Caprese Chicken

I've been on such a Caprese kick recently. It makes me think of summer and warm weather and it makes me want summer to be here as fast as possible. After the caprese pasta I made the other week, the hubs suggested I try it out with chicken.

We didn't have any fresh basil on hand; ours always goes bad really quickly. But I suggest adding a leaf at the end to bring out the basil flavor even more!

Caprese Chicken

Source: Tyler's Taste Test Original

4 chicken breasts

1.5 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp dried basil

salt and pepper

1.5 tbsp garlic powder

1 jar sun dried tomatoes (4)

4 slices mozzarella cheese

4 basil leaves

Season chicken with dried basil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Place chicken in skillet and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 5-7 minutes per side.

Top chicken with mozzarella and cover the skillet with a lid. Once the cheese is melted, top with sun dried tomatoes and fresh basil. Enjoy!

Pound Cake

Dessert should be enjoyed with a glass of milk. If you're out of milk, you should use whipped cream. Lots of it. So make sure you either have milk or whipped cream on hand before you whip this up. And strawberries. Because strawberries, whipped cream, pound cake, and milk makes for a delicious afternoon treat.

This pound cake recipe is delicious. The only thing it was missing, which could have been an error on my part since it was my first time making a pound cake, was the slightly crunchy outside. But other than that, it was delicious.

Pound Cake

Source: Pioneer Woman

3 sticks butter

3 cups sugar

5 whole eggs

1 tsp butter flavoring

2 tsp lemon flavoring

3 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 cup Sprite, 7-Up, or Sierra Mist

Preheat oven to 325º. Cream butter. Add sugar to butter, 1 cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing after each one. Add butter and lemon extracts and mix well. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add soft drink, and mix until combined, scraping sides of bowl to make sure everything mixes.

Pour batter into a greased Bundt pan and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until cake no longer jiggles. Remove from oven and invert until cake drops out. Enjoy!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Girl Scout Cookie Time!

I'm a little late but only because it took me forever to hunt down some Girl Scouts. What happened to the days where they used to go door to door and sell them? I remember doing the same thing, competing with my sister trying to win the giant stuffed sea turtle or whatever else was that years prize.

Anyways, I finally found some Girl Scouts and bought some cookies-Do Si Dos, Thin Mints, and Samaos. Yum. And it reminds me of something on my 23 x 23 list, homemade Girl Scout Cookies! Hopefully they'll be coming up soon!

Blue Moon Cupcakes

Well, this post is about a month late. For the Super Bowl, we decided to make Blue Moon Cupcakes for dessert. Football, beer, and Marines just kind of go together. Part of me was kind of hesitant because I love cupcakes and I worried adding beer would ruin the cupcake. But these guys were delicious!

My friend, Whitney, whipped up the cupcakes while I was making everything else. She did such a great job and even added her own little twist to the recipe by adding some Blue Moon to the frosting! The cupcakes by themselves had only a tiny hint of Blue Moon but adding the Blue Moon to the frosting really gave these some more flavor.

And I just had to include a picture of our Super Bowl sunset!

Blue Moon Cupcakes

Source: Erica's Sweet Tooth

For the cupcakes:

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

1 3/4 cup sugar

2.5 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp orange zest

1 cup Blue Moon, plus more to brush on tops

1/4 cup milk

orange wedges for garnish

Preheat oven to 375º and line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs, beating after each addition. Add the vanilla and zest.

Combine milk and beer and alternatively add this mixture and the flour mixture to the butter and sugar, mixing on low speed.

Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 18 minutes. When cupcakes are done, poke holes in the tops and brush with beer.

For the cream cheese frosting:

12 oz cream cheese, cold

6 tbsp butter, room temperature

1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

1 tsp orange zest

4 cups powdered sugar

Cream together the cream cheese and butter in an electric mixture until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the citrus juice and zest; gradually add the powdered sugar until well-combined. Beat until smooth for about 2 minutes.

Once cupcakes are cooled, load frosting into a piping bag and pipe onto cupcake tops.

