Stuffed Pizza Rolls

So the directions look long, but it's probably lengthier than it needs to be.  This is really simple.  Slightly time-consuming in that you have to fill each little dough square and pinch it closed, but simple.  And they're really good.  The garlic seasoning makes it taste realllly good (we didn't have marjoram, so I just left it out, and still worked.)

Pizza Dough                                          Garlic Seasoning

1 Tbsp. sugar                                          1 tsp. Kosher salt

1 Tbsp. yeast                                          1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. salt                                             1 Tbsp. garlic powder

3-4 1/2 c. flour                                         1 tsp. basil

                                                              1 tsp. marjoram

                                                              1 tsp. parsley

In a large bowl (the bowl of your mixer, if you have one), combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes or until yeast is bubbly.

Add salt and stir. Add 1 1/2 c. flour and mix well. Gradually add more flour (usually between 3-4 cups, depending on your elevation and your humidity) until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and it barely sticks to your finger.

Spray a glass or metal bowl with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl. Cover and allow to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Remove from bowl and place on a lightly-floured surface. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll into a rectangle and cut into 2x2 inch squares with a pizza cutter.

Fill each square with whatever pizza toppings you want. (We used shredded mozzarella, mozzarella balls, tomato, sun dried tomato.) 

But DON'T put the marinara sauce inside, that will be for dipping after they're baked!

Pull the corners of each pizza dough square into the center, pinch and place into a
greased pie pan seam side down.

Once the pan is full, brush the tops with olive oil or butter and sprinkle with garlic seasoning.

Bake for 10-15 minutes at 425 degrees or until the tops of the rolls start to turn a golden brown.
Dip in marinara sauce and ENJOY!

1 1/2 c. warm water                                 1/4 c. powdered Parmesan cheese

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

Yup.  They turned out quite delicious.  I will make this again for sure.  The chicken had a bit of a sweet taste to it because of the honey, and all the flavors blended together quite nicely.  

I'm not sure the amount you're supposed to put in each tortilla, but the way I did it, we ended up with 6 (very filling) enchiladas.  For the shredded chicken, I just bought a rotisserie chicken, and used that.  My one difficulty was finding Green Enchilada Sauce, which I finally found it at Whole Foods.  Mom said they sell it at Kroger though, so hopefully you won't have any trouble finding it.

Something not on the recipe, but that is probably obvious, that you can do: I sprinkled with fresh diced tomatoes, as well as shredded lettuce (from my garden, yeah!).  I think next time I will add some olives too. 

We ate it with brown rice, cooked with some diced tomatoes in it.  

6 tablespoons honey

5 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon chili powder

4 cups chicken, cooked and shredded

1 can black beans, rinsed

tortillas

green enchilada sauce

shredded cheddar cheese

1. mix honey, lime juice, chili powder, and chicken together and marinate for at least 1 hour. 

2. cover bottom of baking dish with a small amount of enchilada sauce.  assemble enchilada by placing a heaping spoonful of chicken, a spoonful of beans and cheese in tortillas.  roll up and place in baking dish.  top with remaining sauce and cheese.  

3. bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes or until warmed through and cheese is melted.

mango without a pit????

Granola Bars

I've tried lots of recipes for this and they all were super average, but this recipe is soooooo good. You can replace the nuts with other nuts, just keep the dry to wet ratio the same. Also you can use all maple syrup or all honey, just depends what you have.

2 1/2 cups oats
 1 cup rice crispies
3/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup peanuts, crushed
 1/4 cup walnuts
3/8 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
 1/4 cup maple syrup
 1 tsp cinnamon
4 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
dried fruit/raisins/etc...

1 - Preheat oven to 375. Combine all dry ingredients (oats through walnuts) in a 9x13 pan and place in oven for about 10-15 minutes, stirring every couple minutes to get everything evenly toasted.
2 - In a large pot or skillet combine the rest of the ingredients (brown sugar through vanilla extract). Cook over a medium heat and let simmer while constantly stirring.
3 - Add in the toasted stuff and mix really well so everything is evenly coated. Add in dried fruits as you are mixing.
4 - Put mixture in a 9x13 pan and pat down realy well with a rubber spatula. Let cool for an hour or so, then flip pan over on a cutting board and cut into bars.

creamy ravioli with squash, lemon, and chives

I made this for dinner, and will make it again.  The lemon zest made this recipe, for sure.  Gave it a nice, fresh taste!

From Real Simple Magazine

Serves 4

16-18 oz cheese ravioli
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
3 summer squash (green or yellow; about 1 1/2 lbs), thinly sliced
Kosher salt and black pepper
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
1/2 cup grated percorino or Parmesan (2 oz) plus more for serving
2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
*Don't forget to save some pasta water

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions.  Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water; drain the pasta and return it to the pot.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 3-4 minutes.  Add the squash and 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper to the skillet.  Cook, tossing often, until the vegetables are just beginning to soften, 4-5 minutes.  Add the cream and lemon zest and cook until the vegetables are tender and the cream is slightly thickened, 1-2 minutes.

