Calzones!

Erin: I keep forgetting to blog! I always mean to but I always forget. It was so nice to have a 3 day weekend :) I've been working like crazy for the past few weeks and it was nice to get a chance to catch my breath. And Congress is not in session next week so I'm expecting a care free week. Sam has a job interview with AFSCME tomorrow and we are crossing our fingers. Also, Sam's best friend, Matt accepted the job with Obama's SUPERPAC so he will be moving up here in the next few days. Yay! Now we need to find a way to get you up here.... :)

Anyway, our new favorite TV show is "The Walking Dead". It's awesome, you should totally check it out. Sam's friend, Eric, got us into it and now we are addicted. The show came on last night & we invited Eric over to watch it and have dinner. So I wanted to serve something easy and guy-friendly and calzones really hit the spot. You should def try this recipe!!

Calzones

Ingredients: 

1 can Pillsbury Refrigerated Pizza Dough

1 lb Italian sausage

1 pkg pepperonis

2 cups shredded cheese (I used mozzarella) 

Parmesan cheese to top

2 tbsp butter, melted

(And marinara sauce as a dipping sauce)

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 375. 

2. In a medium sauce pan, brown and drain sausage. 

3. On a baking sheet roll out pizza dough thin and flat. 

4. On one half of the dough, make layers of with sausage, then pepperoni and then cheese (I layered each twice) And make sure to leave about a 1 inch all the way around so you can close the calzone

5. Grab the other half of the calzone and fold it over, and pinch the edges together

6. Stick in the oven for 25-30 minutes

Reeses Peanut Butter Cupcakes!

So Sam turned the big 2-9 last week! Getting so old :) I wanted to make him super special and I wanted to try something new. Sam looooves peanut butter & chocolate so I found a great recipe for Reeses Peanut Butter  Cupcakes! And they were amazing. So delicious. The recipe made like 24 cupcakes and it was wayy to many cupcakes for just the two of us to eat so I brought them into work the next day and people went absolutely crazy for them. They are that good.

Cupcake:
For the cupcakes, use any box of chocolate cake mix (I used Devils food cake). After making the batter and putting it into the cupcake pan, press a mini reeses peanut butter cup into the batter until it is level with the top of the batter. Bake according to the box instructions 


Peanut Butter Frosting
1/4 C butter (room temperature)
dash salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 T milk
1/3 C peanut butter
1 1/2 C powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients on low in a stand mixer. Spread onto cooled cupcakes. Chop mini Reeses Pieces up and sprinkle on the top. Yay!

Roasted Aspargus

Erin: So remember I told you about the recipe I made the other day that didnt go so well?? Yeah.. I don't know what happened. Too much balsamic vinegar. Anyway, although the recipe did not go so well, I got a great snack & appetizer recipe out of it. Roasted Asparagus! It is delicious and so easy and semi-healthy. I could not stop eating them! They would make a great side dish or snack or whatever. Its delish

Ingredients:
1 lb. aspargus
1 tbs. olive oil
2 tsp. salt
half a tsp. pepper


What to do:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Cut the aspargus into one inch pieces
3. Put olive oil, salt and pepper into a ziploc, add asparagus & toss to coat
4. Put the asparagus into a casserole dish and roast for 10 minutes

Yum!

Two Timing Pasta Bake

Hey Erin! Ugh, sorry I have not blogged in forever. I really haven't been cooking too much lately. I think I've only tried 3 new dishes over the past two weeks (and one was so bad that I wil not be posting it). This recipe is super quick and easy, the perfect combo! You throw sauce over cooked pasta and throw it in the oven. Simple stuff.

Ingredients:

1 box penne pasta

1 (15 oz.) jar Alfredo sauce

1 (24oz.) jar Marinara sauce

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

What to do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350

2. Make the pasta according to directions and drain

3. Meanwhile, mix the sauces together and stir in the mozzarella cheese

4. Toss the sauce into the penne and stir to coat

5.Pour into a 9x13 dish and cook for 20-25 minutes!

(I told you, easy right??)