Stromboli

We LOVE pizza!! We eat pizza at least once a week. It was my childhood dream to eat pizza everyday but I'll settle for once a week. Last week we discovered pizza's cousin - Stromboli!! The Stromboli was really easy to put together and paired with a salad it made a perfect weeknight meal. We loved it so much I made it twice in one week!!


Stromboli
Recipe adapted from Burn Me Not


Ingredients:
1 loaf of frozen dough, thawed according to directions on the package (I used Bridgford Ready-Dough)
1/4 lb sliced ham (about 4-6 slices)
1/4 lb pepperoni
4 slices provolone cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Italian seasoning
Garlic salt
Olive oil
Warmed pizza sauce

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. 


Roll out dough into a 15 x 12 inch rectangle. Arrange provolone cheese on dough leaving about 2 inches of dough without any toppings. Next, arrange ham and pepperoni evenly over the cheese. Sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the meat. Follow by sprinkling with Italian seasoning (about 1 Tbs or to taste).


Roll up the dough by folding in the two shorter ends first then start rolling from the filled side to the portion of dough without topping. Place dough on pizza stone or baking sheet. Brush dough with olive oil then sprinkle with Italian seasoning, garlic salt and Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Slice and serve with warmed pizza sauce. 

 Enjoy!!

Sugar-Free Strawberry Cheesecake

For Easter, I was asked to bring a sugar-free dessert that we could enjoy with our Grandma who is diabetic. I have made a few sugar-free recipes over the years and they don't always turn out great. This one was fantastic!! It was sweet but not too sweet. It was creamy and light. Perfect to enjoy after a heavy meal or on a summer day!


Recipe found on Allrecipes.com and adapted 
Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups of sugar-free cookies, crushed (I used shortbread)
6 Tbls butter, melted
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1-8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups milk
1-1 oz package of sugar-free cheesecake flavored Jello pudding mix 
2 pints of strawberries, sliced


Directions:
To crush cookies, place them in a gallon sized ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin or place cookies in a blender. Mix cookies, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a medium bowl. Press cookie mixture into the bottom of a pie pan with a spatula and place in the refrigerator to cool while making the filling. 


Beat cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl until soft. Add in milk slowly and beat until combine. The texture will be very watery. Add in pudding mix and beat for 2-1/2 minutes. Mixture will become thick but not firm. 


Place half of the mixture on top of the graham crust. Layer the sliced strawberries on top of the cheesecake. Finish with the rest of the cheesecake mixture. 


Refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight. 


Notes:
I was able to find sugar-free cheescake Jello pudding mix, however I noticed that it is not at all stores. I think vanilla would work just as well. 
Also, sugar-free cookies are sometimes hard to find so use what you can find. If a little sugar is okay than use vanilla wafers. 


Enjoy!!

Easter Wreath

I’m usually really into decorating for the holidays, however, we just bought a house in November and I've been feeling overwhelmed with decorating. So, in an attempt to get in the Easter spirit I decided to add some Spring to my front doors. 

I scoured Pinterest to find a cute and easy DIY Easter wreath. Luckily, I found a pin from Cindi’s Blog, showing a wreath made of Easter grass and plastic eggs. I study the picture for a few minutes and decided it met my cute and easy criteria. After going to Michael's for supplies I found it also met my cheap criteria too! The cost to make both wreaths was under $15!!

Supplies Needed:

• 1-2 Wooden wreath forms (I purchased mine at Michael’s for $3.99 each, Cindi made her’s from cardboard)
• 1 bag of Easter grass (it was enough to cover 2+ wreaths) $0.79
• Approx. 2 dozen plastic Easter eggs for each wreath $4.25 for 3 bags.  
• Hot glue gun and about 3 hot glue sticks for each form
• Ribbon
• Scissors

I laid the wreath form on a trash bag so when I was done trimming the grass, I could just bunch the bag up and toss it. 

Make a 3-4 inch zig-zag of hot glue directly on the form. 

Press grass onto the hot glue. Repeat until the entire wreath is covered in grass. 

Hold your wreath upside down and trim the grass to about 3-4 inches long. You can do this step before or after you glue the eggs in place. 

Add eggs to the wreath by placing hot glue directly on the grass and form then press the egg into the glue until it is secure. Next, add a pretty ribbon and hang up your wreath!!

Here is the finished project!! I'm really happy that I was able to throw both of these together in under an hour and get them up on my door to share with my neighbors. 

 I wish you and your family a very Happy Easter!!