Caprese Pasta

The above dish was inspired by a pin I found on Pinterest. But unfortunately, the original person who pinned the picture didn't make sure it linked back to the website. For those who are new to Pinterest, always make sure your pin links to a website!

I decided to start with your basic caprese salad ingredients: basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella. From there I just did what I normally do for any baked pasta dish, but instead of doing a plain tomato sauce, I added heavy cream to make it even better.

Look at all the cheesy goodness below. Yum.

Caprese Pasta

Source: Tyler's Taste Test Original

1 lb penne pasta, cooked and drained

1 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup grated parmesan

4 oz fresh mozzarella, cubed

1 pint of grape tomatoes, cut in half

4 basil leaves, chopped

Preheat oven to 350º. Boil water and cook pasta according to directions. Heat sauce over low heat in a saucepan. Once warm, add heavy cream and grated parmesan.

Add cooked pasta to sauce and mix. Turn off heat and add mozzarella cubes, tomatoes, and 4 basil leaves. Add the pasta mixture to a baking dish. Top with fresh mozzarella. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until cheese on top is bubbly and golden. Enjoy!

"Everything in the Kitchen Fridge" Chicken

This meal came about because I needed to cook dinner but didn't have anything planned. It was my day off and the thought of going to the grocery store made me cuddle even deeper on the couch in my pajamas. So instead I whipped up this marinade with pretty much everything we had in our fridge-and a few things from the closet. It was surprisingly delicious!

"Everything in the Kitchen Fridge" Chicken

Source: Tyler's Taste Test Original

1 lb thin chicken breasts

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp sugar

2tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp ketchup

Combine everything, except for the chicken. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the chicken and marinade for 8 hours.

Take the chicken/marinade mixture from the fridge and add to a skillet. Cook until chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan and continue heating the sauce, stirring often, to thicken. Pour over the chicken and serve. Enjoy!

Weekly Meal List

Tuesday: Creamy Caprese Baked Pasta

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Eat Out

Friday: Homemade Pizza

Saturday: Braided Spaghetti Bread

Sunday: Pork chops with Golden Apple Sauce

Monday: Caprese Chicken

Maple Rosemary Glazed Pork Chops

Here is the second part of the meal I told you about on Thursday.

I used to never eat pork chops. My mom would make them for dinner and I would have something else, like Ramen. Even in high school. I'm not sure why now since I usually love the taste whenever I make them. I think it may have been a texture thing, or just an extension of when I was a vegetarian. Either way, I was missing out.

The maple and rosemary combination is always good. And it didn't disappoint when I used it on pork chops.

Maple Rosemary Glazed Pork

Source: What's Cookin, Chicago?

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

1 tsp dried rosemary

4 thick sliced pork chops or pork loin

3/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

2 tsp vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 325º. Season both sides of each pork chop/pork loin slice.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium high heat; when it begins to smoke, add the pork. Sear on both sides until well-browned, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the seared pork onto a baking sheet and set aside.

Drain the fat from the skillet. Add maple syrup and rosemary. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds to a minute. Place the pork back into the skillet to coat with the glaze and then back onto the baking sheet.

Place the baking sheet into the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. Allow the pork to rest for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Hasselback Potatoes

Sometime last week, I made this delicious meal pictured above. Both were absolutely delicious. Today, you get the recipe for the potato.

Hasselback potatoes are delicious, although not at all healthy. I read the ingredient list and my heart kind of seized up a bit. But that's okay. Because every now and then, a little splurge is okay.

Besides, who doesn't want to know what a potato stuffed with 10 slices of butter and parmesan tastes like?

Tasty Kitchen has a beautiful photo tutorial if you are confused on any of the steps!

Hasselback Potatoes

Source: Tasty Kitchen

2 whole Russet potatoes

2 tbsp of stick butter

1 piece (about 2 inches long) Parmigiano-Reggiano, sliced thinly

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp olive oil

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400º. Wash and scrub potatoes. Slice each potato into thin slices, but don't cut all the way through the potato. A trick to help you do this is to put the potato on a wooden spoon; it will stop the knife from cutting all the way through.

