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One of my favorite things in the world is a baby’s laugh – especially when it’s my baby.
I love when they start doing this deep belly laugh, where it seems like they were just told the most hilarious thing ever. And really, in their little minds, they probably were.
I think the world would be a lot better off if we all just laughed as freely as little babies do. I know that when someone else is laughing, it’s hard for it not to be contagious. A room full of laughter sure is a happy one!
I’m not the most extroverted person around – parties can be a bit hit or miss. Sometimes I enjoy going and interacting with other people, but other times I just want to go home and go to bed! But no matter what mood I’m in, I always love making sure I bring a delicious appetizer to share. Even if i’m totally awkward, at least I know my food is good.
When I’m feeling awkward at a party, I tend to laugh a lot more than I would normally – it’s interesting! I recently took the SunChips®Laughalizerquiz from SunChips, and it revealed that I have an empathetic laugh. I think that describes me pretty well!
The Laughalizer is a unique technology that analyzes your laugh to tell you a little more about yourself. I thought it was pretty cool. SunChips® is all about encouraging people to laugh and have a little more joy in their lives, so along with creating the Laughalizer, they have teamed up with Step Up to encourage women and children everywhere to share their unique voices and laughter with others. When you take the Laughalizer quiz and share your laugh-print, SunChips will donate $1 (up to $100,000 total) to Step Up. Pretty cool!(Learn more here).
I want to encourage my children to always harness the power of their laughter and joy in all that they do. I think if they can embrace their unique voices in a world that sometimes seeks to silence them, they will be happy and successful.
So, back to appetizers at parties! Seven layer dip is a pretty classic appetizer. It’s usually at every party we go to!
It’s popular for good reason – it has lots of yummy flavor, and it’s easy to eat!
However, sometimes it’s nice to have a warm dip, so I thought I would mix it up a little bit and create a hot seven layer dip. It has a lot of the same flavors as a cold seven layer dip (except for olives. Because I don’t like olives.) But it’s just cooked in the oven to perfection!
Most seven layer dips don’t have ground beef in it, but I thought it would be fun to add it to this one. We also used SunChips® wholegrain snacks instead of traditional tortilla chips. SunChips® have always been one of my all-time favorite kinds of chips, and it went perfectly with this dip – we all really like the French Onion flavor especially.
We actually served this as a main dish the other night, but it would be totally awesome as an appetizer as well! This is a great party food, and it’s great for dipping chips in while you laugh the night away!
Hot Seven Layer Dip
Ingredients
- 1 can refried beans, we used black refried beans
- 1/2 pound cooked ground beef - seasoned with taco seasoning
- 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt or Sour Cream
- 1 avocado
- 1/2-3/4 cup pico de gallo
- 1/2-1 cup grated Mexican blend cheese
- 1 stalk green onions, diced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mash the avocado and combine with the Greek Yogurt or Sour Cream.
- In 9x13 glass dish, spread the refried beans evenly across the bottom.
- Then put a layer of ground beef, then the avocado mixture, pico de gallo, green onions, and top with the cheese.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until warm in the center. Broil if cheese needs it!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Frito-Lay. The opinions and text are all mine.
Katie Clark
Katie is a Colorado-native, BYU graduated, and most importantly, wife to one and mother to three beautiful boys. She is passionate about sharing her experiences with others – especially about pregnancy, breastfeeding, cooking, and crafts. She is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. She loves spending time with her family and helping others find joy in family life.
