Strawberry Fruit Pizza!

Not long ago I worked in long term care for a couple of years.  Each month we would have a big birthday party celebration to honor all of the residents who had birthdays that month.  My mother and my Aunt Mary, were so kind to bake and donate all sorts of sweets...cakes, cookies, cupcakes and this fruit pizza, to serve at these parties.  Needless to say, the residents looked forward to these days and didn't fuss over their lunches too much on that day, because they were saving room for their sweet treats.  Anyone who has ever worked with the elderly knows if they won't eat anything else, you can usually get them to eat something sweet.   The staff looked forward to it about as much as they did also.  I have had several staff members say to me lately that they are dying for a piece of my mama's fruit pizza.  So I am posting this recipe for them! 

Here is what you'll need:

1 roll refrigerated sugar cookies
1 8oz cream cheese (softened)
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 cup refrigerated whipped topping
1 tsp vanilla flavoring
1 (15 oz.) can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 (3 oz.) pkg. instant vanilla pudding
3-4 bananas
approximately 4 cups large strawberries, sliced
1 pkg. strawberry glaze

Leave the roll of cookies out of the refrigerator to soften a bit.  Spray a pizza pan with baking spray, then pat the roll of cookie dough on the pan to the edges.  Bake as directed on the package minus just a few minutes of cooking time...just until the cookies are starting to brown.  Remove from oven and cool completely. 

With an electric mixer beat the cream cheese and confectioners sugar together, beat in the whipped topping, then add the vanilla and mix.  Spread this mixture over the cookie crust to the edges.

Next mix the pineapple (don't drain) with the instant pudding until well blended then spread over the cream cheese layer.  Slice the bananas and place in a single layer over the pineapple.  If you are making this ahead of time, you might want to squirt some lemon juice over the bananas to keep them from turning dark.  If you are serving  within a few hours, this isn't really necessary though.

Slice strawberries in half and arrange over the bananas with the large ones in the center and fanning out to the smaller ones on the outer edges.   Cut the end off of the strawberry glaze just enough to drizzles it over the whole thing starting in the middle and working your way out to the edges.  If you have a squeeze bottle, you can put the glaze in it and use it to squirt it on the pizza. Works beautifully!

Voila...strawberry fruit pizza! 

Chocolate Pizza!

 

This is one of the desserts I made for Father's Day!   I have eaten a pizza made with a brownie "crust" before, but it had fruit toppings instead of candy.  It was good, but I wanted a brownie pizza topped with candy, nuts and chocolate...why add fruit to that and make it even slightly healthy...lol.   This turned out so yummy, but it is rich so it serves a lot of people.  I used candies that are our favorites...Snickers bars and M&M's.   Here is what I used to make this pizza, but you can substitute somewhat for things that your families favorites:

1 pkg. brownie mix prepared as directed on the package
1 8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
10 fun size Snickers bars
1 cup mini M&M's ( I used 2 of  the tubes the mini M&M's come in)
1 cup chopped nuts ( I used walnuts, but pecans or even chopped peanuts would be great)
1 cup melted chocolate chips
1 Tbs. shortening
caramel ice cream topping

Mix the brownie mix up as directed on the package.  Spray a pizza pan or a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.  Spread the brownie mix on the pan.  It will be thin. Bake it in a preheated 350 degree oven for 13-15 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely.  Mix the softened cream cheese, confectioner's sugar and the vanilla until it is fluffy like a thick cream cheese icing.  Spread this on the cooled brownie layer.  You can substitute canned cream cheese frosting for this if you want to save some time.  Cut up the Snickers bars in pieces and sprinkle over the cream cheese.  If you want to use some other candy bar, that works also.  I think Reese's cups cut up would be really good also or Milky Way. 

Place your chocolate chips in a glass bowl and microwave 1 minute.  Add the tablespoon of shortening and stir. Microwave about another minute, stir until smooth and shiny.  Make sure the bowl and spoon are clean and completey dry.  If you get one drop of water in melted chocolate it will ruin in.  Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cream cheese and candy bar layer.  I just used a spoon to do this one, but you can put it in a squeeze bottle also.  Place this in the refrigerator until the chocolate has cooled and hardened back up. 