Slice the butter into thin pieces. Alternate the butter and parmesan, stuffing them in between the slices of potato. Season with garlic powder and salt. Drizzle the potato with olive oil.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and drizzle the heavy cream over the potatoes. Top with cheddar cheese. Place back in the oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove and serve. Enjoy!

Bacon Pierogi Bake

Doing the grocery shopping is just one of the many things I love about my husband. It's such a little thing but he knows I'm not a fan of that chore so each week he volunteers to go. He's pretty wonderful, if I haven't mentioned it yet.

So I really couldn't complain when I went to make dinner last week and realized there were no pierogis in our freezer. I looked over at him and asked, "Babe where are the pierogis?" He responded, "What the heck is a pierogi? I saw it on there but had no idea what it was. Sorry." Thanks love, it would have been nice to know that when I was getting ready to make dinner. But, with a little explaining of what a pierogi is and where it could be found, he made a quick trip out to grocery store and came back with exactly what I needed.

This was delicious. The cream cheese sauce tasted great with the pierogis and who doesn't like bacon?

Bacon Pierogi Bake

Source: slightly adapted from Peace, Love and French Fries

1 16 oz package frozen potato and cheddar cheese pierogies

2 bacon slices, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/3 cup cream cheese

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

pepper

Preheat oven to 400º. Arrange the pierogies in an 11 x 7 inch glass baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cook bacon in a saucepan over medium heat, until crisp; remove from pan and set aside.

Add garlic to drippings in pan and cook for 40 seconds, stirring constantly. Add cream cheese to pan and cook for 1 minute, until cream cheese begins to melt, stirring frequently. Gradually add chicken broth to pan, whisking until smooth.

Pour the cream cheese mixture evenly over the pierogies. Top with shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Bake at 400º for 20 minutes, until bubbly and thoroughly heated. Remove from oven, sprinkle with bacon and pepper, and serve warm. Enjoy!

Weekly Meal List

This week is a lot of repeats. I have to work til 6:30 six days of this week and won't be home til after 7 each night so my wonderful husband has volunteered to cook dinner for us this week. Have I mentioned how lucky I am to have a guy like him?

I still have a few recipes left that I haven't blogged yet from the last few weeks so I'll try to get a post up but it may have to wait til next week!

Sunday: Meatballs with Peppers and Pineapples

Monday: Sesame Chicken with Yellow Rice

Tuesday: Green Chile Cheeseburgers with Pasta Salad

Wednesday: Pizza

Thursday: Eat Out

Friday: Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Saturday: Braided Spaghetti Bread

Alton Brown's Fish and Chips

When I was little, our family used to go to Captain D's. I'm not sure how often we went but I remember going pretty regularly until a certain incident. Before that incident, I would always get the fish and chips and drown my dinner in vinegar. I loved it. Probably because I couldn't taste the fish (I'm not a seafood fan). These were on my 23 x 23 list because the hubs has been begging me to try it. He's a "Brit" and absolutely loves this dish.

The batter tastes delicious. And as a bonus, it doesn't make your apartment smell like fish when it cooks! Neil loved it and so did I until I could taste the fish. But up until then, it was really good!

I only tried the batter recipe for the fish but I'm sure the fries from his recipe are just as good! I made it easier on myself and just baked a bag of frozen french fries.

Fish and Chips

Source: Food Network

2 cups flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

dash of Old Bay Seasoning

1 bottle brown beer, cold

1.5 lbs firm fleshed whitefish (tilapia, pollock, cod), cut into 1-ounce strips

cornstarch, for dredging

1 package of frozen french fries

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cayenne pepper, and Old Bay seasoning. Whisk in the beer until the batter is completely smooth and free of any lumps. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Bake fries according to package directions.

Heat the oil in a 5-quart Dutch oven over high heat until it reaches 350º. Lightly dredge fish strips in cornstarch. Working in small batches, dip the fish into batter and immerse into hot oil. When the batter is set, turn the pieces of fish over and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Drain the fish on a roasting rack. Serve with malt vinegar. Enjoy!

