Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Dip

Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Dip
From Kraft Food and Family Magazine
Ingredients
1 can (14 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained, finely chopped
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained
3/4 cup KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese
3/4 cup KRAFT Mayo Light Mayonnaise
1/2 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Reduced Fat Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Directions
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Mix all ingredients until well blended.
SPOON into 9-inch pie plate or quiche dish.
BAKE 20 min. or until heated through. Serve with TRISCUIT Reduced Fat Crackers and assorted cut-up fresh vegetables.

I served mine with Tostitos Gold chips, pretzel sticks and Tostitos Scoops! YUMMY!

Delicious Cresent Chicken Bundles

In my constant cruzing of food blogs I found a yummy looking recipe from Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
It was originally from Pilsbury and won their recipe contest. It was SO good and easy. It would have been even easier if I used canned chicken but I was a good little cook and baked my own chicken.

Cresent Chicken Bundles
taken from Savory Cresent Chicken Squares

Ingredients
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed (one could easily use the canned chicken)
3 oz. softened cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat)
1 tbsp butter or margarine softened
Salt and Pepper
Original recipe asked for pimento and chives but we don't eat those
1 8 oz. tube of cresent rolls
1 tbsp melted butter
3/4 cup crushed croutons (I used garlic and onion flavor which probably made up for my lack of other spices)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350*F
Mix cream cheese and butter in a bowl. Beat until smooth.
Add cooked chicken (I salted and peppered it well before baking) Mix well.
Put cresents onto cookie sheet in four rectangles. Pinch perforations to seal them closed.
Spoon 1/4 of mixture onto each rectangle.
Bring up the sides to make a bundle.



Pinch it all together at the top.
Brush with melted butter and sprinkle crushed croutons on top.
Bake at 350*F for 30 minutes.

Enjoy the deliciousness!

Banana Muffins

Last week and this week I am working with the afterschool program at my school. I decided to teach "Cooking healthy snacks" with the third and fourth graders. We made all sorts of snacks, I will try to take pictures this week and post the kid friendly recipes! Well, because of this I had three leftover rotten bananas. And as I always say, when life hands you rotten bananas, make banana muffins! I went to Allrecipes.com and found a recipe with a strussel topping, what a winner!

Banana Muffins
From Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted (I used veg. oil)

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp flour
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375* F
Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners

In a large bowl mix 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.(I also added a sprinkle of cinnamon into the batter)
In another bowl mix bananas, sugar, egg, and oil.
Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture until just moistened.
Spoon into muffin cups.

In a small bowl mix brown sugar, 2 tbsp flour, and cinnamon. Cut in butter until it is the texture of cornmeal. Sprinkle on top of muffins.

Bake 18-20 minutes

Sketty and Meatballs

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. My freaking classes are kicking my butt! I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone this week along with the papers I had to write about it and it took me all week!
Let me just say that my dinners this week haven't been all that exciting. I did try some new recipes out, it is just sad to admit that I had never made meatballs before. Chad has said that he doesn't like meatloaf so I just lumped meatballs in with that and never gave it a try. I do add meat to our spaghetti but I usually just brown it in a pan before adding the jarred tomato sauce. This time was different.
Every time we have spaghetti at school I laugh at how the students tell me their choice for lunch. I hear everything from ketty to pasketti. When I was a child I think I got as far as calling it sketty. I guess I wasn't an Italian scholar. Here is my version of Spaghetti and Baked Meatballs.

Baked Meatballs (enough for two)
1/2 lb. ground beef (we use 97% X-tra lean)
a hefty sprinkle of dry breadcrumbs
a squirt of ketchup
1/2 an egg slightly beaten (I just dumped some down the drain before I added it)
Other people may add onions or peppers etc. but we are FAR too picky for that! :)

Preheat oven to 400* F
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray
(I say this here because I forgot to do this and I was up to my wrists in raw meat before I remembered. My loving husband got to help with dinner by getting the sheet ready for me!)
Mix all ingredients with your hands
form into balls and place on baking sheet
Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until done
Put on top of your favorite pasta and top with tomato sauce and parm cheese. YUMMY!
Chad and I both really liked our Sketty and Meatballs, they were meaty and delicious.

Ultimate Fall Snack

Around the Lansing area it is a known fact that the most delicious fall snack out there is Cider and Donuts from Quality Dairy. Oh MAN are they good. We bought some on Sunday night and tonight Chad bought even more. We like the sour cream glazed donuts. I think they are the best slightly heated, same with the cider. Oh yeah. Tomorrow I am going to the pumpkin patch with my Kindergarteners and we always get cider and donuts there too. It makes the whole trip better. Oh wait, I mean I love going to the pumpkin patch with 22 Kindergarteners. It is not hectic or stressful at all! :) Honestly, it is a fun trip, it is just exhausting. I love field trips though, they take a lot of prep but are always worth it in the end! The weather should be beautiful tomorrow so I am happy about that!

Pizza Party!

After reading various cooking blogs I was inspired to make homemade pizza. Now my husband eats pizza about twice a week and after buying the ingredients it is actually cheaper to get a hot and ready Little Caesar's pizza, but I suppose that isn't true as I have cheese, pepperoni, and sauce for another day. In fact, I bought Meijer brand crust and sauce and they were very inexpensive. I like homemade pizza because then I don't have to have pepperoni, because I don't like it, and I can have a very minimal amount of sauce and a LOT of cheese. So, this is our version of homemade pizza.

Amy and Chad's Yummy Pizza

Ingredients:
1 tube of pizza crust
1 jar pizza sauce
1 1/2 cups Mozzerella cheese
a bit of Romano cheese
a generous sprinkle of parmesan cheese
Pepperoni or other toppings of your choice
A tall glass of coke zero to wash it all down


Directions:
Spread the pizza dough on a rectangular pizza pan. I used my Pampered Chef pizza stone.
Spread on the desired amount of sauce.

Sprinkle on some delicious cheeses and top with whatever toppings you desire. I was thinking about doing green peppers but it was too rainy to get out to the garden.
Bake at 400*F for 15-17 minutes.
Enjoy your delicious pizza with a nice tall glass of Coke Zero.