Spinach Pizza Greens

This is an old family recipe, one that my grandmother made and one of my favorites. My grandmother called them pizza greens, and I like to keep these old recipes alive.

I’ve had them on my list to make for quite some time now, so I decided it was time to dust this one off.  Pizza Greens from my grandmother’s kitchen to yours.

They consist of seasoned spinach wrapped in wonderful sweet and soft dough. The original recipe calls for cake yeast, which is very hard to find so I had to convert it to dry yeast. If you have read one my previous post All Purpose Dough Recipe, this is not the same dough this dough is much softer and sweeter.

Here is how we make this dough:

5 cups all-purpose flour

2 package dry yeast

1 Egg Beaten

¼ cup white sugar

½ stick butter

½ cup water (lukewarm)

1 cup warm milk (not too hot)

Add the flour, salt, and butter to a mixing bowl; I use my KitchenAid Stand mixer for the dough. Mix the sugar with the lukewarm water, add the yeast, milk, and egg. Add this to the flour mixture and knead until smooth. Cover and let the dough rise.

The Spinach Filling:

1 bag (16oz.) frozen chopped spinach

2 cloves garlic diced

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Crushed hot red pepper (optional)

¼ cup Grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

Coat the bottom of a 10-inch skillet with the olive oil, add all of your seasonings and cook until spinach is warm.

 I pulled off pieces of the dough and rolled them to about 6 x 6 inches. Fill them with 2 tablespoons of the spinach filling. Fold over each side and pinch the dough together, pinch the corners and fold up, then flip over onto a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes until they are golden brown.

What I like about this recipe is that there are so many options to add to the spinach filling, such as mushrooms, sausage, ham, and pepperoni; you decide the options are endless.

This recipe yielded me eight nice pizza greens and I had enough dough left over to make six sandwich buns.

As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy.

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A Summer Salad

Sometimes it’s just too hot to cook inside even here in Western New York. We needed to come up with dinner the other night so we put together this salad with whatever we had on hand.

Fran started off with a mixture of greens that were in the refrigerator, some romaine, leaf, and iceberg lettuce, and filled up a large bowl. Then she crumbled up four strips of crispy bacon on top.

Next, she added some red onions, diced tomatoes, sliced fresh zucchini, and cucumber just picked from our friend’s garden, and to top it off shredded cheddar cheese.

While she was doing all of that I fired up the grill and grilled a boneless chicken breast. We cut up the chicken breast, whipped up some ranch dressing and created a nice summer salad with whatever was on hand.

I went a step further with my salad and added fresh ground black pepper, almonds and some raisins.

This made for a nice meal for just the two of us. So if you’re stuck for a quick dinner just put together what you have.

As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed.

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Taco Pizza

When you have a large family good recipes are in abundance, and our family is no exception. This recipe for Taco pizza was created by my daughter-in-law's sister Melissa, and trust me Melissa knows how to feed a crowd.

At every family event, she is always cooking something special, so I’ll need to spend some time with her to see if I can’t convince her to keep them coming.

And if you’re looking for a meatless night for your dinner just leave out the meat.

Here is what Melissa says you need:

1 - 8oz Package sour cream

2-3 cups - Cheddar Cheese

4 cups - Shredded Lettuce

1-2 - Medium Size Tomatoes - Chopped

1-lb - Ground Beef, Sliced Chicken, Ground Turkey - pick one or none!

1 - Package Taco Seasoning

16oz - Can Refried Beans

2 - Bags Tortilla Chips and/or Scoops of your choice

Here is how she prepares it:

• Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees...
• LAYER 1 - Spread Refried Beans on a cookie baking sheet - round pizza pan size or 9x12 cookie sheet - your choice!  Bake for 10-12 min on 350 degrees. Beans will bubble when they're done.
• While Refried Beans are baking, brown meat of your choice.  Once meat is done, Add Taco Seasoning package with water as directed on package.
• Let Refried beans cool for a few minutes 3-5min, while cooling...Chop tomatoes and prepare cheese and lettuce.
• LAYER 2 - Spread Sour Cream on cooled Refried Beans.
• LAYER 3 - Shake 1 cup Cheddar Cheese all over the dish.
• LAYER 4 - Add chopped Lettuce all over the dish.
• LAYER 5 - Add chopped Tomatoes all over the dish.
• LAYER 6 - Sprinkle remaining Cheddar Cheese all over the dish.
• Serve now or Heat 3-5 min in an oven to melt cheese.
• Serve immediately - Can be a main course dish or appetizer - you decide!

* This will serve 6-8 people.

As always Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy

Stuffed Peppers with Jasmine Rice

This is one of our favorite recipes especially when the growing season is coming to an end; the peppers are so fresh picked right out of the garden. If you don’t have a garden you can buy some really nice peppers at a farmers market, or the grocery stores will usually carry fresh produce locally grown.

