Crescent Roll Pizza Pockets

Hi there,
So I don't know about you guys but my little guy loves pizza and I just can't bring myself to order pizza every time someone gets a craving. So I tried this recipe one day and my family just loved it. The extras can be reheated without drying out completely... although there are rarely left overs. This recipe is simple and delicious, a perfect meal for a busy week night without a whole lot of prep.

Ingredients:
2 cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
Pizza Sauce
Cheese
Assorted pizza toppings of choice

Procedure:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your pan with parchment paper.
Lay out one of your cans of crescent rolls and apply your pizza sauce to all but a small border around the outside edge.
Add your toppings and your cheese within this border as well.
Put another crescent roll over top of your toppings and cheese and press down the edges with a fork to seal the pocket.
Bake on the middle rack for about 30 minutes or until the pockets are golden brown.

Enjoy and please use caution when handling hot ingredients and utensils.

Pictures Update

Hi there I wanted to let you all know that most of the pictures are up the frozen peanut butter pie picture could not be saved so I guess I will just have to make it again... oh darn.

Homemade Scalloped Potatoes.

Is it just me or are potatoes the ultimate comfort food? They never get boring because there are so many ways to make them, I am getting hungry just thinking about them. One of my favorite ways to have them is scalloped. Many people think that they are hard to make but they really aren't. They may seem a little daunting if you do not know how to make them but this method is pretty easy. My grandmother was a cook most of her working life and this was how she made them.

Ingredients:

• 6-8 medium to large potatoes
• 1-2 cans of cream of mushroom soup (depends on the brand and size of the can)
• 1 large onion
• salt
• pepper

Instructions:

1. Grease your cooking pan. and preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Slice your potatoes into 1/4 inch slices. You do not have to be exact this is only a guideline.
3. Chop your onions into whichever size pieces you prefer and add them as well as your potatoes to your pan. 
4. Sprinkle salt and pepper over your potatoes and mix in your cream of mushroom soup. You want your potatoes and onions to be covered in the cream of mushroom soup but you do not want it pooling around the bottom of the pan. 
5. Cover your potatoes with aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees for approximately an hour or until your potatoes are tender. You can tell if your potatoes are tender by poking a fork through them, if it easily goes through they are done, if it takes effort they are not. 

Please use caution when using an oven and handling hot dishes.

UPDATE: Here is the scalloped potato recipe, I did mine in the slow cooker on high for 3 and a half hours.

Confetti Squares

So one of my son's favorite snacks, and also one of my favorites of all time is Confetti Squares. This is another of my grandma's recipes she made them for me almost every week while I was pregnant with my son... maybe that's why he likes them so much. They always remind me of Easter because of the colors in them. By the way if there are any requests for recipes feel free to send them my way I am more than happy to oblige.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of butter or margarine
• 1 cup of peanut butter
• 1 regular package of butterscotch chips (or chocolate either is good)
• 1 small package of the rainbow mini marshmallows 
• 1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened either work well)

Instructions:

1. First melt your butter, peanut butter and butterscotch chips. You can do this in the microwave or on the stove whichever method you prefer. If you are doing this on the stove however use a double boiler method so you don't burn it. 
2. Remove this from the heat and stir in the coconut and marshmallows.
3. Pour into an 8 x 8 inch pan or container and refrigerate overnight.
4. Cut into squares and serve.

Just as a note these squares can be frozen if you prefer to save some for later.

UPDATE: Here is the picture for the confetti squares before they were cut.

Please use caution when handling hot ingredients.

Monster Cookies

Hi there so today I thought I would share with you one of my partner's favorite cookies. They are the ones he always asks for and they are gone in less than 2 days no matter how man I make. They are called monster cookies because they are meant to be big but I make them a lot smaller because of our little guy. The last thing this mama needs is a 2 year old with a sugar rush. This recipe is an adapted version of my great-grandmothers oatmeal cookie recipe, I hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs 
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups quick cooking oats
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 1 pkg of milk chocolate chips
• 1 (200g) pkg of M&Ms
• 1/2 cup baking jube jubes

Instructions:

1. Preheat your over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line your cookies sheet(s) with parchment paper.
2. Beat the butter and sugar until smooth. 
3. Mix in the eggs and vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt and baking soda. 
5. Gradually mix this dry mixture in with the butter mixture.
6. Stir in the oatmeal, followed by the chocolate chips, M&Ms and jube jubes. Your dough may seem crumbly but as long as when you squeeze it together it sticks it will be fine, otherwise you may add a little bit of water, but only add a small amount.
7. Make your dough into balls and press them into your lined cookie sheets, leave some room between them so they do not attach when they expand.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the bottom edges become slightly browned. Let cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet and let cool the rest of the way on a cooling rack.

