Pizza Quesadillas

I always seem to get in a rut when it comes to what to have for lunch. I can only handle sandwiches for so many times. Sometimes there are leftovers to eat, but sadly there are many times where I don't even have that.

These pizza quesadillas or something me and my two year old both love. Plus, it's a great way to use up some leftover pizza toppings you may have in your fridge. This also makes this meal super customizable depending on what you have in the fridge, and very SIMPLE (my kind of lunch).

Lay a tortilla flat. Spread the pizza sauce on one half of the tortilla. Place toppings on top of the sauce.

Sprinkle cheese on top. We like lots of cheese!

Fold the other half of the tortilla, so that toppings are now covered. Grill in a skillet, or griddle, for a few minutes until cheese is melted and the top is slightly golden. (I tend to make mine more golden and my daughter's is barely colored but the cheese is melted- personal preference).

Pizza Quesadillas
Recipe by: Prescriptions for a Happy Home

Ingredients: 
Tortilla
1-2 Tablespoons of pizza sauce, or other red sauce
1/4 cup of cheese (I like to mix mozzarella and cheddar)
few slices of candian bacon
few slices of pepperoni

Any other toppings you may have on hand (olives, peppers, pineapple, etc.)

Directions:
Lay a tortilla flat. Spread the pizza sauce on one half of the tortilla. Place toppings on top of the sauce. Sprinkle cheese on top of toppings.
Fold the other half of the tortilla, so that toppings are now covered. Grill in a skillet, or griddle, for a few minutes until cheese is melted and the top is slightly golden. (I tend to make mine more golden and my daughter's is barely colored but the cheese is melted- personal preference).

Makes 1, but double or multiple to make the number you need.

Enjoy!

Grandma's Potato Salad

Today marks 11 years since my sweet grandmother passed away.  She was an incredible woman and loved to be with her family. She passed away very suddenly when I was a sophomore in high school.  Words can't express how much I miss her.  She was truly a wonderful lady.  My grandma was an amazing cook and her potato salad came to every family get-together.  It quickly became the only potato salad I liked.  Like many great cooks, she never wrote down any of her recipes.  I decided to try to recreate her potato salad and I've spent several years making this salad over and over trying to get it just right. I've finally got it!   It tastes just like hers and takes me back to my childhood.  

With summer almost here, I hope this tasty recipe ends up at one of your barbecues!  

To make this recipe you will need: russet potatoes, hard boiled eggs, onions, dill pickles, celery, mayonnaise, yellow mustard, dill pickle juice, garlic powder, salt, pepper and paprika. 

   

Dice and boil your potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain and let cool slightly until you are ready to use them.  I like to put them on a jelly roll pan and put them in the freezer for a few minutes to stop the cooking and cool them more quickly.

Remove the yolk from the hard boiled eggs and set aside.  Dice the white part of the eggs, celery, onions and pickles. 

In a medium mixing bowl mash the yolks with a fork.

Add the dressing ingredients and mix well.

Place diced veggies, eggs and potatoes in a large mixing bowl.  Add the dressing and stir to combine gently.  You don't want to break up your potatoes. 

Place salad in a serving bowl and let chill for 4 hours or even overnight.  Grandma always sprinkled paprika on top.  She also would make extra hard boiled eggs into deviled eggs and place them around the edges of the bowl.  It always looked so pretty.  I didn't do that here, but you can if you like. 

Grandma's Potato Salad

Recipe by: Prescriptions for a happy home

Ingredients:

8-10 medium potatoes, (approx. 6 cups diced)

5 hard boiled eggs

1/4 c. dill pickles

3/4 c. celery

1/4 c. onion

2 c. mayo, light is fine

1/4 c. yellow mustard

2 T. dill pickle juice (from the pickle jar)

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

paprika, for sprinkling on top

Directions:
Peel and dice your potatoes.  Place in a pot and cover with water and 1 tsp. Bring to a boil and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  Drain the potatoes and spread out onto a jelly roll pan in a single layer (as much as possible) and place in the freezer to cool.  Meanwhile, dice the celery, 3 egg whites* (set aside all 5 yolks for the dressing), onion and pickles.  In a small mixing bowl mash the egg yolks with a fork.  Add the mayo, mustard, dill pickle juice, salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Stir to combine.   Place the diced veggies, eggs and potatoes in a large mixing bowl.  Add the dressing and stir to combine gently. Place the salad in a serving bowl and let the salad chill in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.  Sprinkle salad with paprika before serving, if desired.  


