Turkey and Pesto Panini

I promised to post the recipe for this sandwich way back when I posted about freezing pesto but then I realized that I didn't have any good pictures taken. Sorry to make you wait!

This is one of my favorite sandwiches! I usually have everything I need to make it, and it's so easy and very good. I found this on myrecipes.com a few years ago, and I think that we have them for dinner once every couple of weeks. You can make these without a panini grill. Just toss them on to a large skillet and make them just like a regular grilled cheese sandwich. If the tomato on there grosses you out, just skip the tomatoes!

Turkey and Pesto Panini

2 tablespoons mayonnaise (I use low fat mayo)

4 teaspoons basil pesto

8 (1-ounce) thin slices sourdough bread (It really is best with sourdough!)

8 ounces sliced cooked turkey breast

2 ounces thinly sliced provolone cheese

8 (1/8-inch-thick) slices tomato

Cooking spray

Combine mayonnaise and pesto in a small bowl. Spread 1 tablespoon mayonnaise mixture on each of 4 bread slices; top each slice with 2 ounces turkey, 1/2 ounce cheese, and 2 tomato slices. Top with remaining bread slices. At this point, you can spread the outside of the bread with butter, or just coat the outside of the bread with cooking spray if you want to cut down on the calories a bit. I have found that if the bread has nothing on the outside of it, the sandwiches are a bit dry and hard to eat.

Preheat panini grill or a large nonstick skillet to medium heat. Add sandwiches to pan. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot! Makes 4 sandwiches.

Breakfast Panini Sandwiches

I am such a blog slacker. I have been so busy with three kids! I got out of the habit of blogging, and now it's just hard to find time! But, we had this for dinner last night, and it was a hit, so I thought I'd share. We love breakfast for dinner!


I got a panini grill for my birthday, and we've used it at least once a week since then. If you're on the fence about whether or not you want to own a panini maker, stop thinking about it and get one now! They are so handy and you can make lots of things with them. I've made desert, sandwiches, breakfast, and wraps. Yum!

I started these yummy breakfast panini's by making some English Muffin Bread from a blog called "What Megan's Making". This stuff is the easiest bread ever...and totally delish. I'm sure that you could use regular store bought english muffins, but believe me...it's going to be much better with this bread. Did I say it was easy? Even if you're afraid of yeast, try this. I don't know that you could mess it up. It doesn't even have to be kneaded! Plus, it makes the best.toast.ever.

Breakfast Panini Sandwiches

8 slices of English Muffin Bread, or English Muffins

6 Eggs, scrambled (but not dry, they'll cook a little in the grill) and seasoned to taste

Cheese, grated

Ham, Bacon, Sausage

Butter

Take two slices of bread and butter the outsides. Make sure that your butter is soft because this bread is soft (but it gets a tiny bit crispy when grilled or toasted...ooohhhhh!). Add a layer of ham or bacon or sausage (or all 3!), scrambled eggs, and cheese on top. Grill in a panini grill or in a hot frying pan until the bread is a bit brown and toasty. Serve with fruit and juice or other yummy breakfasty items. Makes 4 sandwiches.

What's your favorite thing to make for breakfast?

Mixed Roasted Vegetables and Pasta

My cute sister-in-law Kristen sent me this recipe. It's so yummy and quite healthy for you, which is good cuz my little family can pretty much finish the entire dish in one sitting....and it fills a cookie sheet, so...uh...good thing it's loaded with veggies! I made a couple of slight changes, but it was pretty fantastic to begin with! If you have planted zucchini and peppers in your garden, bookmark this recipe and get excited to make it soon!

Mixed Roasted Vegetables and Pasta

1 medium green or yellow bell pepper, cut into one inch pieces
1 medium red bell pepper cut into one inch pieces
1 medium onion, cut into 8 wedges and separated
2 medium zucchini, cut into one inch pieces
8 oz whole mushrooms, optional (if they're big, I cut them in half)
1/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 cloves Garlic, minced or pressed (or 2 tsp. bottled chopped garlic)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 C (6 oz) pasta - penne, cavatappi or gemelli work well
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and cut into 2 inch pieces (the picture shows cherry tomatos, which can be a bit overwhelming unless you really love them)
1 bag (8oz) shredded Italian Style 4 cheese blend (2 cups)

