Chicken Alfredo Pizza - YUM!

I was inspired to build this pizza by a friend and co-worker that made a Chicken Cordon Blue pizza the previous week. This was easy to do from pantry staples, and as I was making the pizza for my family I realized most of the items were free after using coupons. Even better.

What you need for the crust:

Flour, yeast, warm water and sugar

Simply follow the dough instructions on your yeast package, I did :-)

For extra convenience just use Pillsbury pizza dough in the tube.

For the topping:

your favorite alfredo sauce

precooked chicken ( I used canned, it was free )

bacon bits (free)

mozzarella cheese

Simply layer as listed, bake at 425 degrees until it is bubbly and golden.

We heated up leftover alfredo sauce and dipped our slices for extra yummyness!

Enjoy.

You can check this recipe and others out at Tasty Tuesday over at BeautyandBedlam.

Click here

Crepes

Crepes-Yummy!!!

My daughter's French class made these and of course we had to try them at home too! So easy and so very good. Very few ingredients.

1 cup flour

pinch of salt

1 1/4 cups of milk

2 eggs

2 Tbsp. melted butter

Combine ingredients. Refrigerate 1 hour. Mix well. Preheat non-stick pan over medium heat. Using a single Tbsp pour batter into pan and swirl. It will only take about 15-20 seconds for this thin layer to completely cook. Repeat, stacking them in a plate as you go.

What you see in the picture is four crepes with Nutella and thinly sliced bananas tucked inside. The topping is whipped topping, sliced banana, and little chocolate drizzle.

Yummy!

Tasty Tuesday

Fun Stuff - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

So-o-o-o our library is hosting several activities this week. One of the activities is the showing of the movie, "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs." The movie is based on the classic children's book. The kids will get to see the movie, get a fun movie related activity book and some treats.

One of the treats is this big platter of spaghetti and meatballs I just finished making or really baking. It is really a platter full of cupcakes with vanilla icing, strawberry jam and the meatballs are Ferrero Rocher chocolate. YUM! I was lucky enough to run across this idea in Woman's Day magazine well before the movie was ever released and this was the perfect excuse to try it out. It was super easy.

You will need the following items:

1. 
   
   Cake mix of your choice


2. 
   
   Two containers of vanilla icing


3. 
   
   One jar of strawberry jam


4. 
   
   One package of Ferrero Rocher


5. 
   
   One zip lock bag or use piping bag if you own one

Follow package directions to bake cupcakes. Open one container of icing and smooth over cupcakes. Place cupcakes on a platter. Open second container of icing and place in Ziploc bag. Snip corner of bag and go crazy piping strings over the platter full of cupcakes. You want it to look like a mound of real pasta so have fun. Next you will slightly warm strawberry jam in microwave, remove the lid please. Place a small amount in a bowl, drizzle the remaining jam over the platter of cupcakes to look like marinara sauce. Take the Ferrero Rocher, unwrap and coat in the jam you had set aside. Place the coated Ferrero Rocher on top of the cupcakes to resemble meatballs. It looks fantastic, taste yummy and kids of all ages will get a kick out of it.

This idea could work well for a classroom party paired with a book reading. It would also work well for a child's birthday party. It is also a simple baking activity for the beginning baker. With summer approaching it would make a neat theme for a sleepover too!

Enjoy!

Check this out over at Beauty and Bedlam. Click here.

Cheesecake - Food Processor Style

So what is a girl to do when her mom hands her a pound of cream cheese that is getting ready to expire? Then you go to the grocery store and there store brand cream cheese is marked down to 50 cents per half pound. Well if the girl is me, you spend a dollar so you can pick up another pound of cream cheese and you run home and drag out the food processor!!!

This is the simplest recipe ever, and you only have to clean up the food processor. That's right, only one thing to clean up. Well, the pan the cheesecake is cooked in will need cleaning but that is much more fun to clean up :-)

Crust

16 graham crackers

6 Tbsp. butter or margarine softened

1/2 cup sugar

Drop graham crackers into food processor and pulse until crackers are finely crushed. Add sugar and cubed softened margarine and pulse again 6-8 times. Dump into 9 or 10" spring form pan, pat and press firmly into pan.

Filling

4 - 8 oz. packages of cream cheese

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 whole large eggs

1 Tbsp. vanilla

Cube softened cream cheese and drop into food processor with sugar. Pulse until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla and mix completely. Pour mixture into spring form pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. Leave cheesecake in oven with door cracked and oven off for another 30 minutes.

Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight. THEN EAT.

You may notice a little nibble missing from the end of my slice :-)

Also, don't be afraid to substitute ingredients. For example we were short on graham crackers so I substituted animal crackers for about half the mixture. Worked beautifully.

PS- Total price for this lovely cheesecake? Less than $ 4.00. I may make a second and freeze individual slices for those late night cravings. Yum!

Swiss Cake Roll Trifle

This is a beautiful thing!! At least my family thinks so.....

This is adapted from a magazine recipe I ran across in 2007. It is a quick and inexpensive recipe. My girls love making and devouring this trifle.

This is what you will need:

A package of swiss cake rolls

2 3/4 cup of milk

2 small packages of your favorite chocolate pudding

container of whipped topping

Slice each cake roll into 8 slices. Line the bottom and sides of your bowl or trifle dish with the slices. Mix together pudding mix and milk. Pour pudding into trifle dish. Cover pudding layer with whipped topping. Garnish with any remaining cake slices and chocolate that may have fell off your cake rolls when slicing.  

Refrigerate 2-4 hours then dig in :-)

All the ingredients for this can be picked up at my local Dollartree for $ 4.00. Inexpensive and pretty enough to serve to company.

Check our more recipes on Tasty Tuesday at Beauty and Bedlam. Click Here.

Tuna Pasta Salad! Perfect for Spring and Summer, light on the Wallet.

Tuna Pasta Salad

• 
  
  1/2 box of 16 oz macaroni (or 8 oz of some kind of pasta)


• 
  
  1 can of tuna, drain it and flake it


• 
  1 large carrot, peel and grate it


• 
  1/4 cup of chopped onion


• 
  3/4 cup mayo


• 
  1/4 cup milk


• 
  
  
  1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice



• 1 tablespoon of your favorite seasoning, we used "No Salt" but lemon pepper would also be a great option too
  
• 
  
  1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper


• Cook the pasta and drain. In a large bowl combine pasta, tuna, carrot, and onion. Then combine the mayo, milk, lemon juice or vinegar, seasoning, salt and pepper in a seperate container. Whisk together until smooth. Pour over the pasta mixture and mix everything together. Cover it and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Then, enjoy

This is one of those go t0 recipes that make the best of items you have in the pantry. We adjusted a recipe located in an old "Taste of Home" magazine picked up from the free table at our local Library.

Feel free to substitute or add in your favorite veggies. I would have loved some roasted red pepper and green onions but I only had regular yellow onion on hand that day and my daughter is adverse to bell peppers. This is very cost effective, especially if you are someone who uses coupons. We hardly ever pay for pasta with all the coupons available for super double day or triple coupon day at our local Harris Teeter. I always stock up on tuna when it is on sale because we are big fans and it is a quick item to create subs and salads.

We pack this salad for lunch alot during warmer weather. Please adapt for your taste and family. Enjoy!

This post is a part of Tasty Tuesday over at Beauty and Bedlam! Click here to go there.