The Pioneer Woman's Easy Calzones - A Recipe

I accidentally came across one of Ree Drummond's shows  (The Pioneer Woman) on the Food Network so I stopped to watch.  I knew who she was from her blog but had just never taken the time to watch her show.  On this particular episode, she was making Easy Calzones.  Well, my family loves calzones and the best place in town that had them, closed recently.  As I watched her show, I realized that these really did seem like easy calzones.  You use frozen yeast bread loaves as the bread and everything else is just pizza stuff.

Since then, I've made these 2 times and both times they were eaten very quickly - even the leftover ones.  Here is part of my last batch.  I'm dreadful at taking food pictures.  The ones on the Pioneer Woman website are way better.

Here is the recipe.  If you are visual, she does a step by step in pictures on her blog here.

Ingredients

• 16 whole Frozen, Unrisen Dinner Rolls (I Use Rhodes) Note: Can Also Use Frozen Bread Loaves.
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
• 1 pound Breakfast Or Italian Sausage
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
• 15 ounces, fluid Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
• 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1-1/2 cup Grated Mozzarella Cheese
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• Black Pepper To Taste
• 2 Tablespoons Chopped Fresh Parsley
• Marinara Sauce, For Serving
• 1 whole Egg Beaten

Preparation Instructions

Place frozen rolls (or frozen bread loaves) on a baking sheet to thaw. Cover with a tea towel and let thaw and rise for 2 to 3 hours.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and allow to cook for a couple of minutes. Add sausage and cook until brown, crumbling the sausage as you stir. Add Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes. Remove from pan and allow to cool on a plate.
In a separate bowl, combine ricotta, Parmesan, mozzarella, eggs, salt, pepper, and parsley. When sausage is cool, stir it in. Set aside.
When rolls are thawed and risen, roll them out on a lightly floured surface until paper thin. Spoon 3-4 tablespoons (approximately) filling onto half of the dough circle. Fold half of the dough over itself, then press edges to seal.
*Note: If you want a larger calzone, use frozen bread loaves and use about 1/4 to 1/3 of the loaf for each calzone.
Brush surface of calzone with beaten egg, then bake for 10-13 minutes, or until nice and golden brown. Serve with warm marinara sauce.

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 One of mine on a purple plate - someday I'll take better food pictures.

The longest part of this recipe is cooking the sausage.  These are so easy and they taste so good. 
I don't make my own marinara.  We use Bertolli brand and they have several flavors, all of which are delicious.

Back to School Breakfast Recipe

Hello all!
Today was the first day back to school for the public schools in our area as well as a few others.  Not ours though.  My son started back last Monday, so we've already been at it for a week!

So, in honor of Back to School, I thought I'd share a yummy easy breakfast bake recipe.

This is from my Bisquick recipe book.  This recipe is called Do Ahead Breakfast Bake.

1 cup diced fully cooked ham (6 oz)

2 boxes Betty Crocker® Seasoned Skillets® hash brown potatoes
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)
1 tablespoon dried chopped onion
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (8 oz)
1 cup Original Bisquick® mix
3 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 eggs

Layer ham, potatoes, bell pepper, onion and 1 cup of the cheese in baking dish. In large bowl, stir Bisquick mix, milk, pepper and eggs until blended. Pour into baking dish; sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese. Cover; refrigerate at least 4 hours but no longer than 24 hours.


Heat oven to 375ºF. Bake uncovered 30 to 35 minutes or until light golden brown around edges and cheese is melted. Let stand 10 minutes.
 
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I used sausage instead of ham and I used frozen hash brown potatoes.  I also used real onion and egg substitute.
 

I made this on the Sunday before my son's first day of school.  I was really hoping that he'd like it even though he doesn't seem to like egg dishes (loves hard boiled eggs on his salad though - go figure).
He liked it ok and tolerated it for about 3 days before he started asking if he could just have a pop tart for breakfast.  I loved it though.  If I could, I'd eat this kind of stuff every day.  It would be great with a bit of sour cream on top.  Or maybe some picante'.  Or both.
 