Heat oven to 450 degrees. In a 15x10x1 inch pan (standard cookie sheet with sides) or 3 quart casserole, place bell peppers, onion, zucchini and mushrooms. Sprinkle with 1/3 C chopped basil. In a small bowl, mix together oil, vinegar, Italian seasoning, garlic, and salt and pepper. Drizzle evenly over vegetables. Bake uncovered 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook and drain pasta according to package directions. Reduce oven temperature to 350 and add tomatoes and pasta to vegetable mixture; toss to coat. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered 15 minutes longer or until veggies are tender and cheese is melted. Just before serving, sprinkle with reserved chopped basil. Serve immediately. This is excellent with a green salad and some garlic bread!

(This time I added some grilled chicken that I seasoned with olive oil, garlic, and S&P just before the 2nd baking, but really, it's so good either way!)

Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo

One of my favorite food blogs is Our Best Bites. They have a recipe that I use all the time, even when I'm on a diet. (which is why I haven't been posting a lot lately...food at my house has been kinda boring!)

It's called Guiltless Alfredo Sauce. It's super easy to make, always turns out great, is pretty close to guiltless, and tastes wonderful! Oh, and it may even taste better as leftovers! What more could you ask for? I love those girls!

My favorite thing to make with this sauce is Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo. If you don't like shrimp, don't stop reading now! It's also great with chicken or veggies or whatever! My 4 year olds scarf this down like they haven't eaten for days.

Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo

1 recipe of Guiltless Alfredo Sauce
1 pound Shrimp, raw, de-veined and shelled (or substitute chicken chopped into small pieces)
1 clove garlic, chopped or pressed
12 oz Fettuccine or other pasta
1 Tbs. Butter

Make the Alfredo sauce, and while the Parmesan cheese is melting in, cook your pasta according to package directions. In a large frying pan, melt the butter and add your garlic. Saute garlic for 30 seconds or so, just until fragrant. Add shrimp and cook until no longer pink, 3-4 minutes on each side. Drain your pasta and combine sauce, pasta and shrimp (including any juices from the shrimp). Toss and serve immediately!

If you choose to make this with chicken, saute your chicken in the butter and garlic (along with some salt and pepper) until the chicken is no longer pink. Add a dash of nutmeg to your sauce, then toss pasta, sauce and chicken together. Try adding some steamed broccoli at the end...it's soooo yummy!

Italian Stuff

For some strange reason, I had a lot of time to cook while I was in college. Some of my favorite recipes come from the time that I used to cook for my room mates and my...uh... boyfriends. (shhhhh...don't mention this to my husband) This recipe came from that time in my life. I always just called it "Italian Stuff", and I've never officially named it. Anyone have a good idea for a real name?

Baked pasta has a tendency to be dry, so don't be afraid if it looks a bit saucy. In my opinion, it needs more than one jar of sauce, so you can use a jar and a half of sauce, or add some tomato sauce and Italian seasoning to a jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce.

1 lb Mostaccoli, Rigatoni or Penne noodles
1 lb Italian Sausage, bulk or removed from casings (I always use pork sausage)
36 oz Spaghetti Sauce (or a 24 oz jar plus 2 8 oz cans of tomato sauce and 1 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning)
2 cloves Garlic
1 Medium Onion, chopped
1 Zucchini, thinly sliced
1 small Yellow Squash, thinly sliced
8 oz Mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2 medium Tomatoes, thinly sliced
3 Cups Mozzarella Cheese, grated
1-2 tsp. Olive Oil
Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Saute onion and sausage together in a large frying pan until brown. Drain sausage if needed. Add spaghetti (and tomato sauce plus Italian seasoning if using) to the sausage mixture. Simmer on low for 5 minutes to let flavors come together. Boil noodles according to package directions. I usually cook the noodles for the minimum time on the package because they're going to be baked, and you don't want soggy noodles! Combine cooked noodles, sauce, and 1 1/2 cups grated cheese. Spoon mixture into an 11x15 pan or deep casserole dish and bake, covered, for 20 minutes, or until it's a little brown around the edges.

Add 1-2 tsp of olive oil to a frying pan and add 2 cloves of minced or pressed garlic. Saute for 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add squash and mushrooms and cook, just until softened.