Baked Chicken with Onions, Potatoes, Garlic and Thyme

This recipe came at the end of a week with very good meals. I was excited about it because it contained everything in one dish but I wasn't expecting it to be my favorite dish of the week!

I loved how all of the flavors mixed together. The lemon and thyme was my favorite combo but I liked how there was a bit of garlic and balsamic vinegar in every bite as well. This is definitely a make-again for us!

Baked Chicken with Onions, Potatoes, Garlic, and Thyme

Source: slightly adapted from Proceed with Caution

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 lb red potatoes, quartered

1 large red onion, cut into eighths

1 head garlic, cloves separated and left unpeeled

6 sprigs thyme

1 lemon, quartered

1 lb baby carrots

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

salt and ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450º. Arrange chicken, potatoes, onion, carrots, garlic, thyme, an lemon in an 8x8 roasting pan.

In a small bowl, whisk together the oil and vinegar and drizzle over the chicken and vegetables. Toss to combine and season with salt and pepper. Roast until chicken is browned and cooked through, about 50 minutes.

Chicken and Potato Skillet

I got the idea for this meal from some crazy thing we cooked when I went to Yosemite. We had "Potato Surprise" for breakfast one morning. All I remember was it had potatoes, peppers, and some weird thing called "gluten bits." We had a vegan and a vegetarian on the trip with us and apparently gluten bits are a protein substitute because we had it to replace chicken.

Trips like these remind me why I love my major, not that I needed any reminder. I was required, for a class, to go spend 4 glorious days up at Yosemite National Park. We hiked over 15 miles in 2 days and ended the trip by getting up at 4am to drive to Glacier Point and watch the sunrise. Amazing. There's nothing like sitting in silence surrounded by the beauty that God has created and watching the sunrise. It makes you tear up with the wonderfulness of it. Going into the wilderness is like a mental and spiritual rejuvenation.

I'm always amazed by the amount of people who have never traveled farther than the next state over. Especially when they live less than a days drive from somewhere like this. Get out and go! Go explore. Go use the national parks that were created for your enjoyment and see all that the US has to offer.

Chicken and Potato Skillet

Source: Tyler's Taste Test Originals

3 boneless chicken breasts cubed (mine were on the small side so 2 may be good)

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

4 oz sharp cheddar, cubed

4 strips of bacon

1 red pepper, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 tbsp olive oil

Chop bacon into small pieces. Cook until done and set aside. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil, add potatoes, and boil for 8 minutes until potatoes are softened.

In a large skillet, cook chicken until cooked through. Drain any leftover oils and set chicken aside. Add olive oil and heat over medium high heat. Add onions and cook for 2 minutes, until softened. Add bell peppers to onions and cook for another 2 minutes. Add potatoes to the mix and brown for about 3 minutes.

Add chicken and bacon to skillet and mix thoroughly. Top with cubed cheese. Cover and cook over low heat until cheese is melted. Enjoy!

Mini Cinnamon Rolls

One of the things on my 23 x 23 list was "Cinnamon Rolls." Cinnamon rolls are one of my favorite breakfast foods. Back in Georgia, we have a lady at our church who makes some of the best cinnamon rolls. No lie. They are of the heavenly, melt in your mouth variety. Every time Neil would come home on leave, before we were married, she would always try and make him a batch. And he wouldn't share.

But I didn't blame him. She hasn't yet given me the recipe but I ask for it every time I see her. Until she caves, I make do with these. This is an incredibly easy recipe that makes delicious cinnamon rolls. You can add as much or as little cinnamon and brown sugar depending on your taste buds. This recipe also has a delicious maple frosting for the rolls but you can change that up as well. Iowa Girl Eats has a beautiful picture tutorial for this recipe.

Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Frosting

Source: Iowa Girl Eats

8 oz tube crescent roll dough

2 tbsp butter

cinnamon

brown sugar

For the maple icing:

1 tsp maple syrup

1 tbsp skim milk

3/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven according to directions on the package of crescent rolls. Layout half the dough, 4 triangles, and pinch all the seams together. Flip over and pinch the seams on the back side together too. Using a rolling pin, smooth the seams and roll the dough into a square about 1/4" thick.

