Stuffed Crust Pizza November 11, 2011

My husband’s favorite kind of pizza is Pizza Hut’s stuffed crust, I, on the other hand, can’t stand their stuffed crust pizza; it is just too greasy for me and always gives me a gut ache.  I have been on a mission to find a stuffed crust pizza that meet’s the hubby’s standards and doesn’t leave me sick all night.  Well ladies and gentlemen, I think I have found just the ticket for this family. 

Ingredients:

• pizza crust recipe
• pizza sauce
• 10 pieces of string cheese
• toppings of your choice
• couple handfuls of mozzarella cheese
• couple handfuls of cheddar cheese

Directions:

Roll out pizza crust, place string cheese around edges, roll dough over top of string cheese and seal into bottom of dough, spoon pizza sauce over dough, place topping on sauce, sprinkle with cheese, and bake at 375 degrees until crust is golden

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes November 10, 2011

I have three words that will change your life cinnamon. roll. pancakes.  These are absolutely amazing and I am turning every Saturday into “Cinnamon Roll Pancake Saturday” you will be worshiped by your family if you do the same.  I didn’t have any cream cheese for the cream cheese glaze when I made these, so ours were only topped with syrup…my day was not ruined, but it may have been minorly traumatic without this cream cheese glaze; don’t make my mistake!!

Ingredients:

• 1c flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1c milk
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c softened butter
• 3/4c brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp softened butter
• 2 oz cream cheese
• 3/4c confectioners sugar
• 3/4 tsp milk
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• syrup

Directions: mix flour thru salt, create a well in center of bowl, mix milk thru egg in well, gradually add flour mix into milk mix, mix butter thru cinnamon, pour into squirt bottle, spoon batter onto skillet, squeeze cinnamon mix into a swirl in batter, once set flip pancake, mix butter thru vanilla, spoon over pancake, and pour syrup over top

Twix Cookies November 9, 2011

I think my love for all things cookie has been well established by now, however, I’ve still got a few more recipes up my sleeve to share with you.  I have never been a huge sweet eater, however, ever since this baby started baking in my belly I have had a HUGE sweet tooth (seriously, I bought Sam’s sized box of Snickers and they didn’t last nearly as long as I wish they had).  So, about a few weeks before Bennett was born I started craving Twix bars like crazy and had hoped this craving would have subsided after her birth.  Well, it did not and I succumbed to the Halloween bag of Twix bars; I can lie and say I bought them for the trick or treaters, but there is a reason I kept that bag hidden and hoped the other bag of candy would be enough for all the little guys.  Now you would think I would be in heaven with all these Twix bars all to myself.  Well, I was UNTIL a friend informed me that chocolate gives babies tummy aches if you are breastfeeding.  WHY ME?!?!  So I turned my yummy little treats into cookies to try out this new recipe and sent them off to work with the hubby.  I hope you all can enjoy these and think of me .

Ingredients:

• 2c and 2 Tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 12 Tbsp softened butter
• 1c brown sugar
• 1/2c sugar
• 1 egg and 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2c chopped Twix bars

Directions:

Mix flour thru salt, in separate bowl mix together butter and sugars, add eggs and vanilla, mix flour into butter mix, add Twix bars, bake at 325 degrees until starting to get golden on edges.

Note: some of the caramel from the Twix may melt out, you can just break the extra caramel off

Walking Taco Casserole November 8, 2011

 

Walking tacos are one of my husband’s favorite meals, however, we never had them growing up, and I am still on the fence.  I found this recipe on Pinterest and knew the hubby would love it!!  It was pretty quick to throw together and is definitely a recipe the hubby wants me to throw into our meal rotation.   This recipe doesn’t call for any garnishments (lettuce, tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, etc), but if you are into that thing I bet those would be good to top over individual servings.

Ingredients:

• Doritos
• 2c shredded chicken
• 1 can cream of chicken
• 1/2c milk
• 1/2c sour cream
• 1 can Ro-tel
• 1c shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 pckg taco seasoning
• 1/2c shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Crush up Doritos and layer into a small baking dish, mix up chicken thru seasoning, spoon half of the mixture over the crushed Doritos, add another layer of Doritos over top, spoon rest of mixture over Doritos, sprinkle 1/2c cheese over top, and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

Italian Chicken and Noodles November 7, 2011

 

I realize I have been gone for a little while….ok, ok, ok, this may be an understatement 🙂  But, I promise you it is for good reason.  We were kept busy with our new little bundle of joy.  Blog friends, I would like to introduce Bennet Julianne….we love her to death and she is the light of our life.  She just turned 2 months and I will share this picture of her from Halloween, don’t you just wanna pinch those cheeks?!?! 

Alright now let’s get to the reason you came here, some yummy dinner ideas.  This is one of those recipes that won’t knock your socks off, but you will enjoy.  And the number one reason I am adding this to the blog is because it is insanely easy to make, and with a two month I have a VERY limited amount of time to get dinner ready.  Some time down the line I think I will play around with some of the ingredients and see if I can’t turn this into an easy meal AND a knock your socks off recipe….stay tuned!!

Ingredients:

• 3-4 chicken breast cut into chunks
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 2 cans cream of chicken
• 1 package Italian seasoning
• 12 oz pasta of your choosing (we used Farfalle this time)

Directions:

Add chicken thru seasoning into a crock pot, cook on low 4 hours, boil pasta, serve chicken mixture over pasta, and enjoy.  I told you this was super easy 🙂

Garlic Toast July 26, 2011

You will never go back to the store-bought  frozen garlic toast after trying this recipe!!  Whenever I make a loaf of french bread for dinner, I will make an extra loaf to slice up and make garlic toast to throw into the freezer.  And even after being in the freezer this bread taste so yummy and so fresh, I couldn’t believe it after the we tried it the first time!!  It is super easy to throw some shredded mozzarella cheese over top and make this into cheese bread, too. 

