Kid Pizza Waffles

Pizza and waffles combined equals some pretty happy kiddos! I saw this idea on Pinterest, only you give your kids a side of pizza sauce to dip their pizza waffle in... I saw disaster. So, I altered the recipe by putting a dollop of sauce, 3 pepperonis, and a chunk of mozzarella cheese inside the "waffle" (biscuit) instead. These did not take long to make and it was the perfect solution for lunch last week when we were snowed in and school was cancelled! Looks like we will be having some more snow days in the near future, so I will be heading to the grocery store for some more biscuits!

Pizza Waffles

- Pilsbury Grand biscuits
- pepperonis
- pizza sauce
- mozzarella cheese
- waffle maker

1. Take one biscuit and open it up and place your sauce, 3 pepperonis, chunk of mozzarella inside. Close and press the biscuit sides back together to keep everything inside. Repeat for all biscuits.
2. Using your waffle iron, place 4 biscuits in each waffle place and allow to cook until ready.
3. Dip with extra sauce if you can trust your kids!

Biscuit with sauce, pepperonis, and cheese inside

 Pizza Waffles!

 Delicious and mess free!

Kid-approved!

Enjoy!

Brittney

Caprese Stuffed Chicken with Red Roasted Peppers

I love how fresh caprese salad/chicken/pizza tastes. I saw this recipe for stuffed chicken breasts with all the caprese fixings and had to try it out! I served it on a bed of brown rice and it was delicious! Love all the melted mozzarella cheese on top...

Caprese Stuffed Chicken with Red Roasted Peppers

- 4 boneless chicken breasts
- 8 oz. fresh mozzarella, cut into 8 slices
- 1 x 12 oz. jar of red roasted bell peppers
- 1 bunch of basil, whole leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
- 1 tbsp. Italian Seasoning, I did not use this

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and grease a baking dish.
2. Butterfly cut your chicken breasts and season with salt and pepper and Italian seasoning.
3. Stuff each chicken with red roasted peppers, a slice of mozzarella cheese, and basil leaves.
4. Optional: I could not get stuffings to stay in my chicken - so I used toothpicks to keep my chicken closed.
5. Bake chicken for 30-40 minutes.
6. Add remaining mozzarella slices on top of your chicken and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
7. Broil chicken for 5 minutes, until cheese is melted.

 Stuffed Chicken

 Toothpick shot

Melted cheese on top... yummy!

Enjoy!

Brittney

Red Velvet Pancakes

You. Must. Try. These. You will not regret a single bite! They are moist and delicious and the cream cheese icing is amazing! Perfect for Saturday morning Valentine's Day breakfast! Now I used two recipes from Pinterest that I found. One recipe I used the pancake batter only, and the other recipe I used the cream cheese icing recipe only. Feel free to check them both out though and see what you prefer to make. We even made the batter the night before and just kept it in the fridge overnight so we could start making pancakes right away. I also took a heart shaped metal cookie cutter and placed it on my skillet to make 'heart shaped' pancakes.

Happy (Almost) Valentine's Day Morning!

Pancake Batter

- 2 cups flour (plus 2 tbsp. at high altitude)
- 3 tbsp. cocoa powder
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 2 cups milk
- 2 tbsp. white vinegar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 tbsp. red food coloring
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

1. In a mixing bowl mix your flour, salt, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda together.
2. Measure milk in a measuring cup and whisk in vinegar. Allow to rest for 2 minutes.
3. Pour milk into a separate mixing bowl and add eggs, sugar, food coloring, vanilla, and butter.
4. Slowly whisk together and add flour mixture to milk mixture.
5. Make pancakes on medium heat griddle with 1/4 cup mixture per pancake.

Cream Cheese Icing

- 4 oz. cream cheese
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tbsp. milk
- splash of vanilla extract

1. In a stand mixer, whisk your cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
2. Add your powdered sugar until smooth.
3. Add milk and vanilla until you reach desired consistency. My icing was pretty thick, so add more milk if you prefer to drizzle your icing.

 My Spelunker mixing the milk mixture together

 Red Velvet Batter

 Flapjack making

Red Velvet Pancakes with Cream Cheese Icing

Enjoy!

Brittney

Cupcake Bouquet

Valentine's Day is just a few days away! Why not shower your co-workers/friends/family with a cupcake bouquet?! I have been dying to try to make one of these and it turned out so well! You can even put some green tissue paper in between your cupcakes to make "leaves" and hide your styrofoam ball better. Now I made this the night before, and two cupcakes lost their frosting overnight! So, I recommend assembling it the day you plan to share it, or keep some frosting in a piping bag on hand to fix your cupcakes! I also do recommend placing your cupcakes on the toothpicks around the styrofoam ball before you frost them, so you can make sure they are secured tightly. Then frost your cupcakes! I used Valentine's Funfetti cupcake mix and frosting.

I have a few more Valentine's themed recipes coming your way this week and a few more new dinner recipes to share next week!

 Cupcakes, toothpicks, flower pot, styrofoam ball

 I used 2 toothpicks (sometimes 3) per cupcake

 Cupcake in toothpicks

 First row of cupcakes

 Cupcake Bouquet

 Frosted Cupcake Bouquet

View from the top

Enjoy!

Brittney

Easy Valentine's Day Cake

Valentine's Day is around the corner! This is a fun recipe for a semi-homemade cake that is delicious! I made a box vanilla cake, homemade buttercream frosting, and homemade chocolate ganache filling. I just used red food coloring to dye some of the buttercream and piped a sweet message on the cake. You're family/significant other/husband will love this!

Ganache Filling

- 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter

1. In a small saucepan, heat your heavy whipping cream until it starts to boil.
2. In a separate bowl, place your chocolate chips. Pour your hot heavy whipping cream on top and mix together until melted.
3. Add your butter and continue to mix. Allow to cool before frosting your cake.

Buttercream Frosting

- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tbsp. milk
- 2 tsp. vanilla

1. Beat butter and powdered sugar until fluffy.
2. Add your vanilla and milk.
3. Continue to beat for 3-4 minutes.

 2 round cakes with ganache filling, covered in buttercream frosting

 Piping frosting

Message

Chocolate ganache filling

Enjoy!

Brittney

Low-Carb Meatballs alla Parmigiana (GF)

We love Italian food and I am always trying to make it healthy, while still maintaining excellent flavor. This recipe for Low-Carb Meatballs alla Parmigiana was a hit and not too difficult to make! You will need almond flour, which can be expensive, but makes this dish Gluten Free. I used light/skim mozzarella cheese. I hope you enjoy this meal as much as my family did! We served it on top of brown rice, but you could make noodles instead.

Meatballs

- 1 lb. ground beef
- 2 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
- 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. onion flakes
- 1/4 tsp. oregano
- 1/2 cup warm water

Parmigiana

- 1 cup marinara sauce
- 4 oz. mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a lined baking sheet.
3. Mix all meatball ingredients together and form 15 x 2" meatballs. Bake for 20 minutes.
4. In a shallow baking dish, grease and place your meatballs inside.
5. Spoon about a tablespoon of marinara sauce over each meatball and cover with a slice of mozzarella cheese.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Top with more parsley as desired.

 Low-Carb Meatballs alla Parmigiana

Served over brown rice

Enjoy!

Brittney