Staying in on a snowy Sunday

We are in the middle of a mini snow storm.  It’s cold, windy and snowy out.  Yesterday I ran errands and got a few things for the week.  I am not a big fan of grocery shopping, so I tend to only really go on a big shopping trip every 2-3 months.  When I do that, I stock up.  And I mean stock up.  I spend about $400 to stock up my pantry and freezer and pick up fresh items every week or other week.

So, yesterday I needed to get some stuff for a potluck at work this week (I am making crock pot lasagna…more on that this week) and some items for this week.  I wanted to make some queso so needed a few things.

After I got home, what I had in mind for dinner quickly went out the window, and I ended up making one of my favorite salads.  It’s a version of Cabbage Crunch Salad–and it was so yummy.

I know it’s not a great picture but here’s how you make it:

cabbage–sometimes I use broccoli-slaw (precut)

1 carrot, grated

1 granny smith apple, peeled and chopped

craisons

slivered almonds

uncooked ramon noodles, broken up

The dressing is:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 packet of chicken ramon noodle flavoring

Today, I made some homemade refried beans (you can find the recipe by clicking here), and some queso dip.  The queso is super easy…just take a block of velveeta cheese, a can of rotel, and some browned ground beef and mix it in a crock pot.  Let it melt together and it’s perfect for a dip or for a snack or for dinner.

So that’s what I did today.  Check out the blog later this week for crock pot lasagna!

Keep Simply Delighting!

 

Vegetable Pizza

This recipe is great for hot summer days that call for a refreshing, light healthy snack or dinner.  It is also great to take to a party or family picnic.

To make the crust:

Mix 1 package of active dry yeast, 1 1/4 cups of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of oil and 1 cup of warm water (110-115 degrees) with an electric mixer to combine well.  Continue to add 2 cups of flour at small increments until you can no longer beat with an electric mixer (for me, I added about 3/4 cup of flour until my mixer could no longer do it).

Spread remaining flour on clean surface and turn dough out on surface to knead.  As you knead, try to incorporate as much of the remaining flour as possible.  Knead about 6-8 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. 

Form dough into a ball, cover and let rest for 5-10 minutes.

Spread dough out on a greased pan.  Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place until it doubles in size, about 30-45 minutes.  After it has doubled, bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

If you don’t have the time to make your own crust, you can use the ready-made pizza crusts or a package of crescent rolls that are found in the refrigerator section of the grocery store.  If using crescent rolls, roll them out flat and piece the dough together to create one piece of dough.

While the dough is baking, prepare the veggies to top the pizza.

I used julianned carrots, and simply snipped them into small pieces with my kitchen shears until I had 1 1/2 cups.

Next, finely dice 1 green pepper and 1 cup of mushrooms.

Finely dice 1/2 of an English cucumber and quarter 8-10 grape tomatoes. 

After the crust cools, spread a pint of dill dip or ranch dip over the crust. 

Mix the chopped veggies together and spread over the entire pizza.

Top with your favorite cheese–cojack, cheddar or mozzarella.  Keep chilled. 

So good!

Oven Toasted Ravioli and Creamy Garden Salad

Both of these recipes I have heard of before, but didn’t have the exact recipes.  So…I just experimented tonight and it turned out marvelous.  That’s the best part of cooking, and the thing I enjoy the most–making recipes my own. 🙂

Creamy Garden Salad

For this salad, I chopped half an English cucumber (they are the long skinny ones without seeds) into half moons, 2 green peppers into half rings, 2 tomatoes into bite size pieces, and a red onion into half rings.  I love the color of all the veggies together!

My mom would use sour cream, but I used about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of nonfat vanilla yogurt.  I added 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and mixed well.  I mixed up the yogurt first, let it chill and the spices mingle while I chopped up the veggies.  Pour the dressing over the veggies and toss.  Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.  Salt and pepper to taste. 

Oven Toasted Ravioli

 I always buy frozen cheese filled ravioli at the grocery store.  For this recipe the ravioli needs to be thawed.  It makes about 20 raviolis.  To bread the ravioli, dip it an egg wash and then bread crumbs.

Beat 2 eggs and add about a tablespoon of water. 

I am using my homemade bread crumbs, about 2 cups.  They are unseasoned, so I added 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of onion powder, 1 teaspoon of italian seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.  Mix well.

Dip each individual ravioli in the egg and then roll in the bread crumbs.  Place on a greased baking sheet (I use cooking spray). 

Bake at 375 for 15-17  minutes. 

The ravioli can be dipped in marinara sauce or ranch dressing…or any other dipping sauce you prefer. 

Doesn’t it look absolutely yummy?  It was!