How many layers?

When I have class it is during dinner hours. They schedule class from 6:00-9:30 pm so that people who work full time can attend class. It is only Air Force and spouses that can attend, so they build it around the common schedule of a day job. So, this interupts dinner. Instead everyone volunteers to bring in food. Two nights ago we had pizza and snacks, and the night before that was veggie soup with Italian bread.

Last night was my night. I decided to make a bean dip. I was going for 7 layers, but this proved to be a bit difficult with what was available and how much time I was going to spend on preparation. We ended up with a whole Mexican theme as someone else made quesadillas and another person made homemade salsa. Well, here are my ingredients for my bean dip. I bought these disposable pans since I did not want to worry about losing glassware.

I went with fat free beans and those olives of course are a heart healthy fat.

I went with light sour cream since that was all they had. But in my experience this product holds up better than the fat free.
Ok, this was my only guacamole (also a heart healthy fat) option. It was frozen and then I thawed it.
Food safety 101 tip: Rinse off the lid before opening. This can get dusty, dirty and pick up other things you don't want accidentally falling inside.
Time to get down to business. I made all 3 pans that came in the pack. Two for my class and one for us at home. I decided to do this assembly line style and lined all the ingredients up from last to first and just poured them in the trays.




First up: refried beans

You can see the guacamole was still a little frozen on top.

Second layer: Guacamole

Third up: Salsa (I like the salsa on the beans better, but that also gets very liquidy on the bottom)

Fourth layer: Sour cream (This is why guacamole works better third and salsa second)

Fifth layer: shredded cheese (This covers up the sour cream and salsa mix)

Sixth layer: sliced olives

And the 7th, which is optional, layer: jalapenos

Yum

I made one with and one without the peppers for my class. I just wasn't sure of food preferences. So then I wrapped them and labeled them.

And let my dog clean the inside of the sour cream. She is too cute to say no too.

Here is the final spread of food in class. You can see we all thought there might be a shortage of chips so we all picked some extras up at the last minute. Oops!

Well that is my quick and easy "go-to" recipe for taking to parties. It went fast! I am glad everyone enjoyed it.

QUESTION: What is your quick and easy "go-to" party dish?

P.S. Some of the great blogs I read are having great give aways so check these out and enter to win:

Dr.Kracker giveaway from Niccis Nifty Eats
and
Free Subscription to Nutrition Action Newsletter from The Candid RD