Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Bundt Pan Pizza

Holy moly was this good!!! But then again who doesn't want monkey bread for dinner? Following Matt's first bite he said, "we are having this again!"
I found two similar recipes to this. I mostly followed this ONE from The Craftinomicon. I also found another that wrapped the pepperoni and cheese into the dough. So cool, but too much work for me! If you are feeling ambitious, you can find that recipe HERE. Here is my recipe for bundt pan pizza.

Here's what you need:
1 can of biscuit dough that makes 8 biscuits (I think I used Grands flaky layers)
1/4 c. butter (1/2 stick)
1 T. garlic salt (if desired)
your favorite pizza toppings (we used pepperoni and bell peppers)
~1/2 c. shredded cheese
pizza sauce (I recommend this one or something similar that is easy to reuse)



Here's what you do:
Open biscuit dough and cut into pieces. I usually quarter my dough when making monkey bread but actually cut into 6-8 pieces for this since I was only using one can. It worked well this way.



Melt butter and stir in garlic. Now is a good time to start preheating your oven to 350°. Grease your bundt pan. I then placed a few pepperonis into the pan.

Next, dredge biscuits through butter mixture. 


Begin assembling pizza toppings into bundt pan. Like I said, I put a few pieces of pepperoni down first. Then I did a layer of biscuits. Mine did not fill up the pan like they normally do when making monkey bread since I cut them smaller. Then I added a layer of toppings-pepperoni, peppers, and cheese. I did not measure my cheese, I just grabbed a couple handfuls. 


I did another layer of biscuits followed by another layer of pizza toppings and was out of dough at this point. If you have more, keep going!


Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes or until dough is golden brown. Let sit in pan for a few minutes then flip onto plate. 


Serve with pizza sauce. As I mentioned earlier, we use the pizza squeeze. It is easier to reuse when we are making our individual pizzas, and it worked perfect for this! You could definitely layer the sauce into the pizza (use about 5 T.), but make sure you increase your cooking time to avoid soggy biscuits. I wasn't sure how long it would take so I used it as a dipping sauce instead. Plus, it was way more fun!


We both ate more than our share and it lasted us two meals. I would say you can serve 4-5 adults with this recipe. You could very easily double it because you will probably have the pizza toppings for it. Ours did not expand to fill the pan completely but another can of biscuits may have overflowed it since you are adding pizza toppings in the middle. I would recommend two bundt pans if you are doubling the recipe. Let me know what happens if you double it!

Your bonus recipe this week again comes from Mix and Match Mama. Are you beginning to sense a trend here? She is our new go-to for desserts. These were again very simple and so yummy. They only require a few ingredients. Here you have, Marshmallow Cream Crunch Bars. 


Enjoy! :)

Monday, August 25, 2014

Enjoying the Wait

Where is the time going? I looked back on my blog to see I haven't posted ANYTHING since Tuesday? What have I been doing.!?!?!?!...A whole lot of nothing is what...Maybe that's why I don't have anything to post. Let me fill you in. 
A little over a week ago I took my boards (I passed, yay!) so now I am waiting for my state license to be processed. Until then, I can't really do anything...I have been enjoying some much needed down time! The temperature hasn't been too hot here (upper 90s) so I have enjoyed some pool time and other unimportant internet searching. I am so excited to start working in a career soon. This is my first fall I am not heading back to school for a LONG, LONG time. Nolan informed me I went to school longer than he has been alive...Thank you for bringing that up. I am very ready to move on to non-school things.
Saturday we hung out with a family Matt met at work. We had a great time enjoying some burgers with them at their place. Sunday we went to church and Matt headed back home to do his fantasy football draft with my church back home. I stuck around to volunteer in the nursery. I think it will be a good way to meet some younger people. We headed over to Glendale for a little preseason NFL watching last night. 


How great are these seats?! The Super Bowl will be played here this year. If only we could get these seats....Unfortunately they probably won't qualify for our under $10 ticket price. So we will probably just check out the week festivities instead.