Anyhoo, I hope everyone had a great first day back to school.

This Weeks Sweet

This weeks sweet treat was a Banana Sour Cream Cake with Cream Cheese Icing.
Yumm!

I get recipes from the Kraft website every once in a while and this was one of them.  Their recipes usually use Kraft products, of course.  But you can substitute other brands.

I made this recipe for Sunday lunch.  My in laws were coming over and I thought they'd like it.  And they did!  My father in law ate 2 pieces plus they took some home with them.  My son didn't like it though.  He said the icing didn't go with the cake and honestly, I kind of agree with him.  I think if I make it again, I'll use a chocolate buttercream frosting or even vanilla buttercream.

If you do make this recipe, I don't recommend that you use fat free cream cheese for the icing.  It makes the icing runny and sticky. 

Here is the recipe, courtesy of kraft.com:

What You Need:
1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
1 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream  (I used Light Daisy)
3 eggs
1/4 cup oil  (I used light olive oil)
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 pkg. (16 oz.) powdered sugar
1 cup finely chopped PLANTERS Walnuts

HEAT oven to 350°F.

BEAT first 5 ingredients with mixer on low speed just until moistened, stopping frequently to scrape bottom and side of bowl. Beat on medium speed 2 min. Pour into greased and floured 13x9-inch pan.
BAKE 35 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.

BEAT cream cheese and butter with mixer until well blended. Gradually beat in sugar.
REMOVE cake from pan. Carefully cut cake crosswise in half using serrated knife. Place 1 cake half, top-side down, on plate; spread with some of the cream cheese frosting. Top with remaining cake half, top-side up. Spread top and sides with remaining frosting. Press nuts into sides. Keep refrigerated.


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All of the adults liked the cake but the kiddo didn't.  The cake part was REALLY good.  Very moist and you could really taste the bananas.  We give it a thumbs up.

Last weeks SWEET - Oreo Balls

A couple of weeks ago, I was reading one of the blogs that I follow ( I can't remember which one and I can't find the post but I think it was a fellow etsymom), and I came across this yummy sounding recipe for Oreo Balls.

I immediately went to the store and got the stuff I needed and proceeded to make only 1/2 of a batch.  I didn't want to make the whole batch in case we didn't like them.  But boy, that sure wasn't something that I needed to worry about.
My son LOVED them.

Here is the recipe:

Oreo Balls

1 - 8 oz. package of cream cheese
1 package of oreos
chocolate chips for melting

Instructions:
Pulverize the entire bag of Oreos in your food processor.  Dump in the whole 8 oz. of cream cheese.  Pulverize some more until it's all blended together and lumps up.  Roll mixture into small balls about 1 inch or so in diameter.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour until they are good and chilled.  Melt chocolate chips in microwave - don't forget to add in shortening so they will melt well for dipping.  Dip oreo balls in chocolate until covered then put on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper.  Refrigerate again until chocolate sets.
Decorate with melted white chocolate or icing in a tube that's available in stores.
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I used fat free cream cheese and reduced fat oreos and it was still decadent and yummy!  These are so rich that I couldn't eat more than 1 or 2 at a time.  They're a great quick and easy treat.  So good in fact, that I actually made them 2 weeks in a row. 

If the etsymom whose blog I saw this on is reading this now, please feel free to leave a comment and take credit for your yuuuuummmmmyyyy oreo balls.  This will definitely be something that I make again.  It's also a great recipe to make if you have sweet little helpers because they could help you roll the balls and decorate.

Last weeks sweet treat!

Last weeks sweet treat that I made for my family was Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes.

I used this recipe that I found on allrecipes.com and had wanted to try for awhile.  I know it calls for a cake mix and in this post, I rambled on and on about only making things from scratch, but what can I say.  I'm a hypocrite.  LOL  It's so sad.  But I really am trying to stick to the made from scratch rule.

Here's the recipe:
Ingredients



1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1 (18.25 ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 1/3 cups water
1/3 cup canola oil
3 eggs

Directions


1.Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and sea salt; set aside. Beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Add 1 egg and the vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips; mixing just enough to evenly combine. Form the dough into tablespoon-sized balls; place onto a baking sheet, and freeze until solid, about 2 hours.


