The following is a guest post by Green Panda’s husband, Blue Panda:

When going to a potluck dinner with friends or to a watch a big game, we naturally like to bring something tasty. Of course, we don’t want to spend an arm and a leg on it. Fortunately, one of our favorite appetizers is pretty easy on the wallet.

The dip is simply known as sausage dip, and while it may not look like much, it always has everyone coming back for more… if there’s any left.

Ingredients:

• 1-pound roll of sausage (I like to use Italian sausage)
• 8-ounce pack of cream cheese
• 1 small can of Ro-Tel tomatoes (or diced tomatoes with chilies)

Preparation: Brown the sausage and drain it, then throw everything together and heat until the cream cheese melts. It’s ready.

The spiciness is controlled by the sausage and the type of chilies with the tomatoes. I’ve found that Italian sausage and mild chilies strikes right balance, at least for us. (I’ve also heard of a variant that uses beef, but I haven’t tried it.)

Usually, we make a double portion and throw everything in a slow cooker to melt the cream cheese. The slow cooker makes it easy to carry and keep it warm whereever we’re taking it.

How does it stack up, price-wise?

• Cream cheese: $1-2
• Tomatoes with chilies: about $1.30
• Roll of sausage: $2-$4
• Chips: about $3.50

We usually go to Wal-Mart and the double portion ends up being about $9-$10, plus a bag of chips. That can serve up to 15 people as an appetizer.

Do you know of any recipes that give a good bang for the buck?

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