Book Update:  I finished “Why Calories Count” and found it a great companion to “The End of Overeating” in that it goes more into studies about what is going on in the body.  Now, I started “Raising Happiness” by Christine Carter which is actually just a book that relates everything I learned in Positive Psychology and applies it to families.

I get a lot of questions asking what I get at Trader Joe’s.  There isn’t one around here, so here are my picks for what to buy or try.  Most of the food is canned or freezable since we do not live close to one.  Here are a few more to what list I had created a while back.

  Cilantro Dressing – THE dressing for cilantro lovers.  Slightly thick and dresses up anything from salads to deli meat wraps.  You find it in the refrigeration section instead of the normal room temperature dressing section.

House Whip – After looking at TruWhip at Dierbergs, I informally conclude they are the SAME product.  They have the same ingredients and the same nutritional facts.  The only difference is that Trader Joe’s sells it for $1.99 per tub and Dierbergs sells is for $3.29 per tub when on sale.  There are no artificial flavors or colors, no high fructose corn syrup and no hydrogenated oils.  Pretty much the only alternative to Cool Whip that I have found unless you make your own.

 Mascarpone – You can actually find this at Aldi sometimes as well.  But, it is a specialty item there and a staple at Trader Joe’s.  I love it in tiramisu, this berry tiramisu or these mascarpone blondies.

  Salsas - Normally, I like fresh salsa… unless it is Trader Joe’s.  The pineapple salsa is just plain awesome.  The peach salsa is a tad spicy.  I would call it medium-hot.  But, it is still really delicious and both of these taste great with chicken as well for a main course.

  Enchilada Sauce - Again, I think this is a medium-hot product.  It’s pretty spicy, but the only enchilada sauce they carry which of course does not contain high fructose corn syrup or anything artificial.  It has a great flavor and something easy if you don’t have time to make your own from scratch.

  English Muffins- I’m sorry.  I just don’t have time to be domestic goddess 100% of the time and make my own English muffins like so many blogs do now.  I buy them.  For $1.99 I can have 6 muffins that are made from all whole wheat flour with no artificial anything.  They freeze well, too.

  Joe’s O’s - These are basically Cheerios.  I found one story rumor that stated they are General Mills Cheerios rejects, but I don’t find that to be the case.  They are $1.99 for a 15 oz box which is pretty cheap compared to the name brand and some generics.  Ingredients seem to be about the same though since General Mills doesn’t add much to them.

 Frozen Mango Chunks- I LOVE these.  They are $2.69 per bag of 24 ounces.  I love them in plain yogurt.  I love them by themselves.  I love them thawed and with a dash of cinnamon.  I love them on a boat.  I love them in a moat.  I love them in smoothies.  I love that they’re incredibly high vitamin A and C.  You get the picture.

  Lemon Curd – Lemons can be expensive many days of the year and therefore, it is expensive to make your own lemon curd.  This puppy was like $3 and has nothing in it but I what I use to make my own lemon curd.

 Rice Krispies, but not - It is really hard to avoid BHT in the cereal aisle.  We all love rice krispy treats and I like to make homemade granola bars, but trying to avoid preservatives is really difficult without Trader Joe’s.  Here is a list of the ingredients as well.  We eat these instead of Kellogg’s and the price is actually the same or cheaper most of the time.

  Funky Cheeses - I can always count on Trader Joe’s to have plenty of funky, weird cheeses that I find in Food Network recipes and such.  Fontina is pretty common, but many they have are not as common or as cheap.  Their brie is the cheapest I have ever found.

  Quinoa and Black Bean Chips – Better stock up on these.  They are sold out about half the time I take a trip to Trader Joe’s.  The chips are really good – everyone loves the saltiness, crispness and flavor of them.

I don’t have photos of everything.  We also love their:  black forest ham, sparkling spring water, Trail mix granola bars (LOVE LOVE LOVE these!!!), breakfast bars, granola bars, mango granola, apple granola, honey nut cheerios, Fruit Loops (Fruit O’s? I think they call them.), frozen sweet orange chicken, mini frozen pizzas, pepperoni, lemon ginger ice cream, turkey corn dogs (YUM!), mozzarella sticks, marinara sauce, organic black beans, mac and cheese, cocoa powder, organic superfruit jelly/preserves, greek yogurt with cilantro and chives (think sandwich/wrap instead of mayo), huge pound bar of dark chocolate, jelly beans, all their cookies that I have tried, shortcake biscuits (heaven!), kefir, antioxidant nut mix, green tea ($1.99 for 48 bags), whole coffee beans (14 oz. for $4.99), the chicken sausages, applewood bacon, white whole wheat bread, raisin bread, tropical carrot blend (lots of vitamin A), low calorie diet lemonade, pork potstickers, free range beef burger patties (4 patties for $5.99)  and…. I think that’s it.  Until the next time I go and they have something new.