3. Add the squash mixture, percorino, 1/4 cup of the reserved cooking water, and 1/2 tsp salt to the pasta and toss gently to coat (add more cooking water if the pasta seems dry).  Serve sprinkled with the chives and additional percorino.

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

This is a pretty good cookie recipe.  It tastes like an oatmeal cookie with a hint of cinnamon, but still has the chocolate cookie taste.  

This recipe makes about 2 1/2 dozen... I think.  After eating some dough, I had to guess.  

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. Stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients using a wooden spoon. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Brown Sugar Oatmeal Pancakes

I really like oatmeal pancakes and this is by farrr the best recipe I've had- they were really light and fluffy and the pancake itself was pretty tasty. This recipe makes the perfect amount for breakfast for two. I'm sure you could just use all white flour if you don't have wheat, and instead of buttermilk I used half yogurt and half milk, but I'm sure only just normal milk would work too.

Ingredients
10 tablespoons quick cooking oats

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

Mix dry ingredients, whisk in wet ingredients. You may need to add a little water/milk to get the consistency right. Cook on griddle.

Sunburst Lemon Bars

Okay, so I'm not sure if these taste like other lemon bars because, quite frankly, I don't even remember the last time I had one.  But I can tell you that they were goood.

The one thing I did different:

I didn't want a big cake pan full of lemon bars sitting at my house, waiting for me when I came home from work, hungry and with no prepared dinner.  So, I halved the recipe and cooked it in a bread loaf pan.  It worked out quite nicely, made the bars a good thickness, and made just enough for us to enjoy a few each. 

Ah, and I think that if you click on "Sunburst Lemon Bars" you can see where I got the recipe from- my ward RS blog. 

Sunburst Lemon Bars

Base

2 cups flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup butter

Filling

4 eggs, slightly beaten

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 cup lemon juice

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

2-3 tablespoons lemon juice

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all base ingredients; beat at low speed until crumbly. Press mixture evenly in bottom of ungreased 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until light golden brown.

Meanwhile, in large bowl, combine all filling ingredients except lemon juice; blend well. Stir in 1/4 cup lemon juice.

Remove pan from oven; pour filling over warm base. Return to oven; bake at 350 for an additional 25-30 minutes or until top is light golden brown. Cool 1 hour or until completely cooled.

In small bowl, combine 1 cup powdered sugar and enough lemon juice for desired glazing consistency; blend until smooth. Glaze cooled bars. Place pan in refrigerator until firm. Cut into bars.

Mango Banana Strawberry Pop

Mango Banana Strawberry Pop!

1 large mango

1 banana

frozen strawberries (a handful - 5 or 6?)

fat-free, plain yogurt - about 1/2 to 3/4 cup (or use vanilla if you want the popsicle to be sweeter)

V8 Splash Tropical Colada Smoothie - about 1/2 cup (I wanted to buy mango nectar, but the store didn't have it, so I ended up with this, and it worked out well)

Combine ingredients in blender. Freeze. Enjoy. That simple.

Low Fat Spinach Lasagna

Ingredients:

12 uncooked lasagna noodles
nonstick cooking spray
Red Pepper & Spinach Chicken Sausage (or whatever kind of sausage you want) - about 4 links, sliced (next time, I will cut the sausage into smaller pieces, perhaps into 4ths or 6ths)
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used more)
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 tsp. chopped fresh basil (I used dry basil)
1/2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary (I used dry rosemary)
pinch ground red pepper
1 1/2 cups low-far cottage cheese or reduced-fat ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated Romato or Parmesan cheese
2 egg whites
3 tbsp. fine dry bread crumbs
1 pkg. forzen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained (I used fresh spinach)
3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (maybe more)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley


Directions:

1. Prepare noodles according to package directions.
2. Coat large skillet with cooking spray. Add sausage, mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook and stir over medium heat until vegetables are tender. Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, basil, rosemary, and red pepper. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer uncovered 10 minutes, stirring occationally.
3. Preheat oven to350. Combine ricotta cheese, romano cheese, egg whites, and bread crumb in medium bowl. (I will add a little salt next time too.) Stir spinach into cottage cheese mixture. Spread 2 tablespoons tomato sauce in bottom of ungreased 8-inch square baking dish. Layer noodles over sauce, overlapping slightly. Top with ricotta cheese mixture, and then with sauce. Repeat.
4. Cover and bake 45 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake uncovered 2-3 more minutes or until cheese melts. Sprinkle with parsley. Let stand 10 minutes. (I added cheese and parsley on top before I cooked it).

Notes:
1. I added mozzarella cheese between the layers too.
2. This makes for a really generously sized 8-inch square lasagna. I actually made one 8-inch square lasagna, and then another smaller lasagna in a loaf pan. If you multiple the recipe by 1.5, you could probably make a full size, rectangle lasagna.

This recipe came from the Casual Gourmet Roasted Red Pepper and Spinach Sausage package we bought from CostCo.