Remove pasta from oven and cover with remaining cheese, sauteed veggies, and sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle tomatoes with a couple of tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Return the pan back to the oven for 5-10 minutes or until tomatoes are softened. Serve hot with garlic bread and a green salad!

Oh, by the way...this makes probably about 10 servings. It's pretty large, so feel free to freeze half of it, but I would freeze it without the veggies on top because I can imagine that they would get pretty soggy. Enjoy!


(the yellow squash didn't look great, so this time, I used 2 zucchinis)

Creamy White Bean and Apple Chili

I am not a huge fan of chili, but this recipe and I are more than just friends. I just might love it. My husband on the other hand just "likes" it...so there are two reviews for you.

This is a super easy crock pot recipe. I originally found it on the "Year of Crockpotting" blog...the one where she was making a recipe in her crock pot every day for a year. Brave soul. You can find the original recipe here. Anyway, I modified it a bit so that it's a rich, creamy, kinda sweet, yummy soup.

Creamy White Bean and Apple Chili

3 cans of white beans, drained and rinsed (I used Great Northern Beans)
1 onion, chopped
2 apples, cut in tiny chunks, no need to peel
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 T butter
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup plain non fat yogurt
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (optional)
sour cream (optional)

Put the butter into the bottom of a warmed crockpot. Dump in 2 cans of drained and rinsed beans. Add the onion, apples, garlic and spices, and pour in the broth. Stir in the yogurt. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4-5. This is done when the onion has reached desired tenderness and the flavors have melded. Slightly blend or puree soup, not until smooth, so that there are still some small chunks. (You can do this with a hand blender, or do 2-3 batches in a regular blender.) Then, stir in the last can of drained and rinsed beans. Heat until the beans are warmed through. Serve with corn chips, grated cheese, and sour cream….and/or corn bread…yum.

Sloppy BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Sorry for being such a slacker. I'm not doing very well at posting on this blog! I'm going to give you two easy recipes today, both of which would be super yummy to make for the upcoming 4th of July holiday!

My mother-in-law made these sandwiches a few weeks ago for Sunday dinner, and I really enjoyed them. So, I put them on the menu the next week. They were really easy to make, and we enjoyed them. I don't know where this whole putting Cole Slaw on your sandwich thing comes from, but I'm definitely a fan!

Sloppy BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or this would be fab with pork too!)
1/2 bottle of BBQ Sauce

1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 package Cole Slaw mix (just the kind with shredded cabbage and carrot)
Cole Slaw Dressing
2 green onions (optional)
Buns

Place chicken, onion and BBQ Sauce in a slow cooker and cook on low for 3-4 hours, or until chicken is tender enough to shred. Shred chicken and return to sauces for about another 1/2 hour on low. When you're just about ready to eat, chop up the green onions and stir them into the cole slaw mix with enough dressing to make the cole slaw look creamy (do this to taste...how your family likes cole slaw). When you're ready to serve, place shredded chicken on a bun and top with a spoon full of cole slaw. Serve immediately. Makes about 4-5 large sandwiches

Baked Beef Taquitos

This is a recipe that I got from my good friend Amy, and we love it. I made these the other night, and I think that my husband ate like 7 in a row. They are easy, and good, and not fried like other taquitos! I don't know about your kids, but my kids like to dip whatever they can, so these go over pretty well at our house!

1 tsp oil, plus a little more for brushing (optional)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb lean ground beef
½ c salsa, plus more for dipping
2 tsp chili powder
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
10-12 flour tortillas
shredded cheddar or Monterey jack cheese
Sour cream

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Put onion in skillet and cook for about 3 minutes or until onion is transparent, stirring often. Add garlic and cook for about another minute. Be careful not to let the garlic burn. Add beef and cook until done. Stir in salsa, chili powder, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes.

If your tortillas need a little softening up, place tortillas on a plate and cover with a damp paper towel. Microwave for about 45 seconds. If they're already soft, just use tortillas as they are. Spread about ¼ c beef mixture down the middle of the tortilla, until it is about an inch from the edges. Sprinkle cheese over beef. Roll up tortillas and place them on a foil-lined baking sheet, seam side down. Brush taquitos lightly with oil, (or if you're lazy like me, spray them with some cooking spray) then bake them until filling is heated and they are lightly browned, 8-12 minutes. (I measured out the beef mixture with a 1/4 C measuring cup, and I ended up with about 12 taquitos.) Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Green Chile Enchiladas

I apologize for disappearing from the food blogging world for a while, but I've had a little case of morning sickness that hasn't made cooking or eating very pleasant. Well, now that I'm over that (mostly), I'm back to loving food, and hopefully can keep up a little better on my blog!!