2.Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.


3.Beat 3 eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer to break up. Add the cake mix, water, and canola oil; continue beating for 2 minutes on medium speed. Spoon into the prepared cupcake liners, filling each 2/3 full. Place a frozen cookie dough ball on the top center of each cupcake.


4.Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the cake portion of the cupcake (not the cookie dough ball) comes clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.


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So, basically, you're making the cookie dough part from scratch but using a cake mix for the cupcake part.  I didn't put any icing on them because when we ate them fresh out of the oven, they seemed really sweet and didn't really need icing.  But, the next day they didn't seem as sweet and could have used icing.  A chocolate buttercream would be yummy on top.
 
If you use this recipe, be sure you freeze the dough balls really good - at least 2 hours or else they will cook with the cupcakes.  They turned out pretty good for me.  Although, I didn't like the cake mix cupcake part.  If I make these again, I'll make them all from scratch. 
 
One of the blogs I follow (So, I'm in Texas Now) makes alot of cupcakes and she always posts the recipes.  Here is her's for the same kind of cupcakes.  Her's look way yummier.
 
These are very kid friendly - my son loved them!

Last Week's Sweet - Cherry Butter Cookies

Last week's sweet was Cherry Butter Cookies.  I made half with nuts and half without because my son doesn't like any type of nuts.  I have to put his no nut sweets in  a separate container and label them so that my DH won't eat them all. 

These are one of my favorite cookies because I love cherries and I also love the texture.  They aren't ooey gooey like chocolate chip, but instead have more of a shortbread texture.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

2 cups butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans which is what I use)
10 ounce jar of chopped maraschino cherries  (drain all the juice off and rinse them well or they will have a chemical taste)


Directions
1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.In a large bowl, mix together the butter, vanilla and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Mix in salt, then stir in flour by hand until dough is stiff. Add the walnuts and cherries, and mix into the dough.
3.Roll dough into ping pong sized balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets. Press down balls with a fork to make a criss cross pattern on top.
4.Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven. Let stand on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies.
These are really pretty cookies for the Holidays and also for Valentine's Day because of the red from the cherries.  They are very festive.  And you could also make a batch with the green cherries available during the Christmas season - then you'd have red and green cookies.
I think I'll try that and see how it comes out.

I've entered this recipe in a contest that our local newspaper is having for holiday cookies.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Yummy Shortbread

For several months now, I've been on a "healthy" sweets kick.  I love sweets and I'm not even going to lie and say I try to lay off of them.  I usually eat something for dessert after lunch and dinner, even if it's just a handful of M & M's.  Don't get the wrong idea though.  I'm very careful with my portion size - I don't sit around eating a whole pie or anything. :)

My son also seems to have inherited my love of sweets.   But since my husband and I both have high cholesterol and high triglycerides, it's almost a sure bet that my son will also have them.  And, because of the fat content, preservatives, hydrogenated, saturated etc. goop in all the prepackaged sweets (like Little Debbie for example), I felt like I was poisoning my kid everytime I put something like that in his lunch box.  But you have to put something sweet in their lunch boxes.  I mean, geez, that's the best part of lunch.  **Side note:  I'm also trying to eliminate packaged cake/brownie/cookie mixes because they contain the same hydrogenated preservative poisons that the other packaged sweets have.

That's when I decided to just start making my own.  I have a ton of recipes that I've never tried because we always try not to have too many sweets in the house.  But the fact of the matter is, we are going to eat something sweet after a meal even if we have to scrounge around until we find expired chocolate chips or old stale stuck together marshmallows.  Isn't it healthier for me to make something from scratch that I can control what goes into than to eat whatever we can find because we're desperate for sugar?  Well, I think it is.  (that's my arguement and I'm sticking to it!!)  

