Filled Crescent Rolls

Here's another idea i picked up on Pinterest.  I made 3 variations of filled crescent rolls.  All were tasty and given a "thumbs up" by my kids for lunch.  All use Pillsbury Crescent Rolls to make, adding a filling before rolling it up to bake as directed

Variation 1 - cheese filled
Variation 2 - cheese & hot dog
Variation 3 -peanut butter and chocolate chip

I think the possibilities here are endless.

BLT with a twist - guest post

If you know me well, you know I didn't make this and I didn't eat it either. Much to the amazement of my friends and family who swear by it, I can't eat bacon. But my husband is among those who just love bacon. And this is his creation. 

Bored with your BLT ?

Try this one on for size. It is a BLT with a twist.

Preheat your oven to 350. Next grab two baking sheets.

Lay out your bacon onto the sheets. Mix the following seasonings together:

Granulated garlic, onion powder, Cajun spice, and a dash of Jerk Seasoning.

The mix should be 2/3^rd garlic and onion powder and 1/3^rd Cajun and Jerk seasoning. Next sprinkle this mixture over the bacon evenly. It is good to have a moderate coating of the spice.

Bake the bacon at 350 for 10-15 min. or until desired crispness is reached.

Slice some fresh tomatoes. Toast a hoagie bun lightly. Add mayo. When the bacon is cooked, take 3 or four strips per sandwich and cut it into chunks (this prevents a whole strip of bacon from coming out of the sandwich on your first bite). Layer tomato slices over the bacon and sprinkle fresh oregano over the tomatoes- just a light dusting.

Cut the sandwich in half, et voila. A delicious twist on a classic sandwich. Add lettuce if you must.

Best Beef Dip! - for a slow cooker

Beef Dip is one of those recipes that I always order at a diner.  I love it.  It's a treat when made well, but I've never thought to make it myself.  Rewind to two weeks ago, I was browsing at one of my favorite recipe sites, food.com, and found this recipe.  It had very high ratings (4 1/2 stars out of 5) and a lot of positive reviews.  The ingredients were simple and staples in our home.  It looked super easy (and it was) and honestly, I couldn't believe how delicious this really was.  My husband has not stopped talking about it ever since.  He has asked a number of our friends if they have slow cookers and told them to get this recipe off of me.  That's high praise :)  The original posting is found here: http://www.food.com/recipe/french-dip-roast-beef-for-the-crock-pot-103403.

• 3 1/2-4 lbs boneless chuck roast
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 beef bouillon cube
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 -4 peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary , crushed
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 12 French rolls , split - (even better when toasted and then spread with a little mayo before adding the meat)

Place roast in a 5-quart slow cooker. Combine soy sauce and next 6 ingredients.  Pour over roast.  Add water to slow cooker until roast is almost covered.  Cook, covered, on LOW for 7 hours or until very tender.  Remove roast, reserving broth.  You may shred roast with a fork and serve on sandwich rolls with the broth on the side for dipping.

Pizza Biscuits

My 6 year old calls these pizza pucks, my 4 year old just calls them yummy. This is a very easy twist on baking powder biscuits that helps me get a little more meat into my kids diets.

2 Cups Flour
1 tbsp sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup chopped pepperoni (I just used one 100 gram pepperoni stick)
1/2 cup grated cheddar
3/4 cup milk

Pre-heat oven to 450*
Mix the dry ingredients together. Use a pastry cutter to add in the margarine until it's really nice a crumbly looking. Add the pepperoni and cheese. Stir in the milk (dough will be quite sticky).
Flour a flat surface and kneed the dough until soft and workable (flour your hands really well too for this). Roll out about 1/2 inch thick. Use a circle cutter (I use one of my kids plastic cups, about 2'' in diameter) to cut out the biscuits. Place on non-stick sprayed sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. This recipe makes about 16 biscuits.

Egg White Omelet

My husband is very much into his own diet plan these days.  He is determined that his lunches be 300 calories (or thereabouts).  He has a few staples in place and I have to admit that I've picked up this one as one of my new favorite things - the egg white omelet.  We've made it a few different ways, but each way starts pretty much the same.  It is so tasty and so filling that you really don't need anything else until supper.

The Base - heat a little bit of Olive Oil or margarine in a frying pan over medium heat.  Then cook your veggies in it until they are starting to soften.  We like to use onion, bell peppers (usually red or yellow), sliced mushrooms (cooking the mushroom through is key) as our regulars.  We've also used grated zuchini and sliced tomato. Once your veggies are cooked add the egg white.  I add 1/2 cup of egg white (if you don't like just egg whites, mix 1/2 cup egg whites with 1 egg instead) .  Let it cook through on one side.  Add a little bit of cheese in and flip.  The omelet in the picture has cheddar, but the best we've made has feta instead.  Let it cook before flipping onto your plate.  I have to say I'm no expert at this and it can look pretty messy, but the taste is amazing.  Grate a little more cheese on.  Add a little salt and pepper or parsley and you're set.