Kids in the Kitchen: Pepperoni Pizza Pinwheels

I had a very cute assistant tonight help me prepare our dinner.  She donned her new apron from her Mimi and got right to work preparing our fun pepperoni pizza pinwheels.  It is yet another recipe from the Southern Living Ultimate Quick and Easy Cookbook (I gave a HUGE hint at dinner tonight that the cookbook would make a great Mother’s Day gift….I said something like, “It would make a great Mother’s Day gift.”…subtle ehh???)  It is quick to prepare and yummy to eat!

My very cute assistant.

Pepperoni Pizza Pinwheels

Unroll on a cutting board into a rectangle that is about 12 x 9:

• 1 (10 oz) can refrigerated pizza crust —I used the Pillsbury thin crust pizza crust you find in the refrigerated biscuit section.

Sprinkle the crust with:

• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend
• Pepperoni slices

Roll up the crust, starting with the long side.  (This was a bit tricky as the crust had warmed up some.  I got it started and rolled it several times before my assistant took over.)

Once it is rolled up, moisten the edge with water and pinch the seam to seal.  (We wet our pointer finger and thumbs and pinched it shut—my assistant liked that!)

Cut into 1 inch wide slices and place about 1 inch apart on a large jellyroll pan (15 x 10 inches or so) that has been lined with foil and then lightly greased.

Bake at 400° for 12 to 14 minutes or until golden.

While those bake, whip up some sauce.  I didn’t want to waste opening a jar of spaghetti sauce like the recipe suggested so I made my own.  I opened an 8 oz can of tomato sauce then doctored it up with some Italian seasoning blends I have in our pantry.  There was more than enough.

Serve immediately with warmed sauce.

I made this on a night that Brad was not home so I just sliced apples and served the pinwheels….done.  BUT we ate all but one pinwheel.  So if we were all home, I would serve this with a salad and some fruit; even then it is a quick and easy meal.

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Enchilada Casserole- Slow Cooker

Here is another “near” magic pot recipe that we tried tonight.  It is a vegetarian dish that also earned 4 smiley faces from our family of four.  It is intended to be prepared in a smaller slow cooker ( 3 1/2 quart) but it worked fine in my big slow cooker.  If I have more than four mouths at my table it would be easy to double this one.  I made this exactly like the recipe out of the Southern Living Ultimate Quick and Easy Cookbook except that I used a 15 oz can of corn rather than an 11 oz can of mexi-corn.  I just hate to pay more for that!

Enchilada Casserole

Stir together in your slow cooker:

• 2 Tablespoons chopped green chiles
• 3/4 cup chunky salsa (I used Pace’s mild version)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can yellow corn
• 1 10 oz can of enchilada sauce (I used Old El Paso’s Green Enchilada sauce)

Cover and cook on Low for 4 hours

Stir together in a bowl:

• 1 Tablespoon green chiles
• 1 package corn muffin mix (8.5 oz box version)
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 Tablespoons chopped roasted red bell peppers

Spoon the batter evenly over the bean mixture in the slow cooker (well, mine was more like glop it on top of the enchilada mix)

Cover and cook on Low for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until cornbread is done.

Sprinkle over the cornbread:

• 1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or mexican blend as I did….hmmmm….maybe I didn’t follow the recipe exactly)

Cover and allow the cheese to melt

Serve with sour cream if desired.

Obviously the spicier your salsa the spicier the dish.  I was cooking for mild-mouths so we made it more tame.  I served it with Ranch Style Beans, a green salad and apple slices.

Enjoy!

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Chicken Lasagna Florentine- Slow Cooker

Magic Pot Alert!  Yep, this one is a dump and go kind of recipe….my kind of slow cooker meal.  It gets four smiley faces from my family of four.  The only thing you have to plan for is to be home for the first hour of cooking as you cook on high for one hour and then reduce it to low for the next 5 hours. *  I found the base for this recipe in a Southern Living Ultimate Quick and Easy Cookbook that I checked out from a local library.

