MSM ~ Watkins Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Review

As most of you know Friday is movie and pizza night here. It started to cut cost by making my own pizza, which now has just stuck because it just taste better when you make it at home. I've been trying every dough that I can find, so when Watkins contacted me I was over joyed!

Watkins makes my favorite Vanilla, you can see the bottle in my photos in most of my desserts that I make. It's a little more then your average Vanilla, but so worth it and I found that Walmart has it rather inexpensive!

The Whole Wheat dough that arrived was for a thin pizza, which at first made me step back. We usually are the deep dish pizza family but cutting calories is not just having whole wheat dough but less of it. I know my carb loving senses hate this but then I took a bite and was pleasantly surprised I didn't need all the dough. The amount I got made my tongue do a happy dance maybe a flip or two!

I received a cookbook and a deep dish dough will be showing up here soon on a review. Today I have to share this yummy pizza we had a Friday!

BUY IT: $5.99 for a package ... hello you can make the pizza w/ toppings for less than $10!!!

Watkins Whole Wheat Thin Pizza Crust Mix just add water - Let rise and there you go!

Toppings I used:

Pizza Sauce

Thin Shred Pizza Cheese

Canadian Bacon

Turkey Pepperoni

Black Olives

(I had some ground turkey but it takes like crap so I didn't put it on)

The pizza was a hit with all the boys! Thank you so much Watkins for my yummy pizza crust I can't wait to try more. And for you who don't like to bake no worries Watkins carries Personal Care Products, Home Care and Gifts! Love them you will never be disappointed with their products.

I was not paid for this review these are my opinions and experiences, I received products to try and to tell how I liked them. No monetary or any other form of compensation was given to me. I review products free of charge to give my experience and opinion.

MSM ~ Dinner & Some Yummy Desert!

First off I must apologize and thank you all for the beautiful comments and love I received. Today is our 7 year anniversary, as I said on Friday things have been rocky. We're working on things and I pray things will turn out, only time will tale. Life is funny it can send you some crazy curve balls that makes you do a recheck and make sure you do things differently. I can't say that we'll end with the rose color glasses but we'll figure it out as we go. Sorry if I haven't made it around to thank you, I've taken a little time off from the computer. Trying to be better on my end to spending more time sitting down with the fam :). HUGS, I'll be by soon.

Ok now onto why you come here on Mondays! FOOD yes I know you all are sitting on your edge of your seat waiting to see what new meal I've made. Well today I have to show a yummy dinner and of course some yummy desert or you could do like my neighbors husband and have the bread for dinner :).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First off we show you a meal that at first I was a little unsure of. I've heard of waffles and chicken and thought it was odd but waffles and chili? I'm glad to say Paula Deans recipe is not a let down, you'll love it!!!

Cornmeal Waffles with Spicy Chili

Cornmeal Waffles and Spicy Chili

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• Spicy chili, recipe follows
• Shredded Cheddar, for garnish
• Sour cream, for garnish
• Chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

Directions

Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.

In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add milk, oil, and eggs; stirring until smooth. Pour batter onto hot waffle iron and bake in batches. Set aside and keep warm.

Serve with Spicy Chili. Garnish with shredded Cheddar, sour cream and chopped fresh cilantro.

Spicy Chili:

• 1 pound lean ground chuck
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 (15-ounce) cans ranch-style beans
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (15-ounce) can niblet corn, drained
• 1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles

In a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, brown ground chuck, until beef is crumbly. Stir in onion, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper.

Stir in beans, tomato sauce, corn, diced tomatoes, and green chiles. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally.

Yield: 10 to 12 servings

ALEXIS NOTES: I used half whole wheat flour and white flour it turned out great. I also used the ground beef I had in the freeze so it was more like under 2 lbs of ground beef. The boys like it a little meaty so it worked perfect. Also used light sour cream. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next I had some bananas that had to be used up and I wanted to make something new, yes I know I can never do the same recipe. I found this recipe and thought it was just perfect. I took a loaf over to the neighbors and let's just say my friend left and her husband ate the whole loaf for dinner .. hehe thankfully I had another loaf I brought over the next night so she could have a slice. On a sad note they are moving :( I may have to show up at their new house with baked goods.

