Pizza Balls

Exactly!!

I was inspired to make these when a friend took us to their favorite pizza place.  You could choose any 1 or 2 toppings to put in them and they came 6 in a basket. We would drizzle ranch on them.  My kids loved them!! But they could eat a ton of them....  So guess what???  I figured out how to make them.

I tried it with refrigerater pizza dough the other night and they were good.  Today I decided to use my own homemade pizza dough.  It's dirt cheap to make and tastes great!

Whichever way you decide to try to make them start with a bunch of dough cut into golf ball sized chunks....

Have your pizza toppings ready, garlic, cheese, pepperoni, onions, whatever you like.  Keep it to 1 or 2 plus the cheese.

Flatten your little ball of dough add your toppings and cheese. Wrap up the little guys and pinch to seal. Make sure they are sealed well.

Sounds simple but ther is a little bit of a trick to it.  If you get the dough too thin and don't seal it all the way your toppings will come out of it while it bakes.

Keep the rest of the dough covered while you work so it doesn't dry out.

If you are making some with different flavors be sure to mark them. I put a little green onion on the one with onions in it.

Bake at 450 for about 10 minutes.  Serve hot with ranch dressing to dip with.

I Baked most of mine for only about 4 minutes, cooled then froze. 

 The kids can bake them from frozen for an after school snack, or a quick lunch.

Using my pizza dough recipe I made 36 pizza balls.

Bread Machine Pizza Dough

I have used this recipe for Pizza and Calzones.  It's an easy recipe that comes out great every time.  I love using my bread machine for just the dough cycle.

1 Cup plus 2 Tabelspoons water
2 Tabelspoons olive oil
2Tabelspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
2 Teaspoons granulated yeast

Place ingredients in order listed in your bread machine. set machine to dough cycle.

When the dough cycle is complete, take the dough out of machine and place in well greased bowl, and roll the dough around so the whole ball is coated in oil.  cover and let rise in warm place for about 1/2 hour.

Knead the risen dough lightly.

At this point shape the dough how ever you want. Family size pizza, Mini Pizza's, or make calzones.  For a crispy crust par bake the dough before adding pizza toppings.  You could also par bake the crust and freeze for later use.   

This particular batch as a specific use.  I'm going to make PIZZA BALLS!!

No Fuss Meatloaf

Everyone hat their favorite meatloaf recipe.

Here's mine!

2 lbs ground beef
2 eggs
1 envelope italian salad dressing mix
2 Cup Bread crumbs

I use my Kitchen aid mixer for this.  No more messy hands and the seasonings get mixed throughout the meat.  Just throw it all in and turn it on....    Shape into a  small casserole dish. (2 lbs won't fit in a loaf pan)   Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until cooked through.

This is a great tastinig simple meatloaf.  I can take the meat out to thaw before work and throw everything together pretty fast.   Serve with twice baked potao casserole  and a green salad for a fantastic comfort food family meal. 

If doing "Freezer Cooking" line casserole dish with Saran wrap and freeze. Once its solid pull out of cassrole dish and wrap to freeze. To cook, unwrap and thaw in cassrole dish.  Bake as directed above

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Sitting around the fooball field at practice one night I was told about this easy side dish

Boil enough potatos for your family. I always throw in a couple of extra.    If you chunk them before boiling the cooking time is only about 20 min. Drain potatoes.

Hello Kitchen Aid mixer......

Place potatoes in mixer, skins and all

Add  1/4 cup butter

         1/2 cup sour cream

         enough milk to make mashed potao consistancy

Then Load them up with shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled bacon, garlic, onions.  

Just picture a fully loaded baked potato all mixed together.  Place it in a casserole dish and bake until heated through and top is nice and browned.   This dish can easily be made ahead and baked later.

Honey Mustard Chicken

I once had a cookbook called 365 Ways to Cook Chicken.  Pretty good cookbook.  This family faorite recipe came out of it. I guess it's what you'd call my "go to" chicken recipe.

You'll need:

Boneless skinless chicken breasts. 
1/4 stick butter melted
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup spicy brown mustard
2 cloves minced garlic
Pinch of salt and pepper

I usually have boneless skinless chicken breasts  ready to go from the freezer and just pull out a pkg in the morning.  After work I can whip this dish up in about 10 minutes, then pop it in the oven.

Place chicken in baking dish.  Mix together all other ingredients and pour over chicken.
Bake at 350 for 50 minutes.  Baste chicken every 15 minutes with the juices.  The chicken gets a nice carmelized coating on it.  Serve with homemade rice a roni and a vegetable. 

Homemade Rice a Roni

I discovered a long time ago that 1 box of Rice a Roni was not enough for dinner for my family.... the thought of having to buy and make 2 boxes is more than a little rediculous.....   Making my own is so much easier, and cheaper. 