What is good at Costco?  Well, in addition to my last post, we have added some:

   Marinated Wild Alaskan Salmon - If you have TRIED to get on the fish bandwagon in the middle of the Midwest, it may get pricey.  This box of 6 fillets is $14.99 which isn’t too shabby considering how large they are and the fact that it costs this much or more to buy them at the regular grocery store.  Now, I mean wild salmon – not the farmed stuff from Walmart that is cheaper.

  Minced Garlic- This huge jar was like $3-4 at Costco.  They are about $5 in most stores.  Trader Joe’s started to carry jars of crushed garlic for only $3 or so.  It’d take me like $10 in garlic cloves to make that jar.

Without a photo:  Tyson’s all natural breaded tenderloins (frozen) are less than $3/pound.  Stubb’s BBQ sauce is $3 per huge jar and has no high fructose corn syrup, but it does have a kick to it.  Sunrise Whole grain Energy Bars!  I thought I took a photo of those – love them.  $7.70 gives you a huge tub of 32 granola bars made of nothing but real ingredients.  The kids can just go into the pantry and grab them, although they are a bit crumbly.

Book Update:  I finished my Positive Psychology class 3 hours ago.  After working off and on writing the final today, I finally submitted it.  Woo hoo!  Now, I have no show to perform and no graduate class.  What am I supposed to do?  Oh I did read some of “Why Calories Count: From Science to Politics” by Marion Nestle and Malden Nesheim.  Some of the interesting things I learned that I had always wondered are:
1.  Why do we lose water weight when dieting?  During sleep, fasting occurs when the enzymes break down the glycogen in your liver into glucose (the fuel for your brain).  Because glycogen binds up to four times its weight in water, this breakdown releases the water. Now weight loss occurs when the body needs more glycogen and starts the break down from body proteins and fatty acids.  After a few days, the body starts to break these down faster and faster and the body also tells the kidneys to release salt – which as we all know releases the water as well.  – This is also why we lose weight fast at first.  All the excess water.
2.  Fidgeting may account for how some people can eat more than you and still be skinny.  Scientists concluded some fidgetors burn anywhere from 100-690 calories per day just fidgeting.
3.  I had read in several holocaust books about how some survivors of starvation would actually die or almost die when given food.  This didn’t make any sense to me, but the book explains starvation and what happens.  Since the digestive tract has nothing to do, the villi in the small intestine slough off.  Since there are no villi in the intestinal tract to digest the food, then the food creates horrible pains or death.  Recovery from near starvation takes weeks of recuperating.
4.  There was a professor that went on the Twinkie Diet.  Yes, he ate twinkies and junk food for 2 months and lost 27 pounds.

Recipe:  My friend Jackie makes this recipe almost every time she comes over and we all LOVE it.  It tastes like a queso in a restaurant.  The reviews of the original recipe all rave about it.  The only downside is that it solidifies if you let it sit too long.  But a few seconds in the microwave solve that problem.

Queso Blanco Dip
serves 8 (double for a large crowd)

.75 (3/4) pound white American cheese (I had to get this at the deli counter)
1/8 cup diced green chilies
1 pickled jalapeno, chopped (my jar was all pre-chopped, so I just picked 3-4 slices)
1 Tb. pickled jalapeno juice (from the same jar as the pickled jalapeno)
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup cold water
cumin (optional)

1.  Have the cheese cut up into cubes.  Mix it all up in one large microwave bowl.
2.  Microwave until melted.  Stir up and eat!    Store any leftovers in the fridge and reheat as needed.

Recipe from http://www.seededatthetable.com

Book Update:  Yeah… still working on that final.

