Pepperoni Pizza Monkeybread

Another good Pinterest find that I made tonight.  It didn't take that long to put together and Lalon loved 'helping' make the pieces - she was my pepperoni and mozzarella stuffer for a while.  I was able to find whole wheat pizza dough in the deli bakery section of Harris Teeter in 1 lb bags and then cubed up some mozzarella and had the pepperoni - super easy.  It turned out great I thought and the kids loved it, which is even better.  I used my great grandmother's pound cake pan, just because so it may have been 'prettier' in a bundt pan, but it tasted great.


Pepperoni Pizza Monkeybread, originally from Confections of a Foodie Bride 

2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
4 Tbsp butter
2 lbs pizza dough
6 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes (you'll need ~48 pieces)
48 slices of Turkey pepperoni (from 1 package)
2-3 cups marinara sauce, warmed, for serving (I used a jar of Pizza Quick sauce)

1. Heat garlic and butter over medium heat just until the garlic begins to brown. Remove from heat and let sit.


2. Lightly brush the inside of a bundt pan (or other oven-safe dish) with garlic butter.


3. Pull off large marble-sized balls of dough and flatten (a kitchen scale makes this very easy). Top with a slice of pepperoni and a cube of mozzarella.

4. Pepperoni Pizza Monkey Bread Wrap the dough around the pepperoni and cheese, pinching well to seal.


5. Very lightly brush the pizza ball with garlic butter and place into the bundt pan (I dabbed the pizza balls on a butter-dipped silicon brush to keep butter use low - there will be 1+ Tbsp leftover - and my hands butter free. Buttery hands make it hard to get the pizza balls to seal).


6. Repeat until all of the dough is used.


7. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes, while preheating the oven to 400.


8. Bake for ~35 minutes, until the top is very brown.


9. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes.


10.Turn out onto a platter and serve with warmed marinara sauce for dipping.

Bacon Double Cheeseburger Dip

Another recipe from Pinterest that I knew I'd be trying out for our non-Super Bowl wing frying night.  I adjusted mine just a bit because Brian has convulsions at the thought of mayonnaise in anything, so I left that out and added more cream cheese and sour cream.  It tasted great, but I think I should have taken it out just a tad bit earlier so it was still super creamy.  I purchased the tomato and lettuce to add to it and when we were cleaning up at the end of the night, I saw them sitting patiently on the counter... oh well!  It was easy enough to make, so I'll try it again and tweak it a bit more and certainly take it out of the oven on time.  A great appetizer to take somewhere!   Do check out the blog, Closet Cooking, they have tons of great recipes and have lots of pictures of the dip (as seen above) that will make your mouth water.

Bacon Double Cheese Burger Dip, via Closet Cooking

A hot cheesy baked dip with all of the flavours of a bacon double cheese burger that makes for some great game day snacking!

Servings: makes 4+ servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 6 strips bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoon ketchup

Directions

1. Cook the ground beef in a pan over medium heat, set it aside and drain the grease from the pan.
2. Cook the bacon in the pan until crispy, about 6-10 minutes, set aside and drain all but a tablespoon of the grease.
3. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
4. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
5. Mix the ground beef, bacon, onions and garlic, cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, mozzarella, cheddar, worcestershire sauce and ketchup and pour it into a baking dish.
6. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until the top starts turning a light golden brown and then sides are bubbling, about 20-30 minutes.

Cookies ‘N Cream Oreo Fudge Brownies

Saw this recipe on none other than Pinterest and knew I'd be trying them soon... hopefully when we had folks over so I wouldn't eat them all!  Had a few friends over to fry chicken wings last night, apparently there was a football game on, and knew this was the perfect time to try my new dessert.  Below is the recipe, it is really rich - I actually enjoyed mine with a small glass of red wine.  I've also included the link to the original post, as they certainly deserve credit for all of that goodness and she has tons of great pictures.

Cookies ‘N Cream Oreo Fudge Brownies, via Kevin & Amanda

1 box Brownie Mix
eggs & oil (as called for by the brownie mix)
1 heaping half cup (6 oz) Cookies & Cream ice cream
1/4 Cup hot fudge topping (chilled or room temp)

Preheat oven (as directed by brownie mix) & spray an 8×8 baking dish generously with cooking spray. Combine brownie mix, eggs, and oil as directed on the back of the box, but do not add the water. Add ice cream and hot fudge to the brownie batter and stir to combine. Pour half of the brownie batter into the baking dish, layer with Oreos, then top with remaining batter. Bake for 40-50 minutes or as directed on the back of the box.

Daddy's Peanut Butter Delights

Was wanting something sweet today and had just enough ingredients to make... nothing.  Was missing one thing for almost every recipe I had on my mind.  Except for this: Peanut Butter Delights.  You probably have the same or similar recipe, lots of times you'll see them called No Bake Cookies, but this is just about the only thing my Daddy can (or rather, will) cook and he calls them Peanut Butter Delights.  Works for me.  The only thing missing in the picture below is Daddy standing there with a spoon eating them before they set!

Peanut Butter Delights, Robert F. Naylor

• 2 c sugar
• 1/3 c cocoa
• 1 stick margarine 
• 1/2 c milk 
• 1 pt oatmeal (2 cups)
• 1/2 c peanut butter 
• 1/2 c raisins, opt.

Mix sugar and cocoa together.  In a medium saucepan, melt margarine.  Add milk and sugar mixture.  Cook over medium-high heat until mixture begins to bubble around the pan.  Cook additional minute (if cooked too long, candy will be dry).  Remove from heat, add peanut butter, oatmeal and raisins if desired.  Let mixture cool slightly in pan.  Spoon onto waxed paper into 2 in cookies.  

Enjoy!!

Sweet girl

We got some hand-me-downs from our cousin yesterday and this toy was one of them.  I can't believe we've had 3 kids and never bought one of these walker things - especially as much as my kids love them!  Naylor and Lalon played with it all last night, but they are in school today and Whitley Ann is loving it.  Check out all those teeth too; the top and bottom two are through and then the two on either side of top centers are working their way down.

Toddler Rules

Grandma T shared this with me; there are certainly days in this house that go this way!

cute girls

We've been in the house for what seems like FOREVER, but really, maybe 5 days - aside from our ER visit of course...  Someone has been sick or the weather gross and we just haven't ventured out.  Heading to the Bouncy House place now to use up some groupons and burn off lots of energy!  Here's a picture of the girls in their super sweet outfits from Aunt Christie and Uncle Jamie from Christmas.