Taco Pie

My mom got another Gooseberry Patch cookbook and I got a few recipes out of it to make. This is one of them. It was so very good and will definitely stay in the rotation! Forgot to take a picture but I'll get one the next time!

1 can crescent rolls
1 pound ground beef
(called for onion but we don't eat)
1 can tomato sauce (I didn't have so I used one can tomato paste and one can water)
1 package taco seasoning
3 tbl sour cream
1 cup shredded cheese
2/3 cups Doritos--crushed and seperated

Heat oven to 350.

Seperate crescent rolls and place in the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate to cover the bottom and up the sides. place 1/3 cup of the Doritos over the crescent rolls.

Brown ground beef, if necessary drain, add tomato sauce and taco seasoning, bring to a simmer over low heat, let simmer 5 mins. Pour in to pan over Doritos. Spread sour cream over meat. Top with cheese and then rest of Doritos.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. (I had browned my meat and added the tomato sauce the night before. Really needed about 5 extra minutes in oven since it was cold!)

Chocolate Pillows

This is for madebymel! We were going to make them for NYE but with our Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip we didn't need them. However I was craving something chocolatey for days and finally got Kevin talked in to letting me make these! They are from the Pilsbury.com website and since I always have the ingredients on hand they are a good thing!

Chocolate Pillows

INGREDIENTS
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations™ refrigerated flaky dough sheet
18 milk chocolate candy drops (I just use a couple Tbl. of chocolate chips)
1 tablespoon whipping cream (I've also used 1/2 and 1/2 if it's what I have on hand)
1 teaspoon sugar
Chocolate Sauce
1/2 cup whipping cream (again I've used 1/2 and 1/2)
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips




DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray large cookie sheet with cooking spray. Unroll dough on work surface; press dough into 12x8-inch rectangle. Cut into 6 squares (if it's just for me and hubby I'll do 4 rectangles and heat up the leftovers the next night, just pop in the microwave for about 30 seconds). Place on cookie sheet.
2. Place 3 chocolate candy drops in center of each dough square (or a Tbl of so of chocolate chips). Bring 4 corners of dough to center of candies; twist firmly. Pinch edges to seal. Brush tops with 1 tablespoon whipping cream; sprinkle with sugar.
3. Bake 14 to 19 minutes or until deep golden brown.
4. Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan, heat sauce ingredients over low heat 1 to 2 minutes or until melted and smooth. Spoon 2 tablespoons sauce onto each serving plate. Top each with 1 pillow; drizzle with remaining sauce.

Pepperoni and Cheese Bread

I was doing my usual surfing on all of the wonderful food blogs that I frequent and came across this recipe not only once, but twice! The first was on Amber's Delectable Delights and the second on Mrs Sac's Purple Kitchen. I thought if these two wonderful women like it then we must too! They did not disappoint and I have another pizza dish to add to our Pizza Friday rotation!

Pepperoni and Cheese Bread

Ingredients:

1 roll refrigerated french bread dough OR 1 loaf frozen bread dough (thawed)
Regular or turkey pepperoni
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
Extra Virgin Olive oil
Dried Italian seasoning
My pizza sauce---I used Prego three cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.
Roll out bread dough, and drizzle with olive oil, a few small dollops of sauce, sprinkle with mozzarella, Parmesan cheeses, Italian seasoning, and place pepperoni on top of the cheese.

Carefully roll the bread dough into a cylinder shape. Pinch ends and top to seal. Brush top and sides with some olive oil.

If desired, top loaf with cheese, pepperoni, and/or Italian seasoning. Make a few diagonal slices in top of loaf for air to escape while cooking.
Bake at 350 for ~20 min. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before slicing.

Serve with pizza sauce.


I also made breadsticks with a can of Crescent rolls I had on hand. I seperated the crescents into the 4 rectangles that they naturally fall in. I cut each one in 1/2 and then into 1/2 again so each rectangle gave me 4 sticks. I then twisted each strip and placed on a foil lined baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. I then sprayed the twists on cooking spray and then sprinkled parmesan cheese over them. I baked at 375 for 14 mins (which was a min or 2 too long) and then brushed them with 1/2 cup of butter that was melted and had 1 tsp of garlic powder added. They were very good!

NYE Apps

We decided to just do an appetizer night for New Years this year. It was great! We snuggled into our lounge clothes and I tried to keep Kevin awake til midnight. Well we did end up toasting at 11:00 with the Disney count-down (yes I'm a huge Disney fan, I love Hannah, the Wizards of Waverly Place, yep I'm a dork) and then Kevin went on to bed. I started watching a Lifetime movie and stayed up til 1 am.

