Way Too Easy Calzones

When Jason and I were in college, we were hooked when Pizza Hut came out with "P-zones". OMG...such goodness. A few years ago, Jason wanted to make one so I was off to find a great recipe to make my hubby happy. Now while these things are amazing, well, sadly, they are not the healthiest. Darn. So we were off to make a "healthier version". The best part is that you can pick and choose your ingredients and add what you want. And guess what...make one for tonight and freeze another for another night. THIS MOMMA LOVES THAT! And this will definately please the babies and kiddos and you even can hide a few veggies in the filling;)



Stuffed Calzones

Makes 1 large calzone to feed 4 and serve with salad

 1 tube refirgerated pizza crust dough (use whole wheat if you like)

1 cup low-fat skim ricotta cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (we used fat free)

1/4 cup sliced pepperoni (use turkey pepperoni or grilled chicken cut into cubes)

1/4 cup any veggie you want (mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes for me and jalapenos for my man)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 cup marinara sauce (they have many low fat/sugar versions on the market)
Salt, pepper, Italian Seasoning, Basil to taste

1. Prehat oven to 400. Spray large cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

2. On cookie sheet, unrooll pizza dough. Press dough into 16 inch by 10 inch rectangle (or smaller if you prefer a thicker crust)

3. In large bowl, stir ricotta, mozzarella, meats, veggies, seasonings and cornstarch.

3. Spread cheese mixture on long side of dough to cover half of dough, leaving a 1 inch border. Spoon half of marinara sauce  over cheese mixture.

Folder over half of dough over filling. Press edges together to seal.

4. Cut 4 slits in top of calzone to allow steam to escape during baking. Bake on cookie sheet on bottom oven rack for 16-20 minutes or until golden. Serve with remaining sauce.

Enjoy!

 I always love making dishes for my family on a weeknight...Momou would have done the same and taken pride in doing so. She inspires me always.

*Another recipe cut from a magazine many years ago.



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Sisters and Margaritas Just Go Together...

My sister made my whole month when she told me to block off a weekend in November (yes, I am that behind!) because the whole Courville family was coming to town. I don't think I could have a better Friday knowing  my sister and her precious crew were on their way. The wine was ready and beer "fridge" was stocked. Time to celebrate the weekend and solve all of the worlds problems while managing to keep the babies, kids and hubbies happy and alive;)

Jen and I have been simpatico forever, not just sisters but best friends. God has blessed me with beautiful sisters and a special relationship with each. Jen and I have always been so close...well, after those young years where we fought all the time but definitely once we got to high school together. She was a senior and I was a freshman. She drove me around all around that year, bless her heart. We went out together and then we had the best time living together in college. Now we are both teachers (kinder for me and 1st for her) and then it was only fitting that we had babies(my first and her third) just a few days apart.

 Jen rushed to the hospital (3 hours away!!) just a few days before her own due date to be there when Collins was born and was also there for CC's first birthday party. I know I am blessed and I cannot imagine a world without my sisters.

So our weekend was a fabulous time, as always! The men drank their beer (and scotch) and helped us with the babies and kept us mommas happy. We had fun dinners out, photo shoots and we brought the kids to the Houston zoo.

The weather was gorgeous and apparently everyone else in Houston had the same idea for the zoo but we made it in! The kids loved it and it was Collins first time to go. She kept pointing at everything...it was so fun seeing it through her eyes. I never knew how easy it was to because a fool of parent making the biggest deal out of everything we saw to our baby who barely knew what was going on. But we did and she seemed to enjoy her little self, as much as we did!

That night called for a "night in" where we cooked and laughed for hours. The men drank more scotch and I made a mexican fiesta with Cranberry Lime Margaritas for us girls. We had Spicy Queso Dip to munch on while we made Southwestern Chicken and Rice Soup (so easy!). The dip was so good and so bad for us so we had to behave with a delicious but relatively healthy main course. We ate ourselves silly while we kept the margaritas flowing. You know nothing goes better together than margaritas and sisters...

Cranberry Lime Margaritas

1 cup sugar

1 cup fresh lime juice

2 cups tequila
1/2 cup orange triple sec
1 (64 oz) bottle cranberry juice
Lime wedges
Kosher salt
1. Stir together sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Pour into a large pitcher, cover and chill 20 minutes.
2. Add lime juice and next 3 ingredients to sugar syrup in pitcher. Chill until ready to serve. Rub rims with lime wedges, and di rims in salt. Serve margaritas over crushed ice.

