Pizza Rolls

We had these for dinner tonight and they were so delicious! They looked so good and tasted even better! This is another great recipe from sisterscafe.blogspot.com. I'm sure it will be a big hit with all your kids.

Pizza Dough
1 c warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 Tb (1/4 oz package) active dry yeast
3 Tbsp olive oil

2 ½ c flour
1 tsp salt

Put warm water in bowl. Stir in sugar and yeast and let proof for 1o minutes. Stir in rest of ingredients. Mix until a ball, knead 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes in mixer. Let rise for 1.5 hours. Roll out and arrange pizza toppings on top. Bake in 400 degree oven (on preheated pizza stone for best results).

Pizza dough, raw (see above)
mozzarella cheese, shredded or cubed

pepperoni, cut into fourths

1/2 green bell pepper, diced small

1/2 small onion, diced small

1/4 cup chopped olives

Roll pizza dough out into a large rectangle. Using a pizza cutter, cut into 12 pieces. Layer the toppings in the center of each square of dough; about 2-3 Tb total of toppings on each. Now stretch and fold the dough around the toppings, pinching to seal edges. This is the tricky part - the more toppings you use, the harder it gets to tuck them all within the dough! (fyi: pepperoni and cheese or ham and pineapple are much easier, as you can imagine.) Now place seam side down in a lightly greased casserole dish or glass baking dish. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle generously with garlic salt and Italian seasoning. (oregano, basil and thyme, etc) Bake in a 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until rolls are light brown. Serve with your favorite marinara sauce for dipping. Dig in and have fun!
We just used some Ragu spaghetti sauce to dip these in and it was great (instead of marinara). I think it is a good idea to let them rise for a little bit after you get them rolled and in you baking dish.

Garlic Black Beans

Another yummy recipe from sisterscafe.blogspot.com. I've always loved black beans, but was never sure how to prepare them. Well, let me tell you, this is a great way! They are so tasty. The original recipe has them as part of a shredded sweet pork salad (like from Costa Vida), but they are also great alone or with Cilantro Lime Rice.

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/3 c tomato juice

2 cloves garlic, minced (1 tsp)

1 tsp cumin

2 Tb canola oil

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tb chopped cilantro

Heat oil then add garlic until cooked (it turns brown) and cumin. Add rest of ingredients and serve warm.

Be careful when adding the garlic to the hot oil. When I made in the first time I kept waiting for the garlic to "pop" like it said in the original recipe and before I knew it the garlic was black and charred!

Honey Lime Enchiladas

I found a delicious food blog from a family of LDS sisters called sisterscafe.blogspot.com. They have so many wonderful recipes and ideas. I made this for Neal and Marilyn when they came to visit last week and they both loved it (post heart surgery and all). Marilyn was astonished at how much he ate while out on the road!

1.5 lbs pork or chicken, cooked and shredded

Sauce:

1/3 c honey

1/4 c lime juice

1 Tb chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 (10 oz) cans green enchilada sauce

equal parts mixed together of:

mozzarella cheese, shredded

cheddar cheese, shredded

flour tortillas

Mix together sauce ingredients then add to shredded pork or chicken. Let the sauce soak into the meat for about 30 minutes.

Lightly spray 2 pans with non-stick baking spray. (I usually use one 9x13 and one 9x9 but it may vary with how thick you stuff your enchiladas) Pour green enchilada sauce into pans to coat the entire bottom. Fill tortillas with shredded meat and desired amount of cheese. Roll and place in dish.

Pour remainder of sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle more cheese on top - don't be stingy! (I sometimes use more like 1 1/2 cans- you can freeze left over enchilada sauce in a baggy.) Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Then turn on broiler and place enchiladas nearer the top of oven. Let it broil until cheese is slightly brown and crispy. It is now time to WOW your family!!

Instead of letting the cooked meat soak in the sauce, I threw the raw meat and sauce in the crockpot together and let them cook for a few hours on high.

Cheesy Roll Ups

Recipe from A Thrifty Mom

1 box lasagna noodles
1 jar spaghetti sauce

Cheese Mixture:
1 16 oz pkg ricotta cheese
1 1/2 c. fresh grated parmesean cheese (set aside 1/2 cup for the top)
2 c. mozzarella cheese, grated
1 large egg
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbl. parsley, fresh or dry

Start cooking your pasta. Put the noodles in a large pot. As they soften up you can slide them down into the pan so they are totally covered with water. Just don't push them as you don't want them to break. Cook them for 10 minutes. (while they are cooking make the cheese mixture). Do not overcook! When done drain and rinse so they are cool enough to handle. Pour the spaghetti sauce in your baking dish.

In a bowl add all the cheese mixture ingredients. Mix until well blended. Lay out the noodles and pat them dry with paper towels. Spread the filling mixture out in a flat layer over the noodle. Leave the last inch open so the noodle will stick together. Roll it up and place seam side down in a pan with the spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle the 1/2 c. parmesean cheese on the top. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, then another 10 minutes without foil for a total of 35 minutes.

When I make this I put the other half in a foil disposable pan and cover with foil to freeze. I write the directions & label it on top in a permanent marker so I don't forget what's in there or how to bake it.

Blueberry Jello Salad

This is the jello salad that I have made for a few family get togethers. Indira has asked me a few times for the recipe and I am finally posting it! This jello salad is like Nate's family's orange jello salad to my family. We all love it and it is almost at every family get together!

(1) 6 oz. Box Raspberry Jello
(1) 20 oz. Can Crushed Pineapple, undrained
(1) Can Blueberry Pie Filling

Dissolve jello in 2 c. boiling water and stir until well dissolved, about 2 minutes. Stir in the pineapple and pie filling and pour into a greased 9x13" pan. Refrigerate until set. Top with delicious topping below.

(1) 8 oz. Cream Cheese (can use low or no fat varieties), room temperature
1 c. Sour Cream
1/2 c. Sugar

Beat together cream cheese and sugar, then beat in sour cream. This can sometimes be a little lumpy, but it seems like warming the cream cheese to room temperature and using beaters usually does the trick.

Best Ever Brownies

I took these to Matt's report dinner last week and Marne asked me to add the recipe to the blog. These are the only brownies I have ever made since I was a teenager. They are so yummy and turn out perfect every time.

1 c. melted butter
2 c. sugar
1/4 c. cocoa
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt

Mix butter, sugar, and cocoa. Add eggs. Mix well. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into 9x13 pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 38 minutes. Frost or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Brownie Pudding Cake

This is a great chocolate dessert to serve with ice cream or whip cream. It looks really watery when you put it in the dish but it thickens up nicely and is so yummy served warm. It is so easy because all the ingredients you usually always have on hand.  I used to make this all the time when we were first married and had no money to buy extra ingredients.
 
Pudding Layer
1 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
3 Tbl. cocoa
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. milk
2 Tbl. butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Topping
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. cocoa
1 1/2 c. boiling water

1. Mix pudding ingredients. Spread into an 8 inch square baking pan.
2. Mix topping ingredients, then pour onto the pudding layer. Don't mix together!
3. bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.