So, this past summer, I did some research on the least toxic forms of fat to bake with.  And what I came up with was I Can't Believe It's Not Butter - for margarine, and 100% all vegetable shortening - for shortening.  If a recipe calls for oil, I use (and have for several years) extra light Olive Oil - usually Bertolli brand because I like it best and you can by a large jug of it at Sam's for a good price.  I usually use real eggs though I occassionally use egg substitute but really, eggs are actually good for you.  Yes, they're high in cholesterol but when you're talking about putting 1 or 2 in a cake or cookies, it's not that big a deal.  Plus, they're high in protein.  

So, about once per week, I bake up something yummy from scratch.  I've shared several of the recipes I've made on my blog but I plan to start sharing more.  Some of them I get from allrecipes.com (my fav recipe site) and some from cookbooks or magazines.  If it's a new recipe that I'm trying, I write a little note on it saying what we liked or how I can make it better.  If it doesn't come out like I hoped, I chunk the recipe.  This has been really fun for me because I LOVE to bake and now I can without feeling guilty about it.  I've stopped buying packaged sweets almost completely.  I do still occassionally buy reduced fat Oreos, just because I like them.  But for the most part, it's all handmade.

Here is last weeks recipe - Shortbread.  I originally got this recipe from a really old cookbook that my mom had when I was a kid.  I love shortbread because it's crunchy but my son wasn't real crazy about it - ironically for the same reason.  He prefers his cookies to be gooey.

Shortbread Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. double acting baking powder
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Measure all ingredients into large bowl except sugar and cinnamon.  Mix at medium speed.  Pat dough into a 9" x 9" baking pan.  In a cup, mix sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the dough.  Bake 30-35 minutes.  Cut into bars while warm.  Makes about 20 cookies.

**I hope my post doesn't sound too preachy.  I'm not trying to condemn anyone else for what they eat.  This is just something that I'm doing for my family.  It doesn't mean I think you're poisoning your kid for giving them a Little Debbie cookie or anything.  Please don't take it that way.

Blondie Brownies with Maple Butter Frosting - YUMM!!

Last week I made Blondie Brownies for my family.  I've had the one at Applebee's before and it is yummy good.

So, after searching AllRecipes.com for a recipe, I settled on the Tollhouse Blonde Brownie recipe which is actually surprising because I don't like their cookie recipe.
I did add chocolate chips to them just because I like them but my family has requested that I leave those out next time which would make it more of a true blonde brownie.
I also added Maple Butter Frosting to them - yumm! 

They were really good.  I highly recommend them.  If you add chocolate chips, they resemble a chocolate chip cookie cake but taste a little bit different.

Here are the recipes:

Tollhouse Blonde Brownies

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (12 ounce) package NESTLE® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels (optional)

Directions
1.PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 15x10-inch jelly-roll pan.  (I didn't use a jelly roll pan.  I just used a 9x13 pan)
2.COMBINE flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Beat sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Spread into prepared pan.
3.BAKE for 20 to 25 minutes or until top is golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack
 
Maple Butter Frosting Recipe:

Ingredients

2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons cream (I used skim milk instead of cream)
1/2 teaspoon maple flavored extract

Directions
1.Beat the butter or margarine, confectioner's sugar, milk, and maple flavoring in a bowl until smooth. Add more milk or confectioner's sugar as need. Makes enough to frost one 8 or 9 inch round cake or 1 8x8 inch square cake.

Best big, fat, chewy chocolate chip cookies!

My DS, Ben, helped me make these cookies last weekend.  He's really getting pretty good at measuring and mixing. 

I found this recipe in my Allrecipes.com Easy Everyday Favorites cookbook.  I just have to say, I've tried many chocolate chip cookie recipes, but this is by far the best I've ever tried.  They really are big, fat cookies.  They stay fat even after you cook them.  Some cookies seem to cook flat and crispy, no matter how big you make them.  But these are great!



Here is the recipe:

Ingredients



2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips


Directions


1.Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2.Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3.In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4.Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

You can also find the recipe on allrecipes.com at this link:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Big-Fat-Chewy-Chocolate-Chip-Cookie/Detail.aspx

We added M&M's to them too - because everything's better with M&M's, right?