Spicy Queso Dip 
(SLOW COOKER RECIPE! YAY!)
1 cup milk
8 oz. queso cheese, cut into small chunks
8 oz. white cheddar cheese, diced
2 Tbsp. butter
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can finely chopped tomatoes
1 4 oz. can diced jalapeno peppers, drained

1. Combine first 3 ingredients in a glass bowl. Microwave for 5 minutes or until creamy stirring often.
2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic, saute 3 minutes or until tender. Stir in tomato, and saute 2 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in peppers.
3. Stir vegetable mixture into cheese mixture until blended. Transfer dip to a slow cooker. Heat on low or warm setting for up to 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
(Adapted  from Southern Living Christmas Cookbook)

Southwestern Chicken and Rice Soup
1 bag seasoning blend
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup uncooked rice
2 cans chopped fire roasted tomatoes
7 cups chicken broth
1 jalapeno, chopped and seeded
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1 avocado, chipped
Tortilla Chips
1. Saute first 3 ingredients in hot oil in a large pot over medium heat until vegetables are tender. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute.
2. Stir in chicken and next 5 ingredients. Stir in chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in cilantro and lime juice. Garnish with avocado and tortilla chips.
(Adapted from 2006 Southern Living Annual Recipes Cookbook)

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Bistro Grilled Chicken...Make 1/2 and Freeze 1/2!

Today, Houston, Tx reached one of the lowest temps since we have lived here...a whopping 18 degrees. Yikes! I just can't take it. I am one to go running in the morning every single day before school, no matter the temperature. And that is safe to say in Houston because chances of it being really cold are very few and far between. Well, not today. I just couldn't do it. Come on spring! My few days of love for winter are over...this Louisiana/Tennessee/Texas girl needs her southern warmth.

So in craving spring days with a BBQ outside, I pulled out a favorite recipe of ours from this past summer.  Delicious. And the best part? You can make half and freeze half. What momma doesn't love that? I think the whole freezer prep in 4 hours for 4 months is pretty smart but I am just not organized enough to pull it off. So I think some sort of semi-plan where you make half, eat it then and freeze the rest is more my style. It is like I am thinking ahead but really I am just making too much and get to  make a few meals out of it.

Bistro Grilled Chicken

1/2 cup Teriyaki sauce

1 tbsp. EVOO

1/4 tsp dried thyme

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 yellow onion, sliced

1 red bell pepper, sliced

Teriyaki butter

6 (1/2 inch french bread slices)

Combine first 3 ingredients in a small mixing bowl; reserve half and pour mixture over chicken in a shallow dish. Cover and chill 30 minutes.

Remove chicken from marinade, discarding marinade.

Brush onion slices and bell pepper with reserved teriyaki mixture. Brush teriyaki butter over bread slices. 

Cook chicken and vegetables, without grill lid, over medium hot heat, 3 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are golden brown, basting with remaining teriyaki mixture. Remove vegetables, and keep warm. Cook chicken 2 to 4 minutes or until done, basting often. Keep warm. Add bread slices; cook 3 to 4 minutes or until browned. 

Place chicken and vegetables on top of bread; serve immediately. 

Teriyaki Butter

3 tbsp butter melted

1 tbsp. teriyaki sauce

Combine butter and sauce, sitrring well. 

*I doubled this recipe to freeze half and it tasted just as good when we made it again.

(This is not my recipe as none really are but this is one I cut out of a magazine years ago. I wish I had a name to go with it but I don't:(So to whomever you are....thank you so much for this yumminess.)

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Two Ladybugs, One Dalmation and Cruella Deville

My handsome hubby loves to dress up. Give him any occasion, especially Halloween and the man is all on board. There was a time in our lives that we owned two huge afro wigs (from a 70s Halloween costume quite a few years ago) and the man loved to wear these things on random occasions.

He even wore them in a golf tournament...for church...and convinced our church administrative assistant to do the same. I heard the rumors that they were cruising on their golf carts in these wigs and the rumors were true. I should have known. Those wigs bit the dust when he wore one in the Warrior Dash one year and he convinced another friend to do the same.

