Skinny Pizza Logs (Emily Bites Recipe)

I had to share a new favorite of the boys! Super simple and easy to make for dinner that the boys have now requested the last two weeks! Emily Bites is one of the best Weight Watcher Recipe sites I've come across, she posted these Pizza Logs.

Ingredients:

• 8 egg roll wrappers (larger than wonton wrappers)
• 8 teaspoons store-bought pizza sauce
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 24 turkey pepperoni slice (I used Hormel)
• 4 light Mozzarella string cheese sticks, each cut in half horizontally to make two shorter stick

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425. Lightly mist a large baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Pour some water into a small dish and set aside. On a flat surface, place an egg roll wrapper, corner facing toward you (like a diamond) and spread a teaspoon of pizza sauce horizontally across the center of the wrapper, leaving ½ inch or so of space on each side. Sprinkle a pinch of Italian seasoning across the sauce and add a row of 3 pepperoni slices over the sauce. Place half a cheese stick on top of the pepperoni. Fold the bottom corner closest to you up over the ingredients and give it a 90 degree roll. Fold the side corners in and tuck them as you give the filled section another 90 degree roll. Dip your finger in the dish or reserved water and lightly wet the edges of the remaining top corner of the wrapper. Finish rolling the filled pizza log over the wet corner so that it adheres. Place wrapped pizza log onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
3. When all of the pizza logs are wrapped and on the baking sheets, mist the tops with cooking spray. Bake for 10-14 minutes, flipping once halfway through, until the wrappers are golden brown.

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Fall Cookies in Royal Icing (Acorn and Leaves)

On my adventures of Royal Icing, which I'm now totally obsessed with. I've been seeing all these really cool fall cookies and just had to give it a shot. I had left over sugar cookie dough from the Olaf's so I thought I'd give it a try.  I watched a few YouTube video's and I took a whirl at it. I must say these are my favorite cookies, they were so pretty if I say so myself!

 

 

What you Need:

Sugar Cookies cut into leaves and acorn
Fall Cookie Cutters (I found mine at Michael's for 50% off)

Royal Icing in brown, red, yellow and orange (recipe below)

AmeriColor Gel Food Coloring Brown, Red, Yellow and Orange (to dye Icing - This is my fav brand)

Brown Sprinkles

I used the dipping method with my royal icing. I started to do the dipping method about 6 months ago to speed up my decorating time. You can pipe each cookie which is a little cleaner but I find the dipping method to be the best. You get your royal icing to the outline consistency and put into a pie dish (I find this is not too deep). Once you dip the top of the cookie you tap off the extra icing and then you let dry! Once dry you can add your details.

For acorns I dripped in the brown royal icing. Before the icing had time to set up I added on the sprinkles to be the top part of the shell. These of course the easiest of the 3 cookies I made.

For the leaves I dipped in the red royal icing. Before they were dry I added the other two colors. I started with red and made inside outline of orange (leaving the center open). I then added the yellow in the center. While the cookie was still wet I took a tooth pick and pulled out from the center to all the points. Then I went with my tooth pick and pulled in. I didn't wipe the toothpick off each time because that added the pops of colors through out the cookie. The centers when dried I was so excited because it reminded me of a rose.

My amazing dance instructor said they were so pretty she almost couldn't eat them. She called them a work of art and I must say I kind of thought the same of them. I love when you make something and people see your heart in the final product.

 

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INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups butter, softened 2 cups white sugar 4 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3.	Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Julie Usher, she has a GREAT YouTube video on how to make, color and make consistency adjustments. 

Royal Icing what you need:

2 lbs Powdered Sugar

1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

5 Large Egg Whites (or equivalent) 

Flavor to Taste

Gel Icing Color

Mix powder sugar and cream of tartar in your mixer, just to make sure it is incorporated in. Slowly add egg whites, then whip start of slow then go to very high speed. She says around 2 minutes, my friend had an older mixer so it took almost 10 minutes. You want stiff peaks that hold on and won't fall off the spoon. Add in your flavor, I would suggest you use a clear flavoring.  This would be the glue texture great for ginger bread houses etc.

Take 1 cup of royal icing in a smaller bowl then add your coloring, lightly mix so you don't get air into the the icing. I'm like her and like the gel coloring. 

For Top Coating - Add 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 tsp Water (This is if you don't want to outline and flood)

For Outlining - Add 1/2 to 3/4 tsp Water

For Flooding  - Add 2 to 3 tsp Water

WATCH her video on How to Top-Coat, Outline, and Flood Cookies. YES it is around 7 minutes BUT if you have never done this technique it's a MUST she explains it perfectly.