Brush with half the butter, and sprinkle as much cinnamon and brown sugar as you want. Roll into a log and cut into 8 pieces.

Place mini cinnamon rolls into a non-stick sprayed mini muffin tin. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with the other half of the crescent roll dough. Bake according to package directions.

Meanwhile, whisk together the maple syrup and milk in a bowl. Add in powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached. Drizzle over warm cinnamon rolls. Enjoy!

Super Bowl Saturdays: Italian Pinwheels

The Super Bowl is tomorrow! Is everyone excited? I hope you have all gotten some good ideas from this little series. My favorites were the Party Meatballs and the Buffalo Chicken Dip. I actually made these pinwheels because they were requested by my husband. He loves these little things and really enjoyed having them for dinner!

Italian Pinwheels

Source: slightly adapted from Pillsbury

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup sliced pepperoni, finely chopped

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/4 cup pizza sauce, plus extra for serving

1 egg yolk

1 can (8 oz) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

1 egg white, beaten

Preheat oven to 375º. In a small bowl, mix cheese, pepperoni, oregano, garlic salt, pizza sauce, and yolk. Unroll dough and separate into 4 triangles Firmly press the perforations to seal.

Spread each rectangle with 3 tbsp of the pepperoni mixture. Starting at the shortest side, roll up each rectangle and pinch edges to deal. Cut each roll into 6 slices. Place, cut side down, 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Brush with beaten egg white.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with extra pizza sauce. Enjoy!

Super Bowl Saturdays: Bacon Wrapped Cream Cheese Jalopeno Bites

I recently started a new job! I'm working for a nearby resort, at the pool, developing a recreation program for their guests. I'm so excited to finally have a job but it's slightly exhausting! Yesterday was my first day off this week and I just relaxed. And cleaned. Our house has slightly suffered from me getting a job. It wasn't until last night at 6:00 that I remembered I needed to make two more appetizers for today. I had work today so there was no way they were getting made. I whipped both recipes up, quickly wrote my blog post, searched for my camera cord, gave up, and decided pictures would be posted whenever I got off work if I could find my cord. The hubs and I then enjoyed an incredibly delicious, albeit unhealthy, dinner of these guys along with the Italian Pinwheels.

I've always been scared of jalopenos because I picture myself accidentally touching my eye and burning the crap out of it. But no eye mishaps occurred this time! These were awesome. Jalopenos with cream cheese are always pretty good but when you add bacon, they become even better.

Bacon Wrapped Cream Cheese Jalopenos

Source: Doughmesstic

8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp Old Bay

pinch of salt

12 jalopenos, halved and seeded

24 six-inch pieces of bacon, uncooked

Preheat oven to 350º. Combine cream cheese and spices in a bowl. Spoon mixture into each pepper half, until level. Wrap each in bacon and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Remove and enjoy!

Makes 24

Twice Baked Potatoes

I've been on a potato kick recently. We've had a potato side dish 7 times over the past two weeks! I just love how there are so many different things you can do with potatoes-and how a large bag is so cheap!

This recipe is definitely a winner. The potatoes taste so creamy and the onions and bacon add a nice little crunch.

Twice Baked Potatoes

Source: The Teacher Cooks

4 medium baking potatoes

1 cup milk heated

1/4 cup butter heated with milk

1/2 cup grated sharp cheese

salt and pepper

2 sliced green onions

3 slices of bacon, cut into bits

Bake potatoes at 425º for about 1 hour, or until soft. Cut 1/4 of top from each potato and scoop inside into a mixing bowl. Heat milk and butter until warm; add to potatoes. Add remaining ingredients. Mix. Stuff potato mixture back into shells. Bake at 325º for about 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Weekly Meal List

Monday: Bacon Pierogi Bake

Tuesday: Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken + Potato Bundles

Wednesday: Maple Rosemary Glazed Pork Chops + Hasselback Potatoes

Thursday: Sesame Chicken + Yellow Rice

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Wine Tasting with friends for me. Fish for Neil

Sunday: Eat Out

Queso Blanco Dip

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before or not but Southern California has some great Mexican food. There are a ton of little hole in the wall places that may look a little scary from the outside but produce the best Mexican food. But, not a single place out here serves queso. Not one. The closest I've seen is a white cheese sauce over a burrito at a chain Mexican place that didn't come close to tasting like queso blanco dip that you get back home in Georgia.