Crumb Topped Cocoa Banana Bread by Thats My Home (click link)

Crumb Topped Cocoa Banana Bread

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash ground ginger
Dash ground mace
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup mashed banana (about 2 extra-ripe,
medium-size bananas)
Crumb Topping (recipe follows)

Heat oven to 350 degrees F . Grease bottom only of 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan.

In large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, salt, baking powder, ginger and mace. Add eggs, oil and banana; stir with spoon just until all ingredients are well blended.

Spoon batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle topping evenly over top.

Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes.

Loosen sides of loaf from pan; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. (Loaf may be stored in refrigerator, well wrapped, for up to 1 week.) 1 loaf.

Crumb Topping
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In small bowl, blend all ingredients until fine crumbs form.

ALEXIS NOTES: I again switched out half whole wheat flour, I used 3 banana's and I didn't have mace so I skipped this part. I used my special pan that has 4 loafs and a special design on the bottom, gives a little special to the bread :). This is great with or with out butter. I think it was so moist you didn't even need to add the butter. You'll love this one, I will have to make it again.

I hope you enjoy and will try these out. Have a wonderful Monday I promise to stop by, I may be a little slower at coming around but I'll be there :).

Make Something Monday ... Taco Soup

Looking for a quick and easy dinner! Do you the people in you life love taco's? Well here is the best of all worlds. Rick loves Taco Soup and Cole loves Chili and this was a cross between them. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 lbs. Extra Lean Ground Beef,
1 Pack of Taco Seasoning,
1 Pack of Ranch Seasoning,
2 Cans of Mexican Stewed Tomatoes,
1 Can of Tomatoe Sauce,
2 Cans of Shoepeg Corn,
2 Cans of Dark Red Kidney Beans

Directions

Brown and drain hamburger Meat. Add all other ingredients in a big pot with hamburger meat. Heat to a boil and then simmer for about 30 minutes. Serve with Light Tortilla Chips.

To reduce sodium, you can use dry beans and make your own tomato sauces.

Number of Servings: 6

Make Something Monday ... Tatter Tot Casserole

Wow I'm pooped Saturdays party was so busy we got home late and a little heat stroke and burned then Sunday just spent so here is one of my recipes I had in my reserve :). Hope you enjoy!

This is one of my favorite recipes that I usually will do once a month, simple and very inexpensive. Plus the kids love it, you know Mr. Cole who gives me a hard time each night actually had 2 helpings!!! Super simple and always have the stuff in the house, plus I buy the ground beef in bulk cook it up for 2 meals. Got to love it! Enjoy!

What you need

Brown the meat put in a casserole dish
Add a can of green beans.
I found this new style that had pepers in it very yummy.

Helper came buy to add the can of corn.

Fast Action Cream of Mushroom added.

Stir it all up

Add Tatter Tots

(usually I'll add cheese before this step, out of cheese)

Golden brown and ready to eat!

Make Something Monday ... Crock Pot Pork Chops (Sweet & Sour Taste)

Wowzer the weekend flew by and with a Holiday I'm barely getting a moment to sit down. So it's time to pull into my predone recipes I have for my emergency Monday :). This is a recipe I made probably a year ago, yes I have recipes to post from that long ago. Hello I try to make at least 4 or 5 new ones a week and share 2 a week so I have so overlap ... hehe :).

This is a great one for today since we're all tired from staying up last night and who the heck wants to cook on a PAID Holiday, oh yes doing a jig! So here you go easy one for the crock pot!

As you may know by now I'm all about the easy and quick but must be tasty! I found this amazing recipe on Cooks.com my new best online buddy... LOL. It's super easy and really does taste like Sweet and Sour!

Add green pepper

(Yes and the liner)

Add onions
Add a cup of brown sugar
Add a 3/4 cup of ketchup
Add Pork Chops
Safeway was having one heck of a deal!
$1.35 lb! Yup it went from $35.03 to $10.98 my kind of deal
Enough for 3 meals!
Stir it all up!
Ok she says not to stir, but I just couldn't help myself

We love garlic so I added some

Ok already! Cook on low for 8 hours.

