Pizza Rolls

This idea has travelled around the neighborhood and my family loves them! I will post a picture later because they really are pretty! -Lacey

Use any pizza dough you want, refrigerated or fresh. Here's an easy basic dough recipe that you can make without a mixer.

Pizza Dough:
1 Tb or 1 pkg yeast
1 cup very warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Tb oil
2 1/2 cups flour (approximately)

Dissolve yeast in water. Add sugar, salt and oil. Mix well. Add flour 1 cup at a time until soft dough is formed (I usually have to knead in the last little bit). Knead until smooth.

Pizza Rolls:
Roll the dough out into a big rectangle. Add your toppings of choice (cheese, pepperoni, olives, mushrooms, peppers, etc.). Do not add sauce! It will make them soggy and gross! Roll the dough up like a big jelly roll and cut into pizza rolls (use a piece of thread or floss to cut the dough. It won't squish them.) Place on a baking stone or lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Dip pizza rolls in sauce of your choice.

*Try shredded chicken, red onions, chopped cilantro and bacon. Dip in BBQ sauce for a delicious BBQ chicken pizza roll! My favorite so far!

Tortilla Soup

There's a cold weekend coming up. Make this! -Lacey

2 chicken breast cooked (I've made it without the chicken. Turned out fine.)
2 cans chicken broth
1 large can of V8 juice
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of corn, drained
diced medium onion
2 cloves or garlic
1 pkg. spanish rice, unprepared (or you can use already made spanish rice)
1 Tb. lemon juice
1 small can diced green chilies

Stir together all ingredients in a large pot. Simmer uncovered for 1 hour. Top with cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips.

*Don't use a crockpot for this. I regret it every time I try.

Cola Pork Chops and Roasted Potatoes

I made this for dinner tonight and it was yummy! Pork chops have a tendency to be quite dry but these were nice and moist. Add some steamed fresh green beans and you've got a fabulous dinner! Lacey

Cola Pork Chops:
1 cup ketchup (I used 1/2 c. ketchup, 1/2 c. BBQ sauce)
1 cup Coke (or some other lame cola-flavored carbonated beverage)
2 Tb. brown sugar
8 pork chops
flour
garlic powder
onion powder
pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together ketchup (and BBQ sauce), Coke and brown sugar.

Season pork chops with garlic powder, onion powder and pepper. Roll in flour and brown in saucepan before baking. Place pork chops in baking pan and pour cola mixture over, coating well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake uncovered for about an hour depending on the thickness of the pork chops.

*After baking, I used a little corn starch to thicken up the sauce.

Roasted Potatoes:
3 medium potatoes cut into chunks
2 Tb. olive oil or butter, melted
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp paprika

Place potatoes in greased 9x9x2 baking pan. Combine oil and seasonings. Drizzle over potatoes, tossing to coat. Bake covered, in a 325 degree oven for 45 minutes. Stir potatoes. Bake uncovered, 10-20 minutes more or till potatoes are tender and brown on edges.

*To speed it up, roast potatoes, uncovered in a 450 degree oven for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
** I stuck the potatoes in the same time I stuck my pork chops in (at 350 degrees) and they turned out great!