Stuffed Pizza Rolls

This is the perfect spring meal for our family. The weather is warm and there are relatively few bugs so we have a tendency to want to play outside right up to half a second before dinner time which means there is no dinner made. Who wants to go in and spend forever making dinner while everyone else is outside playing? Not me, and so I don't. This comes together VERY quickly and only has to bake for about 15 minutes. It is an awesome combo of garlic bread and pizza which also is a plus for my self-proclaimed-vegetarian-carb-loving 17 month old. Yet another gem from the girls at Our Best Bites.

1 roll refrigerated pizza dough (or make your own)
marinara sauce
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. olive oil or melted butter
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
mozzarella cheese
pizza toppings of your choice ( i.e., ham, pineapple, mini pepperoni, sausage)

Preheat oven to heat specified on pizza dough package (usually 400). Unroll your pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat or roll the dough so it's about 12" by 8". You're going to want to cut it into 24 squares using a pizza cutter. Place cheese and desired toppings on each square. (The marinara sauce does not go inside, it is just used for dipping.) When all of your dough squares have cheese and toppings on them, carefully lift up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings. Pinch to make sure each ball is sealed shut and then place seam side down in a lightly sprayed pie pan. Brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil or melted butter then sprinkle with the garlic powder, Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese. Bake for 15 -20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Keep an eye on them, check after about 10 minutes. Serve warm with warmed marinara sauce for dipping.

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

I have this . . . well let us just call it a quirk, there is a very small window of ripeness during which I can eat a banana without the ole' gag reflex kicking in. I'm all about firm fruit. Since my children seem to pick 1 fruit each week that they are willing to eat, I am frequently left with a bunch of brown bananas. I LOVE my mom's banana bread, but I am unable to duplicate it. So I was excited to find this recipe! It comes out great every time, fills the chocolate craving and gets rid of the funky banana stink in my kitchen. And for those who have a distaste for bananas, you'll be glad to know that my picky-eater-baby sister didn't even know they were in there. From The Sisters' Cafe.

1 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 1/4 c. mashed bananas (about 3)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray bottom of loaf pan with cooking spray (I spray the entire pan with Bakers Joy). Beat sugar, eggs and oil together in a large bowl at medium speed until combined. Beat in banana mixture on low speed just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 60 -70 minutes or until tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Blueberry Lemon Muffins

Some how I had lemons and blueberries in my fridge yesterday. No bread, but I had lemons and blueberries. Guess it is time to go grocery shopping but that is beside the point. I spied this recipe a week or so ago and finally decided to make them. They are heavenly. The recipe only makes 12 so next time I will be doubling it. I substituted butter in place of shortening and I used fresh, not frozen blueberries. I also cut the topping in half and it was still more than enough. For the original recipe check out The Sisters Cafe.

2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

zest of one lemon

1 egg

1 c. milk

1/2 c. butter

1 c. blueberries

Topping:

1/4 c. butter, melted

1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice

1/4 c. sugar

Mix dry ingredients and set aside. Beat egg, milk and butter together. (Make sure to warm the milk or it will quickly solidify the butter.) Stir in blueberries. Add dry ingredients and lemon zest. Stir gently to combine. Bake at 375 F. for 20 -25 minutes ( I pulled mine out after about 19 minutes). Combine melted butter and lemon juice. While the muffins are still warm, dip tops in the butter mixture then dip in sugar.

Banana Bread

This one came from Tasty Kitchen. For some reason I always over bake my banana bread. So I think I've decided to only do banana bread muffins from now on. Plus the muffins always get eaten and I end up throwing out 1/2 of a stale loaf of bread.

1¼ c. granulated sugar

½ c. butter, softened
2 whole eggs

½ c. milk
4 whole ripe bananas, mashed

1 tsp. vanilla extract
2½ c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda

1½ tsp. cinnamon
½ c. mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Cream together sugar and butter, then add eggs one at a time. Mix in milk, bananas and vanilla. In a separate bowl combine the remainder of dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to mixture until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into greased/floured loaf pan. Bake for about 50-60 minutes for a regular loaf or 30 minutes for mini loafs.

Corn Bread

1¼ c. flour

¾ c. corn meal
¼ c. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp salt (optional)

1 c. skim milk
¼ c. vegetable oil

2 egg whites or 1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 400º F. Grease 8 or 9-inch pan. Combine dry ingredients. Stir in milk, oil, and egg, mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden brown and wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm. Yields 9 servings.

Pumpkin Bread

4 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground nutmeg

2 c. sugar
¾ c. butter, softened

4 eggs
½ c. water

1 (15oz) can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
2 tsp. sugar

1½ c. + 2 Tbsp. mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease bottom only of 2 loaf pans with shortening and lightly flour. In a medium bowl, stir flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg until mixed; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat 2 c. sugar and the butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes or until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in water and pumpkin on low speed. Add flour mixture; beat on low speed for about 1 minute or until moistened. Stir in 1½ c. of the chocolate chips. Pour mixture into prepared pans and spread evenly. Sprinkle tops with remaining 2 Tbsp. of chocolate chips and the 2 tsp. of sugar. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for about 10 minutes. Remove from pans to cooling rack. (Betty Crocker)

*I usually end up using the majority of a 29 oz. can of pumpkin, if not the entire thing. The recipe originally called for 2 Tbsp. of chopped pecans to sprinkle on top but I usually exclude them altogether. I have messed this recipe up about every way possible and it still always comes out yummy!