Crock-Pot Queso

On Friday night, some SLIS girls and I got together for some margaritas at Meredith's, and I found it the perfect excuse to try to make homemade queso.  I made a double batch to have some with and some without ground beef for the vegetarians in the group.
I brought the leftovers to a crawfish boil Saturday afternoon, and the rest was gone.

Crock-Pot Queso 

adapted from Two Peas and their Pod

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients: 
10 oz white American cheese (I got it sliced at the grocery store deli, then cut the stack of slices into 3x3 smaller squares)
6 oz Pepper Jack (sliced and cut 3x3, but if the deli will shred it for you, that will decrease cook time)
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 medium jalapeño, diced
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon onion flakes 
1 generous tablespoon dried cilantro 
1 roma tomato, seeds removed and diced 
1/2 lb. browned ground beef (optional)

Directions: 
1. Pour a small amount of extra virgin olive oil into a saucepan over medium heat.  Cook the jalapeño and bell pepper until softened.  
2. Brown ground beef in a pan. Set aside. 
3. Cut cheese slices into smaller pieces.  I stacked the slices and cut the slices into 9 smaller squares each.  
4. Combine the jalapeño, bell pepper, cheese, milk, and onion into the Crock-Pot on high.  Let cook for 45 minutes or until the queso is at the consistency you like, stirring occasionally.  
5. After cheese is melted, stir in cilantro and tomato.  
6. Just before serving, stir in ground beef.  Turn Crock-Pot to low to keep warm.  If the queso gets too thin, turn Crock-Pot off completely and it will thicken back up.  
7. Serve with chips.  

Crawfish Boil on Saturday

Thanks Ashlyn for the pictures from Saturday!