vegetable pizza

Love this! Great for baby showers or really anytime. Its one of my favorite things to have at a party besides fruit pizza!


You will need:

• 2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent rolls
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 (1 ounce) package dry Ranch-style dressing mix
• 1 cup fresh broccoli, chopped
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 cup chopped cauliflower
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Roll out the crescent roll dough onto a 9x13 inch baking sheet, and pinch together edges to form the pizza crust.
3. Bake crust for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Once finished cooking, remove crust from oven and let cool 15 minutes without removing it from the baking sheet.
4. In a small mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, and dry Ranch dressing. Spread the mixture over the cooled crust. Arrange broccoli, tomato, green bell pepper, cauliflower, shredded carrots, and Cheddar cheese over the cream cheese layer. Chill for one hour, slice and serve.

86 Garlic Citrus chicken (crockpot remix)

I've made this recipe with my oven forever. It's been in our rotation for a while now originally got this from the food network but I tweaked it quite a bit. The original recipe is posted here. The thing is when it's summer time I really try not to use the oven alot since we don't have air conditioning in that part of the house and cooking time is over an hour, and there's alot that goes into that recipe but totally worth it. The taste is similar to rotisserie chicken you buy in the store.

You will need

1 (5 to 6-pound) whole roasting chicken, neck and giblets discarded
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 orange, quartered
1 lemon, quartered
1 head garlic, halved crosswise, plus 3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 (14-ounce) cans reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning 


1. Rinse chicken and salt and pepper the inside cavity and salt the outside.

2. Take the fruit and garlic head and stuff it inside the chicken you most likely will find it won't all fit what I do is stuff it under the skin and it comes out beautifully.

3. place in crock pot and cook on high for 4-5 hours (for a 3-4 pound chicken) chicken should reach 170 degrees when done. While the chicken is cooking, make the basting sauce add 1/4 cup lemon juice, oil, 1/4 orange juice concentrate, 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, and 2 cloves garlic (minced) whisk together. (pour over chicken  twice during cooking time)

Serve with 2 dishes.

Fruit Pizza

There are many variations to this recipe. I usually use whatever is available or what I've got a huge taste for. I love the strawberry banana. I grew up loving this after having it at several of my mom's friend's Christmas parties (they were legendary over 100 people would come and go on Christmas eve!)

You will need:

1 roll of sugar cookie dough (it's so much quicker and easier if you purchase but you can also make your own)
1 cup sugar
2 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened
1 16oz bag frozen strawberries
1 16oz bag frozen mango
2-3 bananas, sliced a little splash of lemon juice will prevent them from browning
2 kiwi, sliced

1 Spread cookie dough on pizza pan and bake (every oven is different bake at 350 and watch after 10 minutes. take out when cookie is a golden brown.

2. Allow cookie to cool. I put mine in the refrigerator to speed this up.

3. While cookie is cooling put cream cheese and sugar in a bowl and mix until it's smooth and well Incorporated. Then spread on cookie.

4. If you have little helpers this is where you can have them help decorate the pizza.

5. Chill in the refrigerator until time to serve, refrigerate leftovers if there is any :)

Peach Mango Cobbler

I am a Mango Fanatic. There I said it. Most people who know me know how much I love Mangoes. I've long ago heard that Mangoes and Peaches are a part of the same family. And it's been some people's secret to add Mangoes to their peach cobbler. I tried and tried to find a recipe that is just right but came up empty. So I've had to concoct  my own. Perhaps you've seen one like this, there's a lot of peach cobbler recipes out there.


You will need:

1 16 oz package of frozen Mango, thawed
1 16 oz package of frozen peaches, thawed
2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup water
8 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups self rising flour
1 1/2 cups milk
Vanilla bean ice cream 

Directions:
1. preheat oven to 350.

2. Mix mangoes and peaches in a large sauce  pan on the stove with 1 cup sugar and water. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Put the butter in baking dish and place in the oven to melt.

4.Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup.  Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

Serve with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. 

Spicy Chicken Spaghetti

20 recipes to go and my food blog will have 100 recipes! We're having spaghetti tonight but it's just your simple ground turkey spaghetti not really recipe worthy LOL. I so need to go to the grocery store but since it's Wednesday (we run a scouting program for boys at our church) and our busiest night of the week I don't have time to go to the grocery store :(

This makes a huge amount so  there are a number of options you can use this recipe for:

1. Weekend meals, put leftovers in individual containers and you have meals ready to go so you can enjoy a weekend without having to cook so much.

2. If you have to take a meal to someone (baby or funeral) take half and save half for your family.

3. Church or family get togethers


you will need:

16 oz. package of spaghetti
5 cups of boiled chicken chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 onion chopped
1/2 red pepper (the sweet kind I usually use a whole one because I love sweet red peppers)
1 stick of butter plus one T (yes this sounds like a lot but this feeds 12 people)
2 cups shredded velveeta
1 can ro-tel (I use the cilantro and lime flavor but if you can't find that original works fine too)
1 sleeve buttery crackers


1. Preheat oven to 350
2.  Boil chicken until cooked through
3. Remove chicken from pan reserving broth
4. cook chicken and boil spaghetti in reserved broth according to package directions.
5. while spaghetti is cooking saute' chopped onion and red pepper til tender in one tablespoon butter
6. Drain Spaghetti and mix with chicken, soups, onion, pepper and rotel.
7. Spoon into a greased 9x13 pan.
8. melt remaining butter.
9. crush crackers finely and mix with butter.
10. top spaghetti with cracker mixture and bake until brown and bubbly, about 40 minutes.


Serves 10-12

Serendipity Frozen Hot chocolate

This is from the famous Serendipity restaurant in NYC. They also have one in Las Vegas! This treat isn't cheap they charge about $9 . And there aren't too many locations so if you can get to a Serendipity to purchase one try this recipe! You can buy the mix on their website as well as some other neat gifts.

you will need:
1/3 cup instant non fat dry milk
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons Ghiradelli cocoa
1 tablespoon Hershey's cocoa
1 tablespoon of another brand I use land o lakes cocoa in white chocolate :) since they come in all kinds of flavors you can change things up a bit!
1 Cup milk
3 cups ice
1 can whipped cream
chocolate shavings from a Hershey chocolate bar


1. Mix dry milk, sugar and the cocoa mixes into a bowl.
2. Pour milk into your blender
3.  Add powder mix that you made in step 1.
4. Add ice and blend.


Put in a ice cream dish and add whipped cream. Garnish with chocolate shavings.

note to make chocolate shavings simply use a vegetable peeler and shave a little from the side of the bar.

Snickers Salad

Had this at a Christmas party several times and I love it! The nice lady who gave me the recipe says she always doubles this recipe because everyone loves it so much :)

8oz cream cheese, softened
7oz jar Marshmallow cream
1 small tub whipped cream, thawed
1 bag of miniature snickers, quartered
1 1/2 granny smith apples cubed

1. combine cream cheese and marshmallow cream.
2. Add whipped cream.
3. Stir in snickers and apples
4 keep refrigerated.

serves 6-8