Mantraps (by Gourmet Diva)

I thought my first attempt EVER at a blog should include a much-loved, much-requested recipe. As the name implies, mantraps are also a big hit with men....because who wouldn't love baked cheesy goodness on bread? These are very easy to make and make a great appetizer for any get-together.

Mantraps

Ingredients
Cocktail rye rounds or Pepperidge Farm French Bread
1 pound extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups Hellmann's Mayonnaise
2 scallions diced with green tips
1/2 clove garlic
1/4 to 1/3 teaspoon garlic juice
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Lawry's seasoned salt

Mix all ingredients and spread on bread. Bake @ 350 for 20 minutes. I often broil for a minute or two at the end so the cheese bubbles.

Optional: Sprinkle with oregano and paprika. Decorate with olives.

Mexican Chicken Meatballs (by Dessert Diva)

These are a terrific substitute for traditional, high fat meatballs. You can serve them with salsa or plain. For Supper Club, I made 3 batches of these meatballs, then I scored the mixture into 6 sections. Each Diva got one section and could make as many meatballs out of it as possible.

Mexican Chicken Meatballs

Ingredients

1/2 cup egg substitute

1 can (4 oz.) chopped green chilies

1 cup crushed cornflakes

1 cup (4 oz.) shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend

1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 pound ground chicken

Salsa, optional

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients. Crumble chicken over mixture and mix well. Shape in 1-inch balls. Place on baking sheets coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown, turning occasionally. Serve with salsa if desired.

Yield: 2 dozen

Nutrition Facts: 1 meatball=21 calories, 1 g fat, 6 mg cholesterol, 49 mg sodium, 1 g carbohydrate, 2 g protein.

Who are the Dinnertime Divas?

Dessert Diva

Dessert Diva is a twenty-something wife and mother of a furry Goldendoodle named Hoosier. She enjoys hiking, swimming and any outdoor activity (except running). She is a chocoholic who enjoys making just about any dessert and has recently branched out into using fondant. Her creativity in developing this blog is just like her recipes...sweet and sassy.

Spicy Diva

Spicy Diva is an adventurous twenty-something who enjoys rock climbing and reading and has developed a recent love for cooking, thanks to the Dinnertime Divas. She likes spice...period.

Saucy Diva

Saucy Diva is a freshly thirty, newly married Diva. She enjoys traveling and shopping and has recently experimented with ethnic cuisine. She's saucy...and likes it.

Wine Diva

Wine Diva is a twenty-something mother of two who enjoys dancing and music. She has recently been training for a half marathon. While she will be turning thirty soon, we all agree she's like wine...she gets better with age.

Cheesy Diva aka The Big Cheese

The Big Cheese is our youngest Diva. She is a twenty-something wife who enjoys reading and randomly breaks into song. Always the life of the party, we all agree "More cheese please."

Gourmet Diva

As Gourmet Diva enters her thirties, she will be welcoming Baby Diva in May. She enjoys coming up with gourmet cooking recipes with her husband. Her philosophy is, "Gourmet or Go Home."

First row: Dessert Diva, Spicy Diva

Second row: Cheesy Diva, Saucy Diva

Third row: Wine Diva, Gourmet Diva

Always Delicious, Always Entertaining.

Coming Up: Divas Night In and the March edition of Supper Club

Supper Club-February 2010-Bakes

Last Monday, we held our third Supper Club. The theme for this month was "bakes."

Some may call these casseroles, but we are not those people because we have husbands who do not enjoy casseroles...if you catch my drift.

The lineup included: Beef Noodle Bake, Upside Down Pizza Bake, Mock Chop Suey, Crab Alfredo, Enchiladas and Baked Ziti. Yum!

We set up shop and got to work...almost. First, we had to welcome a new member to the Club. You see, we originally had 5 members, but we made enough for 6 meals. The extra set of meals was given as a gift to one of the billion pregnant women we work with. Then...we ran out of pregnant women. No problem, though, because we knew just the right person to fill the void. She willingly obliged...until we sprung the initiation on her.

Well, actually, even then she willingly obliged. She's a rock star like that.

We conducted a blind taste test, using some delicious...scratch that, disgusting...foods that, I am ashamed to admit, were found in the refrigerators of fellow members. Well, this was no problem for her...she knew just about every weird thing we put on a spoon and offered her.

Did I mention she's a rock star like that? My stomach wouldn't have been able to handle even the least disgusting of the batch. Lord, I don't think I would even have let them put the blindfold on me...but that's just me.

Once we were done acting like college frat boys, we got to work making our meals and drinking our wine. What a great night...and now our Club is complete!

Coming Up: Meet each of The Dinnertime Divas

Welcome!

Welcome to our new blog! Here's our story...We are a group of six friends who also happen to be co-workers and share a love for all things cooking and baking. Last year, we started frequenting a local dinner preparation place. We would go a few times a year but not much more than that due to the high cost. Unfortunately, the shop closed recently, but that didn't stop us from continuing to get together to prepare meals. One of our group members suggested that we continue the tradition once a month at one of our houses. Of course, after the first month, we realized that it was WAY cheaper to do our own supper club. Thus, the Dinnertime Divas Supper Club was born.

Here's how it works...we each choose a recipe and buy enough ingredients for all six of us to make it. We bring everything over to the host's house, pick a corner of the kitchen and set up. Then, we rotate to each station, making the recipe (we bring a copy for each member), eating appetizers and drinking wine. Everything goes into plastic freezer bags or disposable aluminum pans, depending upon the recipe. We load everything up into bags or a cooler at the end of the night and head home to load up the freezer. We have now had 3 Supper Clubs and 1 Holiday Cookie Baking Extravaganza. We have also chosen themes some months (i.e. casseroles, meatless).

At our most recent Supper Club (we usually get together once a month), we thought it would be neat to start a blog to document all the great recipes we've chosen, as well as our crazy antics and non-food related adventures. In upcoming posts, we will be adding bios of each of our members, as well as some of the past recipes we have tried and loved. We sure hope you'll come along for the ride!