Ham & Cheese Tater Tot Casserole

My oldest asked for Tater Tot Casserole last week and I went on a little crazy themed week and found several different versions to try. The tried and true version was the winner but I liked this one. I tried to make this as healthy as I could. I found this recipe on This Mama Loves.

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I used Red Fat Cheese)
8 oz. package diced ham
32 oz. bag of tater tots (I use crowns they are half the size and bake nicer)
1 cup sour cream (I used Red Fat)
1-10.75 oz. can of cream of chicken soup (I used red fat)
3 tsp. yellow mustard
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt 
(I added in Corn)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Grease a 9×13 pan with butter.
3. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, stirring until well mixed and everything is evenly distributed.
4. Place mixture in prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes until heated through and top is golden brown.
5. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes before serving. 

  
I know I'm late save for next year .. lol

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes

We went to a BBQ for our exchange student and I wanted to bring something fun. I went to the cupboard and thought why not Peanut Butter cupcakes then I had some Jelly left and thought what a perfect combo for a cupcake. I did a Google Search and found PopSugar posted Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes. The only thing I would change was blend the jelly or use a jam so it didn't have big clumps of strawberries (was a little hard to pipe onto the cupcake).

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

1 box yellow cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
For the frosting:
1/2 cup heavy cream
6 ounces cream cheese
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the filling:
1 cup grape or strawberry jam

Directions

1. To make cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350ºF and place mini baking liners in mini muffin tins.
2. In a large bowl, beat together cake mix, water, peanut butter, vegetable oil, and eggs until combined. Divide batter into mini cupcake wells, filling each well about 2/3 full. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to cool.
3. To make frosting: Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or using a hand mixer, whisk heavy cream until soft peaks form.
4. In another large bowl, beat together cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, salt, peanut butter, and vanilla on medium speed, until combined. Then carefully fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter icing until smooth and fluffy.
5. To assemble cupcakes: Fit a piping bag with a pipping tip, then fill the bag with jam. Inject the tip into the center of each cupcake and squeeze to fill the center of the cupcake with jam, just until it swells but does not overflow.
6. Into a second piping bag, fill jam on one side and peanut butter frosting on the other side. Pipe frosting into a swirl on each cupcake. Let cupcakes set in the fridge for about 15 minutes before serving.

ALEXIS NOTES: I made regular size cupcakes, easy to travel with since I have cupcake holders I use for my charity cupcakes. I used my cupcake center tool to take out the centers to inject the jelly.

Enjoy!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Valentine Cookies Made ... Lips

I couldn't resist making lips to match the Valentine Kiss card I made for Caden's class. Now I know homemade cookies are usually no no's BUT I bake as a side job SOOO I'm a business on the side and I hired myself to make cookies .. yup my story and I'm sticking too it! 

What you Need:

Lip Cookie Cutter (I found a Valentine 3 pack w/ the lips at Hobby Lobby)

Red Food Gel Color

Sugar Cookies

Royal Icing (Recipe at the bottom of post)

 

I made sugar cookies using my favorite sugar cookie recipe. After they cooled I frosted them with red royal icing (using AmeriColor food color gel). I'm working on my piping skills, but I must say I was happy with how they turned out.

See my Amazon Prime Shopping comes in handy!

GREAT boxes to send to school!

For Royal Icing:

Royal Icing what you need:

2 lbs Powdered Sugar

1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

5 Large Egg Whites (or equivalent) 

Flavor to Taste

Gel Icing Color

Mix powder sugar and cream of tartar in your mixer, just to make sure it is incorporated in. Slowly add egg whites, then whip start of slow then go to very high speed. She says around 2 minutes, my friend had an older mixer so it took almost 10 minutes. You want stiff peaks that hold on and won't fall off the spoon. Add in your flavor, I would suggest you use a clear flavoring.  This would be the glue texture great for ginger bread houses etc.

Take 1 cup of royal icing in a smaller bowl then add your coloring, lightly mix so you don't get air into the the icing. I'm like her and like the gel coloring. 

For Top Coating - Add 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 tsp Water (This is if you don't want to outline and flood)

For Outlining - Add 1/2 to 3/4 tsp Water

For Flooding  - Add 2 to 3 tsp Water

WATCH her video on How to Top-Coat, Outline, and Flood Cookies. YES it is around 7 minutes BUT if you have never done this technique it's a MUST she explains it perfectly.

