BBQ Pizza (maybe not so healthy) so I threw in a low fat bun recipe =D

So yes we had a not so healthy dinner for pizza night the other night.  BUT I did stick to portion control so I don’t feel so bad .  We all deserve a little pleasure. 

Rick loves the BBQ pizza at Papa Murphy’s but they only have it during the summer so I went to my gal Alex’s website for a BBQ Chicken Pizza.  I love her site if you haven’t been there go there, sign up for her FB feed that is what I love to see .

So feeling guilty about my pizza splurge I went to find a healthy roll for our dinner later in the week I headed over to Spark People (which is a great site for motivation & recipes) for this Bread Machine Whole Wheat Buns.  I did the dough in the machine and then formed the balls let rise and then in the oven to finish them off .

I'm linking up to: Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesday,Tuesday at the Table, Delectable Tuesday, Delicious Dishes, Totally Tasty Tuesday,Hearth and Soul and Thursday Recipe Swap Meet.

We Continue Our Ground Turkey Journey

Happy Tuesday, well I'm not so sure it's happy but well it's another day. My little negative voice (aka person who drives me nuts) is trying to now work others around me to I swear make me loose my mind! One day they will get it that commenting on my weight! UGH, I'm inserting my head in the oven now :). So onto food because that helps keep my skinny ... hehe.

First off is a super yummy recipe! Debbie does healthy did one version and I went with the original roll version from Once a Month Mom. I'm in love with these meatloaf rolls!

Last on my list was a Cheesy Broccoli Rice. Come on don't let the name fool you I used brown rice, ground turkey and 98% FF Cream of Mushroom. Now take that hater!!!

I'm linking up to: Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesday,Tuesday at the Table,Delectable Tuesday, Delicious Dishes , Totally Tasty Tuesday, Hearth and Soul and Thursday Recipe Swap Meet.

More Spinach & Turkey are the KEY words here!

Can you believe it's Tuesday? I didn't even have a moment to breath today I hope will be a better day. Lately I've been on a turkey and/or spinach kick at the house and here are a few recipes I have been playing around with. All 3 were a huge hit with all the boys at the house. Hope you find one or all that you enjoy!

I was looking for spinach and egg breakfast for the boys and came across this recipe on Taste of Home, a few tweaks and this is what I came up with.

CLICK the recipe button to see what is in it!

I'm on a ground turkey kick so bare with me :). 2nd on my list is a yummy turkey and broccoli almost done up like a jelly roll! I like to include the greens in where I can :). I found this recipe on Group Recipe and only tweaked using fresh broccoli.

CLICK the recipe button to see what is in it!

I found this amazing recipe at A New Fit with a spinach twist yet another hit with the boys! CLICK the recipe button to see what is in it!

Happy Tuesday everyone Thank you again for stopping by!

Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesday,Tuesday at the Table, Delectable Tuesday, Delicious Dishes , Totally Tasty Tuesday and Hearth and Soul

Homemade Crescent Rolls w/ 2 Recipes to use them!

Happy Tuesday everyone! We had an amazing night last night with dinner and oh yes ended the night cleaning toilets at Cole's school. For you who are going "What happening" Cole's school to keep the tuition down each family takes a week of janitorial service. Yup so we had the day of Valentines day! We had yummy food and then cleaned toilets and oh yes sprinkles everywhere from the days activities! P.S. The baked Valentine Cards I made where a huge hit, the principal even came up to me while we were cleaning to ask how I made them (yes he was there @10pm when we showed up).

So to some yummy recipes! First off you know me and homemade I had two recipes I wanted to try that called for refrigerated crescent rolls. I hate using store bought in my quest to make everything we eat if possible I came across this recipe on allrecipes.com:

CLICK on recipe tab below to see recipe or print!

My first recipe was on The Daily Smash as a Chicken Taco Ring, I made it into a braid easier to do when you make your own dough so you don't have to cut rectangles :) yes I'm lazy like that :).

CLICK on recipe tab below to see recipe or print!

Next on my list to do was crescent Roll Lasagna by The Peppered Pantry, which I just rolled the dough out into a rectangle and folded it over! It turned out great.

