Pampered Chef Three Cheese Garden Pizza

Three-Cheese Garden Pizza

Ingredients:
1   package (10 ounces) refrigerated pizza crust 1   small onion, sliced into rings 1   medium zucchini, sliced 2   plum tomatoes, sliced 1   cup mushrooms, sliced		2   garlic cloves, pressed 1   cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese 1   cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese 1/4   cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese 1   teaspoon Pantry Italian Seasoning Mix

Directions:
1.	Preheat oven to 400°F. Using lightly floured Baker's Roller™, roll pizza crust into a 14-inch circle on Large Round Stone. Bake crust 7 minutes. Remove from oven; place on Stackable Cooling Rack.
2.	Using Ultimate Slice & Grate fitted with v-shaped blade, slice onion, zucchini and tomatoes. Slice mushrooms using Egg Slicer Plus®.
3.	Using Garlic Press, press garlic over crust; spread evenly. Sprinkle mozzarella and cheddar cheeses evenly over crust; top evenly with onion, zucchini, mushrooms and tomatoes. Grate Parmesan cheese over vegetables using Deluxe Cheese Grater. Sprinkle with seasoning mix. Bake 15-18 minutes or until crust is golden brown; remove from oven. Cut into wedges using Pizza Cutter.
Yield: 8 servings

Pencil Vase

This is another classroom creation that was inspired by Pinterest.  All you need is an empty (and clean) soup can, pencils (3-4 packs of 12), hot glue and some embellishments.  To make it, just take the paper off of the can.  Hot glue the pencils to the can.  I made sure (tried my best) to glue them all in the same spot.  You want them to be lined up with the bottom of the can, not shorter or longer.  When you're done gluing the pencils you can use your creativity to design the outside.  I decided to use ribbon and a wood apple that was already painted.  I just added my name with a sharpie paint pen and hot glued it on.  It's as simple as that!  These would be great and inexpensive gifts for teacher appreciation gifts!

Pampered Chef: Artichoke Tapanade

As soon as I got my new manual food processor, I could not wait to use it.  There are tons of new fall and winter recipes using the processor that I have on my list to make.  I decided on this one first because I love artichokes and green olives.  I made it for our football party and couldn't believe how easy it was.  It took less than 10 minutes and made a good amount of dip.  I served it with pita chips and had the leftovers for the next week.  Delish!

Ingredients:

1  lemon

1  can (14 oz or 398 mL) artichoke hearts in water

1/4  cup (50 mL) loosely packed fresh parsley

1  garlic clove, peeled

1/2  cup (125 mL) pitted green olives

1  tbsp (15 mL) capers

5  tbsp (75 mL) olive oil

Toasted Baguette Slices (optional, see below)

Directions:

1.  Zest lemon using Microplane(R) Zester to measure 1/2 tsp (2 mL). Juice lemon using Citrus Press to measure 1 tbsp (15 mL) juice. Drain artichokes using small Stainless Mesh Colander; pat dry using paper towels.

2.  Combine parsley, garlic, lemon zest, juice, artichokes, olives, capers and oil in Manual Food Processor. Cover and pump handle to process to desired consistency, removing lid and scraping down sides of bowl as necessary using Mini Mix 'N Scraper(R). Serve with Toasted Baguette Slices, if desired.

Yield: 10 servings (about 2 cups/500 mL)

Toasted Baguette Slices

20  slices French bread, cut 1/4 in. (6 mm) thick

2  tbsp (30 ml) olive oil

Tasty Pumpkin Muffins

When I saw a pumpkin recipe with over 4,000 reviews, I couldn't pass it up.  I have a pumpkin obsession- probably not the healthiest obsession. But cheaper than shoes right? 

When this time of year comes around, pumpkin takes over my life.   I'm at Dunkin Donuts everyday for their pumpkin coffee-no lie.  My house smells like Bath & Body works, with 7 pumpkin scented plug ins and pumpkin candles burning non stop.  What can I say....it's the little things that make you happy! Anyhow, I made this recipe right away.  I made a few big changes to the mix, which I noted below.  Then, I decided to make muffins instead of bread.  I'm more of a grab and go kind of girl.  I was able to make about 40 muffins.  I did one batch of just plain muffins.  I did another with dark chocolate chips.  And the last batch had cranberries and walnuts.  All of them were fabulous.  I couldn't pick a favorite if I tried.  And since I made so darn many, I can have a different kind each day.  I couldn't even part with these muffins, they went straight to the freezer.  I'll be enjoying them every morning for the next month! 

INGREDIENTS:

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree 4 eggs 1 cup vegetable oil (1 cup applesauce) 2/3 cup water 3 cups white sugar (1 cup brown & 1 cup white) 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.
2.	In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
3.	Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. The muffins took 20 minutes to bake.

Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pull Apart Bread

I searched high and low to find some different recipes for the first football game at our house.  I found this recipe on Pinterest, originally from Plain Chicken.  I looked like it would require minimal time and effort.  Which is exactly what I look for when it comes finding recipes and throwing a party.  This bread was addicting and delicious.  Probably one of the most talked about recipes from the party.  Add this guy to your next football party & enjoy! 

Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pulls 
1 unsliced loaf of (round is preferable) sourdough bread
8-12 oz cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
3 oz bag Oscar Mayer Real Bacon bits
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Tbsp Ranch dressing mix

Using a sharp bread knife cut the bread going both directions. Do not cut through the bottom crust. Place slices of cheese in between cuts. Sprinkle bacon bits on bread, making sure to get in between cuts. Mix together butter and Ranch dressing mix. Pour over bread. Wrap in foil the entire loaf in foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Unwrap. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Restaurant Style Salsa

I'm loving football season.  I'm especially loving all of the football parties and tailgates.  And, what football party is complete without chips and salsa?  I decided to make my own this past weekend and used a very popular Pioneer Woman recipe.  The salsa was super easy to make with my large food processor and provided lots of leftovers.  I over pulsed mine to get rid of all the chunks.  I would make this again instead of buying the jar, just to have salsa without chunks! 
When you buy the ingredients, make sure to get one can of mild Rotel.  I used original for both cans and I thought it had a little too much of a kick.  Use one mild and one original, I'm sure it will give you the perfect amount of heat.  Enjoy!

Pioneer Woman Salsa 

Ingredients

• 1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice
• 2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)
• ¼ cups Chopped Onion
• 1 clove Garlic, Minced
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin
• ¼ teaspoons Sugar
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Ground Cumin
• ½ cups Cilantro (more To Taste!)
• ½ whole Lime Juice

Preparation Instructions

Note: this is a very large batch. Recommend using a 12-cup food processor, or you can process the ingredients in batches and then mix everything together in a large mixing bowl.

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like—I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips or cheese nachos.

Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops

This recipe has been a hot pin on Pinterest recently.  A friend of mine made it and posted how delicious it was on her Facebook, so I decided to give it a go.  Now that it's almost fall, I've decided to break out my crock pot.  This was the first recipe I made in it this season. It comes from Real Mom Kitchen. 

I have to agree with my friend, this recipe was one of the best pork recipes I've ever had.  It was by far the easiest to make.  If you click on the link, you'll also find a great mashed potato side.  We went with brown rice and veggies for our sides.  Enjoy! 

Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops 

Ingredients:

6 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick

1 packet dry Ranch Dressing Seasoning

10 oz can Cream of Chicken Soup

Directions:

Place pork chops, Ranch seasoning and soup into a medium sized crock pot over high heat for 4 hours or low heat for 6 hours.

Pampered Chef-S'more Cups

I had first come across this recipe on Pinterest.  I have been addicted to everything and anything smores recently.  This one caught my eye immediately.  Then, I realized it was a Pampered Chef recipe.  Score!  I definitely had all of the tools for this recipe and couldn't wait to make it.  It was very easy to make.  But, you have to be patient with this recipe.  I wanted to take the cups out of the muffin pan before they were completely cooled.  But, they will fall apart if you do! I did make some changes to the recipe, but only to make it quicker and easier to make.  I used crushed graham crackers instead of crushing them myself.  I also used the Baker's melting chocolate in a cup.  It took 30 seconds to melt and I was able to save the leftover chocolate.  There weren't any leftover at our football kickoff party this past weekend.  Enjoy!

S'more Cups

Ingredients: 7   whole graham crackers (1 cup/250 mL finely crushed) 1/4   cup (50 mL) powdered sugar 6   tbsp (90 mL) butter, melted 4   bars (1.55 oz or 43 g each) milk chocolate candy, divided 12   large marshmallows Directions: Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Place graham crackers into a large resealable plastic bag. Finely crush into crumbs using Baker's Roller®;. Combine graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar and butter in Small Batter Bowl. Using Small Scoop, place scant scoop of crumb mixture in each cup of Deluxe Mini-Muffin Pan. Press crumbs to form shallow cups with Mini-Tart Shaper. Bake 4-5 minutes or until edges are bubbling. Meanwhile, break two of the candy bars into rectangles. Remove pan from oven; place one rectangle into each cup. Cut marshmallows in half crosswise using Professional Shears dipped in cold water. Place one marshmallow half, cut-side down, into each cup. Return to oven 1-2 minutes or until marshmallows are just slightly softened. Remove from oven to Stackable Cooling Rack; cool 15 minutes. Carefully remove cups from pan. Cool completely. Break remaining candy bars and place in (1-cup/250 mL) Prep Bowl. Microwave on HIGH 1 minute-1 1/2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring every 20 seconds. Dip the top of each marshmallow in melted chocolate. Turn top-side up and let stand 40 minutes-1 hour or until set. Yield: 24 cups Nutrients per serving: (1 cup) Calories 100, Total Fat 6 g, Saturated Fat 3.5 g, Cholesterol 10 mg, Carbohydrate 11 g, Protein 1 g, Sodium 60 mg, Fiber 0 g Cook’s Tips: Dipping the Professional Shears in cold water before cutting the marshmallows helps minimize sticking. The time it takes the chocolate to set varies depending on weather conditions and room temperature. You can refrigerate the cups briefly until the chocolate is set; store them at room temperature. Store the cups in a single layer in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Freezing is not recommended. For a richer chocolate flavor, substitute dark chocolate candy bars for the milk chocolate. © 2011 The Pampered Chef used under license. www.pamperedchef.com