Veggie Pizza

I've had this recipe in my recipe box for a long time. I've had veggie pizza before, but I've never actually made it until now. 

2 tubes crescent rolls

16 oz light cream cheese

1 package ranch dressing powder

1 cup mayonnaise

veggies

mozzarella cheese

Unroll crescent dough and preheat oven according to package directions. Place in a cookie sheet. Press perforations to make solid. Bake according to package directions.  

Mix cream cheese, ranch, and mayo. 

Spread on cooled crescent rolls.

Chop veggies.

Spread veggies and cheese evenly over top.  Slice into squares before serving.

We all loved it! But, we are horrible at eating left overs so half of it didn't even get eaten. Like some previous recipes, next time I will only make a half size so it's not wasted.  

Crockpot Chicken & Stuffing

I found this recipe on Pinterest.  Decided to give it a try because what's not to like. Chicken-good, stuffing- really good!

4 thawed chicken breasts

6oz. package of Stove Top stuffing mix

1/2 cup sour cream

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup water

Place chicken in crock pot.

 Cover with dry stuffing. 

Mix sour cream, cream of chicken and water in small bowl. 

Pour over chicken and stuffing. 

Cook on low for 4 hours. Fluff and serve. 

 It was pretty good. I honestly didn't care for the stuffing since it was pretty soggy. Mike took one bite and fell in love! 

Cheese Chicken Quesadillas

I'm not sure where I found this recipe. I've only made it once before about 4 years ago, but it's good enough that I decided to make it again.

Cheese Chicken Quesadillas

1 can condensed cream of chicken or mushroom soup

1 1/2 cup chopped cooked chicken

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

8 flour tortilla shells

In small bowl combine soup, chicken, 1/2 cheese. Top half of each tortilla with 1/4 cup soup mix spreading evenly to within 1/2 inch of edge. Moisten edges with water. Fold over pressing edges to seal. Arrange on cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes or until hot. Sprinkle with remaining cheese (I do this before cooking)

Very quick and inexpensive meal.

Spaghetti Pie

This isn't a pinterest recipe, it's a recipe from my mom. I'm not sure where she got it but she started making it when I was still living at home. I haven't made it in the longest time, but now that I recently made it I wanted to share it because it's SO GOOD!!

1 (16oz) box of spaghetti noodles

3 eggs

1 tsp. salt

1 (24oz) container of cottage cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 jar spaghetti sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil noodles to package instructions. Drain and let cool. Spray 9x13 inch dish with cooking spray and set aside.

In large bowl whisk together eggs and salt. Add mozz. and parm. cheese.

Add egg mix to noodles and mix together, making sure to coat all the noodles.

Pour noodle mixture into prepared dish and spread evenly.

Add layer of cottage cheese over noodles, spreading evenly. Add spaghetti sauce to the top and spread evenly also.

I added some more mozz. cheese to the top because I believe there's no such thing as too much cheese.

Cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes.

YUM!! 

Baby Sandwiches

Here's another Pinterest recipe. There isn't an actual website with the recipe, it was just all typed up under the picture. But regardless, these are delicious!! This is actually the third time I've made these-that's how good they are!

2 pkgs hawaiian sweet rolls 
1lb honey ham 
1lb turkey 
1lb swiss cheese 
1lb provolone cheese 
1Tbsp honey mustard 
1Tbsp poppy seeds 
1 stick of butter 
4 Tbsp sugar 
2 Tbsp onion flakes 

Cut rolls horizontally (do not split up into individual rolls) remove top. Layer meats and cheese on the bottom and replace the top. Mix and melt together all other ingredients in saucepan. Let cool! Then spread on top of rolls. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes

That's the Pinterest way. When I make them I leave out the swiss cheese and add cheddar. I also only use butter, sugar, garlic powder and minced onion in the spread for the top. And I definitely don't use a whole stick of butter. 

These are so good that we never have any leftovers! YUM! 

Pizza Rolls

Who doesn't love pizza?! So when I saw this recipe on Pinterest I decided to give it a whirl.  Very easy and inexpensive to make.  Here's the recipe-

1 (8 ounce) package refrigerated crescent roll dough

4 cheese sticks, halved

1 (3.5 ounce) package sliced pepperoni

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Take each triangle of crescent roll dough and place about 6 pepperoni on the bottom of the triangle. Place half of a cheese stick on top and roll up. 

Place seam side down on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown.

I really liked them. Marley only at the crescent roll and the pepperoni because she says she doesn't like cheese. I will be making these again!

Homemade dishwasher detergent

I figured that since everything else was on Pinterest there had to be a way to make my own dishwasher detergent. BINGO! Found an inexpensive way and decided to give it a try.

Recipe calls for 1 box of borax, one box of washing soap, 24 packs of unsweetened lemonade, and 3 cups of epsom salt.

Just mix it all together and you're done! Put 1 tbsp in each load.

It made enough to fill up the container I usually keep my detergent in and I put the rest back into the borax box and it filled it up too.

Overall, I think all of this cost around $10, but it should last me a long time.

Update- I wrote up this post a few weeks ago. I have used this detergent a few times and I'm not sure my thoughts on it. Some loads come out really clean. But all the bottles and some of our clear plastic cups look cloudy. I'll continue using it for a while and then decide I guess.