Pizza Meatloaf with Ranch Roasted Red Potatoes

Next was a requested meal of meatloaf and potatoes. Over the years I've done SEVERAL different versions of meatloaf. This past week I found an amazing recipe on .... YES you called it Drizzle Me Skinny for Pizza Meatloaf. My husband actually liked it so much he has asked that we do it again soon. To go with the meatloaf I found a skinny Ranch Roasted  Red Potatoes on Laaloosh that was really tasty also.

Pizza Meatloaf:

Ingredients

• 1.5lbs raw extra lean ground beef
• ½ cup diced peppers
• ½ cup diced onion
• ½ cup panko bread crumbs
• ⅓ cup reduced fat shredded mozzarella
• ⅓ cup pizza sauce
• 2 tsp italian seasoning
• 20 pepperoni slices, cut into small pieces (56g)
• Topping
• 2 Tbsp pizza sauce
• ¼ cup reduced fat shredded mozzarella
• 15 pepperoni slices (42g)
• Sprinkle of italian seasoning

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with parchment paper (use a baking sheet with raised edges as there will be grease from your beef as it's cooking)
2. Cut your 20 slices of pepperoni up into small pieces.
3. In a large bowl mix all of your ingredients together using your hands (except topping ingredients)
4. Form into a log shape, approx 10 inches long.
5. Bake in oven for 55 minutes, remove from oven and spoon your 2T pizza sauce on top. Add cheese and top with pepperoni slices and seasoning. Return back to oven for 15-20 minutes.
6. Let cool for 5 minutes then cut into 8 slices. Each slice is 4sp or 4pp
7. *Note, you can cut slices thinner for more of a yield, there is 34 smart points in total in recipe based of my ingredients, so if you cut into 10 slices you can do the math.. Feel free to add extra 0 point toppings such as mushrooms..
8. * I added pictures of the nutritional info for both my pepperoni and my cheese so you can compare with a similar brand.

ALEXIS NOTES: I used Turkey pepperoni.

Ranch Roasted Red Potatoes:

Ingredients

• 12 oz red potatoes, washed and quartered
• 1 packet Ranch Dressing Dry Mix
• Non fat, olive oil cooking spray
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large bowl add potatoes and spray lightly with the cooking spray. Then, add in the Ranch mix and salt, and toss well to coat each potato piece evenly.
3. Spray a baking sheet with non stick cooking spray and spread out potatoes evenly on sheet.
4. Bake in oven until potatoes are cooked through, and edges start to turn very dark brown, approximately 20-25 minutes.

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Chicken Bacon Alfredo Pasta Bake (Drizzle Me Skinny)

Another Hit meal that I prepped a head of time and put in the oven right before I went to sit in the sauna to kick this sinus infection.  Now my turkey bacon got a little darker then I wanted but I will eat bacon any way .. lol.

Another great recipe from my new favorite site for meal planning, Drizzle Me Skinny! She posted this Chicken Bacon Alfredo Pasta Bake and I knew I had to make it! I was in heaven and even slipped in some broccoli and no one cared!

Ingredients

• 2 cups (uncooked) 100% whole wheat high fiber pasta (see picture below for the kind I use)
• 10 oz cooked shredded chicken breast
• 1 cup reduced fat alredo sauce
• ¼ cup light ranch dressing
• ¼ cup almond milk
• ⅔ cups light shredded mozzarella cheese
• 4 slices Oscar Mayer center cut bacon, cooked and crumbled (as an alternative you can use bacon crumbs or turkey bacon)

Instructions

1. Boil your pasta on the stove.
2. Preheat oven to 350F, spray a 9x13 casserole dish.
3. In a large bowl mix your pasta, cooked chicken, alfredo sauce, ranch and milk together.
4. *Optional, feel free to add in vegetables, I just choose not to. It will not increase the point values
5. Pour out into your casserole dish and top with cheese and then your bacon.
6. Bake in oven for 20 minutes. Cut into 6 servings.. 6pp and 7sp per serving

Alexis Notes: I used turkey bacon (which got a little darker then needed) and I added broccoli. I also cheated and threw this all into the casserole dish and baked it in the oven at 350 for 50 min. The noodles went in uncooked and the juices and etc cooked them. I also added in 1/2 cup of broth (which will throw off your numbers, I'm not doing WW just like healthy meal options).

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.