Posts Tagged ‘chocolate’

• Homemade Pizza

  Date: 2012.05.30 | Category: recipes | Response: 0

  Chris’ mom used to make homemade pizza for the family when he was growing up and it’s become a family favorite around our house too.  Sometimes we grill it and sometimes we bake it.  I like it both ways- doing individual pizzas on the grill is a bit more labor intensive, but tastes fabulous.  The other night we were having 50 MPH winds so we baked it.  As we were preparing the dough my first inspiration struck- what if we coated the crust with our favorite cheesy garlic?  Um, yum!  We decided to double the recipe so we’d have lots of leftovers (I love cold pizza too!), but we were running low on toppings after we made the first three.  And that’s when the moment of pure genius occurred.  Dessert pizza.  Cause that’s how we roll.

  

  Pizza

  dough (makes two pizzas)-
  2 packets of dry yeast
  2 cups very warm water
  2 tsp sugar
  1 tsp salt
  4 TBS olive oil
  5 cups (a little more or less as needed) flour

  olive oil and garlic cheese sprinkle (or other seasonings- dry ranch mix would be awesome)

  Dissolve yeast in very warm water, add sugar and oil.  Place into Kitchen Aid with 2 cups of flour and salt.  Mix with dough hook, adding remaining flour slowly.  Let dough rest 5 minutes.

  toppings- (pick and choose your favorites!  These are some of ours-)
  pizza sauce or Alfredo sauce
  ham
  pineapple
  sausage
  sliced olives
  sliced mushrooms
  pepperoni
  shredded cooked chicken
  spinach
  Italian Blend or Mozzarella cheese

  Preheat oven to 425º.  Divide dough in half- shape and stretch dough to fit two pans (we use a baking sheet with a Silpat).  Lightly coat dough with oil and then sprinkle with cheesy garlic- flip dough and coat second side.  Top with sauce and toppings.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, rotating cookie sheets half way through.

  OR

  Grill it!  This tutorial changed the way I make my pizza.  It is SO GOOD!  Plus I love having personal pizzas for everyone with their favorite toppings.

  Preheat your grill to medium/hot.  Gather all of your toppings right near the grill.  You need to be prepared to work fast and having a helper is ideal.  Divide your dough into 4 or 5 individual pizzas.  Use your hands to shape the first two or three crusts and liberally coat each one with olive oil.  (Now, we have had a lot of trouble with our dough sinking into the grill, making it impossible to flip- we started using a piece of foil under the first side and are much happier with the results.  I don’t know if our technique is bad or what, but this way just works better for us.  Do as you will.)  Place each crust on the grill and close the lid.  When it’s puffy and ready to flip generously coat the top with olive oil.  Flip your crusts (we remove the foil at this point) and quickly load it up with your favorite toppings without burning your fingers!  Close your lid again and remove from the grill as soon as your cheese starts to melt and the bottom is firm (the second side goes much quicker than the first- don’t let it burn!).  The Our Best Bites tutorial is much better than mine- I recommend reading it before trying this method at home!

  Dessert Pizza

  dough for one pizza
  melted butter
  cinnamon
  sugar
  peanut butter
  melted chocolate

  Take one pizza worth of dough and shape it for your crust.  Coat your dough with melted butter and then a generous amount of cinnamon and sugar on the top and bottom.  Bake at 425º for 15-20 minutes.  Immediately spread with peanut butter and drizzle with chocolate.  Die and go to heaven.  You’re welcome.

  

  

  

  yum!

  

• Dump Cake

  Date: 2012.04.05 | Category: recipes | Response: 1

  When I met my husband he had a few recipes that he wowed me with. Beef stew, pasta roni with chicken, and dump cake. I had never heard of dump cake, but quickly became a fan. It’s a yummy, quick, easy dessert and we always keep the ingredients on hand for dessert emergencies. We’ve learned in the intervening years that you can actually mix things up with your dump cake- so here are our original recipe and a few variations that we’ve tried and enjoyed for your dining pleasure! I like mine warm with ice cream on top.

