{Recipe} Deep Dish Taco Pie

Okay, this is by far my new favorite recipe! Imagine a taco in a flaky, buttery pie crust. If that sounds delicious to you, then this recipe is a must try! The hubby was intrigued the first time I made and ecstatic the second time!

In a 9 inch cake pan, you start with a refrigerated pie crust, followed by a layer of cheese.

The next layer is a meat mixture of ground turkey (recipe calls for beef), taco seasoning, onions, rotel tomatoes, and chopped green peppers.

That's followed by enchilada sauce, black beans (recipe calls for refried beans), and a final layer of cheese.

 Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes...

...and voila! Deep Dish Taco Pie!

You can get the full recipe from Julie @ This Gal Cooks! Her blog is a great one to follow if you love trying new recipes! Enjoy!

#TBT and Eggrolls

So, Throwback Thursday and Eggrolls may not really go together, but since I did pair them, I figured I'd focus on some throwback pictures that involved food!

August 2008: Me and the hubby weren't even dating yet, but wouldn't this picture make you want to marry him?!

August 2009: Street tacos in Puerto Vallarta with my girls, Daenna and Cynthia!

And our stop at a tequila factory...with my girl, Jill! (I guess tequila doesn't count as food, but I like this picture.) Do you see those huge agave roots in the background? That's where tequila comes from!

April 2010: Crawfish with my line sisters when we went back to our alma mater for the University of Lousiana at Monroe vs. Grambling football game! Love these girls and we love us some crawfish! I know it's a Louisiana thing!

And speaking of my line sisters, shout out to all my sorors of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated as we prepare for an awesome Centennial celebration! Oo-oop! If you've been following me on instagram, you may have noticed the #DST100Challenge photos!

Okay, on to the eggrolls... I pinned a recipe for Bacon Cheeseburger Eggrolls. The recipe intrigued me and I had all the ingredients except for Eggroll wrappers. My local Kroger has an entire aisle dedicated to international cuisine, so I was sure I'd find it there.

But, nope...they were no where to be found. So, I asked the chef at the sushi counter and she directed me to produce. So, I learned that eggroll wrappers have to be refrigerated and if you want to try this recipe, check the produce section first!

Here is a link to the recipe and some of my tips and changes are as follows:

• To make it a bit healthier, I used ground turkey, turkey bacon, and fat free cheese.
• I'm sure the fried ones were better, but again for health, I baked mine instead. That made it more like a spring roll than an eggroll.
• If baking, make sure to coat the pan with non-stick cooking spray. I had to scrape mine from the pan.

The hubby enjoyed the eggrolls and so did I. Now that I know making these is so easy and where to find the eggroll wrappers, I hope to experiment and make different variations of eggrolls/spring rolls more often!

Linking up:

{Recipe} Bacon-Cheddar Crescent Pinwheels

I talk to my parents pretty regularly. My dad has been raving about the newest recipe he discovered. So, of course, while I was home for the holidays, I insisted that he make them.

Ingredients
1 Crescent Seamless Dough Sheet
Ranch Dressing (we used half a ranch packet with sour cream)
Crumbled Bacon
Chopped Green Onions
Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese

Directions
1. Roll Crescent Roll Dough out on a sheet of wax paper. (If using Crescent Dinner Rolls, firmly press perforations to seal)

2. Spread a layer of ranch dressing over dough, followed by a layer of crumbled bacon, a layer of chopped green onions, and finally a layer of cheese.

3. Roll the sheet of dough into a log. Pinch the ends together. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

4. Remove from refrigerator and slice across log to make pinwheels about 3/8 inch wide.

5. Place pinwheels on cookie sheet covered with non-stick cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes.

I definitely plan to put this recipe in rotation in my own home! They were delicious! Enjoy!

A Different Type of 'Cup'-Cake

I have not done a lick of Christmas shopping, but I have been thinking of what to get for the various people in my life. The one that must be completed the soonest are the gifts for my co-workers. Now, I'm not the one to get a gift for everyone, but as I lead a team of math teachers, I can't give one gift without giving the entire team a gift. Well, buying for a team of nine could break the bank...so it had to be something inexpensive and the same for everyone.

Of course, the first place I looked was Pinterest. While I found lots of idea, I wasn't sold on any of them. I'm a thoughtful gift giver and wouldn't give anything that I wouldn't want to receive myself.

While browsing the isles of Target a few weeks ago, I came across some monogrammed mugs.

Source

I passed them up because I was on a mission for something else. I looked them up online and saw the pricing was $13.99. You know, I was done with that mug. No way was I buying nine mugs at that price.

So then, I thought back to last Christmas, when I bought adorable mugs from Anthropologie.

Source

They were regular $8 and on sale for half price last year. Unfortunately, they were regular price this year, and although the price was better than the mug seen at Target, it wasn't low enough for me.

I was still on a mission to find mugs, but wasn't going to give just a mug. I decided on a gift I had once received, a cake in a cup. I found a recipe I liked and just need the mugs to go with it.

Yesterday, I was back at Target for a baby shower gift and passed those mugs again. My attention was caught by the sale sign for $5.99. So, I started looking for the letters I would need and I can't believe it, but found all them at one store.

So, now you're probably wondering, how do you make this cake in a cup? Too easy... I found an easy recipe.

All you need is:
1 box angel food cake
1 box flavor cake
1 box instant pudding (same flavor as cake)

Mix all the ingredients in a freezer bag and you're done!

For the cake in a cup, mix 3 tablespoons of cake mix with 2 tablespoons of water, and microwave for 1 minute. Too easy! The result is a spongey little one-serving cake for you to enjoy!

I filled each mug with a candy cane, some Hershey's Kisses, and two little baggies of cake mix. (I had to make the second mix because one of my team members is allergic to chocolate.) I included a little note card with directions. You can download the file here. I printed them on Avery business cards.

Viola! Cute little gifts for my co-workers!

Linking up:

          

{Recipe} Apple Dumplings!

I'm sure you love Pinterest just as much as I do! I love to try the occasional craft or recipe inspired by Pinterest! I didn't find this recipe on Pinterest, but it's so good that I had to 'pin it' and share it with my friends.

Apple Dumplings is a recipe my mom cooked on holidays. Sometimes, we ate it for breakfast and other times for dessert. Is that bad? Something sweet enough for dessert eaten at breakfast time? I guess it's no worse than eating donuts for breakfast.

Anyway, my mom directed me to The Pioneer Woman for the recipe. I had everything needed other than the Mountain Dew, so a quick trip to fill up the gas tank was my excuse to acquire my missing ingredient! Then, I began to cook these apples, wrapped in crescent rolls, drowned in butter, sugar,vanilla, and Mountain Dew, topped with cinnamon! (I'm sure that a run-on on sentence, but I teach math, not language arts.)

via Instagram

The hubby loved it and said it may beat my mom's recipe for a Neiman Marcus Cake. I don't know that I agree with that one though. Maybe I'll share that recipe next time I make it. As the title suggests, it's a rich cake!

Anyway, enjoy the recipe for Apple Dumplings! You can find it here!