little soul) while I was reading the directions and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh & blood moving target. I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie (for a fraction of a second) and thought better of it. She is such a sweet cat. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong?

So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, and taser in another. The directions said that a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a major loss of bodily control; a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water.

Any burst longer than three seconds would be wasting the batteries. All the while I’m looking at this little device measuring about 5′ long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference; pretty cute really and (loaded with two itsy, bitsy triple-A batteries) thinking to myself, ‘no possible way!’

What happened next is almost beyond description, but I’ll do my best…?

I’m sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side as to say, ‘don’t do it, dipshit,’ reasoning that a one second burst from such a tiny little ole thing couldn’t hurt all that bad. I decided to give myself a one second burst just for heck of it. I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and . . .HOLY MOTHER OF GOD . . . WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION . . . WHAT THE HELL!!!
I’m pretty sure Jessie Ventura ran in through he side door, picked me up in the recliner, then body slammed us both on the carpet, over and over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, with tears in my eyes, body soaking wet, both nipples on fire, testicles no where to be found, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position, and tingling in my legs?

The cat was making meowing sounds I had never heard before, clinging to a picture frame hanging above the fireplace, obviously in an attempt to avoid getting slammed by my body flopping all over the living room.

Note: If you ever feel compelled to ‘mug’ yourself with a taser, one note of caution: there is no such thing as a one second burst when you zap yourself! You will not let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor. A three second burst would be considered conservative?

SON-OF-A-BITCH, THAT HURT LIKE HELL!!!

A minute or so later (I can’t be sure, as time was a relative thing at that point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape. My bent reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. The recliner was upside down and about 8 feet or so from where it originally was. My triceps, right thigh and both nipples were still twitching. My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, and my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs. I had no control over the drooling. Apparently I shit myself, but was too numb to know for sure and my sense of smell was gone. I saw a faint smoke cloud above my head which I believe came from my hair. I’m still looking for my nuts and I’m offering a significant reward for their safe return!!

P. S. My wife loved the gift, and now regularly threatens me with it!