Once the chocolate has hardened and it's chilled, sprinkle on the M&M's and chopped nuts.  This could be made for various holidays by using the holiday colored M&M's...black and orange for Halloween, pastels for Easter, green and red for Christmas!  I waited until time to serve to drizzle with the caramel ice cream topping. You can drizzle each piece with it or the whole pizza.

I used this topping because it comes in a squeeze bottle and make it easier to drizzle.  I heated it about a minute in the microwave first.  Just don't put it on really hot or it will melt your M&M's and chocolate drizzle. 

 

 

 

 



Spinach Artichoke Pizza!

I love spinach and artichoke dip and I love pizza so I decided to combine the two and with some tweaking and modifications, I think this is a very good recipe.  I tried a few recipes I found and they were either too dry and sort of bland or way too greasy and heavy.  I tried to take the good things in each one and mix them.

Here is what you will need:

1 bag chopped frozen spinach, cream cheese, basil, Alfredo sauce (any flavor you like), mayonnaise, 1 can artichoke hearts,  garlic powder, Parmesan cheese, pepper jack cheese or provolone slices, pizza crust for a 12 inch pizza.  I used a pizza crust mix that Kroger makes.

Soften the cream cheese and mix with the 1/4 cup mayonnaise,1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup Alfredo sauce and 1/2 tsp garlic powder.

Thaw spinach and drain well.  Mash all of the water out of it.  I use paper towels to absorb all of the excess moisture.  Drain the artichoke hearts and chop up in bite size pieces.  Add both to the cream cheese mixture and mix well.

After you spread your crust out on your pizza pan or baking dish, spread a very thin layer of Alfredo sauce over it to the edges.  Sprinkle with basil.  Lay the pepper jack cheese slices over this.  If you do not like spicy, just use provolone cheese.

Spoon the spinach artichoke mixture over the cheese layer.  Sprinkle this layer with Parmesan cheese. I used the Kraft Shredded Parmesan, Romano and Asiago cheese blend.

Place in a preheated 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until brown and bubbly.  This is  more than enough spinach topping for a 12 inch pizza.  I made a smaller pizza because I am the only one who eats this at my house.  I made my husband a beef and pepperoni pizza.  He thinks if he eats something green it will surely kill him...lol.

Ingredients:

1 bag frozen spinach thawed and drained well

1 can artichoke hearts

1 cup Alfredo sauce (1/2 spread on the pizza crust, 1/2 in the spinach/artichoke topping) I used Bertolli's Four Cheese Rosa

1 pizza crust for 12 inch pizza

6-7 slices pepper jack cheese or provolone

1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese (1/2 cup for spinach/ artichoke mixture, the other cup for the top of the pizza)

4 oz. cream cheese

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. basil

Pizza By the Yard!

 

 

We love pizza and I like to make homemade pizza quite often.  I always said I was going to open a pizza place, but now it just seems like too much work...lol.  I am not big on most frozen pizzas and sometimes you just don't want to order out and wait for delivery and it always ends up costing twice as much as you think it should.   This is a way to have homemade tasting pizza that is almost as quick as frozen and almost as good as real homemade and costs even less.    This recipe is so easy it's sort of silly and I almost didn't post it, but I realize that a lot of people want easy and they haven't been cooking forever like me, so maybe they haven't thought of this.

So this is what you need:

 

French bread loaf, pizza sauce, Parmesan cheese, Mozzarella cheese and whatever toppings you prefer.  I used sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, and onions.

My family does not care for the taste of Italian sausage (I do... but I don't count) so when a recipe calls for sausage of any kind, except smoked or kielbasa, I use breakfast sausage and it works great.  I am picky about my sausage though.  The best sausage you can buy is Purnell's "Old Folks" sausage.  It just has a better taste than other sausages you buy at the super market.  If sausage doesn't render any fat in the skillet, it is not good.  Sausage is supposed to have some fat in it.  I drain if off, but it's pig people and pig fat is flavor. Purnell's is not real fatty, but it has enough that it isn't going to burn in the skillet or stick.  There is something wrong when you have to put oil in the skillet to cook a sausage patty and that is how some of the other sausages are now days.  They are genetically engineering pigs so much they are breeding the fat right out of them. Pork is not chicken, even if they do call it the other white meat...lol.  Ok, that's my pet peeve for today...yesterday it was mac and cheese!