These enchiladas are an original recipe that I created while I was in college. Evidently I was a little more creative then than I am now! So, for those of you who were my room mates, you have probably had these. I hadn't made them in a really long time and forgot how good they were, so I had to post them. They take a little time to do all of the prep work, like chopping the veggies, but they're really not difficult to make, and SO worth it!! They are excellent with either hamburger or chicken. This time my wonderful husband grilled the chicken, and they turned out really good! You can make these vegetarian by leaving out the meat. The flavor of the enchilada sauce is so good! Make sure you try these!

Ingredients:

28 oz can Green Chile Enchilada sauce, or more if you like it sausy (La Victoria is my favorite)
1 medium Zucchini, sliced
½ Bell Pepper (red, green, yellow, or whatever you like)
2 Carrots, grated
2 small Tomatoes chopped
1 medium Onion, chopped
1 15 oz can black beans, drained
1 lb. Hamburger or chicken

12 flour tortillas

½ pkg. Taco Seasoning
1 Clove Garlic
8-10 oz Jack or cheddar cheese, grated

If you are using hamburger, brown the meat. Add ½ package taco seasoning and half of the water called for, and continue to cook according to the package directions. If you are using chicken, drizzle chicken with 1-2 tsp of cooking oil and sprinkle with taco seasoning. Grill or saute until chicken is no longer pink. Once the chicken is cooled enough to handle, cut it into bite sized pieces.

Saute onion, bell pepper, and zucchini with a little bit of oil or cooking spray and garlic for just a couple of minutes, until they are tender. Don't cook them too long, or they'll become soggy. Add tomatoes and carrots last since they cook the fastest. (sorry for the steamy picture...but I love the beautiful color of the veggies once you put everything together!)

Here are step by step pictures of putting them together. First spread a couple of large spoon-fulls of sauce on the bottom of your greased pan. (Note about the pan: I used an 11x15 pan this time, but if you don't have one, use a 9x13 and also an 8x8 pan to fit all of the enchiladas, you may half this recipe!!)

First, put a spoon full of beans on the tortilla,

then, add some chicken,

and veggies

roll them up and put them in your pan.

Pour the rest of the can of sauce over your enchiladas, and then make sure that the edges of the tortillas are covered with sauce so that they don't turn out dry and crunchy after baking.

Cover pan with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Remove pan from the oven and sprinkle the top with cheese. Put the pan back into the oven for another 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Serve hot with sour cream.

Creamy Crock Pot Chicken

I love this recipe because it's easy. It only has 6 ingredients! You make it in the crock pot, and it's just SO good. I have had this recipe forever, and I can't remember where I got it, but it works great for Sunday dinner, and is forgiving enough to take to a neighbor when they are in need of a meal. Last time I made it, I served it with a green salad, and this bread, which made such a fabulous meal.

1- 1 1/2 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts or Tenders

1/4 C (half of a stick) Butter

1 package Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing Mix (just the dry mix, not all mixed up into dressing)

Place the chicken into a 3-4 Quart slow cooker. Cut up your 1/2 stick of butter and toss it over the chicken. Sprinkle all ingredients with the dressing mix. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2-3 hours, or until the chicken is done and will shred easily with a fork. Ok...I know that these instructions sounds weird because you don't add all of the sauce ingredients and stuff, but it works just fine, don't worry. This semi-plain chicken doesn't take as long to cook as a full slow cooker would, so just keep an eye on it to make sure that your chicken doesn't get too done and start to dry out. The cooking time will vary depending on how hot your crock pot cooks.

After shredding your chicken (I just stick two forks right into my crock pot and shred it.) add:

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 8 oz package of Cream Cheese, softened (I've used lite, and it works fine)

1 Cup of milk

Stir and let everything cook on low for another hour. Serve over rice or egg noodles. Serves about 4 adults. Warning: This is addicting and the leftovers are even better!