CLICK on recipe tab below to see recipe or print!

I'm linking up to Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesday,Tuesday at the Table, Delectable Tuesday, Delicious Dishes , Totally Tasty Tuesday and Hearth and Soul.

Battle of the Rigatoni (2 Recipes)

Happy Tuesday everyone! It's the battle of the rigatoni :), you know me and having to have a new meal at least 4 times a week so it's sometimes challenging to find new things we have some of the same elements but a different meal each time. These both were fabulous and pretty simple.

Cheesy Broccoli Rigatoni adapted from Taste of Home Recipe

And for our next adventure in Rigatoni :)

Baked Rigatoni w/Spinach, Turkey Bacon & Chicken

I had some left over Turkey Bacon and half a rotisserie chicken.

Baked Rigatoni w/Spinach adapted from Skinnytaste.com

I'm linking up to Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesday at the Table, Delectable Tuesday, Delicious Dishes , and Hearth and Soul.

A little Pasta, A little Sweets & of course Treat for the Puppy!

I bring to you some special food we had this week! Of course a treat that everyone liked!

We start with a yummy dinner! Alex is my my go to recipe girl!

Chicken & Spinach Lasagna Cupcakes

Ma, What's for dinner?

1 lb ground chicken

2 cloves minced garlic

8 oz canned petite diced tomatoes undrained

8 oz canned tomato sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp cracked pepper

8 lasagna noodles, cooked al dente

1 beaten egg

2 cups ricotta cheese

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and well drained

2 cups shredded mozzarella

1 tbsp dried parsley

1/4 cup shredded or grated Parmesan

Thoroughly cook the ground chicken in a large skillet. Add the tomatoes, sauce, garlic, spices, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Combine the egg, ricotta, and parmesan.

Using a glass or cookie cutter that is close to the size of the muffin cups, cut 3 circles out of each noodle for a total of 24 circles. Place 1 noodle circle in each muffin cup. Layer meat sauce, ricotta mixture, and shredded mozzarella. Repeat. Top with a bit of parsley and grated Parmesan. Cover loosely with a piece of foil that has been sprayed with oil and bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 5 minutes to brown on top. Let the “cupcakes” sit for at least 10 minutes for easier removal.

ALEXIS NOTES: I used ground turkey, it calls for 8 noodles but I got 4 circles out of one so you could get away with using only 6. I used poor man ricotta (cottage cheese run threw food processor). I added the spinach to the ricotta mixture and even skipped the mozzarella.

Treat for my friends at work:

Peppermint Bark

Allrecipes.com

• 1 (12 ounce) package NESTLE® TOLL HOUSE® Premier White Morsels
• 24 hard peppermint candies

1. LINE baking sheet with waxed paper.
2. MICROWAVE morsels in medium, microwave-safe bowl on MEDIUM-HIGH (70 percent) power for 1 minute; stir. Microwave at additional 10- to 20-second intervals, stirring until smooth.
3. PLACE peppermint candies in heavy-duty plastic bag. Crush candies using rolling pin or other heavy object. While holding strainer over melted morsels, pour crushed candy into strainer. Shake to release all small candy pieces; reserve larger candy pieces. Stir morsel-peppermint mixture.
4. SPREAD mixture to desired thickness on prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with reserved candy pieces; press in lightly. Let stand for about 1 hour or until firm. Break into pieces. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

ALEXIS NOTES: Have left over peppermint candies this is a GREAT way to give it a new look.

Remember to keep an eye on the chocolate in the microwave. Remember I burned it!

And can't forget the puppy! A great lady commented on a dog biscuit I made and I hopped over to her site to find an amazing dog biscuit site.

Sweet Potato Dog Biscuits

Ingredients
1 medium Sweet Potato (peeled, baked and mashed, makes approximately 1 cup)
2 Eggs
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 cup Wheat Germ
1 1/4 cups Whole Wheat Flour

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
In a large bowl, combine the mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla extract and wheat germ. Gradually blend in the wheat flour. Knead dough into ball and roll onto a floured surface 1/4 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutter of your choice and place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until edges brown.
Cool and refrigerate.