So Halloween? It would be considered taboo to not dress up. You will never find the Welchs not participating in Halloween. So this year there was more of a reason to celebrate...we had a baby to dress up! Since she is our baby bug, she of course was a ladybug. And then "sissy" dressed up too, as a matching ladybug, of course.

We spent too much money on costumes that were worn for about 3 hours (maybe 10 minutes for Garcia:) but it was worth it. As far as daddy is concerned, you can never spend too much on dressing up.

We dressed up our babies and took pictures in the front yard and jumped around like fools to get the two of them to look and smile. We succeeded a few times.And what do you do on Halloween night with a baby? Well, you join forces with best friends and their baby since we can't exactly have a night on the town.

We took about a thousand pictures of Matthew (the precious little lion) and the Ladybug and I am pretty sure they were babbling about how crazy we were with the camera.

Sot what else do you do when they are too little to go trick or treating? Well we rolled them around in the wagon and then stripped them down to diapers for dinner. Our wild Halloween with babies babies included peas and chicken all over floor and messy babies to bathe! But that is why you join forces and do it together...and with delicious food and spirited beverages. Mary Rachel cooked the most amazing chili that apparently is her dad's secret award winning chili so there is no recipe to share there:) But I did  make Peanut Butter and Cocoa Crispy Rice Krispies because chocolate and peanut butter are my husband's love language language and  pumpkin pie martinis to wash it down with:)

I feel like babies are the hardest job and the best joy. I feel like nothing can prepare you for how things change when they come along but special events and weekends REALLYYYY change. In the sweetest way, but also not in the most exciting way if you can understand. I mean, whining and messy babies doesn't equal a thrilling time but I still wouldn't change it. It is our new season of life so we are rolling with it and we are so blessed by our baby girl. So you just  pack the wine, good food and do it with good friends!

But then there are times that you get a babysitter, dress up and get to be your pre-baby selves...all while never forgetting the precious lady bug that you left at home.

Our sweet friends and wonderful hostesses, Jacob and Maria hosted our Sunday School Halloween Party and there wasn't a detail spared. Maria is one of the most creative people I know and another dear friend of ours, Jenn, is always right there with her. The two of them could rival Martha Stewart and her party planning any day. We had a mexican buffet contributed by everyone and I brought dessert of course, another version of rice crispy treats and this time with Reese's Pieces (another love language of Jason's) Jason and I dressed up as Cruella and the Dalmatian and while we were pretty darn cute (at least we were told;), we didn't quite take home the costume contest prize. There was lots of stiff competition! Especially when you compete against Duck Dynasty!

Halloween Crispy Treats

1/4 cup butter

1 (10 oz) package marshmallows

6 cups rice cereal

1 (1 lb) package Reece's Pieces

Lightly grease a 13x9 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Add cereal stirring until well coated. Stir in Reece's. Using buttered hands, evenly press mixture into prepared pan. Cool completely. Cut into squares. 

Peanut Butter and Cocoa Crispy Treats

Halloween sprinkles

1/4 cup butter

1 (10 oz) package marshmallows

2/3 cup peanut butter

6 cups cocoa-flavored rice cereal

Lightly grease a 13x9 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle Halloween sprinkles to cover bottom of prepared pan. In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows, and stir until completely melted. Add peanut butter, stirring well to combine. Remove from heat. Add cereal, stirring until well coated. Using butter hands, evenly press mixture into prepared pan. Cool completely. Cut into squares. Flip over when preparing on serving plate.

Pumpkin Pie Martini

Ice

3/4 cup spiced rum

1/4 cup pumpkin spice creamer

2 tablespoons canned pumpkin

1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice cubes. Add rum, pumpkin spice cream and pumpkin. Shake with ice until well blended and strain into 2 martini glasses. Sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice.

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Football Season and Chili Season=Love

You gotta love the south. Football games in the fall are like its own holiday. There is something about the turn of the weather (or at least possible turn of the weather here in Houston) and tailgating food that just go hand in hand. But I am going to just come clean. I don't understand football. I don't even know what is happening on the screen as I watch it. I just get into it for the sake of my husband and really any reason to throw a party. I am more likely to be the girl in the background talking anything but football with the other girls who may not be all that interested. However, most of my girlfriends are interested. It just amazes me that they know what is going on! This fact doesn't exactly make my husband the most proud but he embraces it and loves me anyway. He is is a true football fanatic, make that LSU/Saints fanatic as anyone else is that is from Louisiana or lives there. Jason's entire family is LSU fans and and now it looks like Collins will be an LSU girl herself:) I just play along, wear the LSU outfits and plan the football parties:)

Collins even wears her purple and gold to church but only after a win!