Mini Meatloaves

I stumbled upon this meatloaf recipe a while back when I was searching for a recipe that didn't call for 2 pounds of hamburger. This has been my favorite meatloaf recipe since. You can make it for two people, or ten (put your math skills to the test!). It doesn't have to cook for hours, and everyone I've made it for loves it. Oh, and the little loaves really are quite cute!

1 egg
¼ C Milk
1/3 C crushed Saltine crackers
3 Tbs. chopped onion
¼ tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp. Sage
Dash of Pepper
½ lb Lean Ground Beef (I usually use one with 10% fat or less. Figure 1/4 lb per person, or more if you have hungry boys at your house.)
¼ C Ketchup
2 Tbs. brown sugar
¼ tsp Worcestershire sauce

In a bowl, beat the egg. Add milk, cracker crumbs, onion, salt, sage and pepper. Crumble beef over mixture, then get your hands in there and mix well. Don't over mix. Just squish it together until everything is incorporated.














Then, shape into loaves, place in a shallow baking dish or cookie sheet lined with foil. (This makes clean up SO much easier!)















Now for the sauce! Do not skimp on the sauce! Spread it all on there, and try not to lick your fingers. In a small bowl, combine the ketchup, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Stir until sugar is mostly dissolved and then spoon it evenly over meat loaves. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until meat is no longer pink and a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees. I love to serve these with baked potatoes, green beans and salad!

Curried Butternut Apple Soup

I woke up to snow this morning. Snow on the ground equals soup in my house. This is a simple and yummy squash soup. It is good as a main dish, or would be great as an appetizer/side dish as well.

Last year, I made this soup and chopped up two medium sized butternut squash (which is a pain, by the way). I then washed my hands and realized that the skin was peeling off of my fingers, and they were all itchy. I had a bad reaction to the squash. Who would have guessed? So, this year, I baked the squash and scooped it out of it's shell. If you haven't done this, it's so easy. Just cut the top stem off of your squash, and then cut it in half. Scoop out the seeds. Line a cookie sheet with foil (do this please...squash leaves a yucky film on things when you bake it) and place your squash cut-side down. Pour about a cup of water in the pan, and bake it at 350 for about an hour or until it's soft. You can scoop the squash out and use it in this soup, or just as a side dish with some butter, salt and pepper. Easy. OR...you can buy a bag of pre-chopped, skinned and cleaned butternut squash at Costco. Easiest!

Okay, now get your other ingredients ready:

¼ C butter
2 C chopped onion (about 2 medium onions)
1 rib celery, chopped
2 ½ tsp. curry powder
2 medium butternut squash (about 2 1/2 – 3 lbs) peeled, seeded and cubed
3 medium apples, peeled, cored and chopped
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup apple cider or apple juice


In a heavy sauce pan, combine onion, celery, butter and curry powder. Cook over low heat until veggies are tender (10-15 minutes), stirring often. Add squash, apples and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until squash and apples are cooked thoroughly.

You need to strain a little bit of liquid off of the mixture once it's cooked. I do this by getting a big ladle or spoon and just skimming liquid off of the top, while trying to keep most of the ingredients still in the pot. Take off as much liquid as you can. Next, puree the apple-squash mixture with one cup of the strained liquid. You will probably need to do this in 3-4 batches in a blender. Don't over-stuff a blender with hot soup or it will pop the top off of your blender. Don't ask me how I know that. If you have a hand mixer, excellent. Stick that puppy into your pan and just blend. Add cider or juice to reach desired consistency. Garnish with grated apple, or chopped pear, yogurt or sour cream.

This is, of course, excellent in bread bowls. I'll post the bread bowl recipe soon!!

Sour Cream Waffles

I love waffles. Blueberry, strawberry topped, green for St. Patty's day. You name it...I love it. I used to try not to make waffles very often because they usually have quite a bit of oil in them, and let's face it...they're not that healthy.

So, when I found this recipe, (I can't remember where, and I'm sure that I've changed it enough to call it my own recipe) I was excited. They don't have any oil, and they taste great. We have these for dinner quite often. They are so filling and yummy! I love breakfast for dinner! Keep in mind, these are not light and fluffy waffles. They are more dense and kinda chewey...but a good chewey, don't worry.

