Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Onion & Garlic Beef Pizza

Pizza!  Pizza!
(Serves 2)

Making a home made pizza is fun & easy. The toppings for a great pizza are endless! This delicious pizza is covered in cheese, ground beef, onion and garlic.    




       Ingredients:
           1/2 lb. Ground Beef
           Pizza Crust Mix (I used Betty Crocker)
                1/2 Can Pizza Sauce
           1/4 Cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese
           1/2 Cup Italian Blend Cheese
           1/4 Cup Onions, Chopped
           1 Clove of Garlic, Chopped
           Pam Cooking Spray

           Ground Beef Seasoning: (Season to taste)
               1/2 tea.Oregano
               1/2 tea.Sage
               1/2 tea. Italian Seasoning,  
               1/4 tea. Onion Salt
               1/4 tea. Garlic salt

                               


Let's Get Cooking!


1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. (Or to the temperature on the Pizza crust      
    mix package)

2. Brown ground beef in a large skillet on medium-high heat until brown. I    
    seasoned the ground beef with: Oregano, Sage, Italian Seasoning, Onion 
    Salt and garlic salt. When done, drain and set aside.While ground beef is 
    cooking, prepare your pizza crust according to the package directions

3.  Spray cookie sheet or pizza pan with Pam. Spread prepared pizza crust mix    
     onto your cookie sheet.

4.  Add Sauce, spreading evening over the pizza dough. (I added about 1/4  
     teaspoon of Italian seasoning on-top of the sauce. 

5.   Next, Spread Sharp Cheddar Cheese and Italian 
      Blend Cheese evenly onto pizza. 
6.   Then add, Onions, Garlic and Ground beef. Spreading 
      Ingredients evenly over pizza. 
7.  Cook Pizza according to Pizza Crust Mix Directions. I cooked ours for 11  
     Minutes at 425 Degrees F. Cook your pizza on the lowest rack in the Oven.


Enjoy!





* I'm still working on getting better pictures up.


Friday, October 26, 2012

Nutty Brownies

Nutty Brownies

Here is a quick, from scratch Brownie recipe that will leave all chocolate and nut-lovers happy. 


What you will need:

1 Cup Butter 
2 Cups White Sugar
1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
4 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 Teaspoon baking powder 
  1/2 Teaspoon Salt
   1 cup walnut halves


Time to Cook!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Melt the butter in a medium bowl.  Next add the White Sugar & Cocoa Powder  and Vanilla Extract. When mixed, begin adding and mixing one egg at a time. Then add Flour, Baking Powder, and Salt. After you have mixed all your ingredients add the Walnuts! 

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes in a 9 x 13 inch greased pan. Enjoy!






Thursday, October 25, 2012

Lasagna Roll-Ups

Lasagna Roll-Ups



After making this dish my husband said "This is the best meal you have made me!". With that I accepted the challenge to continue making awesome meals for us.  Lasagna Roll-Ups are an easy meal to make during the week or on the weekend. Since it was my first time making them, Prep time was about 30 minutes and cooking time was about 20 minutes. Bear in mind that part of your "prep time" you will be cooking at the same time.


What you will need:

8 Lasagna Noodles
1/2 lbd.  Ground Italian Sausage 
1 Tablespoon Olive oil
1 1/2  Clove Garlic
1/2 Onion
1 Tablespoon Garlic Salt
1 Teaspoon Pepper
1 can Crushed Tomatoes (14.5 oz)
1 Egg
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 1/2 Tablespoon Fresh Basil, chopped
1 1/2 Tablespoon Fresh Oregano, chopped
1/4 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

Let's Get Cooking!

First, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Next, heat a large pot of water to boiling over high heat.  When it reaches a boil, add a pinch or two of salt and place noodles into the water.  Stir occasionally and cook the noodles so the are firm but not hard. When the noodles are done,  drain them and set aside.

Meanwhile (while noodles are cooking)  in a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add garlic and onion and saute for 2-3 minutes.  Next add ground Italian sausage  and cook until almost brown.  When almost cooked through, add your can of crushed tomatoes and reduce heat to medium low.  Cover skillet and let simmer for about 15 minutes.  

Now for the good stuff!  In a small bowl, lightly beat an egg.  Add ricotta, Parmesan, basil, oregano, pepper and garlic salt and stir together.  Spray pan lightly with cooking spray.   To assemble, on a drained noodle, add a spoonful of ricotta mixture.  Then top the ricotta mix with a spoonful of meat sauce and roll up.  Place seam side down in pan (I found that if you don't it still come out good).  Continue until you've used all the noodles.  Use any remaining sauce mix and pour it onto your lasagna rolls and  sprinkle with mozzarella and crushed red pepper flakes.  Bake approximately 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Let cool. Enjoy! 





After Cooking Notes:
This recipe already  calls for a good amount of cheese. But if you are a cheese lover like my husband and I are, then I recommend adding some Parmesan cheese to the top before you eat your lasagna rolls. It gives it a gooey-cheesy goodness!