Recipe:  I grew up with strawberry jell-O poke cake.  You know the one where you stick holes in a white cake, pour jello all over it, top it with some Cool Whip and throw it in the fridge?  Yeah, that one.  It’s yummy.  It’s a great cool dessert in the summer, but it…. lacks something.  Like strawberries.  Like real food.  So, here is a real food version and I also provide shortcuts in case you want REAL food taste without actually making the entire thing from scratch…  Sneaky, huh?

Strawberry Jell-O Poke Cake
serves 16

Cake:
2 and 1/4 cups AP flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup whole milk, room temp.
2 tsp. vanilla
6 large egg whites, room temp.
12 Tb. butter, softened
1 and 3/4 cup sugar

Filling/Topping:
4 cups frozed sliced strawberries (one 16 oz. bag works perfectly)
6 Tb. sugar, dividied
1/2 cup water
2 Tb. orange juice
2 Tb. strawberry Jell-O
2 cups heavy cream
Zest of 2 oranges
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract or fiori di sicilia

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray or grease a 13×9 pan.
2.  To make the Cake:  In one bowl, whisk the dry stuff:  flour, baking powder and salt.
3.  In another bowl, whisk the wet stuff:  milk, vanilla and egg whites.
4.  In your stand mixer or large bowl:  beat the sugar and butter together about 4-6 minutes on medium-high.
5.  Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter/sugar and mix.  Add 1/2 the milk mixture and beat.  Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat.  Add 1/2 the milk mixture and beat.  Finally, add the rest of your flour and beat until combined.  Pour into your prepped cake pan and bake 35 minutes.
(To Cheat:  Buy a white cake mix and bake as directed.)

6.  Let the cake cool completely.
7.  In a saucepan, mix 3 cups of those frozen strawberries, 2 Tb. sugar, water and orange juice.  Stir this over medium-low heat until the strawberries get mushy.  It took me about 10-15 minutes.
8.  Strain that mixture in a strainer with a batter bowl or preferably a bowl with a spout attached underneath.  Either way, have your strainer on top of a bowl.  Strain the strawberries from the juice.  Put the strawberries into the fridge.
9.  Sprinkle the strawberry gelatin onto the reserved juice and stick that into the fridge for 20 minutes.
10.  Poke lots and lots of holes into the cake using toothpicks or even better, skewers.
11.  Pour the strawberry jello mixture over the cake SLOWLY.  Wrap/cover and fridge the cake for 3 hours.

12.  Into the Food Processor:  add your reserved fridge strawberries and 1 cup frozen strawberries with 2 Tb. sugar.  Pulse that in the processor for 7-10 times – until you get a spreadable mixture.
13.  Spread onto cake.

14.  Now, using your whip attachment, whip (on high setting) the 2 cups of heavy cream with 2 Tb. of sugar, orange zest and extract to medium peaks.  Voila!  Real whipped cream topping!
(To cheat on this part:  Stir the zest and extract into TruWhip or Trader Joe’s House Whip.)

Recipe from America’s Test Kitchen

Book Update:  I have not read much because I finished my last lesson in Positive Psychology Friday, and this week is the final.  Somehow I am supposed to type 6 pages…. I bet I could do it if I don’t sleep.  Who needs that anyway?

Recipe:  I think homemade brownies should be on everyone’s bucket list.  Making them yourself can create a brownie that you can never find in a box and this recipe is one of them.  It is dense, thick, chewy, soft, chocolatey and delicious.  Hey, it’s chocolate and I even liked it!  They really don’t take very long to make and most of the ingredients are easy to find.  Imagine a brownie you would purchase at a coffee house and this comes pretty close.

The Dutch Processed Cocoa can be found at Whole Foods, purchased at King Arthur Flour, or possibly substitute for Hershey’s Dark Cocoa which is a mix of natural and dutch processed cocoa and found in many grocery stores.

