Homemade pizza rolls & zucchini boats!

Nommmm. We are pizza lovers in this house. However, *sigh* with the New Year, like many many others, I am trying to shed a pesky 8 lbs or so. But most of all, I need to get back into the swing of eating healthy & also brainstorming new meal ideas for these picky children of mine.

So after doing some grocery shopping today . . I came home & decided to make a kid friendly lunch and a mom friendly lunch (although turns out .. their lunch was also mom friendly!) in one go. Homemade pizza rolls & pizza stuffed zucchini boats. I can use all of the same ingredients , but trade the flat bread for a zucchini! Easy peasy.

So I started with the kids. I grabbed these at the store. Ultra healthy & only 100 cals for a whole sheet of this. That's pretty awesome. Other flat breads I have had in the past have gotten soggy-ish in the oven and never really got a nice crispiness to them. These, however, did! So delish. I am already brainstorming other yummies for them since they are so 'diet' friendly.
& . . for my ingredients. I used some canned organic pizza sauce, but you can make your own if you prefer! I also shredded up some part skim mozarella . . and I added black olives, finely sliced mushrooms (I find that the more inconspicuous the veggie .. the more likely my kids won't even notice!), and some turkey pepperoni.


Then I slapped it all on there. I recommend spreading the sauce pretty thin since these flat breads are thin & you don't want it to end up soggy.


Once that was done, I carefully rolled it up 'long ways'. I sort of squeezed it as I rolled to give it a little pinch & keep it from falling apart. I rubbed just a bit of EVOO on top & sprinkled some grated parm. Into the oven it went @ 350 for 20 minutes (or until the bread is slightly crispy & a little golden around the edges).



While that was cooking & I still had all my pizza ingredients out . . I grabbed a zucchini, washed it well, chopped of the ends, and split it right down the middle. Next, I took a little spoon and scooped out the meat of the zucchini.


Don't throw that filling away! Instead chop it up fine and mix it in a bowl with however much pizza sauce you would like.


You use this mixture to refill your boats (I also salt & peppered my boats before filling!).


& top with topping of your choice! Honestly, these hardly need the cheese . . so I just did a little. & added some basil. :)


Into the oven these go @ 425 for about 20 minutes. & also . . out came our pizza rolls. Heavennnn.



Happy faces all around. Score.


& then momma got to have hers! Now to figure out more 2-n-1 type lunches like this!

TGIF!

Ah, so here in good ole southern Louisiana we are just starting to feel 'winter'. It's been lingering in the high 40s , lows 50s during the day. BRRRR for us! I figured . . the weather is here, it's time I get to work. December is flying by. So I set out to Hobby Lobby this morning to get my goods for a front door wreath. I got a plain wreath, a few sprigs, a 2 pack of cardinals, and a letter P to do our initial. I spent a total of $10 or so! Pretty happy about that. Hobby Lobby is probably one of my all time favorite places. They forever email 40% off one item coupons, but it seems like 75% of the store is already on sale for 50% off. So I rarely even need my coupon!

Anywho. I slapped it together, painted my P and sprinkled it with glitter. Then I sewed up a big burlap bow (with some leftover burlap from making our stockings, more of that later!). & voila! Easy peasy and actually bought for, put together & hung my 'project' all in the same day. Gasp, proud moment.




Other than that . . I tried a new cookie recipe tonight. Pretty impressive! I, of course, found the recipe thanks to the ever so addicting .. Pinterest.

Here's the recipe I followed:


& here are my turn outs!




I highly recommend them! And as my Chloe would say 'with milk? lubbbbbbb it!'

<3

I'm backkkkk!

Yes, I know. Again. I've been doing lots of little projects and whatnot around the house and I am ready to do some documenting! So I am going to attempt to get into the swing of things and routinely blog. Once again.

But for now . . I will blog my Parmesan Spinach & Mushroom Turkey meatballs recipe! I usually sort of cook 'to taste'. I rarely measure, unless I am baking. I get asked for recipes from time to time though and I am always all 'uhhhhhhh'. So I think I will start trying to actually jot down my recipes occasionally.

Anyways!


What you need:




1 lb Ground Turkey (or ground beef, if you prefer!)
1 cup of finely chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup of steam spinach (Side Note: Spinach holds a ton of moisture, so I find the best way to 'strain' it is to dump it into a clean towel and twist it 'dry'.)
1/3 cup of Italian breadcrumbs
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder (You can use fresh garlic if you like! I'd do about two cloves.)
1 teaspoon of basil
Salt & pepper to taste!
and 1 egg!

I start with dumping my spinach & mushrooms into my ground turkey and mixing that up as best as possible. You wanna make sure you break up the spinach so you don't end up with it concentrated in one area. Next, I toss in all of my seasonings, cheese, breadcrumbs .. and give that a good mix. By now, it's probably pretty dry and not sticking together very well. So that's when I add my egg!



Once it's all mixed again, that egg should have helped the consistency! Then, get to rolling. I make mine about 1.5-2'' or so. Yields about 20 meatballs. :)



Into the oven they go, 350 degrees for 30 minutes. & voila!




Delish & probably my fave way to sneak my kiddos some of their 'less favorite' veggies.