  Original Dump Cake

  1 can crushed pineapple (do not drain)
  1 can cherry pie filling
  1 yellow cake mix
  1 stick of butter

  Pour the pineapple (with it’s juice) and the cherry pie filling in a 9×13 baking dish. Cover with dry cake mix. Cover with thin slices of butter. Bake at 350º for 45-60 minutes.

  Peach Dump Cake

  1 can sliced peaches (do not drain)
  1 can peach pie filling
  1 yellow cake mix
  1 stick of butter

  Pour both cans of peaches in a 9×13 baking dish. Cover with dry cake mix. Cover with thin slices of butter. Bake at 350º for 45-60 minutes.

  Mix it up a little Dump Cake

  1 can sliced peaches (do not drain)
  1 can peach pie filling
  1 can cherry pie filling
  1 yellow cake mix
  1 stick of butter

  Pour both cans of peaches and the cherry pie filling in a 9×13 baking dish. Cover with dry cake mix. Cover with thin slices of butter. Bake at 350º for 45-60 minutes.

  Cherry Brownies

  1 can cherry pie filling
  1 box brownie mix

  Mix the brownie mix and cherry pie filling. Place in a greased 9×13 pan and bake 30-40 minutes at 350º.

  Chocolate Cherry Cake

  1 chocolate cake mix
  1 can cherry pie filling
  1 package chocolate chips
  1 can diet Coke

  Mix the cake mix, cherry pie filling and diet Coke. Stir in chocolate chips. Place in a greased 9×13 pan and bake 30-40 minutes at 350º.

  yum!

  

• Dessert Fail

  Date: 2011.04.12 | Category: recipes | Response: 2

  Recently I challenged my husband that instead of saying “I love you” we should try to find another way to show our love instead.  It just seems too easy to throw out the words without following them up with actions sometimes.  Anway, I was walking through Big Lots today and they had Peppermint Oreos for 75 cents (those things have a shelf life of about forever- they weren’t even near the expiration date!).  Chris LOVES those Oreo truffles that have been making the rounds lately so I decided to make him a batch as a surprise.

  At this point I should make the disclaimer that I hate making truffles.  Despite the protests of the masses that “They are so simple!” and “You can whip up several batches in no time!” I have never found that to be the case.  Years ago my sister and I experimented with chocolate truffles and we were miserable trying to get them to stick into a ball shape and cover them with chocolate.  ”Never again!” we declared.  Then for some odd reason we decided to make Bourbon balls one Christmas.  Ha!  Each one tasted like a shot of Bourbon.  Nasty.  Then I decided to make my mom’s famous Peanut Butter Bon Bons one year for a cookie exchange.  I don’t know what I did wrong, but trying to shape these balls with crunchy peanut butter and rice krispies was torture!  My hands hurt so badly from being poked and scraped by the krispies.  No kidding.  I let my mom and sister in law make these now.

  Last Christmas one of Chris’ students gave him some Oreo Truffles as a gift.  YUM!  She gave us her recipe- and I quote- 1 package of oreos, 1 package of cream cheese.  Blend in food processor.  Form into balls.  Dip into chocolate. Easy Peasy!  I figured that if a 7th grader could do it then so could I!  This Christmas I bought all of the ingredients and started making a batch, but somehow during the actual making of the truffles I got pulled away from the kitchen (hmmmm… perhaps it was my toddler or my baby?) and my sister and sister in law took over.  I don’t think I made it past the crushing of the Oreos.  I have no idea what transpired in that kitchen, but I do know that not too long later we had a beautiful tray of perfectly shaped truffles to enjoy and neither of them complained to me about making them.

  So here I am in April and I decided to whip up a batch at 8 o’clock at night.  No problem, I thought.