ALEXIS NOTES: I couldn't find a snail cookie cutter in my bin for the life of me, so it was the bone cutter again. Note to myself next time I need to smash my sweet potato better (Well I used a yam). I picked up Wheat Germ in the bulk section. I kept mine on the chewy side for the puppy but when he gets older I'll make them more crispy.

I'm linking up to Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, Tuesday at the Table, Delectable Tuesday, Delicious Dishes , Hearth and Soul and Sweet Sunday.

Comfort Food (Soup & Dessert)

It's really cold here, no snow (Thank God) but it's really freaking cold so I thought why not make some soup for dinner. I found this amazingly easy recipe, Cole had THREE bowls and Caden my little one that will eat usually a BITE and TWO bowls!

Potato, Broccoli & Cheese Soup

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons margarine
• 2 1/2 pounds peeled and cubed potatoes
• 5 cups boiling water
• 4 cubes chicken bouillon
• 3 cups fresh broccoli, cooked and drained
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

• Directions

  1. In a large stock pot saute onion in butter. Add potatoes, water and bouillon cubes. Cover, bring to boil and then reduce heat to medium and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
  2. Remove tough outer skin of broccoli stems and cook broccoli. Once cooked add to soup.
  3. In a blender or food processor puree half of the soup and return to stock pot. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Add cheese and heat soup through until cheese is melted. Serve warm.

Then the church had a ladies only meeting (We'll talk more about that on Wed and the daycare that is suppose to be provided). I like to always show up with a treat so I found this amazing yummy recipe!

Copycat Starbucks Peppermint Brownies

Brownies
1 (19 1/2 ounce) box fudge brownie mix
(I used Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

Peppermint Buttercream Frosting
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Green food coloring

Chocolate Frosting
1/3 cup whole milk
1/4 cup butter
1 (12 ounce) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325. Then prepare a 9x9 inch baking dish by spraying lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Cut a piece of parchment paper to the width of the bottom of your pan but long enough to extend over the edge of the right and left sides of the pan.

2. Sift brownie mix to eliminate any clumps. Then add melted butter, water eggs and 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract. Mix by hand just until dry ingredients are incorporated.

3. Pour into prepared pan. Bake according to package directions. Let cool.

4. Beat together cup powdered sugar and 1/2 cup softened butter. Mix in another 1/2 cup powdered sugar, then add 1 tablespoon milk, green food coloring, and peppermint and vanilla extracts. Spread frosting evenly over the top. Place brownies in fridge to firm up frosting.

5. Bring 1/3 cup milk and 1/4 cup butter almost to a boil over medium heat. Pour chocolate chips into a heat-safe bowl. Pour milk mixture over the top and let sit for 5 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and whisk until smooth. Use an electric mixer to beat in 1 cup powdered sugar until frosting is smooth. This will make more than you need, so remove 1/4-1/3 cup frosting and reserve for another use.

6. Spread chocolate frosting over the green frosting on the brownies.

7. Place back in fridge for about an hour to firm up frosting. Remove brownies from pan and slice into 9 pieces.

I'm linking up to Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, Tuesday at the Table, Delectable Tuesday, Delicious Dishes , Hearth and Soul and Sweet Sunday.

Pasta Tuesday (2 Recipes)

Pasta is always a hit with the boys, I can usually get everyone here to agree on that! And as normal even working from home I'm running around like a nut to get dinner on the table. Needless to say I'm always on the look for a quick meal!

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One of my favorite food blogs is Cassie Craves

I found BBQ Chicken & Bacon Pasta

1 pound penne or other short pasta
1 pound bacon, chopped
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size chunks

1 red onion, diced
Salt and pepper to taste

2/3 cup barbecue sauce

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Green onions, bacon, and shredded cheese for garnish, if desired

1. Cook pasta in boiling salted water according to package directions; drain.

2. Meanwhile, add bacon to a large skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon to paper towel.

3. Add the chicken and red onion to the bacon grease in the skillet, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the chicken is browned and cooked through and the onion is softened. Stir in the reserved bacon, barbecue sauce and sour cream. Once mixed, add in the shredded cheese. Add pasta and stir to combine; heat through.

