Spaghetti Pie

*Jeff emailed me this recipe that he got from one of his co-workers and wife. I love when he gives me suggestions and this seemed pretty easy so I went for it. I would call this a kid favorite--a cross between spaghetti, pizza, and lasagna. Nothing fancy, but an easy dinner that will have kids asking for seconds--or even thirds.

Ingredients:
½ pound spaghetti, cooked
2 eggs
¼ c. Parmesan cheese
½ tsp. salt
¼ lb. pepperoni
2 c. mozzarella cheese (I used a combination of cheddar, mozzarella, and monterey jack)
2 c. spaghetti sauce

Directions:
Combine spaghetti, eggs, parmesan cheese, and salt. Mix thoroughly. Grease 9 x 13 baking dish and place half the mixture in bottom. Layer top with half of pepperoni and mozzarella cheese. Then layer remaining spaghetti mixture. Add remaining pepperoni and mozzarella cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees. Cut into squares and serve topped with sauce.

Uncle Tony's Pizza Crust

From This Week for Dinner

Ingredients:

3 C flour
1 t salt
1 T or 1 pkg yeast dissolved in 1/4 C warm water
1 T sugar

1 C cold water plus 1 T olive oil, mixed

Directions:

In mixer, blend altogether. Let rest for 20 min. Knead and roll out and let rise again for 10 min.  Spread with oil or sauce, toppings, cheese.  Bake 425 for 25 min.  Cover pizza dish with sprinkled cornmeal before spreading out dough.  A little tip: the stickier the dough the crispier the crust.

*I one and 1/2'd this recipe and it was perfect for 2 large pizzas.

Italian Chicken Panini Pizza

From This Week for Dinner

*This was a great idea for pizza--dressing for the sauce.  I really liked it--Jeff liked it better than the pepperoni I made for the kids, but after the first piece, I caught him pulling off the spinach (daddies and their veggies!).


Ingredients:
Uncle Tony's Pizza Crust or anther pizza crust that you like
Light Italian Dressing (I used Ken's)
1-2 grilled chicken breasts, sliced (marinated in Italian dressing before grilling and seasoned with salt & pepper)
1-2 tomatoes, sliced (I actually used a handful of cherry tomatoes sliced)
couple handfuls of fresh spinach
mozzarella cheese (or a combination of monterey jack cheese & Parmesan)

Directions:
1.  Prepare crust.  Spread 2-3 T of Italian dressing on crust.  Top with spinach, chicken, tomatoes, and cheese.

2.  Bake in the oven on a pizza stone with your oven at 500 degrees, about 8-10 minutes or until crust browns and cheese is bubbly.

Peach Cobbler

Adapted from Allrecipes

Cobbler mix:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

6 T unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

1/4 cup boiling water

Topping:

3 T white sugar

1 t ground cinnamon

I used these frozen peaches plus 1 t cornstarch and 1/4 t ground cinnamon

or use:

8 fresh peaches; peeled, pitted and sliced

1/4 c while sugar

1/4 c brown sugar

1/4 t ground cinnamon

1/8 t ground nutmeg

1 t fresh lemon juice

2 t cornstarch

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2.  In a large bowl, combine peaches, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly, and pour into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips, or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.
4. Remove peaches from oven, and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Sprinkle entire cobbler with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake until topping is golden, about 30 minutes.

*I just used the cobbler mix and cooked it on some peaches I had frozen in juice. It seems so good cooking! Jeff said it was his favorite!

Andy's Spicy Green Chile Pork

From Allrecipes

Ingredients:
1 white onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
2 1/2 pounds pork shoulder roast
1 (16 ounce) jar green salsa
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 Serrano chile peppers, or to taste (I used some banana peppers from my garden)


Directions:
1.  Layer the chopped onion into the bottom of a slow cooker.  Season the pork shoulder with salt and pepper; place atop the chopped onion.  Pour the green salsa over the pork.  Sprinkle the cilantro over the salsa and pork.  Drop the Serrano chile peppers into the slow cooker.
2.  Cook on low until the meal falls apart easily, about 8 hours.  Gently remove the pork to a cutting board.  Strain and discard about half the remaining liquid from the slow cooker, reserving the rest.  Discard the onions, peppers, and cilantro if desired.
3.  Shred the pork shoulder with a pair of forks.  Mix the pork with the reserved liquid from the slow cooker to serve.

*This was tasty and simple.  A good one to add to the rotation.

Applesauce

Directions here

I only used one kind of apple, golden delicious (which I think has a very high-content of water).  Jacob loved it!

Chicken Divan

2-3 chicken breasts cooked and shredded
½ frozen bag of broccoli (can use fresh), cooked slightly
1 can cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup grated cheese
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1 Tbs melted butter
2 Tbs lemon juice

Arrange chicken in bottom of greased 8 x 8 pan.  Place broccoli on top of chicken. Combine soup, mayo, cheese, lemon juice and heat until cheese melts and everything is smooth. Pour over chicken and broccoli.  Mix melted butter and bread crumbs together. Sprinkle over the top. Bake, covered with tinfoil at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

*I had some leftover grilled chicken from the other night and a bunch of fresh broccoli that I wanted to use so we thought we'd give this a try.  It was simple and easy--at first my 6 year old wasn't too eager to try it, but with the first bite in his mouth he said, "Yummmm."  This went together fast.  The only change I would make is less bread crumbs--maybe 1/4 of a cup.  Be sure to serve with potatoes and fruit or another filler to offset the richness of this meal.  I didn't cook the broccoli beforehand or cover with tinfoil and it turned out just fine.