I use Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, which has the same health benefits as other whole wheat flour, but it's light and fluffy. You can purchase this gem at some supermarkets, and probably any health food type store. I get mine and Sunflower market (I heart Sunflower) and it looks just like regular all purpose flour. You can buy it in bulk, or in a 5 lb bag. If you don't have any WW pastry flour, just use all AP Flour. Do spray your waffle iron generously with non-stick cooking spray because they tend to stick more than other waffles. Last time I made these, I put the batter into my waffle iron, then threw in a few half frozen bluberries, and it was SO good!

1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten

In a bowl, mix together milk, sour cream, yogurt, and vanilla. Sift flour into a separate, large bowl; stir in baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add sour cream mixture and eggs to flour mixture; blend until smooth. Cook on a greased waffle iron until golden brown; lift off with a fork.

Pizza Rolls

I don't know about you, but I love pizza in pretty much any shape or form. I first had these pizza rolls at my husband's grandmother's (Nana) house. His mom started making them for the family to have during Conference time, and they're so yummy. I haven't ever actually had a written recipe, so I just got creative with it this time. I thought that they turned out great...and so did my husband :) I usually make these as a main dish, but they could also be made as a side dish, a fun appetizer, or in the place of a breadstick/roll. This time, I made ham and pineapple rolls, as well as pesto and cheese. I haven't ever had pizza rolls with pesto before, and was unsure about which toppings would go well with the pesto, so I just used it with cheese. It was REALLY good, and would probably be excellent served in the place of a breadstick. I think that it would also be excellent with pepperoni or salami (I LOVE salami...if you haven't ever had it on pizza, seriously, try it. It's so much better than pepperoni!).

I'm going to post the recipe that I used for the dough, but feel free to use whatever recipe you usually use for pizza. I think that this would be good with the "Amazing Whole Wheat Pizza Dough" that I posted previously. This recipe probably feeds 3-4 adults, so you might want to consider doubling it if you have more people.

Pizza Dough

1 ¼ C Warm Water
1 tsp. Sugar
1 pkg. Yeast
¼ C Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Salt
3 ½ C Flour

Mix water, sugar and yeast in a small bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes. Add yeast mixture to 1 ½ cups flour, oil and salt. Gradually mix in the rest of the flour. Knead until thoroughly mixed. Let dough raise once until doubled in size. Punch down and roll out. Top with your favorite sauce, pizza toppings, and cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until desired doneness (about 20-30 minutes). Makes one large pizza, or two smaller thin-crusted pizzas.

Pizza Rolls

1 recipe of pizza dough (see above)
6 oz cream cheese, softened (lite will work fine, just make sure it's soft!)
1 ½ C shredded cheese (I used 1/2 Mozzarella and 1/2 cheddar for more flavor)
pizza sauce or marinara
pesto sauce (optional)
pizza toppings

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the pizza dough according to recipe directions. Let the dough raise once and then punch down. Roll the pizza dough into a rectangular shape, (just like cinnamon rolls) about an 11x15 inch rectangle. Spread the softened cream cheese over the dough. If you are planning to use pesto, then spread a small amount of pesto thinly over the cream cheese, and top with the shredded cheese. If you're not using pesto, just sprinkle the shredded cheese over the cream cheese. Add all desired toppings (I used lunch meat style ham, just because I thought that it would be less bulky to roll up, and it worked great.) Then, roll up the dough so that you have a nice long roll. Place the roll (or just a part of the roll, depending on what will fit) onto a cutting board and cut into 1-1/2 inch wide slices. Place pieces on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until tops are golden brown and cheese is bubbly. Serve with pizza sauce for dipping!

Baked Eggplant Parmesan

Okay, this is for all of you who are scared of this yummy purple veggie. I decided to take pictures as I went along so that you can see that this is easy and NOT scary. Eggplant is kind-of like Zucchini in that it takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it with. Eggplant Parmesan is usually fried, but this version is baked and very healthy. I got the original recipe out of a Weight Watcher's cookbook, and the tailored it to my tastes (and made it a bit easier by using prepared sauce and bread crumbs). My husband is a meat kind of guy, but he loves this dish. So, now that you're out of excuses...go ahead and try it!