Come home and it's smelling so so yummy

So tender the bones fell right off!

Served over rice!

CROCK POT PORK CHOPS

Layer sliced green pepper, sliced onion, pork chops (uncooked and boneless). Add another layer of green pepper (sliced) and another layer of sliced onion. DO NOT STIR, just layer.

Completely cover with lots of brown sugar and then cover all with ketchup. Cook on low heat all day. Tastes like sweet and sour pork.

Make Something Monday ... Impossible Bacon Breakfast Pie

Sorry everyone I haven't been around this past weekend it has been a crazy weekend so I'm going into my resources of pretyped recipes for Monday. This one was one I made about a year ago that was very yummy. Hope you enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On my quest for yet another amazing breakfast I found this yummy recipe at http://www.freebisquickrecipes.com/ and as you have guessed I'm in love with cooking with Bisquick. Remember my three rules, fast, easy and yummy :). For the love of bacon, I think I've found every yummy bacon recipe I could do ... LOL yeah right I bet again next weekend I'll find something! Enjoy!

All you need :)

Ok well I forgot the cheese and the onion (so add that on)

Onions on bottom of pie pan
Eggs in bowl
Add Bisquick
(yes I went to Costco and bought the real stuff)
Add the sour cream

Add the chillies

Add the bacon to the onions

Add the milk

(next time I'll only do 1 cup of milk)

Add the Cheese

Cover over the bacon and onions

Check that out!

YUMMY!!!

Title: Impossible Bacon Breakfast Pie (Quiche)

Categories: Pies, Cheese/eggs, Breakfast

Yield: 4 servings

1 lb Bacon

1 c Bisquick

1 cn Green Chili (chopped)

6 oz Sour cream

1 c Grated cheese (Jack)

3 Eggs

1 1/2 c Milk

1 Salt & Pepper to taste

Brown, drain and crumble bacon. Put in bottom of 11X7 greased dish. Top with onion and cheese. Put rest in blender for 1 min. Pour into pan.

Bake at 350 until tests done with knife (35-45 min)

MSM ~ Cornflake-Crusted Baked Chicken & All Day Macaroni and Cheese

Here we are I'm running late got home from the gym and had to make dinner. The chicken had to be cooked that night so here we are a quick and easy one. Now the All Day Mac & Cheese of course was suppose to be a crockpot that I turned into a stovetop :).

How can you go wrong with chicken strips and mac & cheese and it's not the drive threw it's a super yummy!

All Day Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients:

8 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked and drained

4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided

12 ounces evaporated milk

1 1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

Combine the macaroni, 3 cups of the cheese, evaporated milk, milk, eggs, salt and pepper. Place in a greased crockpot. Top with remaining cheese. Cover; cook on low for 5-6 hours.

ALEXIS NOTE: I used Fat Free Evaporated Milk and did this one on the stove top, I'm sure it would be even yummier if in crockpot!

Cornflake-Crusted Baked Chicken

Cornflake-Crusted Baked Chicken

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes

4	boneless, skinless chicken breasts
	coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2	large eggs
1	tablespoon water
2	cups cornflake crumbs
1	tablespoon olive oil
1/2	teaspoon paprika
	olive oil cooking spray
1/2	cup prepared ranch dressing

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

[1] Cut the chicken breasts into thick strips. Season generously with salt and pepper.

[2] In a small bowl, whisk egg(s) with water. In a large bowl, mix cornflakes with oil, paprika and a dash of salt.

[3] Working with one piece at a time, dip chicken in the egg mixture, then coat with cornflakes, pressing flakes to help them adhere. Transfer coated pieces to a rimmed baking sheet coated with cooking spray.

[4] Bake chicken until golden brown and crisp, about 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness. Serve with ranch dipping sauce.

Hope you enjoy as much as me and the boys did. Rick even said you know that Mac & Cheese was really good :).

MSM ~ Boneless Ribs in Crockpot

Happy Memorial Day everyone, hope you're having a great day and make sure you take a moment to thank those who served and serve our country. I'm blessed to have the life I have because of amazing men and woman!