Stuffed peppers with jasmine rice is a quick and easy meal for your family, or if you’re going to entertain friends for dinner.

You can prepare these ahead of time and just pop them in the oven just before your friends arrive.  These stuffed peppers served with a salad makes a complete meal for your family or friends.

A tip from my daughter, she uses the jasmine rice because it’s sticky and holds the mixture together very well.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. of ground beef

1 29 oz. can tomato sauce

½ cup seasoned bread crumbs

2 eggs

½ cup Parmesan/Romano cheese

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

3 tbs. Worcestershire sauce

2-1/2 cups white jasmine rice

Instructions:

1. Cook the rice according to the package instructions
2. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, bread crumbs, eggs, cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce and mix together well, set this aside.
3. In a small pot cook the tomato sauce until it comes to a boil and then turn it down to simmer. (Optional, you can add some Italian seasoning if you like)
4. Cut the tops off of the peppers and remove all of the seeds, rinse them with cold water.
5. Par boil the peppers, just about 10 minutes, depending on the size.
6. Stuff the peppers with the mixture, place them in a casserole dish standing up, and then pout the tomato sauce over the peppers. Place the lid on your casserole dish, or cover the peppers with tin foil.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 1-1/2 hours or until the center of the meat is 170 degrees, using your meat thermometer

Mix the ground meat and rice

Stuff the peppers

As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy. 

The Classic Reuben Sandwich

This Reuben sandwich served with a salad and some fruit makes a great lunch or dinner. I call this classic because it was made with Corned Beef, Swiss cheese, Sauerkraut, and creamy Thousand Island dressing,

My daughter made these and served them with a nice salad, some grapes and strawberries. Well I ate the Reuben and a few grapes, the kids had Mac and Cheese and fruit. The Reuben is not difficult to make, and you can serve it cold or toasted, we made ours toasted, that’s the way I like it.

This is what you need:

• 6 or 8 slices of Corned Beef
• 6 Slices of Swiss Cheese
• 1 bag of sauerkraut
• 1 bottle of thousand island dressing
• 6 slices of marble rye bread
• Some butter

Here is all you need to do:

1. Brown the sauerkraut in a skillet
2. Heat up your griddle to medium heat, butter one side of a slice of bread and place it butter side down on the griddle.
3. Now begin to build your sandwich, place 1 or 2 slices of cheese, and then the slices of corned beef, now heap on the sauerkraut.
4. Butter another slice of bread and place it on top, now all you need to do is grill your sandwich to perfection.
5. Now open it up and pour on the dressing and serve. This was enough to make 3 delicious sandwiches.

 As always thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy it!

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Easy Light Lunch or Dinner

This is a quick and easy idea for a light lunch or dinner, with some leftovers that you may have in the refrigerator.

I call this mini crescent roll chicken salad sandwich, with broccoli salad. If you have some leftover chicken this is a delicious way to use it up.

Make your favorite chicken salad, I like a little crunch to my chicken salad, so I add some chopped-up celery and chopped almonds.

Pick up some Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and bake them according to the package instructions. (I know that I didn’t really have to tell you that, but just in case!)

Now how to make the Broccoli Salad:

8 cups of broccoli (Chopped Very Fine)

1 cup Miracle Whip Light Dressing

6 slices of bacon (cooked and crumbled)

½ cup of red onion (Chopped Very Fine)

3 tbsp. sugar

3 tbsp. white vinegar

Mix the Miracle Whip, sugar, and white vinegar until it’s blended. Now in a large bowl add the remaining ingredients, pour in the dressing, and mix.

Refrigerate this for about one hour and it’s ready to serve. Slice your crescent rolls and fill them with that delicious chicken salad and enjoy.

As always Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed this recipe.

How to make Hot Dog Chili

 

Hot Dogs with chili sauce

If you are a fan of a good old-fashioned hot dog with chili, then this recipe is just what you need. I grew up in a small Western Pennsylvania town, where hot dogs are a staple.

There were several hot dog shops around town, each specializing in its own chili sauce. We moved away from our hometown, and it turns out that hot dogs with chili are one of the foods we miss the most. Now we have a recipe to make our own that reminds us of home.

There are so many garnishes for hot dogs, but I like mine with mustard, onion, and chili. Sometimes I add a nice thin slice of dill pickle on top, and it's oh-so-good.

Ingredients:

• 1 Pound of ground beef
• 1 small onion chopped very fine
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp sage
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• Sprinkle in some garlic powder and salt (just a little)

Instructions:

1. In a medium saucepan brown all of the ingredients
2. Add 1 cup of water
3. Add 2 tablespoons of cracker meal
4. Cook for 1 hour

Give it a try and enjoy a nice chili dog. It's a simple recipe and you could even make it ahead and freeze it for later. 

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