Ingredients:

1 medium-large Eggplant

2 large Eggs

2 Tablespoons Fat Free Milk

1 Cup Italian-seasoned Bread Crumbs

1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

3 T grated Parmesan Cheese

Prepared Marinara Sauce

When shopping for an eggplant, make sure that your eggplant is firm, not squishy. The skin should be purple and smooth. You should plan on using your eggplant within 1-2 days of when it is purchased. Store it in the refrigerator in a paper sack. When you're ready to prepare the Eggplant Parmesan, wash your eggplant, chop off the stem end, and slice the eggplant into 1/4-1/2 inch slices. The thinner you cut them, the faster they will cook. Preheat oven to 375 and spray 2 baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray.

Lightly beat together the eggs and milk in a shallow bowl. Place bread crumbs in another bowl. Dip the eggplant in the egg mixture, then in the bread crumbs, and arrange in one layer on the baking sheets.

Lightly spray the top of the eggplant with non-stick spray. Bake until the eggplant is softened, and lightly brown, about 25 minutes.

While the eggplant is baking, spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray, then cover the bottom with sauce. Grate your cheeses.

Remove the browned, softened eggplant from the oven and carefully layer your eggplant and sauce. The eggplant will soak up some of the sauce, so make sure you pile on the sauce! You should use the whole jar.

Sprinkle with cheeses and bake uncovered until hot and bubbling, and the cheese is golden, about 20 minutes.

Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with salad or a side of pasta with sauce. Makes 6 servings, 5 Weight Watchers points per serving.

Three Cheese Stuffed Shells

I recently made these shells for my brother's birthday dinner. I thought that I would post them because they're really quite easy and taste great. This shell recipe is very similar to a lot of recipes for cheese manicotti, but these shells are so much easier to stuff. I will never stuff manicotti shells again...unless someone begs me to. These can be made a day or two ahead of time and refrigerated, then just pop them into the oven 45 minutes or so before you are planning to serve them.

I didn't think to get a picture of them once they were all hot and bubbly, sorry...but I was hosting a dinner!! Here is a picture of the shells after I drained the water off of them. If you place them on a piece of foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, they cool off faster and don't stick together. The other two pictures are of the shells stuffed. I did a pan with regular marinara and a few with pesto sauce...as my brother requested. Of course, you do need to cover the shells with sauce once you are done stuffing them!! These are fabulous with the french bread recipe I posted a little while back!

1pkg Jumbo Shells (about 20 shells)
1 beaten egg
12 oz Cottage Cheese, drained
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 T snipped fresh parsley
1 lb, 10 oz jar of Spaghetti Sauce

Cook pasta shells according to package directions. (Make sure to not over cook them, or they'll be too soft!) Drain well and cool shells in a single layer on a piece of greased foil or parchment paper. For filling, stir together egg, cheeses, and parsley. Spoon filling into each cooked shell. Pour a small amount of spaghetti sauce into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan or large casserole dish. Place shells in a single layer in pan and pour enough sauce over shells to cover them. (If you’re making a lot of these, you can also layer or stack the shells with sauce in between them. See picture above.) Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes, or until heated through. Makes about 4 main dish servings.

Baked Spaghetti

This is an easy week night meal that is popular with kids and adults (at least at my house, it is!). It sounds weird to add the cream of mushroom soup on the top, but it adds a lot of flavor and is creamy and good. You can also add some chopped olives if you like!

½ medium onion minced
1 Lb. Hamburger
2 C. Mozzarella Cheese
Jar of Spaghetti Sauce (24 oz or larger if you like it saucy!)
Mushrooms (optional)
12 oz Spaghetti
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
¼ C Water
Parmesan Cheese
Olives, chopped (optional)

Brown hamburger with onion and drain. Add Spaghetti sauce and mushrooms. Simmer over low heat until heated through. Boil Spaghetti according to package directions only until slightly undercooked. Layer spaghetti, sauce and cheese in a greased 9x13 pan. Mix soup and water, and pour over layers. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, and olives. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Chicken Caesar Pizza and Amazing Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

I found this recipe on the "Taste the Joy" blog (see links to the right). It was really good! The recipe calls for a Boboli pizza crust, but I made my own, and I'll post the recipe for the pizza dough. I used Briann's Caesar dressing because it's my favorite. I also used a large leftover chicken breast that we grilled that had been seasoned with Italian seasoning, garlic and a little olive oil. I added some chopped green onion and tomato to the pizza before I cooked it. Without the salad on top, it reminded me a lot of Papa Murphy's Chicken Garlic pizza. With the salad, it reminded me of something that you order at California Pizza Kitchen. Yum!