Chicken Lasagna Florentine

Combine in a large bowl and stir well:

• 2 cans of cream of chicken soup
• 10 ounces of frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry (I used frozen from Trader Joe’s and didn’t need to drain and squeeze)
• 2-3 cups of diced, cooked chicken (I used some shredded chicken that I had in the freezer, you could also use the Tyson’s diced cooked chicken)
• 8 ounces of sour cream
• 1 cup of milk
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1 Tablespoon of Penzey’s Mural of Flavor (a mix of spices, dried shallots, onion, garlic, lemon peel, citric acid, chives, orange peel)  If you don’t have this, one variation I found online has 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg.
• salt and pepper to taste

Place in a larger slow cooker, coated with cooking spray (or maybe one of those liners would be good)

• 3 uncooked lasagna noodles, breaking the noodles in half, to fit in the slow cooker. (will need 9 noodles in all for the layers)

Spread one third of the spinach mixture over the noodles.

Sprinkle over the mixture

• 2/3 cup mozzarella cheese

Layer

• 3 more noodles (breaking as needed)
• half of the remaining spinach mixture
• 2/3 cup mozzarella cheese

Top with the remaining noodles, mixture, and cheese.

Cover and cook on High for 1 hour

Reduce to Low and cook for 5 hours or until the pasta is done (mine was fine after 5 hours)

* Note: I did search around before posting this and see that someone did this same base recipe on Low for 8 hours and said it was fine—that way you don’t have to worry about the High/Low switch.

 

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Mediterranean Salmon

No, you aren’t on the wrong blog….I’m actually posting a fish recipe!  It is true that I don’t really care to prepare fish but I know it is healthy and should incorporate it more often.  Almost a month ago, my older brother had a heart attack.  In honor of his recovery, I thought I would dig out some of my heart healthy recipes and post a few.  This is one that has been around our house for over three years and it gets four smiley faces each time I make it.

Preheat oven to 425°

Place in a single layer in an 11 x 7 baking dish, coated with cooking spray

• 4 (6 oz) skinless salmon fillets  (OK, reality check here….I don’t take the skin off as the salmon I buy comes with skin on one side.  AND I just fill the pan so often I have 6 fillets)

Sprinkle over both sides of the fish:

• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper  (confession….I didn’t measure either salt or pepper)

Combine in a bowl and then spoon over fish:

• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup finely chopped zucchini
• 2 Tablespoons capers (I used these the first time I made the recipe and haven’t since as capers are not on my regular shopping list!)
• 1 Tablespoon of olive oil

Bake for 22 minutes.

We usually serve this with a big salad and some bread; and then, because it is fish, I plan on popping popcorn later when I am starving before bed!

My handsome fella found this recipe for me back in 2010 after I had my own little heart incident (not near as life-threatening as my big brother last month though!).    The recipe sheet I have says it was from a cnn.com health link.  So big brother, try out this recipe.  It is easy AND good for your heart.  Love you!

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Tuscan Bean Soup- another easy one

The holidays have come and gone and if you hosted the big meal you are most likely tired of being in the kitchen.  This soup recipe is quick and easy.

Tuscan Bean Soup

In a 4-quart Dutch oven cook and stir over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes:

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup baby carrots, coarsely chopped.  (I chopped mine with a Pampered Chef hand chopper that I’ve had for years.)
• 1 small onion chopped

Add:

• 2 cans of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained  (these are white kidney beans)
• 4 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you want to go vegetarian)
• 2 to 3 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning

Bring to boiling.

Slightly mash beans (I used a potato masher)

Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

On another burner, in a large skillet heat on medium-high

• 2 Tablespoons of olive oil

Add to the skillet and toss with tongs for 1 to 2 minutes until wilted

• 5 ounces of baby spinach

Remove spinach from the heat.

Ladle soup into bowls and top with spinach.  Sprinkle with some pepper and serve with some warm, crusty bread.

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Ro-Tel Chicken

This is an easy one—especially if you have cooked chicken or turkey in the freezer to use up!  I made use of the last bit of turkey from Thanksgiving this week when I made this recipe.

Ro-Tel Chicken (or Turkey!)