Today I bring you a yummy crockpot recipe, I had one of dad's beers left over and the supermarket had the Boneless Ribs on sale (I used pork, sorry my non pork buddies). I found this recipe on another great blog and had to try it out. Thank you to Cheryl check out her recipe HERE. This was amazing, Cole even had seconds on this one! VERY easy to make and don't worry the beer cooked down and just have a great hops flavor to the meat.

4-5 large boneless beef ribs

1 pint of beer (use a light Lager, we used Red Stripe)

1/2 to 1 bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce

1 cup of Fresh Pineapple chunks

1/2 onion, sliced thinly

Salt and Pepper

Bring your ribs to room temperature and blot them dry of any moisture, salt and pepper both sides

Sear the ribs using a very hot pan and a bit of oil, sear on all 4 sides of the rib

In the meantime place your thinly sliced onions on the bottom of your crock pot

Place your seared ribs on top of the onions and add your beer and enough barbecue sauce to cover the ribs

Add your pineapple chunks and cook on high for 6 to 8 hours, the longer the better

Serve with rice or mashed potatoes

ALEXIS NOTES: I of course used pork instead of beef, they were on sale for $1.19 a pound can't beat that. I of course am a lazy crockpot user and didn't sear the ribs, I just threw them in and it turned out great. I had a red onion so that is what I used. I also had brown rice left over from my Bzz Agent Kit to review and loved it. Again for my crock pot liners so it was a overnight soaker but that was my own fault. Enjoy I promise you'll love it! I'm on a beer kick funny I don't drink it but I baked with it two days this week.

Linking up with Think Tank Momma for her Delish meme. Check out her site for more recipes :).

MSM ~ PB&J Stuffed French Toast

Happy Monday morning everyone. I was having one of those weekends just a little overwhelmed and a pitty me day ... lol. Sometimes you just feel like the bug in the windshield of life and yup it was that weekend. Come on universe stop picking on me, I'm giving it my all back off ... haha Just playing. So what does one do when you feel like that you get a soul comforting food. After watching Diners, Drive Ins & Dives and Guy stopped at a place that was famous for PB&J stuffed french toast. So that was what I was on a mission for. This is a simple and easy one not hard to make but it hit that spot that I was needing some ooey gooey goodness to fill the void :).

It's not one of the prettiest but darn was good!!!

I made this before Church, let's just say thankfully a short service

because it was putting me to sleep ... :)

I did a search and found a Rachel Ray version.

Rachael Ray's Peanut Butter & Jelly French Toast

Servings: 4

Difficulty: Easy

Cook Time: 1-30 min

Rachael Ray is the queen of making quick, easy food — and now the cook has come up with some delicious family meals in her new book, aptly titled "Yum-O: The Family Cookbook."

In some of her recipes she takes a twist on traditional foods, like boosting French toast with some peanut butter and jelly. Check out some of Ray's tasty eats by trying out the recipe below.

Ingredients

8 slices whole-grain bread

4 tablespoons peanut butter, creamy or chunky

4 tablespoons all fruit spread, flavor of your choice

6 eggs

1/2 cup milk

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)

1/2 cup pure maple syrup, warm

Cooking Directions

Spread 4 slices of the bread with peanut butter and the other 4 with jelly to make four PB&J sammies.

Beat the eggs, milk, and vanilla together in a bowl.

Place a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of the butter.

When the butter is almost melted, dunk two of the sammies into the egg batter and let the excess drip off. Place in the pan.

Fry the sammies until golden brown on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Repeat with the remaining 2 sammies.

Cut the French toast sammies into 4 sticks apiece and serve with warm maple syrup.

Recipe Summary

Main Ingredients: peanut butter, jelly, bread, eggs, milk, vanilla

Course: Brunch, Breakfast

Alexis Note: I halfed the recipe since it was just me and the boys and even though I was needing to fill a void I still wanted to fit into my jeans. It's not pretty but it's ultimately about feeding your belly and putting a smile on your face! I added a little cinnamon & sugar along with nutmeg :).

I found the recipe HERE it was featured on Good Morning America.