Chicken Caesar Pizza

1 Boboli pizza crust
fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
romaine lettuce, chopped
3 Roma tomatoes
1-2 chicken breasts
1 C Cardini’s Caesar dressing
2 C mozzarella cheese, shredded

Cut chicken into thin strips and sauté in 2 TBS Caesar dressing. Brush 2 TBS (I added a little bit more than this) of dressing on pizza crust. Top with mozzarella cheese and cooked chicken. Grate Parmesan cheese over top of pizza. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is hot and melted. While pizza is baking, combine lettuce and tomatoes in bowl and coat with dressing and Parmesan cheese. Let pizza cool 10 min and top with lettuce mixture.

Now for the crust:

I think that I found this recipe on allrecipes.com, but I can't remember. We have mostly used this pizza crust for grilled pizza, but it is good baked as well. I have made a few different pizza crusts that call for whole wheat flour, but I feel like the ones that have ALL whole wheat flour are too dense and overwhelming for pizza. I think that this one is a good compromise with part white flour. When I made the Chicken Caesar Pizza, I split the dough in half and rolled out two (one plain cheese for the kids, of course!) thin crust pizzas on two different greased cookie sheets and baked them for 15-20 minutes. This made a lot of pizza, and we had great leftovers!

Amazing Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.
2. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust. Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.
4.Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a well oiled pizza pan. Top pizza with your favorite toppings, such as sauce, cheese, meats, or vegetables.
5. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes (depending on thickness) in the preheated oven, until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges, and cheese is melted on the top.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken

I was a little hesitant to try this recipe just because the mixture of ingredients sounded...well, different. But, I am a sucker for things that go on top of rice, and this looked SO easy...I decided to try it. I buy the big container of taco seasoning at Costco, and it seems a little bit on the hot/spicy side. So, I reduced the taco seasoning to 2 Tbs, and will probably use about 1 1/2 Tbs next time just because I like things more on the mild side. I was done with this meal before the rice was done cooking, so I can honestly say that this dish and a green salad can be made in less than 20 minutes! I LOVE those kids of meals! I got this off of the blog/link on the right called "Taste the Joy". She has some fun looking recipes!


Sweet and Spicy Chicken

¾-1 lb of boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 Tbs. Taco Seasoning
1 tsp. Oil
1 ¼ C Salsa
½ C-3/4 C Peach or Apricot Jam
Rice, cooked

Cut chicken breasts into ½ inch squares. Toss with taco seasoning. Spray a large frying pan with non-stick cooking spray and add 1 tsp oil. Brown chicken in oil over medium-high heat, then add salsa and jam. Cook until heated through. Serve hot over steamed rice.

Grilled Potatoes and Onions

My new favorite recipe blog is: ourbestbites.com. (see the link on the right) I tried 3 new recipes from their blog last week and LOVED them all. Unfortunately, this is the only one that I remembered to take a picture of, so here you go... I always have problems coming up with things to go with meat when we're grilling, and this side dish was SO great. The smoked paprika is NOT regular paprika, and is SO delicious! I used Yukon Gold potatoes, just because I had some that needed to be used. These packets were so easy to make...I did it all by myself on the grill!! Make sure to try this before grilling season is over! (or, if you're like us and grill all year around...enjoy them from now on!!)


1 potato per person (any kind of potatoes work)
1/2 small onion per person
1 Tbsp. butter per person, cut into pieces
1/4 tsp. salt per person
Freshly-ground black pepper
Smoked paprika
Aluminum foil

Tear sheets (1 per person) of aluminum foil into about 16" pieces. Fold each in half into a sqaure, and set aside. Preheat grill. Slice potatoes into pieces about 1/4" thick. Slice onions about 1/8" thick. Place 1 potato in the middle of each foil square and dot with butter pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and then sprinkle GENEROUSLY with smoked paprika. Remember, paprika is super mild, so it's hard to add too much. Top each pile with onions. Fold edges in and secure tightly. It's important to get a good seal because the moisture will cook the potatoes and onions and you want all those yummy juices, so if it seems like there's not quite enough foil, wrap packet in another layer.Turn heat on grill to low. Place each packet on the grill. Close lid for 15 minutes. Turn and allow to cook for another 15 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully open each packet (or, even better, let each person open their own packet--hey, less work for you, right??)