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf french bread
• 1/3c butter
• 4 garlic cloves (more or less depending on your taste)

Frozen Directions:

Slice bread into thick slices, mix butter and garlic, spread garlic butter onto both sides of bread, place in freezer, once frozen; take out however many pieces you want, and bake at 425 degrees until brown

Fresh Directions:

Slice bread into thick slices, mix butter and garlic, spread garlic butter onto both sides of bread, bake at 400 degrees until brown

Lasagna Soup July 25, 2011

Make this recipe tonight, if you don’t you will be depriving yourself one of life’s greatest meals (did I over sell it?)!!  My aunt shared this recipe with me a few years ago and I have been sharing with friends and family since.  It is ALWAYS a hit and everywhere we bring, we are asked for the recipe from multiple people.  This is one of my favorite recipes to make on a cold winter’s night, but even in the midst of a heat wave I still want to make this comfort food.  The original recipe calls for a can of diced tomatoes, however, we make ours without.  This recipe is super simple to eat and has cottage cheese as one of the ingredients; now I know a lot of people are either team “I love cottage cheese” or team “I despise cottage cheese” and for those of you are on the despise team, please try the soup with the cottage cheese.  I do not like cottage cheese at all, but it really makes the dish and I promise you will love it!!  Enjoy, and seriously, make this tonight!!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 15 oz tomato sauce
• 14 1/2 oz beef broth
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp basil
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp thyme
• 4 lasagna shells broken into small pieces
• 1/4c grated parmesan
• 1 1/2c shredded mozzarella
• cottage cheese

Directions:

Brown beef in pot, add tomato sauce thru thyme, bring to a boil, add broken lasagna shells, simmer 20 minutes, add parmesan and mozzarella, pour soup into bowls, and a couple spoonfuls of cottage cheese to individual bowls, and enjoy

Spinach Penne Pasta July 22, 2011

This pregnancy has made me crave spinach like it’s going out of style, seriously, I have been putting it in everything!!  This recipe is pretty similar to my cheesy ziti recipe, but with spinach added in…..and the spinach definitley made the dish a lot better.  If you’re not a fan of spinach you can omit it or even substitute a different veggie, if you like.  Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 lb any kind of pasta (I used penne)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic (minced)
• 1 bag spinach
• Kosher salt
• pepper
• 24 oz spaghetti sauce
• 1 tub ricotta
• 4 oz shredded mozzarella
• grated parmesan

Directions:

Boil noodles, in pan sautee garlic, and spinach and cook until wilted, season with salt and pepper, and spaghetti sauce to pan, add ricotta and a handful of parmesan to pan and mix, pour into a greased baking dish, top with mozzarella and another handful of parmesan, and bake at 375 degrees until cheese is melted (about 15-20 minutes.

Mexican Burgers July 21, 2011

Well, I stepped out of my food comfort zone and it bit me in the you-know-what.  I don’t mind semi-spicey food, but there are foods out there that I just don’t care for….jalapenos being one of them.  The hubby convinced me that it wasn’t the flavor of the jalapenos that I didn’t like, but the spiciness of how others cooked with them.  I decided to test out his theory with these burgers, and I am now convinced that he tricked me into making these so that he could eat the extra burgers (the ones he KNEW I wouldn’t care for).  Anyways, if you don’t have the delicate palate of a toddler, I think you will like this recipe 🙂

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 jalapeno (seeded and chopped)
• 1/2c diced white onion
• 1 clove garlic (minced)
• 1 Tbsp cajun seasoning
• 1 tsp Worcestershire
• 4 slices monterey jack cheese
• 4 hamburger bun
• desired burger toppings

Directions:

Hand mix beef thru Worcestershire, form into 4 patties, grill over medium-high heat to desired doneness, lay 1 slice of cheese  over top of each patty, and serve on bun with desired toppings

Ice Cream Dessert July 20, 2011

So this dessert was pretty darn good, however, if I had been better prepared and a little less lazy this dessert could have been great.  Now everyone look at this picture, now imagine it with whipped cream over top, now sprinkle some crushed Oreo’s over top of that, and lastly drizzle chocolate syrup all over to make a gooey mess.  Now that is how the recipe is supposed to go, but I was limited on my Oreo supply, forgot to purchase whipped cream (I could have sworn I had some in my freezer), and the chocolate syrup we had in the fridge had expired.  But never fear, this ice cream dessert would still be made regardless of my poor planning.  We made this for a family get together, BUT forgot to set it out after dinner….am I sounding a little bit scatterbrained at all?!?!  But, our family’s bad fortune turned into the daycare kid’s good luck!!  We ate this ice cream dessert for a week and LOVED every minute of it.  If you are really into Oreo’s I bet you could chop some up and mix it into the ice cream, ala Dairy Queen’s Blizzard Ice Cream Cake……in fact, go crazy and add any candy you can find to that ice cream; you can’t go wrong!!

Ingredients:

• 1 package Oreo’s
• 1 stick melted butter
• 1 gallon vanilla ice cream
• 1 carton cool whip
• Chocolate Syrup
• Extra Oreo’s for garnishing

Directions:

Crush Oreo’s, mix with melted butter, press into a 9×13 baking dish, spoon ice cream over top, spread cool whip over top, garnish with some coarsely chopped Oreo’s, and drizzle chocolate syrup over top