Tried and true recipes, new twists on old favorites, and new dishes to expand my family's palate.
If you have ever been to a Pampered Chef party you have probably eaten this simple but delicious dish. The first time I ever had it was at my sister in law’s house one Christmas a few year’s back. Not long after that I attended a Pampered Chef party my friend had and enjoyed it once again.
If you have never tried it than you must. It’s great as an appetizer or as a meal in itself. Not to mention, it’s an easy way to get broccoli into your children without them complaining. Even my husband who hates broccoli will eat this and not complain.
And don’t let the presentation intimidate you. I’m far from artistic and even I can throw this together in a matter of minutes and have it look pretty.
Begin by mixing up all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Set this to the side. On a large cookie sheet, or better yet, a baking stone, unroll the first package of crescent rolls. Placing them with the widest part across the top of the cookie sheet. 
Open the second roll of crescent rolls and roll them out the same way, placing them directly under the first roll and pinching the seams together. Roll out with a rolling-pin until all seams are sealed together and you have a large rectangle. You can use your hands to shape this out better once you have rolled it together.
Using a sharp paring knife, begin slicing 1 1/2″ – 2″ wide by 3″ long strips down each side of the dough giving you 8 slits on each side. This should leave you approximately 6″ of solid space down the center of the dough. Place your filling in this center spot and shape into a rectangle.
Now begin your braiding from the top down. At the very top you should have a small piece of dough in the center. Take this and fold it up to the top of the filling. Then take a strip from the left and cross it over to the right. Take the strip on the right, and cross it over to the left, overlapping the first strip.
Continue this pattern until you have reached the bottom and have crossed all your side strips of dough over one another.
Once you reach the bottom, fold the bottom flap of dough up to the top and press together to form a seam.
When done, your loaf should look like this. Or something like it anyway.
Beat 1 egg and brush along entire surface and sides of the dough. Place in the oven and bake until golden brown.
BROCCOLI, CHICKEN & CHEESE BRAID:
Recipe from Pampered Chef
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.. Chop chicken, broccoli and bell pepper and add to a large mixing bowl. Add all remaining ingredients, except for the egg and the almonds. Mix together well.
Unroll 1 package of crescent dough; do not separate. Arrange longest sides of dough across width of 12″ x 15″ rectangle baking stone or cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining package of dough. Using roller, roll dough to seal perforations. On longest sides of baking stone, cut dough into strips 1 1/2 inches apart, 3 inches deep using a paring knife.. Spread filling evenly over middle of dough. To braid, lift strips of dough across mixture to meet in center, twisting each strip on turn. Continue alternating strips to form a braid. Tuck ends under to seal at end of braid. Brush egg over dough using pastry brush. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake 25-28 minutes or until deep golden brown.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Using a thin spatula, gently run it along the bottom of the loaf on the pan to loosen. Place on a cutting board. Allow to rest for another 5 minutes. Slice into pieces using a serrated knife.
Enjoy!
I’m so happy that tomatoes are good for you. In fact, if it were possible for tomatoes to turn you into a size 2, vanish crows feet, rid your body of cellulite, and make you 10 years younger, I would pretty much forever be a 20-year-old in a thong.
Unfortunately, while they are tremendously healthy, they can’t perform any of the above mentioned miracles. But still, they are good for you and when summer comes, I live off them.
Our tomatoes in the garden are nowhere near ready for picking yet, but while at the store the other day I found some beautiful red ones that I just could not pass up.
One of my most favorite sandwiches to live off of in the summer is the simplest of any sandwich. Tomatoes, salt, pepper, mayo on soft pumpernickel bread. I’ll eat it on other bread as well, but pumpernickel is my first choice.
BLT’s are great, but honestly, the sweetness of nothing but tomatoes and mayo with lots of pepper and some salt is just as good, if not better.
Once our tomatoes come in I’ll continue to live on this sandwich, along with Pico de Gallo and fresh tomato salad each night with dinner.
Now if only I could plant a tomato with the miracle wonders I listed earlier…I would be a very happy chick!
As a side note, when I was young and just learning to read, my parents always said, “Sound out the word” if I got stuck on a tough one.
I remember reading a book about a farm with my father and coming across the word “tomatoes.” I couldn’t get the word right, so my father reminded me to sound it out.
I did and came up with “Tom A Toes.” My father burst out laughing and to this day my entire family reminds me of this. Even at 42 I can’t cut into a tomato without thinking they are actually Tom’s toes.