Any who, I keep these frozen patties in my freezer and just take out what I need for recipes.  They thaw in the pan in no time and you can crumble them up as they brown.  Purnell's does make Italian sausage that comes in a roll like breakfast sausage that is wonderful also.  They are also a Kentucky company which is a bonus, but when I first started using it, I didn't even know that.

So after I brown some sausage or you could use ground beef, split the French bread down the middle with a serrated knife and lay on a big sheet pan or large pizza pan.  At this point, either toast the bread a little in the oven before adding the sauce or take slices of provolone or mozzarella and lay them down first before the sauce.  Either of these steps will keep the sauce from making the bread soggy.  Next spread each with the sauce.



Add your toppings.  I added sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms and onions (just on mine), then sprinkled on some Parmesan cheese and covered each with mozzarella cheese.  Place in a 400 degree preheated oven and heat until it is slightly brown.

Ingredients:

1 French bread loaf

2 cups pizza sauce

1lb. sausage or ground beef

1 package pepperoni (you won't need it all)

1 cup Parmesan cheese

2-3 cups mozzarella cheese

Any other toppings you like

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Pizza Dip and Homemade Bread Sticks!

 

 

This is one of those recipes that is really simple, but so delicious it is ridiculous!  I originally saw the pizza dip on one of the best Internet sites ever invented, Pinterest!  My niece, Whitney introduced me to Pinterest and I loved it the first time I got on and saw what it was all about.  It just has the most creative thoughts of people from all over in one place...amazing! 

This dip is such a good party food or great if you have to feed a bunch of teenagers (double the recipe for that though)!  The bread sticks are something I have been making for  a while, because I love Olive Garden's bread sticks and for a long time we didn't have an Olive Garden here in town  (for some reason they closed it), but now we do have a new one only five short years later...go figure, only in corporate America are such decisions made...lol.

Here is what you will need for the dip:

 

Ingredients:

4 oz. cream cheese softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 cup pizza sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried basil
sliced pepperoni (about a cup)

Mix the softened cream cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, and 1/2 of the Parmesan cheese and 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese. I added the garlic powder and the basil to this mixture and also chopped about half of the pepperoni and mixed it with the cheese mixture.  Spread this mixture in a pie plate.  Top with the cup of pizza sauce, the other 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, the other 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese, and the rest of the pepperoni.   You can add any pizza toppings you like at this point.  The recipe called for black olives and chopped green peppers.  My family doesn't care for those, but I think it would be really good.  Some chopped mushrooms would also be great or some jalapeno slices.  Add whatever your gang likes. 

Place in a 350 degree preheated oven and cook until hot and bubbly... about 20 to 25 minutes.


The bread sticks are even easier.  This all you will need for them:

1 loaf of Rich's Frozen bread dough  (this is the loaf not the rolls) or any frozen yeast bread loaf
1 stick butter
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Thaw the bread dough on your counter until it is pliable but still fairly cold.  Cut it with a very sharp knife or kitchen shears (the handiest thing ever) across the loaf like you are slicing a loaf of bread, not longways.  You should be able to get about 9 or 10 pieces.  Take each piece and roll it between your palms like you did when you made Play-doh snakes...lol.  Roll it into a long piece about 9 inches long.  This sometimes takes some rolling and stretching. 

Melt your butter in a shallow dish, like a pie plate and mix in the garlic powder and Parmesan cheese.  Roll each piece of dough in this mixture and coat well.  Place on a large cookie sheet.  Space these far enough apart to allow them to rise, because they will almost triple in size.  Put your cookie sheet in a warm place, I usually put it on the stove top at the back.    Let these rise for about 2 hours to get the complete rise out of the dough.  Place on the middle rack of your oven and bake at 375 degrees until they are brown.  Different ovens take different amounts of time, but mine usually takes about 13 - 15 minutes.   Keep an eye on them though because the bottoms will brown first and can get too brown quickly.

These are perfect for dipping in the pizza dip.  They are also great with spaghetti, lasagna or any pasta meal and they are so much better than the premade frozen bread sticks.  You will never want those again!