1 1/2 cup rice
1/2 cup broken thin noodles (1/2 inch or so)
2 T butter
1 T Italian herb seasonings
1/2 cup slivered almonds
3 cup chicken or beef broth

Melt butter in skillet on med heat. Add rice and noodles.  stir frequently till rice browns.  Add Almonds broth and herb seasonings.  Reduce heat to low and cover for 15-20 min.  check and stir once in a while to loosten rice from skillet.   Serve hot

Meat Pies

My Grandmother use to make meat pie. A whole pie filled with meat, potatoes, onions, and gravy.  While we absolutely loved it I found the kids when they were little weren't so keen on it. 1/2 of the pie would end up going to waste.  So I decided to make these little hand held versions.  Usually I would use leftover pot roast for the meat but I wanted to make up a batch for the freezer this time and I got a deal on beef sirloin roasts.  I used one to make Nana's Casserole and along side it cooked the other roast to make these pies.

 I just put some lipton onion soup mix and worcestershire on the roast and wrapped it in foil

Cooked it along side my  dinner for that night

Once cooled I cut it into little bite size pieces.  You could also just use leftovers for this.

Microwave a few potatoes until cooked, let cool and dice into small cubes.  Add to the cubed meat. Dice 1 onion and add to bowl.  This is also where I would add some frozen peas, (but I didn't have any).



 Onion gravy has the best flavor for this dish.  Make your own ow mix up a couple of cups of the cheap stuff.

 You want the mixture wet so it holds together but isn't soupy

You could be adventurous and make your own pie crust but I like the pre made kind from the store......

Unroll the pie crust and cut in half

Place about 3/4 cup of meat mixture on to 1/2 of crust

Fold over and pinch sides to seal pie

Place on baking sheet to bake. At this point you can either freeze them for an hour or so then place in ziplock bag.  They are great to pull out for a quick dinner, and there is no waste because it's 1 pie per person. 

Brush pies with egg white and bake at 400 until crust is nice and brown and filling hot.  About 30 minutes.  If baking frozen lower temperature and keep an eye on them.

Serve with extra Onion Gravy at the table.....   

Nana's Casserole

I have no idea why this recipe is named so...... But it is.  A simple, can't screw it up, tastes like your a fantastic chef recipe.  Basically beef tips cooked in a yummy gravy served over egg noodles.


3-3 1/2 lbs of beef.  Stew meat, beef roast, any cut of meat that stands up to long cooking times.  2 Can's of Golden Mushroom soup, 1 envelope of Onion soup mix, and 1/2 cup of red wine (not pictured because I had to go borrow it from my neighbor)

 Yet another tip: make sure you have all of your ingredients BEFORE starting to cook dinner.

Cut meat into large chunks

Mix everything together in a casserole dish 

Bake covered at  300 for 3 1/2 to 4 hours

It is pictured her next to another roast I'm cooking for making meat pies.  I got a great deal on beef sirloin roasts that day.

Just before thae casserole comes out of the oven cook up a package of egg noodles.  Serve Nana's cassrole over egg noodles.  The gravy is so good.

Snack Packs

Aren't they cute!

I have adopted this process and I'm addicted to it.  Not only does it save alot of money and time packing lunches.... They just look so darn cute in the fridge.  I learned about this from my one of my besest online sources Budget101.  The things I learn on that site are great!!! The original article has a huge list of 100 calorie snack pack ideas. Go check it out.

Today I made a bunch up in about 1/2 hour....

Chocolate syrup with banana cream pudding (instant) and whipped cream.

A little chocolate syrup in the bottom and a dollop of whipped cream

Instant jello

  



I also did Chocolate pudding, and some chunked fresh cantelope.  Great for after school snacks or packing a lunch in a rush.  

Maple Almond Scones

This recipe came from one of my new favorite blogs The 5 dollar dinner mom   She posted the recipe for dessert of the month and I just had to try it.  As usual, I toyed with the ingredients to what I had on hand. I was not running out to the store to buy vanilla beans.  My version turned out very tasty.  They should freeze well, assuming there are any left to freeze.

Still learning how to get good pictures so bare with me....

 Start with the dry ingredients

Cut in the Butter

Then add the wet ingredients

Add the almonds

Makes a nice soft dough

Pat it into a rectangle on a floured surface till it's almost 1 inch thick
Cut into squares with a pizza cutter

Then Cut each square into a triangle

Freeze them on a cookie sheet for about 20 minutes.  Bake until golden brown. about 15 min. cool slightly then glaze.



The recipe adapted from the original one

 

2 3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup cold butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp  maple syrup
1/2 cup milk 
1 cup chopped almonds

2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp  maple syrup
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp water, plus 1 tsp at a time until reaches desired consistency

 

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and powder.
Cut in the cold butter until the mixture is crumbly. Love using my patry blender!!

In a small mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla, maple syrup and milk.

Pour into the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms.

Stir in chopped almons gently into the dough.

Place the dough ball on a well floured surface and form the dough into a rectangle about 3/4 to 1 inch high.

Cut into squares with a pizza cutter. Then cut the squares into triangles. Place the mini scones onto a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425.

Make the glaze.....


Bake the scones for 13 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Let cool slightly before glazing.

I found that tipping the tops into the glaze bowl made it alot easier than trying to spread the glaze.