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Monday, May 12, 2014

Pizza Bites {or Pizza Rolls}


I spied a recipe on a favorite food blog of mine over a year ago, I pinned it, and then finally made them this last week. And they were a hit, we all loved them! My sweet 3 year old loved making them with me (in fact as we made them she starting telling me how to do it each time she made another one, so I decided to snap a video of her. Check out her tutorial below). And because she made them, she knew they'd be good and she ate them.  She goes in spurts of eating good and not, right now she's in one of the not so good eating stages, but she gobbled these right up.   

I used the same dough recipe I use for making pizza dough or breadsticks, with an added tablespoon of olive oil (a tip I got from Leesh). The breadstick recipe makes 24 breadsticks, so I thought that would be about as many pizza bites as I would get out of the dough too. We used two pieces of pepperoni and a small cube of mozzarella cheese inside each roll, it was perfect, not too bready or cheesey.  Just right! They all fit in a 9x13 pan. 

And don't forget to see this cute video on how to assemble them by a 3 year old. My favorite part occurred after I turned the camera off, she showed me the roll and said, "see mom, it's perfect cause I made it!". Guess we need some lessons on humility around here. Ha!



Here is the YouTube link:




Pizza Bites {or Pizza Rolls}

Ingredients:

1 recipe pizza dough
48 slices pepperoni
24 cubes of mozzarella cheese (I cut them about an 1” x ¼” - I guess they are more rectangles)
PIzza or spaghetti sauce for dipping (I like Hunts)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Garlic salt, Italian seasoning, and parmesan to top

Pizza Dough:
3 cups flour (I use 1 cup whole wheat 2+ cups of all-purpose flour)
1 tablespoon yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Make pizza dough first.  Combine flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer and mix to combine.  Add water and olive oil and mix.  Mix for one minute, if dough is still sticky add more flour until it cleans the side of the bowl of your stand mixer (knead in mixer for 3 minutes on high).  If doing by hand after your minute of mixing with a spoon add more flour to the table and need for 3-5 minutes adding flour as needed so that it’s slightly tacky but not too sticky to handle.  

Once done kneading coat counter or table with flour and cover the dough to rest for 10-30 minutes. Grease a 9x13 size pan and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Once dough has rested roll it into a large rectangle about 11x17.  Cut the dough into 24 squares with scissors or pizza cutter. Place a cube of cheese and 2 pepperoni in each square and fold the edges together and pinch it into a roll. Place the seam side down in a greased 9x13 pan. Repeat with the rest of the rolls. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with garlic salt, Italian seasoning and parmesan cheese.  

Bake at 400 for 12-18 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.  Eat while warm and dip in pizza or spaghetti sauce.  

Enjoy!
 
 



Sunday, May 4, 2014

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas


Cinco de Mayo is tomorrow. This chicken enchilada recipe is a recipe my mom made for us growing up. It's always been a favorite of ours and anyone we've shared it with. 

The original recipe calls for cream of chicken soup in the sauce.  But I've kind of outlawed it at our house - and make my own from scratch. The recipe is a lot faster to make with the cream of chicken soup, so I've included both versions of the sauce recipe. Pick your way of making it and either way they are both tasty!

I love that I can whip these together pretty fast.  If I don't have precooked chicken in my freezer or canned chicken, I will often throw a pound of chicken in my 1 quart crock pot with a 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and 1/3 cup of water in the afternoon and cook it on low for 4 hours and it's ready just in time to bake these for dinner.  I also have froze these ready made and then thawed before baking, so it's a great freezer meal too.  (I love these kind of meals!)

I've posted a few pictures of the process of making these, it's really simple.  Enjoy some Enchiladas! 

FYI, we love these topped with fresh salsa.  Click here for my favorite quick and easy Restaurant Style Salsa

Recipe below pictures.  

 

Also, if you are in need of some meal ideas for cinco de mayo, check out our recipe index or these quick links to some other favorites. 

Sides/Appetizers
Main Dish
Dessert
Seasonings 
Fajita Seasoning








Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Printable Version
Ingredients:

8-12 flour tortillas

For the filling:
1 pound or 2 cups of cooked chicken
½ to 1 large can olives, sliced (use as many olives as you love)
3 green onions, sliced
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
½ - 1 cup grated cheese (cheddar, pepper jack, monterey jack or colby)

Sauce (without cream of chicken soup):
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 ¾ cup milk
1 tablespoon chicken base (or 3 chicken bouillon cubes)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 3-4 oz can green chiles
½ cup sour cream

Sauce (with cream of chicken soup):
1 small can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 3-4 oz can green chiles
¼ - ½ cup milk (to make as runny as you like)

More grated cheese for the top (about ½ cup)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  And spray grease a 9x13 casserole size dish.

Start with the sauce.  You’ll want to smother a little sauce in the bottom of the pan to help them from sticking to the pan.  

Option 1: For the from scratch sauce:
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a medium size sauce pan. Add 3 tablespoons flour and mix, then add milk and whisk thoroughly to make sure the mixture is smooth. Add chicken base/bouillon salt and pepper, let mixture come to a simmer and simmer for 5-10 minutes til mixture is thick and smooth.  Remove from heat and add the green chile and sour cream.

Option 2: Sauce with cream of chicken soup:
Mix soup, sour cream, green chile and ¼ - ½ cup milk until mixture is smooth and has a thick, yet runny consistency.  

Mix the filling mixture together and fill tortillas with 2-3 tablespoons of the filling mixture and roll them up.  Place them in the greased and sauce covered pan.  Smother with the sauce and top with a little cheese.

Bake for 30 minute or until bubbly and slightly browned.  

Serve with salsa on top or any other desired toppings (guacamole, sour cream, green chile sauce.)

For a Freezer Meal: 
Follow instructions but use a disposable tin pan from the dollar store, cover with heavy duty foil and freeze.  Let thaw in fridge for 24 hours before baking as directed above.