Forever Beloved

Faith, Love & Truth

Baked Chili Cheese Dogs

There’s something magical that happens when you bake chili cheese dogs in the oven.  I can’t explain it, just trust me.  You’ll know what I mean as soon as you try this!

The type of chili you use is completely up to you.  But to take these babies to the next level, I highly suggest making my homemade chili to take these bundles of joy to the next level.  You could make your chili the day before and pop it in the fridge.  Or what I sometimes do is make a pot of it and once it’s cool, separate it into serving sizes in freezer bags.  Just pull out a bag from the freezer in the morning and it will be thawed by dinner time.

I also slathered a little mayo on the bun before I started building them.  If you don’t like mayo, skip that step.  I unfortunately have a few anti-mayo people in my house and they still loved them, even without the mayo.

Baked Chili Cheese Dogs

This recipe for Baked Chili Cheese Dogs is delicious and would be a great for a quick meal or even game day food.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Course Main Course
Servings 8 hotdogs

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1/2 sweet onion finely chopped
  • 1/2 clove fresh garlic
  • 6 oz tomato paste
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1 cup water
  • 3 tbs brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • 8 hotdogs
  • 8 hotdog buns
  • 1 can nacho cheese
  • mayo
  • cheddar cheese shredded

Instructions
 

  • For the chili sauce: Brown the ground beef, onions and garlic. Drain the grease. Add the paprika, cinnamon, chili powder and cumin. Stir well and cook about 1 minute. Add in the ketchup, tomato paste, brown sugar and water. Mix well. Cook 3-4 hours on low heat, stirring occasionally. Add more water if needed. Once the chili sauce is done, use a stick blender to make the consistency you want.
  • To assemble the chili cheese dogs: Preheat the oven to 350°.
  • Spread a small amount of mayo in each bun. Place the hotdog inside the bun and set each one in a casserole dish.
  • Spread the top of each hotdog with nacho cheese.
  • Spoon the chili sauce on top of the nacho cheese.
  • Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on top of each hotdog.
  • Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Serve and savor each bite!

Homemade Ranch Dressing

If I had to narrow down one condiment that my entire family is obsessed with, this is it.  Homemade ranch dressing.  Actually, as a family we judge restaurants on how good their ranch dressing is.  That is how obsessive we are about it.

We aren’t wine snobs, we’re ranch snobs!

This ranch dressing tastes better than anything store-bought, I can assure you of that.  Before I began making my own ranch, the most popular store brand was my go to.  And now, I can’t even begin to think of eating any other ranch except this one.

The common thing to do is eat it on salads, of course.  But for ranch freaks like us, it goes much further than just a lettuce topper.  We dip everything in it from carrot sticks, to homemade chicken tenders, to pizza to my personal favorite, Doritos!  Everything just tastes better dipped in ranch, can I get an Amen?

I know y’all came here to read the recipe, so I’ll get on with it.

Print Recipe
 Homemade Ranch Dressing
Super flavorful, perfectly tangy, extra creamy homemade ranch dressing that is so good you'll never go back to store-bought again!
Course Condiments
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
cups
Ingredients
Course Condiments
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
cups
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, buttermilk, mayonnaise and sour cream. Whisk this very well until combined, all the lumps are gone and it's extra creamy.
  2. Add in all the remaining spices and mix this well to combine. Transfer to an air-tight container and refrigerate. I promise you, homemade ranch just won't taste good until you allow it to chill.
  3. If it is too thick add milk or buttermilk one tablespoon at a time until it's to your desired consistency. Though if you follow the recipe exactly, it should be the perfect consistency for either pouring or dipping.
  4. Because this recipe contains heavy cream, mayo, sour cream and buttermilk, it definitely needs to stay chilled. And it will keep in the fridge for about seven days...if you can keep from eating it all before then, that is! I can assure you it never lasts that long in this house.
Recipe Notes

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Don’t Forget This Past Year

don't forget 2020 hard year god's faithful

In less than two weeks we’ll have what we’ve all anticipated for such a long time: a new year.

There has always been a big part of me that thrills over the fresh beginning of a new year laid out in front of us.  It’s like a fresh blanket of white snow free of footsteps.  It feels like a book with blank pages, just waiting for you to write your own story.

But this year, well, walking into this new year just feels so different.

I think we can all agree we would like to honestly forget that 2020 ever happened.  It was hard, devastating and heart wrenching sadness perpetually hid around every corner.  It was fast and unexpected and aggressive.

It was so easy to get caught up in the worry, panic and anxiety that the year threw at us.  Hand washing, hand sanitizer, gloves and masks were seemingly screamed from every rooftop.  Shut downs, lock downs, job losses and the loss of dear people we loved so incredibly much.  And the unrest we all felt as a whole, at times, was taken out on each other.

We’re wrestled with anxiety, depression, loneliness, civil unrest, political nightmares and death.

Our lives are forever changed by 2020.

Unfortunately, the hard we’ve been through will not magically disappear when we turn the calendar to 2021.

But through all the hard our God was still faithful.  And He will still be faithful in 2021!

Throughout this entire past year I’ve felt a gentle nudge at my heart.  I’ve heard that still, small voice speaking to me.

Focus on me, I’m still good even when life isn’t.

By shifting my focus from the fear in the world to God’s goodness, it allowed me a sense of freedom.

Freedom to enjoy having my husband and daughter home with me for over two months, we’ll never again get that amount of dedicated time together.  To feel blessed to watch church service online, even though I terribly miss the in-person fellowship.  To be thankful I have a warm house to stay inside, even though it’s lonely to only leave my house once a month.  To know my dear family members that passed from this horrible virus are rejoicing in Heaven, and I’ll get to see them again someday.

God loves all of us extravagantly.  And He’s not finished with a single one of us.  The fact is, He has a sovereign plan that is for good and not evil.  For joy and not sorrow.  He is writing a story of on-going redemption with each of our lives even in the midst of a pandemic.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;  A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 sums up the segment in a few simple, powerful words: He has made everything beautiful in His time.

HIS TIME.

Everyone’s degree of suffering in the past year was different.  But one thing is certain: it has a purpose and we have hope.

Having this outlook on suffering doesn’t lessen it’s pain, but it does inspire hope.

Do you remember in John 11 when Mary and Martha were heartbroken that their brother Lazarus had died?  They were not only sad for the loss of their brother, but also that Jesus had taken so long to get there and allowed death to find them.  Then, Jesus wept.

Jesus wept because suffering is real and it’s hard and it hurts.

And what happened next?

Jesus spoke the words that brought life where there was only death, hope where there was hopelessness and joy where there was heartbreak.

Joy comes in knowing Jesus, experiencing His presence and trusting His timing.  Joy comes when we fall more in love with the One who loves us most.  To experience joy is to experience Jesus!

And though 2020 was incredibly hard, it was a season we all had to walk through.

Can I encourage you, sweet friends, with this last thought.  In a few days we will celebrate the arrival of Jesus.  As we rejoice that our Savior was born, let’s make the choice not to dismiss this hard past year but to let it remind us of God’s unfailing love for us.  Let’s shift our focus on 2020 and look for God’s marvelous works in it.  Let’s spend some time being honest with our Father about how hard this year has been and at the same time praising Him for all He has done.

Our God is, always has been and always will be, Good.  Merry Christmas friends.