Cool and Creamy Vegetable "Pizza" Crescent Cups

These Cool and Creamy Vegetable "Pizza" Cups are fun twist on the traditional version of veggie pizza that many of us know and love. They are perfect appetizers for summertime parties or you can even enjoy them as a light meal. They are easily customizable - use whatever fresh vegetables that you love or have on hand - and they seem to always be one of the first things to be devoured at parties.

For the recipe, you'll, basically, need a couple of tubes of refrigerated crescent seamless dough sheets, a few simple ingredients to make a cream cheese/sour cream filling and some fresh vegetables. After a short bit of oven time and a few minutes of cooling, the crescent cups get a dollop of cool and creamy filling before being topped off with your chopped veggies of choice.

From my experience, these can be made up to six hours {or so} in advance. While I do enjoy them just fine the next day {if there are leftovers}, they are best when freshly-made the day of service.

NOTE: VEGETABLES SHOULD BE CUT INTO SMALL PIECES AND BE OF UNIFORM SIZE. THE AMOUNT OF VEGETABLES NEEDED TO MAKE A SINGLE BATCH OF THESE IS VERY MINIMAL. ROUGHLY ONLY 2 - 3 TABLESPOONS OF EACH CHOPPED/SLICED VEGETABLE IS NEEDED. HOWEVER, THE AMOUNT, OBVIOUSLY, WILL VARY DEPENDING ON THE NUMBER OF VEGETABLES USED AND THE TYPE/VARIETY OF VEGETABLES CHOSEN. THEREFORE, I AM NOT PROVIDING EXACT MEASUREMENTS IN THE VEGETABLE SECTION OF THE INGREDIENT LIST BELOW.

Also, note that the recipe yields sixteen "cups," but is easily doubled or tripled for large crowds. And, to clarify, the cups are made in muffins tins with regular-sized wells - not mini muffin tins.

Yields 16 cups.

Ultimate Morning Glory Muffins

My mother made Morning Glory Muffins all during my childhood. I didn't care for them much when I was young, but came to totally love them by the time that I reached my teens. They fueled me through Saturday volleyball tournaments, road trips with friends and shifts working at our local grocery store. They are hearty, hefty, healthful and downright delicious muffins that hold a special place in my heart.

I shared my mother's version on the blog a few years ago. And, while those are fabulous in their own right, I have come to prefer this version these days. The recipes aren't incredibly different, but these do have the inclusion of crushed pineapple (which adds a ton of moisture and additional flavor to the muffins) and I've made a few other changes that I think make these the Ultimate Morning Glory Muffins.

These muffins are loaded with a bounty of ingredients like, grated carrots, chopped apples, shredded coconut, dried fruit, crushed pineapple, grated zucchini and lots of flavor-boosting spices. The ingredient list may seem long, but the majority of the items are pantry staples that most of us tend to keep on hand. And, the ingredients that you may need to purchase are typically pretty inexpensive ones. You get a lot of "bang for your buck" with these muffins as they are super filling. Just one muffin usually does a great job of really keeping the belly full in between meals or stepping up to the plate as a grab-and-go breakfast option. They freeze incredibly well (I think they are best eaten chilled, by the way), so making a large batch to keep in the freezer throughout the week is so handy.

Yields 12 - 14 Muffins

Granola

My hubby and children were all tucked into bed Saturday evening when I decided to bake up a big batch of homemade granola.  Zayne, my eleven-year old, made his way out of bed to check out what the glorious aroma was coming from the kitchen.  The house smells amazing when homemade granola is baking.  So, at almost midnight, he and I shared a bit of fresh-out-of-the-oven goodness.  (Good times.)

 

What I love about making my own granola is that I can customize it to include whatever dried fruits and nuts I have on hand (or am in the mood for).  Best of all, it costs a fraction of what I'd pay if I bought a good-quality granola at the store.  If you have stores in your area that offer dried fruits and nuts in bulk bins, that's the route to go!  Grab what you want in small quantities ... it'll save you from buying big bags of nuts or dried fruit that may not get used before they go bad.  Also, it'll save on money ... a handful of nuts or dried fruit from the bulk section can be just a dollar or less.

Besides the oats, my granola is usually studded with coconut, nuts and whatever dried fruit we have in the pantry.  The mixture is seasoned with warm spices like, cinnamon and nutmeg.  And, my wet ingredients include honey, maple syrup, vanilla and orange juice.  I love the addition of the O.J.  It yields a slight hint of citrus to the granola and just a touch of extra sweetness.

This granola recipe produces the perfect combination of both crunchy and chewy textures in regards to the oats.  I hate when granola is so hard and crunchy that it almost breaks my teeth.  This granola rocks with the perfect amount of chewiness mixed in with some crunch.

It's just as easy to double or triple the recipe ... granola will keep in an airtight container for, at least, a couple of weeks.  It's divine over yogurt, with milk as a cereal (drizzled with a bit more honey) or just to snack on!

Cheesecake Caramel Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

 

Oh, my goodness ... that is one lengthy recipe title, isn't it? I wanted to be sure to get all of the main components of this recipe into the name.  I'm sure, however, that once you try these bars, you'll care not what the name is or how many words are involved in the title.

 

 

Baking actual cookies is not one of my strengths.  Not because I fail at it (usually), but simply because I'm a pretty impatient girl. (Is it okay to still call myself a girl at thirty-seven?) I hate waiting in between each batch.  I hate the process of spooning dough onto a tray, waiting twelve minutes for each tray to bake, then repeating the steps over and over again throughout four or five spooning/baking cycles.  More often that not, I get busy doing something else while a batch is baking, then I have a tray (or three) of burnt cookies as a result.

So, I'm thrilled when I can take the concept of cookies and turn them into a one-pan recipe.  Mix everything up, assemble everything into the pan, pop the pan into the oven, let it bake and be done with it. But, that's not the only reason I love these bars.  This recipe combines my love of cookies with my love of cheesecake.  Plus, it has some toffee bits and caramel bits thrown in for my pleasure good measure.

If you're not familiar with caramel bits, they can be found right in the chocolate chip section in your supermarket.  They are made by Kraft.  They come in an eleven-ounce bag and cost around three dollars.  They are super adorable (well, as adorable as little balls of caramel can be).  They are just like Kraft wrapped caramel candies, but in little ball form - perfect for baking.

Yields 12 bars.

Adapted from Double Batch.