Chocolate Chip Pizza

This pizza is my version of the chocolate chip dessert pizzas you get from pizza buffet restaurants.

Ingredients:


1 thin pizza crust
(I made mine from a mix because its much cheaper, but a refrigerated roll of dough works well too)
1 box of yellow cake mix
1 stick of butter, melted
3/4 cup chocolate chips





Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
If you are using a refrigerated dough, roll onto a greased pizza pan.
If you are making your own dough like I did, prepare the dough according to box directions.
With either type of dough, pre-bake for about 3-5 minutes.
While the dough pre-bakes, melt one stick of butter and add the box of yellow cake mix. Mix well to break up all of the lumps. This will form a dough that is similar to cookie dough.
Once the crust has pre-baked, remove it from the oven.
Spread the cake mixture over the crust.
There will be quite a bit of cake dough, so spread it in a thick layer on top of the crust.
Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the top of the cookie pizza is golden brown.

Baked Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups crushed club cracker crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut chicken into small nugget-sized chunks.
In a small bowl, melt the butter.
In another small bowl combine the cracker crumbs and seasonings.
To crush crackers, put in a ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin or a drinking glass. One sleeve of crackers equaled about 2 cups crushed.
Dip the chicken pieces, one at a time, first into the melted butter, then into the cracker crumbs. Roll the chicken in the crumbs and completely coat both sides of the chicken.
Place each nugget on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, then flip each nugget. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until the nuggets are golden brown.

Serve with favorite dipping sauce, such as honey mustard.

Crispy Oven Baked Carrot Fries

I love carrots, but got tired of making plain steamed ones. So I came up with this oven baked carrot fry recipe. These "fries" are crispy, seasoned and delicious.

Ingredients:
4 medium sized carrots, peeled
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Slice carrots into thin sticks.
Place carrot sticks on baking cheet and toss with oil and seasonings.

Bake about 7 minutes, then flip over. Bake another 5 minutes. The carrots don't need to bake long so that they remain crispy.

Serve with ranch dressing.

Peanut Butter Fruit Dip

You'd never guess this peanut butter yogurt fruit dip is healthy by the taste of it. The peanut butter and yogurt together make a smooth, creamy, yet rich flavor that is great with fresh fruit slices.



Ingredients:

3/4 cup of yogurt, any flavor*
1/2 cup of peanut butter, creamy or chunky
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

*I used vanilla yogurt, but any fruit flavor would work as well.

Mix together all ingredients until smooth.
A tip to more easily measure peanut butter: lightly spray the measuring cup with non-stick cooking spray and the peanut butter will come out easier.

Serve with fresh fruit slices.

Milky Way Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a yummy cookie dough recipe with a surprise in the middle- a Milky Way candy bar.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups (12-oz package) chocolate chips

20 fun size Milky Way bars, cut into thirds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

Cut each Milky Way bar into 3 chunks.

Shape a spponful of cookie dough completely around a chunk of Milky Way so that the candy is in the middle. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. I take mine out after about 10 minutes because I like my cookie to be a little softer.
Cool for 2 minutes and enjoy!

The picture does not do these cookies justice.. they are unbelievably delicious and the ooey gooey melted caramel in the middle is wonderful!

Or you could always to do this to make your life easier....

This would be nowhere near as good as homemade cookie dough, but would still be delicious.

If using storebought cookie dough, form the dough slices around a chunk of Milky Way and bake according to package directions.

Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Dip

Delicious dip that’s great for parties or the Super Bowl..

Ingredients:

1 lb of boneless, skinless chicken (2 breasts), cut into small chunks
4 oz cream cheese (half of a block)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup of ranch dressing (could use bleu cheese instead)
1/2 cup of Frank’s Buffalo Wing Sauce
(I use wing sauce instead of hot sauce because it’s thicker and Franks because it’s the best)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a skillet, heat some oil and cook the chicken. Season the chicken with basic seasonings of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Once cooked, mix in wing sauce, cream cheese, sour cream, ranch dressing, and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese. When the cheeses have melted, transfer the dip to a greased baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, just until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve with chips, crackers, pretzels, or raw veggies.

YUM :)

DIY T-shirt Bracelets

This is a very easy and quick DIY project.
All you need is:
Old t-shirt
Needle and thread
1 Button

Start by cutting off a piece of fabric that is about 9 inches long and about 4 inches wide. Then starting from the bottom, cut 3 slits, stopping about a half inch from the top. This will create the 4 pieces you will use to weave your bracelet. Instead of a standard braid with 3 pieces, this bracelet is made of a weave of 4 pieces. I had never done this before making the bracelets, but it was very use to do.



Then you are ready to start weaving…
Divide the strips into two on the left and two on the right.
Starting on the right side, bring the right strip over the left. Move to the left side and also bring the right strip over the left. Now there will be two pieces in the middle. For the middle pieces, braid the left strip over the right.
For example, cross D over C; cross B over A; then A and D are in the middle. Cross A over D; repeat.



YouTube has short video tutorials that demonstrate this. Continue this same pattern until you have braided the whole piece of fabric. Tie a small knot at the bottom.
Bring both ends together and sew together to form the bracelet.



I also sewed on a button to cover up where the ends were sewn. Mine didn’t look too bad without the button, but I thought the button was a cute touch. Instead of buying a new pack of buttons, I just used the spare ones that come extra with shirts.

Then you have this…

I also made a few others with a regular 3 piece braid and with multiple colors.