My week will be spent the same way I spent last week. I may have to start some new craft projects. Let's hope my license gets processed soon!! I promise to be back tomorrow with another recipe for you. And maybe something else exciting will happen this week so I have something else to blog about....no promises there.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Nearly twice baked potatoes

Matt has discovered his love of crockpots. He can put our food in it before he leaves for work, and I usually get home in time to turn it off. It doesn't get much easier! This recipe involved more work on the back end than the front end, but either way it is still pretty simple! So if you need to get out the door quickly in the morning, this recipe is for you!

Here's what you need:
4 medium russet potatoes
Optional: 10 oz. cremini mushrooms
1 c. broccoli
1/3 c. vegetable or chicken broth
2/3 c. low-fat plain yogurt

Here's what you do:
Wash and clean each potato. Wrap each potato in tin foil and place into crockpot on low setting for 6-8 hours.


Once the potatoes are soft scoop everything out of the skins.


Mix scooped out potatoes with chicken broth and yogurt (and mushrooms if you are adding those). Fill skins with new potato mixture. Cook broccoli how you wish and add to top.


Garnish with your favorite toppings-cheese, bacon bits, etc. And done! You could also very easily add meat to your potato mixture if you choose. Another Tasty Tuesday for you to try.




For your bonus recipe this week I must share these with you. 



S'mores cookies!!!! They are SSSOOOOO good! And super simple! And the best part, you can make as many or as few as you want! They area great afternoon snack! Again these come from my favorite blogger, mix and match mama. You can find the recipe here. I also have it saved under Great Recipes on my Pinterest page. Enjoy!!!

Monday, August 18, 2014

Andrew Visits

This past weekend Matt's brother Andrew came to visit. It was great because we didn't get to see him a couple of weeks ago with the rest of Matt's family. Matt was busy working so I got to spend a couple of days with Andrew!
After I picked him up I took him to In-N-Out. He said if that was all we did the whole time his trip was most than worth it! So either I had set up some big expectations or my job was already done with him being there in the first 30 minutes. After lunch we took a trip over to Mesa Riverview Park. It was SUPER hot, but we still did some climbing.


















That night we took him up to Rustler's Rooste for a great view of the city accompanied by some excellent food. I had the BEST prime rib!
Friday morning Matt took Andrew golfing before he headed to work. It sounds like they need a little work on their game, but had a good time either way. Then I took Andrew to the Phoenix Park 'n Swap. I had heard great things about this place, and this was the first time I could get there. It totally lived up to its expectations. I will definitely be back! It is basically a huge garage sale, and we know how much I love those! ;)


Then I took him over to Papago Park to see the Hole in the Rock. It was very hot!



Andrew decided to chase the biggest swan I've ever seen.


Saturday we took Andrew up to Sedona to take him hiking and cliff jumping. 


Matt took him to his "rock throwin' spot" to throw rocks down to the creek at the bottom.
After an hour or so of hiking in 100*+ weather, we got to the "pool". It is so pretty.



Then the boys did some cliff jumping.



Love the photobomber in the back!




They started getting brave and decided to go for the big jump.








Check out the next Phil Dunphy in the making-my husband!



Matt was taking tips from a pro up on the higher rock. 


This guy was not with us, but he was pretty talented. So I went ahead and took pictures of him doing a backflip!





Pretty cool right? And then it was Matt's turn.







They jumped from all different angles. 










After we made it back to the car (again, HOT!!!) we headed into Sedona and took Andrew to the Chapel of the Holy Cross for the view. 


No matter how many times I go there I will still be in awe of the beauty.



We went to dinner at a local Italian restaurant, Troia's, and I must say they were the nicest people ever! We were still in our hiking clothes and just wanted some pizza. This was a pretty nice white tablecloth restaurant. We felt really guilty, but they were so nice. I feel like most people would be rude to us, but the hostess and server treated us so well!!! If you are ever in Sedona we totally recommend it! The food was amazing, too!!!
We hope Andrew had a good time while he was here. It was just about as hot as it could get while he was here, but hopefully it was a nice trip before he goes back to school. I'll be back tomorrow for another Tasty Tuesday. See you then!!