My husband made a few too many cheeseburgers for the kids on Sunday, so I ended up with about 4 medium-sized grilled burgers leftover.
Leftover burgers don’t really do it for me, so I wasn’t sure what to do with them. Then I remembered I also had a pound of pizza dough leftover from my son’s pizza making dinner from Saturday, along with tomato sauce and cheese. All things combined made for a super easy and delicious dinner.
Cheeseburger Pizza Bread:
Serves: 6
Begin by heating the oven to 450 degrees.
In a large bowl, crumble up the cooked and cooled cheeseburgers. Add the tomato sauce, grated cheese and parmesan. Stir to combine.
Roll out and stretch your pizza dough to about 15″ L x 12″ W. Fill with the meat and cheese mixture, keeping the mixture towards the center.
Fold your sides and ends over and in and pinch well together.
Spray a large cookie sheet with cooking spray and gently place the pizza dough on top.
In a small bowl, whisk the egg and brush on the outside of the dough, covering all sides and the top.
Place in the center of your oven and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, being sure to check the dough so it doesn’t burn. Your want the outside nicely crisp and browned.
Once done, remove from oven and allow to rest for about 15 minutes. Slide the dough on a cutting board and slice into 2 to 3 inch slices with a serrated knife.
We ate this with a salad and that was it. The kids love it and it was filling enough for a main dish for dinner.
My oldest son loves when I make these.
They are simple and delicious, but also, very rich. Even my bottomless pit teenaged son can barely eat a whole one alone.
You make them with canned crescent rolls and what ever lunch meat and cheese you have. The varieties for what you can stuff in here is endless.
Turkey & Cheese Crescent Rolls
Serves 4 (normal people) or 2 (hungry people)
Preheat oven to the level indicated on the can of crescent rolls.
Open crescent rolls and divide entire roll in half so that you have two sets of 4 crescent rolls.
Take one half of roll and place between two pieces of wax paper. Roll into a rectangle, getting it as thin as possible. If you get any tears in the dough just pinch them together again.
Once flat, place two pieces of cheese and top with 3 slices of turkey. Fold up into a rectangle pinching all sides together to seal completely. Do the same with the other section of dough so that you end up with two sandwiches.
Place seam side down on an ungreased baking pan.
Place in oven and allow to cook for 13 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown and flaky.
When done, remove baking pan and allow to cool for ten minutes. Remove to a cutting board and cut each piece in half giving you 4 individual sandwiches.
Serve and enjoy.
Spring has finally sprung in New York. Thank goodness! It’s hard to believe that just a few short weeks ago this is what my deck looked like after a huge blizzard swept down on us.
There was my grill, buried under too much snow. My grill without its cover on. The cover that was buried under about a foot of snow by the time I had realized my husband never covered it. Today, my grill is blindingly dazzling from the beating sun shining from it. No snow in sight. It’s a cloudless, sunny sky in the mid 60′s. Let’s hope it lasts. It felt great going grocery shopping yesterday in nothing but a t-shirt with no jacket. I’m going to stop here because we’ve been shocked with snow even in April, so before I jinx myself I’ll just zip it and get on with the sandwich.
Because of the beautiful weather we are experiencing, we decided to grill outside yesterday. For both lunch and dinner. Lunch was a grilled chicken sandwich I threw together and we both loved it. There are no measurements for this because really, you don’t need them. Some things are better that way.
Grilled Chicken Sandwich:
I sprinkled the chicken breasts with all the dried spices and then grilled them at 300 degrees until the juices ran clear and they had a nice crispy crust on the outside.
I would have preferred a nice Portuguese Roll toasted, but I had none. The most sturdy bread I had on hand were some English Muffins and they worked just great. I toasted them up and spread them with a good amount of mayonnaise.
Cut up some fresh lettuce, slice some tomatoes nice and thin, and slice a few pieces of ripe avocado.
Layer some lettuce, tomato, chicken and then some avocado on top of one side of the bun. Sprinkle with some additional ground pepper and salt and squeeze on some fresh lime juice. Top with the other half of the bun and enjoy.
You could also use a larger roll and leave the chicken breast whole, but I hate sandwiches that are too big and bulky to chow down on. Slicing everything thinly really makes a difference and helps the flavors to blend together well.
The avocado and mayonnaise was a great contrast to the spice from the cayenne and the warmth of the grilled chicken. Spicy, warm, crunchy, cool and fresh all at the same time.
This was definitely “Spring” in my mouth yesterday!