Enjoy!

This makes about 10-12 servings.  

* I normally only diced about 3 of the egg whites.  My kids love to snack on the other two.  Make sure you use all 5 yolks in the dressing though!

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

I love everything chocolate and raspberry! This year for my birthday I decided I wanted to have this chocolate raspberry cake, its not too complicated since you start with a packaged cake mix. This cake shouldn't disappoint its moist and chocolaty, but still has that sweet raspberry flavor.

Beat the 3 eggs in mixing bowl, and then add the cake mix, vanilla, pie filling, and milk. Once combined stir in the chocolate chips.









Spray 2 8" cake pans. I like to use this "Miracle Pan Release" stuff since I have never had problems with my cakes coming out of the pan. (Mix 1/4 cup of flour, 1/4 cup of vegetable oil, and a 1/4 cup of shortening. Brush generously on the pan. Extras can be store at room temperature in an airtight container for another time)

Poor the cake batter into the pans. Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes, or until done. (The top of the cake should be sponge like on top and spring back after touching).

Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, and then pop out of the pan. I generally put one of the cakes straight on the pan I plan on using and then the other one goes on a cooling rack to finish cooling.













Raspberry Sauce:
Add frozen raspberries, sugar, and 2 tablespoons of water to a medium saucepan on medium heat. Stir occasionally until the mixture comes to a boil, being sure to smash the berries with your spoon as you will want a smooth consistency. Once the mixture has come to a boil (this does seem to take awhile), reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water, until the cornstarch as dissolved. Add to raspberry mixture and cook for another couple of minutes, stirring constantly.

Once sauce has thickened, pour sauce through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Allow the sauce to cool. I placed a bowl in the sink to collect the sauce, and then poured the sauce in the mesh container over the bowl. You may need to use a spoon to help stir the sauce as seeds will get stuck in the strainer and you still want the sauce to strain.

Frosting:

In a saucepan, bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over medium low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved.

Remove from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Add butter and stir until smooth.

Transfer to another bowl and allow to cool, stirring occasionally until spreadable. You can put in fridge for a little bit to help cool, but keep an eye on it so it doesn't harden up. This process can take quite some time so allow yourself PLENTY of time for it to cool.

Assembly: 
Spread a layer of frosting and a layer of raspberry sauce on one of the layers of cake and then add the other layer of cake on top. Frost the cake with your frosting.

Chocolate Raspberry Cake
Recipe by Prescriptions for a Happy Home

Ingredients:
1 (18.25 oz) package of devils food cake mix with pudding
3 eggs
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1 (12 oz) can of raspberry pie filling
1/2 cup of milk (I used 2%)
1 1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips

fresh raspberries (optional)

Raspberry Sauce (or use a 12 oz can of raspberry pie filling)
Recipe from Our Best Bites
12 oz frozen raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons of water, divided
1 tablespoon of cornstarch

Frosting:
Use your favorite chocolate frosting, unfortunately I do not have a favorite and chance the frosting every time I make cake. This time I used a chocolate ganache type of frosting from yummly.com.

1 bag of fine quality semisweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli chocolate chips)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces.

Directions:
Beat the 3 eggs in mixing bowl, and then add the cake mix, vanilla, pie filling, and milk. Once combined stir in the chocolate chips.

Spray 2 8" cake pans. I like to use this "Miracle Pan Release" stuff since I have never had problems with my cakes coming out of the pan. (Mix 1/4 cup of flour, 1/4 cup of vegetable oil, and a 1/4 cup of shortening. Brush generously on the pan. Extras can be store at room temperature in an airtight container for another time).

Poor the cake batter into the pans. Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes, or until done. (The top of the cake should be sponge like on top and spring back after touching).

Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, and then pop out of the pan. I generally put one of the cakes straight on the pan I plan on using and then the other one goes on a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Raspberry Sauce:
Add frozen raspberries, sugar, and 2 tablespoons of water to a medium saucepan on medium heat. Stir occasionally until the mixture comes to a boil, being sure to smash the berries with your spoon as you will want a smooth consistency. Once the mixture has come to a boil (this does seem to take awhile), reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water, until the cornstarch as dissolved. Add to raspberry mixture and cook for another couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Once sauce has thickened, pour sauce through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Allow the sauce to cool.

Frosting:

In a saucepan, bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over medium low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Add butter and stir until smooth.

Transfer to another bowl and allow to cool, stirring occasionally until spreadable. You can put in fridge for a little bit to help cool, but keep an eye on it so it doesn't harden up. This process can take quite some time so allow yourself PLENTY of time for it to cool.

*This frosting is quite time consuming, waiting for it to cook and cool, so if you are short on time I would use a different one. It is more ganache like than frosting.

Assembly:
Spread a layer of frosting and a layer of raspberry sauce on one of the layers of cake and then add the other layer of cake on top. Frost the cake with your frosting.

Serve with extra raspberry sauce and raspberries on top.

Makes a  8" double layer cake.

Enjoy!

Patriotic Printable

With Memorial Day coming up and 2 other holidays that celebrate our country (Flag Day and 4th of July), I thought I should get a patriotic printable up.

PDF Download Link
JPG Download Link











Enjoy decorating for the upcoming holidays!

Sausage Manicotti

It's no secret that we love Italian dishes around here.  Manicotti is another family favorite Italian dish.  I usually make a spinach manicotti and it's really good.  But, since we live in Wisconsin, I decided it was time to mix things up a bit and make a sausage and cheese manicotti.  It was delicious!  One thing I love about this manicotti is that you can make it in the morning, or even the day before, and then you can just pop it in the oven when you need it.  You also don't need to cook the manicotti noodles before you fill them with the delicious sausage and cheese filling.



To make this manicotti you will need manicotti noodles, ricotta cheese, eggs, garlic, Italian seasoning, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, ground sausage and your favorite spaghetti sauce.

In a large bowl combine the ricotta, eggs, garlic, Italian seasonings, salt and pepper, and Parmesan cheese.  Mix well.

Add in the cooked sausage and stir to combine.  I like to use part skim ricotta and turkey sausage, but feel free to add whatever kind of either that you like.  A spicy sausage would be delicious!   You could even add a little crushed red pepper to the filling for heat, if you like.

Pour the filling into a gallon size zip-lock bag.   You could also use a pastry bag instead of the zip-lock for this step. Cut off the corner of one side.
















Spread a little sauce around the bottom of a 9x13 or 11x17 baking pan.  Take the uncooked manicotti noodles and fill them with the sausage filling.  When you are done filling the manicotti, pour the remaining sauce evenly over the pan.



Top with 2 cups of mozzarella cheese.

When I use 9x13 pan, I normally have 2 extra noodles that don't fit as well, so I place in them a small single serving pyrex pan.  I cook that pan with the other, but then I let it cool and freeze it for Jeff for when he's on call.  I just thaw it a couple of days before he needs it and he can reheat it at the hospital and have a tasty meal on a long day.  Just make sure you bake it before freezing so the manicotti noodles can cook!

Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.   Uncover and bake for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and the manicotti is cooked.

Sausage Manicotti
Recipe by : Prescriptions for a Happy Home 

Ingredients:
1 box manicotti
1 15oz. carton of ricotta cheese (I like to use the part skim kind, but use whatever you like)
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 lb. ground sausage, cooked (I like to use turkey sausage)
1 1/2 jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce (roasted garlic is our favorite with this)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl combine the ricotta, eggs, garlic, Italian seasonings, salt and pepper, and Parmesan cheese.  Mix well.  Add in the cooked sausage and stir to combine.

In a 9x13 pan (or a 11x17 if you have one) pour 1 cup of sauce and spread even across the pan.  Put your sausage filling in a large ziplock bag and cut off a small corner.  Fill the uncooked manicotti with the sausage and place in the pan.  Repeat until all the manicotti and filling is used.  Pour the remaining sauce evenly over the manicotti.  Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese.

Cover and bake at 350 for 40 minutes.   Uncover and bake for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and the manicotti is cooked.


Enjoy!