  I mixed up the oreos and cream cheese and got a filling mixture the texture of frosting.  Have you ever tried to shape frosting into a ball and then dip it into chocolate?  Ya, it doesn’t work.  I looked online and found suggestions- refrigerate the mixture before shaping it.  Use a spoon and dip the ball into the chocolate.

  Whatever people.  This is what I got…

  

  Have you ever seen anything so lovely?  Hmmmm…

  I’m just eating mine with that spoon.

  Edited to say- Chris just came in from the other room and said “I know what the problem was!  The package of peppermint Oreos was smaller than a package of regular Oreos so the ratio was wrong!”  I think he’s right.  But he’s still going to have to hope a 7th grader to make them for him again some day.  Or maybe one of his sisters in law?

  

• Spreading the Love

  Date: 2011.02.14 | Category: crafts, giveaway!, marriage, parenting, saving money | Response: 0

  Happy Valentine’s Day!

  I am so excited to announce the winner of my first giveaway!  Susan, you’re a winner!  I’ll be emailing you today with the information on how to redeem your $20 voucher from Dayspring.  Don’t forget that they have many of their items on sale right now and you can use code LOVE25 for an extra 25% off of your order.

  

  I admit- I got a little geeky into Valentine’s Day this year.  Maybe it’s because I have a preschooler.  Or it could be because I extra appreciate my husband as I have a dear friend who was recently widowed.  Or possibly because I hadn’t done any crafting in a while and I just couldn’t hold back any longer.  In any case, I really enjoyed celebrating the love with my family and friends this year.  Here are a few of the (very) simple ideas I put into practice-

  I bought a package of Dr Seuss Valentines at the dollar store and handed them out at church

  I made three of those felt rosette heart wreaths- one for our house and two to give away

  I gave an entire case (60!) of Lindt Lindor White Chocolate Truffles to my Valentine (scored a great deal on Amazon!)

  I made heart shaped peanut butter chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast yesterday

  

  I cut JT’s pb&j with a heart shaped cookie cutter and stuck a sheet of conversation heart stickers in his lunch box

  I made JT and Chris’ lunches last night (this is usually my hubby’s job)

  Last night after the kids went to bed my hubby and I enjoyed a candlelit steak dinner and played some card games

  

  I made an effort to ask Chris big questions as we lay (laid?) in bed last night  (you know- what are you thinking about your career, what is your favorite thing about JT, about Kate, about me, where would you like our next vacation to be… those questions)

  I dressed the kids and myself in festive (red or pink- with hearts too!) attire

  

  I texted my husband throughout the day with conversation heart sayings

  We gave each of the kids small (think dollar store items) gifts

  I gave lots of extra hugs, kisses and cuddles throughout the day- the kids got in on the love too!

  

  I made red heart shaped jello jigglers to go with dinner

  I invited my sister in law and nephews over for dinner tonight since my brother is out of town

  As you can see, most of these ideas were free or almost free- just a little effort was all it took to spread the love.  How did you celebrate Valentine’s Day?

  melody

  

• Christmas (or anytime!) Fudge

  Date: 2010.12.22 | Category: recipes | Response: 0

  These recipes are easy and by far make the yummiest fudge around!

  Peppermint Chocolate Fudge

  1 pkg Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips

  1/2 pkg Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips

  1 can sweetened condensed milk

  dash of salt

  1/2 tsp peppermint extract

  1/4 cup crushed candy canes

  Chocolate Orange Fudge

  1 1/2 pkgs Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips

  1 can sweetened condensed milk

  3 TBS chocolate syrup

  1/2 tsp orange extract

  Melt chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk in the microwave at 50% power for 2-3 minutes, stirring every 30-60 seconds.  Stir in all other ingredients.  Spread in a foil lined 8×8 baking dish.  Chill 2 hours or until firm.

  Turn fudge onto a cutting board and peel off foil.  Cut into small squares (I use a pizza roller).

  Store in a tightly sealed container at room temp.

  Yum!