Enjoy your cookies but please use caution when handling hot pans and hot cookies. Use common sense and protection.

UPDATE: Here is the monster cookie picture. I am glad I got the picture when I did because they were gone the next day.

Simple Deviled Eggs

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how difficult people seem to think deviled eggs are. So to end this myth I thought I would share my recipe with you.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp Mayonnaise
• 1 tsp White Sugar
• 1 tsp Vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp mustard
• 6 eggs
• paprika

Instructions:

1. Boil your eggs and let them cool. 
2. Peel the shells off and cut the eggs length wise.
3. Remove the yolks and put them into a bowl.
4. Mix in all of the ingredients except for the paprika.
5. Put the mixture back into the eggs and sprinkle with paprika.
6. Enjoy

UPDATE: This is the deviled egg picture

Simple Potato Salad

So spring is finally here and with it comes picnic season, lots of barbecues and lots of potato salad. This recipe is simple and even those who are not the biggest fan of potato salad might enjoy this. I am personally not a huge fan of potato salad but I will eat this. This recipe is simple and can be made either in stages or in a day.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of potatoes 
• 6 eggs
• 1 lb of bacon (optional)
• 1 onion
• 2 cups mayonnaise
• salt (to taste)
• pepper (to taste)
• 1/2 tsp celery salt 
• 2 tsp mustard

Instructions:

1. Boil your potatoes and your eggs thoroughly. Let them cool.
2. Cook your bacon.
3. Peel and chop your eggs and potatoes.
4. Crumble your bacon and add to your eggs and potatoes.
5. Chop your onion and add it to the bowl.
6. Mix in 2 cups of mayonnaise, your celery salt, mustard, salt and pepper. 
7. Chill and serve.

Enjoy your potato salad and please use caution when handling knives.

 UPDATE: This is the potato salad picture, I did not use bacon in mine but it was still amazing.

Kids Wall Art

Hi there,
So for those of you who have visited my facebook fan page you would have seen my announcement about expanding the blog. Most of the requests I got were to add a kids activity section. So as my first post on an activity to do with your kids (or by yourself if you prefer) I thought I would share a project I did with my son that he absolutely loved doing and they turned out so nice I actually want them displayed in my house front and center. This project was so fast and easy we did 3 canvases in an hour and my son loved every minute of it.

To do this project you will need

• canvas
• paint (3 colors)
• primer (optional)
• painters tape
• a circular sponge dabber or brush
• table covering

All you need to do for this project is to tape off the areas you don't want paint on. If you prefer to prime first by all means do so now. Priming will reduce bleeding through of the other paint and give you cleaner lines.You will see we did a letter 'C' for my sons name and we did stripes, as well as a chevron which is not shown.

The next thing you do is cover your table we used a garbage bag and taped it down with painters tape. Than you need to put out your paint.

Dip your brush or dobber in the paint and dot all three colors all over the canvases. there does not need to be a pattern in fact in my opinion the more random the better.

Let your master piece dry and remove the painters tape from the canvases and enjoy your paintings.

Fan Page on Facebook

Hello blogging community I have recently started a fan page for this blog please like and/or follow the page and invite your friends to do the same.

Updates

So recently I have been thinking about expanding to include posts about things other than cooking. I have been thinking about including some baby related projects as well as possibly some gift ideas. I am very open to suggestions so feel free to message me using the link which is now located at the side of the page under the "About Me". For new visitors to the blog I am a full time university student and a mom. I am doing a double major in psychology and sociology. I understand life is busy and sometimes it is just easier to buy things at the store but when I started really reading the labels on some of the things I was buying at the store I realized somethings were a lot healthier to make myself, not to mention cheaper. I also started realizing how many people were intimidated by making things themselves, things I had always been taught to make myself as many people in small towns are so I decided to start a blog about it.

So Simple Fudge

If you can work a microwave you can make this fudge. This recipe my 2 and a half year old can almost make on his own, he just needs help with the hot ingredients. This fudge has all of the taste with none of the fuss and who doesn't like that. I know how busy every one can be myself included so finding a recipe that fits into that schedule is absolutely amazing some days.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pkgs chocolate chips (any flavor, regular sized bags)
• 1 regular can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup chopped nuts or mix-ins (optional)

Instructions:

1. Put all ingredients into a microwave safe bowl.
2. Melt until creamy (I usually do 30 second bursts and stir in between so I don't burn it).
3. Pour into an 8 x 8 inch pan (I recommend lining this pan).
4. Cool for at least 2 hours.
5. Cut and serve.

See I told you it was simple. Enjoy.

UPDATE: This is the fudge before it was cut.