4. Serve immediately, garnishing with red or green onions, bacon and shredded cheese, if desired.

ALEXIS NOTES: I used whole wheat mini shells, I used turkey bacon, skipped the red onion & Light sour cream. It may not be beautiful but it sure was YUMMY!

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Next looks a little better to the eye and was still super yummy!!!

Tortellini Simmer

by About.com

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (26-ounce) jar pasta sauce

1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 (20-ounce) package frozen cheese tortellini

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

In large skillet, cook ground beef with onions and garlic until beef is browned, stirring to break up meat. Drain well.

Add pasta sauce and diced tomatoes; bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer for 10 minutes. Then add tortellini, stirring well. Cover skillet and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 3-6 minutes until tortellini is hot and tender.

I'm linking up to Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, Tuesday at the Table, Delectable Tuesday, Delicious Dishes and Hearth and Soul.

Cheeseburger Unplugged!

As you all know by now I'm on a mission to re-event dinner each night. I try to have at least 4 nights a week with something new. Yes it still drives Rick nuts he would like just "a normal meal" as he calls it but sorry dude it's not a hamburger helper house anymore :). So trying to please everyone I found a cheeseburger theme meal done two ways. One of my FAVORITE foodies is Alex @ Ma, What's for dinner? (yes I love her even since our names are close =D) she always has something easy and something I can whip up quickly.

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Italian Cheeseburger Macaroni

by Ma, What's for dinner?

2 T olive oil

1 lb ground beef

½ large onion, chopped

1 can diced tomato

1 clove garlic, chopped

8 oz mushrooms sliced thin

½ T dried oregano

1 t dried red pepper flakes

1 lb whole wheat penne pasta

3 T butter unsalted

3 T all purpose flour

3 cups whole milk

1/2 t fresh grated nutmeg

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Set a large pot of water over high heat to boil for your pasta. In large skillet heat olive oil over medium high heat. When oil is hot add in onions and mushroom and sauté until soft. About 6 minutes or so. When they are soft add in garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook for additional minutes. Add in your ground beef and cook until brown, about 5 minutes. Once meat has browned toss in the tomato, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Season again with S&P and allow simmering for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan melt butter over medium high heat. Whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk, and bring to a gentle boil, stirring constantly. Once the milk has thickened add in nutmeg and season with S&P. Reduce to medium low heat and melt in cheddar and Swiss cheeses. Allow to cook on low for a few minutes.

When water is boiling season water with salt and add pasta. Note package cooking time and reduce by 2 minutes, the macaroni will continue cooking in the oven later. Once pasta is cooked, drain and return to pot. Toss the penne with cheese mixture.

Spray a baking dish with cooking spray and pour half of the pasta mixture into the bottom of the dish. Spoon the Italian burger mixture over the top in an even layer. Then cover with remaining pasta. Top with additional cheddar cheese if desired. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes and enjoy!

ALEXIS NOTES: I used diced tomatoes with chilies, skipped the mushrooms, whole wheat flour and just had cheddar on hand.

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An a favorite of mine :)

Cheeseburger Casserole

by Ma, What's for dinner?

1 lb ground beef

1 onion chopped

1 packet onion soup mix

2 T Worcestershire sauce

½ T flour (optional)

½ cup water

½ cup ketchup

¼ cup mustard

2 russet potatoes sliced thin (either by hand or with a mandolin)

2 cups cheddar cheese

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and cook ground beef until brown. Add in onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.

When onions are soft, stir in onion soup and a touch of flour. Mix well. Pour in water and scrape up all the browned bits on the bottom of the pan.

Next pour in your ketchup, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Once it begins to boil knock back your heat to medium low and allow your mixture to simmer for 5 minutes.

Pour your burger mixture into a 8×8 baking dish. Line the top with potato slices then top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

ALEXIS NOTES: I skipped the onion (since the batch I bought was bad), whole wheat flour and I had red potatoes on hand. Yes that is my mandolin Rick bought me for Christmas (LOVED it).

I'm linking up to Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, Tuesday at the Table, Delectable Tuesday and Delicious Dishes.