Mississippi Mud Brownies
serves 24

6 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 sticks (8 oz. or 16 Tb.) unsalted butter
1 and 1/2 cups (7.5 oz) AP flour
1/3 cup Dutch Processed Cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups (21 oz.) sugar
5 large eggs (or 4 XL eggs)
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Topping:
3/4 cup marshmallow creme
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tsp. vegetable oil

1.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Spray a 13×9 pan or line with parchment or nonstick foil.
2.  In a microwave safe bowl, put the unsweetened chocolate and 2 sticks of butter.  Melt in the microwave.  I put mine on 60% power and stirred every 1-2 minutes.  After 4 minutes or so almost everything was melted and I just kept stirring until it came together.  Let this mixture cool slightly so we don’t cook the eggs later!  About 5 minutes.
3.  In another bowl, mix your dry stuff:  flour, cocoa and salt.
4.  In a large bowl or stand mixer, mix the sugar and eggs.
5.  Take the slightly cooled chocolate mixture and mix it into the sugar and eggs.  I used medium-low power on my mixer.  Then, add the flour in a little at a time (about 3-4 installments) until mixed thoroughly.  Don’t beat it more once it is combined.
6.  Fold your pecans into the brownie batter.  Pour all this batter into your 9×13 pan. Bake 35 minutes.
7.  Spray one or two spatulas or spoons with cooking spray.  Once you take out the brownies, dollop the marshmallow creme onto the hot brownie with the sprayed utensil.  Don’t touch!  Just let it sit and melt.   See?  It is nice and melty now.  Use an offset spatula or spoon to smooth the mixture over the brownies.
8.  In a small bowl, microwave the semisweet chocolate chips and oil together.  Once melted, drizzle this onto the marshmallow creme layer.  Cool for 2 hours.

Recipe from America’s Test Kitchen’s “Cook’s Country”

I haven’t posted a craft for a while and with the hectic week I haven’t been able to try as many recipes as I would like.  Instead, I’d like to post this easy sewing craft which I like to use often for baby showers, gifts, etc.  For the onesies, I usually buy them in 3-9 month sizes.  After having a 10 lb. baby, I have this thing about buying newborn size stuff.  You can find the burp cloths/ cloth diapers in the baby section and many moms would recommend the 6 ply since it is much thicker.  I like how you can make the burp cloths coordinate with the onesie, or you could even coordinate them with this awesome inside out tote bag!  Apologies for some of the lighting in the photographs.  The only time I am able to sew most days is after the kids go to bed at 8pm.

Ruffle Butt Onesie

1 onesie (I use 3-9 months often)
1/4 yard of fabric
*Remember to pre-wash!

1.  Flip your onesie so that the back is facing you.  Measure from the top of the curve of the leg opening straight across to the other top of the curve.  You can draw a line using a washable pencil/disappearing ink pen or I use pins.

2.  Now measure 1″ above that line and draw another line straight across.  Measure 1″ below the bottom line (This one was about 6″ for me) and draw/pin straight across.

3.  Depending on if you want to serge the ends will determine the width of the cut of fabric.  Or, you are a loser like me and just don’t have a serger.  Woo hoo!

4.  If not serging, cut 3 strips that are 2.5″ wide and 2-3x the width of the lines your drew on the onesie.  So, mine were about 8″, 8″ and 6″.  Therefore, I cut two strips that were 24″x2.5″ and one strip of fabric that was 18″x2.5″
If serging, cut the same length, but make your width 2″.  Cutting with pinking shears would be handy.
5.  If not serging, fold over and sew 1/4″ on both short sides and one long side of each strip.  If serging, simply serge around all 4 edges.

6.  Now, on the long side that was not sewed 1/4″ (or any long side for the serged one) – sew a gathering stitch less than 1/4″ from the edge.  Here, I move my needle to the right and sew on the 1/4″ line.  That way my gathering stitch is just slightly inside the permanent stitch.  To sew a gathering stitch, simply select your sewing machine to sew it’s longest stitch (mine is a 5) and make sure to leave lots of thread on both ends.

7.  Gather the ruffle and use the onesie as a guide as to how tight to make the ruffles.

8.  Pin the ruffle to the onesie.  I start at the top and work my way down.  Sew 1/4″ stitch (remember to change your stitch size back to normal!!).  Do this for all 3 ruffles.

9.  Iron the ruffles down like crazy.

Another Option!!
I haven’t done this, but others have.  Instead of sewing one edge down and flipping it,  gather and sew the ruffle right down the middle.  This would work best I think with a serger, so I haven’t done it.

Burp Cloths

1 – 6 ply prefold burp cloth
1/4 yard fabric
45″ of ribbon

1.  This project is much faster than the onesie.  Measure the rectangle in the middle of the cloth and cut a piece of fabric that is 1/2″ larger than that size.

