Greek Pizza

We love Boboli individual sized crusts. BJ's Wholesale always has the large packs and they freeze really well. This was a great dinner for a night like tonight-we did not even get home until 7pm and then were tired and starving! This is why I love keeping things like these pizza crusts on hand.

To make our version of a Greek pizza, you will need:
-Boboli crust (or some dough if you prefer)
-spinach
-minced garlic
-shredded mozzarella
-feta
-olive oil
-toppings-olive, mushrooms, onions

Preheat the oven as instructed by your shell/pizza dough.

In a skillet, heat the olive oil and add in some minced garlic. Add the spinach and saute to your liking.

Put the spinach onto the pizza shell first, and then continue adding your toppings. Sprinkle a light amount of feta cheese, and top it all off with the shredded mozzarella.

Cook for about 10 minutes (or as directed by your pizza dough)

Crockpot Cream Cheese Chicken

I need some practice at improving my photographing of food!

It doesn't help that it just keeps getting darker earlier.
Thanks for bearing with me!
**Thank you to Jessica at the Novice Chef for helping me edit the above photo!**

I tried two new crockpot meals this weekend. Saturday night I made a buffalo chicken lasagna and it was a fail. It just didn't have the taste we had hoped for, and it burned a bit to the sides of the crockpot. Although a bit hesitant, I continued with the plan to try another new chicken recipe on Sunday. This Cream Cheese Chicken came from A Year of Slow Cooking. I am glad we did try this becauseit came out much better! It was tasty served over whole grain pasta. I think next time I will try to incorporate some vegetables into the mix.

You will need:
-1 can cream-of-something soup (I used mushroom)
-1/2 cup chicken broth
-frozen chicken pieces (I used about 2 pounds of frozen breasts I had)
-packet of Italian salad dressing mix
-2 cloves minced garlic
-block of cream cheese-to add later

1) Put everything except for the cream cheese into the crockpot, and cook on low for 6 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and begins to shred.
2) Shred the chicken with two large forks, and mix in the block of cream cheese.
3) Switch the crock to high and cook for another 30 minutes, or until the cream cheese is fully melted.
4) Serve over pasta.

My first quiche!

This is another great recipe from Stephanie Cooks (who adapated it from My Wooden Spoons). It was my first time making a quiche and we loved it! I am excited to try changing up this recipe with some different vegetables and cheeses in the future. The one change that I made was using skim milk. It still worked out great! I may also add a little more milk or egg next time to fill my crust a bit higher. I highly recommend this recipe and many others on Stephanie's blog!

You will need:
1 small zucchini, diced into small piece
6 thin stalks asparagus ( woody ends removed ) diced into small pieces
1 small onion
3 clove fresh garlic
3/4 cup milk (I used skim)
3 large eggs
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
pepper to taste
salt to taste
frozen pie crust
1 tbs olive oil

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375.
1- In a large skillet heat the oil. Add the onion, zucchini, and asparagus. Saute for a few minutes. Add the garlic. Continue sauteing for a few more minutes.
2- Once the veggies are cooked add the salt and pepper, set aside to cool slightly.
3- In another bowl beat the eggs. Add the milk and cheddar cheese.
4- Spoon the veggies into the bottom of the pie crust. Pour the egg mixture over top.
5- Bake for approximately 45 minutes.

I think this could be enjoyed as a brunch item or for a lighter dinner option. We enjoyed eating it for brunch on Saturday with our morning coffee.

Pumpkin Crescents

So I had some pumpkin pie filling left from the recipe below. We were hungry and wanted a snack before we headed off to do the food shopping. I also had crescent rolls expiring soon, so I created this little treat. I only took a before picture, but I think you get the idea. They were a tasty treat!

You will need:
-crescent rolls
-pumpkin pie filling
-cream cheese

I just separated out the crescent rolls and dropped a dollop of the pumpkin pie filling on each. I then topped it off with a little bit of cream cheese. I cooked them about 10 minutes (as suggested from the crescent roll tube). Caution: filling is hot!

Pumpkin Pie Dip

We made this as a football appetizer yesterday. It was sweet and a bit different from the usual dips. We liked it and would make it again. I found this on A Year of Slow Cooking. Her blog is full of fabulous crockpot recipes!

You will need:
1 cup canned pumpkin pie mix
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
chopped walnuts, for topping if desired

I used my Little Dipper that came with my crockpot. You could put a smaller dish inside a larger crockpot and alter the cooking time.

Here's what I did:

Add the cream cheese to the bottom of the Little Dipper. Add the sour cream, and then pour in the pumpkin pie filling.

Cover and cook for about an hour, then stir well. If the cream cheese isn't fully melted, cook a bit longer. (I ended up cooking it for about an hour and a half)

We served this with pretzels, TJ's ginger cats, and apples.

Poppy Seed Chicken

I found this recipe on Cara's Creature Comforts and I divided it in half since there were only two of us. I left the regular amount of poppyseeds though. This was simple and tasty. Because I used the FF Sour Cream and 98% FF cream of chicken soup, this was also a lower calorie dinner. We will be eating this dinner again! We enjoyed this dish with a side of green beans sauted with a bit of olive oil and minced garlic. I also had some acorn squash I wanted to use up. My recipe for a yummy acorn squash side is also below. This was a typical fall side dish made by mom when I was growing up. Enjoy!

Here's how I adapted Cara's recipe:
4 chicken breasts
1 cup fat-free sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup (Campbell's Healthy Request is what I used)
25-30 Ritz crackers, crushed
1 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp poppy seeds
Salt and Pepper to taste

1) Preheat the oven to 350. Cover the chicken with cold water in a medium pan. Cook on high heat until the water boils, then simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
2)Cut the chicken into bite size pieces.Grease a 9x9 or 8x8 pan. Place the cut up chicken in the bottom of the pan. Mix the soup and sour cream. Pour the mixture over the chicken.
3)Mix the crackers and poppy seeds with the melted butter and then sprinkle over the chicken/soup. Season with salt and pepper.
4)Bake for 30 minutes.

Acorn Squash
Cut an acorn squash in half. Place in a greased baking dish with the cut side up. In each half, place 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of maple syrup. Bake at 350 for about one hour or until the squash is tender.