Here is what we made:
both of these are from the Pilsbury website!
Italian Pinwheels
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (2 oz)
1/2 cup sliced pepperoni, finely chopped (I used turkey because I had it on hand and will never make it like that again, it tasted funny all chopped up)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves--I used a tsp of Italian Seasoning
1 egg yolk
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations™ refrigerated flaky dough sheet
1 egg white, beaten

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375°F. In small bowl, mix cheese, pepperoni, oregano and egg yolk. (I doubled this mixture due to other reviews and was glad I did)
2. If using crescent rolls: Unroll dough; separate dough into 4 rectangles. Firmly press perforations to seal. If using dough sheet: Unroll dough; cut into 4 rectangles.
3. Spread each rectangle with about 3 tablespoons pepperoni mixture. Starting at shortest side, roll up each rectangle; pinch edges to seal. Cut each roll into 6 slices. Place, cut side down, 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush with beaten egg white. (I then sprinkled with some parmesan cheese).
4. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.


I made these at Thanksgiving and they got rave reviews so I made them again!
Cheese Crescent Triangles
4 oz tomato-basil feta cheese, finely crumbled (1 cup)
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions (2 medium)
1 egg, well beaten
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations™ refrigerated flaky dough sheet
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375°F. In small bowl, mix feta cheese, green onions and 3 tablespoons of the beaten egg.
2. If using crescent rolls: Unroll dough; separate into 4 rectangles. Press perforations to seal. If using dough sheet: Unroll dough; cut into 4 rectangles.
3. Press each rectangle into 7 1/2x5-inch rectangle. Cut rectangle into 3 rows by 2 rows to make 6 (2 1/2-inch) squares. Top each dough square with slightly rounded measuring teaspoon feta cheese mixture. Fold dough over filling, forming triangle; press edges to seal. On ungreased cookie sheets, place triangles 2 inches apart. Repeat with remaining 3 dough rectangles and feta cheese mixture.
4. Brush tops with remaining beaten egg. Sprinkle lightly with Parmesan cheese.
5. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.


Buffalo Chicken Dip

and Bacon Wrapped Goat Cheese Stuffed Dates
I totally winged this idea after getting the idea from the girls on the What's Cooking board:
I made about 12 dates
Slice Dates 1/2 way open, remove pit and discard pit, place about 1 tsp on goat cheese on inside of date.
Slice 4 slices of bacon in thirds roll a date inside a slice of bacon.
Sprinkle with some brown sugar and bake for about 25 minutes at 350!

And I made my mom's Hot Chocolate (I have no idea where she got this recipe, she's made it for years!)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup baking cocoa (I use Hersheys)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
6 1/2 cups hot water (I will half this with heavy cream or 1/2 and 1/2 if I have it on hand to make it creamier)
Mix all of the ingredients and heat through in a pot on the stove over medium heat and then reduce to low if you will be drinking on it all day. I also make this in the crockpot and it works just fine, just mix all ingredients in crockpot place on high until everything gets mixed together well and then put on low. I like it in the crockpot better, if you place it on the stove it begins to get a film on the top but once moved aside the hot chocolate is still wonderful!

Beef pot pie

16 oz frozen potato, pepper and onion mixture
2 T water
1/2 t dried thyme
12 oz jar mushroom or beef gravy
1 1b roast beef cubed
2 8 oz refrigerated crescent rolls

Combine potato mixture, water and thyme in skillet. Cook over medium heat until veggies are thawed, about 3 mins. Stir in gravy; bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add beef; mix well. Seperate cresent rolls into 8 triangles per each tube. Put one tube on the bottom of a 9X9 dish. Pour potato and beef mixture over it. Place the other tube of crescent rolls over mixture. Bake at 375 for 17 to 19 mins or until rolls are golden.

Depending on what kind of meat you use in this recipe you may want to cook the meat beforehand for a few minutes.

Hoagie Bake

I was looking for another Friday night meal besides calzones or pizza when I came across this recipe from an unknown Nestie. It was delish, I may substitute out the salami next time, because it was soooo rich, it would be yummy with turkey and made like a club! We will definitely put this in our rotation! Pictures to come!


2 Cans crescent rolls
1/4 lb each ham, salami and pepperoni
4 slices each provolone, sharp cheddar and co-jack cheeses
italian seasoning
parmesan cheese
melted butter or evoo

Spray pan with cooking spray (I used I think it was 11x7, recipe called for 8x8, but the bigger pan worked perfect). Spread one can of rolls in bottom of pan. Put meats and cheeses over crescent rolls and then sprinkle with italian seasoning. Spread second can of crescent rolls over top. Brush melted butter or evoo over the top and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake in 350 oven for 20 minutes uncovered then another 10 minutes covered, until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes then cut into pieces and serve warm.

Cool Veggie Pizza

I think I got the recipe from Kraft, I have been making it for years. This is a huge hit with guests, it's actually one way I will eat my veggies!

2 cans crescent rolls
1 8 oz package cream cheese softened
1/2 cup miracle whip
1 package ranch dressing mix
assorted diced veggies (brocolli, red & green peppers, tomatos)
small can sliced black olives
couple of handfulls of shredded cheese (I use a mix of Colby Jack)

Spread cans of rolls onto a pan, making sure to seal the seperations good. Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes. Cool.
Mix cream cheese, miracle whip and ranch dressing in bowl. Spread over cooled crescent rolls. Top with veggies, olives and cheese. Serve cold.