So this past football season we cheered the LSU tigers on many times while we munched on a few favorite recipes. We went to our dear friends house who are fellow LSU fans and watched the game as much as we could with the kids in tow. 

Well, the husbands watched, Gabe and I bathed the kids and fed them and let the husbands have their peace. We are such good wives.

Gabe's Jason made gumbo that was amazing and I made Golden Onion Bacon Tartlets for an appetizer. These things were delicious and addictive. And they called for pancetta which is my husband's love language alone. And as always, we had a great time. I can't really say who won the game but I got to catch up with a best friend and soak up our families together so just another reason that I am grateful for football season. And the men did have their hands full once Gabe and I settled down to a glass of wine...

Golden Onion and Bacon Tartlets

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

2 cups thinly sliced sweet onions

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup shredded swiss cheese

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 tsp minced fresh or dried rosemary

1/4 tsp ground pepper

4 slices pancetta (or bacon finally chopped)

24 mini phyllo pastry shells

Fresh rosemary springs for garnish

 1. Heat oven to 350. Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium low heat. Add onions and cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and tender. Sprinkle with salt and cook 3 to 5 minutes more  until very tender and golden brown. Remove from heat; stir in swiss, cream, rosemary and pepper.

2. Meanwhile, cook pancetta in medium skillet over medium heat, 2 to 3 minutes, until crisp. Drain on paper towels. 

3. Arrange phyllo shells on cookie sheet. Divide and spoon  onion mixture into shells. Sprinkle tops evenly with pancetta. Bake 9 to 11 minutes, until golden brown. Garnish with rosemary if desired. Serve immediately. 

During this football season, we tried out a few other new recipes and they are definitely worth talking about. For another game with friends, we made Sesame Chicken Dip. Now this recipe is different but so good. It has delicious oriental taste that you don't expect and is so different from so many other dips that are out there.

Sesame Chicken Dip
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
 4 tso. sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups shredded cooked chicken
3 pkgs. (8 oz) reduced fat free cream cheese
8 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped salted peanuts
2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach
1 jar (10oz) sweet and sour sauce
Sesame Rice Crackers
1. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the soy sauce, sesame oil and garlic, add the chicken. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for at least an hour.
2. Spread cream cheese onto a large serving platter, top with chicken mixture. Sprinkle with onions, peanuts and spinach. Drizzle with sweet and sour sauce. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Serve with crackers.

Now for the recipe of all fall football game recipes...Bacon Beer Chili. Men, this is your kind of chili. At least it was for my husband. It had all his favorites. Venison. Bacon, Italian Sausage, and beer. Yes, beer. Jason made this for us and it was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Not lying. I am not a big "game" girl but I will eat it because that is what you do when when your husband kills deer and brings home the "bacon", I mean venison. But we almost didn't know what to do with ourselves it was that good. It makes a lot so this is definitely the recipe to make for your next football game/cool weather dinner.

Bacon Beer Chili
1/2 pound mild italian sausage links
8 slices bacon
1 1/2 pounds coarsely ground venison (you can use ground turkey or beef as well)
2 large onions, chopped
2 large green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chipped
cayenne pepper to taste (we like alot!)
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1 (14 1/2oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (12 oz) can tomato paste
 1 (12 oz) can beer
Optional Garnishes: sour cream, sliced green onions, shredded Monterey Jack cheese, sliced green olives

Brown sausage in a large dutch oven (cast iron or large pot) over medium heat. Drain on paper towels and slice. Cook bacon in pot until crisp, remove bacon, reserving half of the drippings. Crumble bacon.
Heat reserved drippings over medium heat until hot. Add venison, onion, bell peppers and garlic. Cook until meat is browned and vegetables are tender, stirring often.
Add reserved sausage, bacon, jalapeno peppers and next 8 ingredients; stir well. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes, stirring often. Garnish if desired.

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