2.  Pin your fabric down to the cloth while folding it under along the edges 1/4″.

3.  Measure the length of the cloth and cut two pieces of ribbon that are 1/2″ longer than the cloth.  Pin the ribbon along the long edges of the fabric.  Sew all the way around paying special attention to the long edges.  Make sure you are sewing through all of the fabric and ribbon.

Soooooo…. I really wanted to publish this recipe before Cinco de Mayo.  Then, I had it in my crazy head that I could be in a show called “Oklahoma!” by Rodgers and Hammerstein which included 9 runnings of the show last week!  Plus chair our non-profit organization’s meeting on Saturday morning before a show at 2 and 6pm.  Plus, get my homework done for Positive Psychology.  The two kids are still alive though – no worries.

So, instead I will post it now and you can still make them because they are still a great summery treat with the citrus flavor.

PLUS   – get this – the topping is NOT Cool Whip.  Nope.  No polysorbate 60 or hydrogenated oils.  I know.  We’re all crying inside, too.  This recipe includes a stabilized whipped cream topping that you could use anywhere that you use Cool Whip.  It rocks: it’s easy, it needs just a handful of ingredients, and it tastes divine.  If you don’t care for lime flavored things, at least read and try the topping.

Margarita Cupcakes
serves 24

1 box of white cake mix
10 oz. NON- alcoholic frozen Bacardi margarita mix (or 1 and 1/4 cups of any margarita mix), liquid or thawed
2 Tb. lime zest
ingredients for cake per box (usually 3 eggs or egg whites and a little oil)

1.  Make the white cake per the directions on the box EXCEPT add the 10 oz. (1 and 1/4 cups) of margarita mix instead of the water.
2.  Cool cupcakes.

Stabilized Whipped Cream
enough to top 24 cupcakes

1 tsp. unflavored gelatin (I use Knox)
2 Tb. cold water
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla (or any flavor you want, I added some lime zest.  Lime powder would have been great for the cupcakes)
1/4-1/2 cup powdered sugar

1.  Sprinkle the gelatin on top of the cold water in a microwave safe dish or small pot.  Let sit for 5 minutes.
2.  Warm up the gelatin on low until dissolved.  Use low/medium setting on stovetop or 50% power for the microwave.
3.  Once dissolved, allow to cool to room temperature.  This part is a little tricky… if it sits a long time it will gel.  That’s okay.  Just heat it up a tiny bit.  No worries.
4.  Beat the heavy cream in a mixer on high.  Do this 1-2 minutes, or until you see streaks in the cream.
5.  Drizzle in the gelatin and vanilla.  Mix in.
6.  Add the powdered sugar.  Mix this on high as well to MEDIUM peaks!!
Voila!  You have your own stabilized whipped cream.  I put it in my pastry bag with my 1M Wilton tip to make the cupcake swirls.  It holds the shape rather well.  I cannot tell you for how long the stabilized whipped cream will hold…. the cupcakes and cakes I have made with it are consumed within 24 hours.  

Whipped Cream Recipe from King Arthur Flour’s “Whole Grain Baking”

Yep, you can even lighten up a cheeseburger!  Don’t give them up – here’s how!  They calculate 360 calories per burger – which may be less depending on your bun.  I use Healthy Life buns without the HFCS and using whole grains.

This is also my new favorite way to cook burgers.  Since the kids don’t like them pink, I have to cook them well done or almost well done normally and without it getting too dry. Covering the skillet keeps the burger more moist.  The Bobby Flay burger I made before was good, but this method just seemed easier.

Cheeseburgers – Light Version
4 servings

1 slice of white bread, remove crust and chop
2 Tb. skim milk
4 oz. 99% ground turkey breast (lean!)
2 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
12 oz. 93% lean ground beef
1 tsp. canola oil
4 slices reduced fat American Cheese (Boar’s head is a good brand)
4 hamburger buns, toasted

1.  Just like a meatball, in a large bowl:  mix up the bread and milk.  Then mix in your turkey, Worchestershire, salt and pepper.
2.  Sprinkle the beef over the turkey mix to make a more homogenous mixture.  Divide this into 4 hamburger patties.  You want 1/2″ thick and 4.5″ wide.
3.  In a big non-stick skillet (or cast iron), heat up the oil on MEDIUM.  Add your hamburger patties and COVER.  Cook minutes.  Flip.  COVER.  Cook 2 more minutes.  You can add cheese at this point for those that want cheese on theirs.  COVER.  Cook about 1-3 minutes or until the burger is at 160 degrees.*  Then serve with bun and any veggies you like!