So, every time we go home to Georgia I always want to eat at one of the Mexican restaurants. Sure it might be considered "fake" Mexican food by anyone from Southern California but it's delicious to me. It's always sooooo good but only getting it twice a year isn't enough. I finally decided I wanted to try it at home and figured what better time than now with my Super Bowl Saturdays? Queso has been sitting there on my 23 x 23 list for awhile so I finally made it.

This recipe was perfect. I upped the heat by adding a second jalopeno but you can choose how spicy you want it to be. This also heats up nicely in the microwave.

Queso Blanco Dip

Source: Annie's Eats

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

1 jalopeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped

12 oz. white American cheese, shredded (can be found at the deli counter)

4 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

1/4 -2/3 cup milk

1 tomato, seeded and finely diced

2 tbsp cilantro, minced

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and jalopeno to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add both of the shredded cheeses and 1/4 cup of the milk. Whisk or stir until completely melted. Mix in the tomato and cilantro, and add additional milk gradually as necessary to achieve desired consistency. Transfer to a warmed serving bowl and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Turkey Pesto Sliders

Whenever I think of sliders, I think of White Castle and when I think of White Castle, I think of wisdom teeth. Weird connection? Maybe. My older sister and I both got our wisdom teeth out at the same time. All I remember from the few days following it is being slightly drugged out on pain medicine, laying on the couch bed together, eating Dairy Queen ice cream and watching Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. And laughing. Because everything was funny.

White Castle's little mini burgers are so delicious but I wanted to go with slightly healthier version. So I found these turkey pesto sliders. Sliders are a perfect appetizer because they are hand-sized but very filling. These would be a great pick for the Super Bowl!

Turkey Pesto Sliders

Source: Annie's Eats

6 slider buns

6 slices of turkey deli meat

6 slices of provolone cheese

3 tbsp pesto

3 tbsp mayonnaise

2 tbsp butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 400º. Line a baking sheet with foil. Split the slider buns and lay a folded slice of turkey on the bottom half of each bun. Layer each with a slice of provolone. In a small bow, combine the pesto and mayonnaise in a small bowl and mix until blended. Spread a thin layer of the pesto mayonnaise on the inner side of the top half of each bun. Replace the top bun over the cheese to assemble the sandwiches. Brush the tops of the buns lightly with melted butter. Bake 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sandwiches are warmed through. Enjoy!

Ham and Cheese Crescent Rolls

I love cooking, I really do. But sometimes, I want a break. Especially after I try out a new recipe that seems promising but after an hour and a half of constant work in the kitchen I end up with something that sucks. That happened a few days ago. So to recover from it the next night I needed something easy. Easy is usually fast food for us but we're attempting to eat out less this year. Instead of going the drive through route I made these crescent rolls with things I had in my fridge.

These come together in less than 25 minutes and go great with spicy mustard. You could also serve these as appetizers. The best thing about them, according to my husband who is now interested in tracking every calorie, is that they are only 200 calories apiece! They are so easy to make and are kind of a recipe that isn't even a recipe but I figured I would share them anyways!

Ham and Cheese Crescent Rolls

Source: Pillsbury

1 can (8oz) Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

8 thin slices of cooked ham

4 thin slices of Cheddar cheese, each cut into 4 strips

Heat oven to 350º. Separate dough into 8 triangle. Place 1 piece of ham on each triangle; place 2 strips of cheese down the center of the ham. Fold in edges of ham to match the shape of the dough triangle.

Roll up each crescent, ending at tip of triangle. Place with tips down on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 15-19 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet and serve warm. Enjoy!