Heat in a large skillet which has a lid:  (or if you have 4 cups of chicken/turkey that is already cooked and shredded, as I did from the freezer, just warm it through, season it then add the other ingredients)

• 1 T Vegetable oil
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
• Season the chicken, to taste, with
  • chili powder
  • salt
  • pepper

Add to the cooked chicken:

• 1 cup uncooked rice
• 1 can Ro-Tel  (I used the Great Value Brand of Ro-Tel)
• 1 small can tomato sauce (8 oz)
• 1 cup water—-don’t dirty another dish…just fill the 8 oz tomato sauce can with water and dump it in
• 3 green onions, sliced

Cover

Reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes or until rice is tender (mine took about 30 minutes this time)

Stir chicken and rice.

Top with

• shredded cheese (about 1 cup)

Cover and cook until the cheese melts.

Enjoy!

This actually got four smiley faces from my family of four

 

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Simple Smoked Chicken Sticks

I tried really hard to mess this recipe up and it still turned out tasty!  I don’t know where my brain was while I was preparing it but it wasn’t functioning for sure.  I found this recipe on another blogger’s site after she liked one of my recent posts.  (I thought it only right to go and see who this person was and check out what she might have on her blog!  You should check her out too.  I’ve linked her below)

Since I’m trying to prepare fewer red meat meals for my family, I thought this one might be a good one to try.  Chicken, especially chicken breasts, often have very little flavor and I can’t stand to eat leftover chicken….BUT with this recipe, I’m looking forward to the leftovers.

So on the greengourmetbooks.com you will find:

Simple Smoked Chicken Picnic Sticks

I used

• 3 large chicken breasts and cut them in 1″ wide strips but then cut those down to where they were nice, finger food size. This made enough for my family of four.

Then I doubled the “rub” because remember, I LOVE flavor.

So mine was:

• 2 Tbsp Smoked Paprika  (Yes, they make this.  If your spice jar just says “paprika” then you don’t have smoked, you have sweet. Purchase the one that says “smoked paprika” evidently there is also a “hot paprika” too)
• 4 teaspoons Brown Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Mustard Powder
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil (Of course this would be “brain blink” #1—-I forgot to put the olive oil in until I had rubbed the spice mix on half of my chicken.  So then I sprayed the already rubbed chicken with cooking spray and since 1/2 of the rub was gone I then only added 1 T of Olive Oil….see what I mean by trying hard)
• Salt and Pepper to taste (This would be “brain blink” #2—I forgot this altogether.  My handsome fella loves salt so I remembered about 12 minutes into the baking and pulled them out and sprinkled everything with salt and pepper.)

Lori at greengourmetbooks.com says that these are great served cold for a picnic or bagged lunch OR serve hot on a bed of rice for a family dinner.  Well, that would be “brain blink” #3…I forgot to make the rice and had every intention of preparing it.

So we just ate ours with the corn-on-the-cob, Ranch Style beans, and apple slices- no rice.

This is a winner of a recipe—even my child that had been running fever all day ate some without being asked to eat.  We will be having this again—maybe next time for a picnic in the park!

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Taco Soup- a much tastier “can-can” dinner.

Tonight we are having Taco Soup at our house.  I already have it going in the crock-pot which will allow me to keep working on my weekend project of shifting Heather’s room to what used to be the office.

If you saw my post from last Thursday, I talked about doing the “can-can” for dinner and opening a few cans to warm for the girls to eat- an easy, kid loving (at least mine loved it) meal.

Well, today’s is almost a can-can too but much tastier.  Armed with a can opener and a little kindergarten helper, I threw this together after we finished lunch.  There are many versions of this recipe.  This is the one that my mother-in-law has made for us.  It is now a tradition for us to have this on Christmas Eve before heading to church for the Christmas Eve service-it is just so easy for a busy day.  We do enjoy it other times during the year too.

Taco Soup

Here is all you need!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brown in a skillet:

• 1 to 1 1/2 lbs of hamburger meat
• 1 large onion, chopped

Combine in the crock-pot:

• The meat and onions
• 1 package of taco mix
• 1 package of Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing mix
• 1 15.5 oz can kidney beans
• 1 15 oz can pinto beans
• 1 10 oz can Ro-Tel
• 1 15.5 oz can yellow hominy (or corn if you prefer)
• 2 14.5 oz can tomatoes (I used diced today, but you could use stewed also)

Cook on High in the Crock Pot for 2 hours, Low for 4 hours.  If you want to make it on the stove top, simply simmer the ingredients in a large pot for 30-40 minutes.

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