11/9/12 update- I stopped using this because it was making all the plastic cups, bowls, and bottles very cloudy and weird feeling. I now just use it for cleaning out the sink, tub, or toilet.
If anyone has a better recipe, feel free to share it!

Walking Taco Casserole

I love walking tacos and usually get them at every festival or fair we go to.  Again, I found this recipe on Pinterest.  It was fairly easy to make and very delicious.

Walking Taco Casserole

1 1/2 lb ground beef
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
Fritos
Shredded Cheddar cheese

Brown 1 1/2 lbs ground beef. Mix in taco seasoning and cook according to directions on package. 

Layer in a casserole dish in the following order: Fritos chips, meat mixture, shredded cheese. Repeat layers once again.

 Bake at 350° for about 15-20 min or until cheese is bubbly.

After removing from oven I added more cheese on the top.

I really liked this and so did Marley until she got up from the table and Zeus ate it.  The only downside is when you reheat it the next day the chips are all soggy. Maybe next time I'll do a half size so that way I don't have soggy chips.

Frozen Yogurt Drops

Remember when I said I was going to try to do a new recipe each day? I believe that lasted 3 whole days.  But, it's back!

I saw this idea on Pinterest and figured it seemed simple and yummy so why not try it out. 

All you need is some yogurt, I used Yoplait strawberry in the large container, a plastic baggie, and something to put the drops on that will fit in your freezer.

First, put your baggie in a cup so the zipper part is around the edges. Then pour the yogurt in and seal it up. 

Then cut off a tiny little piece of the corner of the baggie. I mean tiny. I cut mine to big and the yogurt was coming out to quickly.  Use the baggie like you've seen cake decorators do to put icing on cakes and make little drops of yogurt on your plate.

Place them in the freezer for at least an hour. Once they're all frozen just pop them off and store them in the freezer.

I think they are delicious! Marley didn't like them and Mike didn't really either. Which means more for me! 

Crescent Dogs aka Pigs in a blanket

I made these for lunch. Wait- back up. Let me start by saying that I LOVE HOT DOGS! I could eat hot dogs for every meal every day of my life. So, of course before I even show you a picture or tell you the recipe I am giving these a big thumbs up!

Okay moving on... I found the recipe here. Except they say to use bacon and I didn't when I made them.

After I took them out of the oven Marley asked why the hot dogs were in a sleeping bag. I didn't take pictures of the "process" of making them, but here's the recipe-

8 hot dogs

4 slices American cheese, each cut into 6 strips

1 can crescent dinner rolls 

Heat oven to 375°F. Slit hot dogs to within 1/2 inch of ends; insert 3 strips of cheese into each slit. Separate dough into triangles. Wrap dough triangle around each hot dog. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, cheese side up. Bake at 375°F. for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Corn Dog Mini Muffins

Today's recipe we're trying is corn dog mini muffins. I found the recipe here through Pinterest. It seems fairly easy to make and I had everything already in my kitchen except for the corn muffin mix.

Here's the recipe-

1-8.5 oz. box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/3 cup milk

1 TBS honey

4 Hot dogs, each cut into 5 pieces

Spray the wells of a mini muffin pan with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a med bowl, combine the mix, egg, honey and milk. Allow to sit for 3 - 4 min. Stir batter.

Fill each mini muffin well with about 1/2 TBS batter. Place a piece of hot dog into each well, pressing in.

Top each hot dog with about a tsp. of batter, covering hot dog.

Bake in oven for 10 - 15 min. or until golden brown. Allow to cool in pan for 5 min. before removing.

Marley liked them. I thought they were okay. I would rather have a regular corn dog. These were very messy because the corn muffin crumbled once you took a bite.

Pinterest Challenge Accepted

Two blogs that I read every day while feeding Mason are hosting-

Young House Love and Bower Power are great DIY blogs. I mentioned the Pinterest Challenge a while back when I installed this bar under the kitchen sink.  When I did that I was to late to actually join in on their challenge, but this time I have accepted their "challenge" and have my "pin" done on time five days early!

I actually first saw this idea on Young House Love's instagram photo.  After browsing Pinterest for the actual recipe/instructions I came across them here and drove to the store the next day for cinnamon rolls. It is fairly easy to do and smells wonderful!

The first time I made them I used Pillsbury mini-bites. They were more flat then the regular rolls so it didn't turn out as good as they did when I used the regular cinnamon rolls this morning.  I did notice if you open the waffle iron too early that they were splitting in half. Nothing awful, but just a side note. Here's a little photo play by play of the whole process-

Here's what you need. 

Just set it in and shut the lid. I waited about 2-3 minutes and then took them out.

I put the icing on while they're still warm. YUM! 

You know they're good when you get a thumbs up from Marley. 

 I love them so much I could probably eat them for breakfast everyday.

Besides participating in YHL and BP's challenge, I've also decided to challenge myself in a way. I have decided that I will try, key word here is try, to make a new recipe that I have found on Pinterest every day. Whether it be for breakfast or dinner or just a snack.  Every night I will report back on what we all thought of the food. So consider this post my first recipe review!

Waffle iron cinnamon rolls receive an A+