*The burger needs to be well done since you have some ground turkey in there.  Don’t want getting anybody sick now.

I love Panera’s Broccoli Cheddar Soup with the rest of them.  Costco makes one that pretty much tastes exactly like it – cheesey, thick and delicious.  This soup isn’t as thick, but it is huge on flavor and even my husband who hates this kind of soup LIKED it.  So it is getting posted!  Plus, the one in the restaurants are full of salt, so making this soup at home really reduces the sodium intake.

*To wash leeks, cut them in half the long way.  Then, slice them thin and put all the slices in a large bowl of water.  This gets all the dirt out.

Calories:  260, fat: 11 grams, saturated fat: 6

Broccoli Cheddar Soup (Light)
serves 5

1 Tb. unsalted butter
1 and 1/2 lbs. broccoli, florets cut into 1″ pieces (I just used frozen broccoli!)
1 lb. leeks, white and light green part only, sliced thin and washed*
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
3 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
3/4 cup fat free evaporated milk
4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (1 cup)
1 Tb. dijon mustard (I hate mustard and omitted)
salt and pepper

1.  Heat a large pot on medium heat.  Melt the butter.  Add the broccoli and leeks.  Cook that about 10 minutes or until they are soft.  This will take longer if you use frozen.  I didn’t have much problem with it.
2.  Add garlic and cook 30 seconds.
3.  Add broth and water.  Simmer.  Cover with a lid and continue to keep simmering to cook the broccoli more – about 8 minutes.
4.  Pureeing the soup in the blender took about 3 batches.  I added a little evaporated milk, cheddar and mustard to each batch until I was out of those ingredients.  Personally, I like some chunks of broccoli like in Panera’s version, so I pureed about 80% of my soup.
5.  Add the soup back to the pot and heat it up if necessary and add salt and pepper.  Serve hot.

Recipe adapted (just a little) from America’s Test Kitchen Comfort Food Makeovers

I have made Rolo Cookies from scratch before, but these come from a mix so a lot of the work is already done for you. Just like my easy peach crisp… these come from an easy mix with just a couple other ingredients.  I think a pecan on top would be AWESOME!!  But, the recipients had some nut issues, so I just left it off.

Easy Rolo Cookies
serves 24

1 bag of rolos, unwrap 24 rolos (this is about half of the bag)  (I store mine in the fridge to keep them from getting soft)
1 – (1 lb. 1.5 oz) Double Chocolate Chunk Cookie Mix Pouch
3 Tb. vegetable oil
1 Tb. water
1 egg

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2.  In a large bowl:  Mix cookie mix, oil, water and egg.
3.  Line a mini muffin pan with mini muffin liners.  I would spray them with Baker’s or cooking spray as the cookie stuck to the liner once in a while.
4.  Drop cookie dough in the liners using small cookie scoop (about 1 Tb. of dough)
5.  Bake 8-9 minutes.
6.  Immediately put on the rolo!  Watch it ooze and melt.  (Then add your pecan half here if you want) Remove from the pan once everything is cool.  Sometimes a fork helped get them out.

I had a little bit of leftover dough – enough for 2 cookies – so I just baked those separate as a cookie rather than getting out a whole other mini muffin pan and stuff to go with it.

I was so excited to find out that this pizza uses cream cheese instead of ranch or mayo.  Everyone at the meeting LOVED it.  It is a Pampered Chef recipe, so of course it is super easy and delicious!

Cool Veggie Pizza
serves 10-20 (depending on how big the cuts are)

1 package (8 oz.) crescent rolls
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, soft
1 garlic clove, pressed or minced
1 tsp. dried dill
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups of chopped fresh veggies: broccoli, cauliflower and carrots are used here, or whatever you like!

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Take out your crescent dough and separate out the triangles.  Then, lay them in a circle and using a rolling pin or roller, flatten them onto a pizza pan.  Make sure the seams get sealed together.  Bake 12-15 minutes and cool.
2.  In a large bowl:  beat cream cheese, garlic and dill.  Spread that on the crust.
3.  Sprinkle your toppings.

Recipe adapted from Pampered Chef