About This Blog

The idea for this blog came from my attempt to improve the variety in my family's evening meal after my second pregnancy, during which I made little or no effort to cook. Since I have two small children, I focused on my easiest recipes to minimize time in the kitchen, and aimed to go at least one whole calendar month without repeating a dinner menu. I did re-use a few side dishes, but I didn't repeat entrees, and I rarely spent more than 30-40 minutes making dinner. Ultimately, I found I could go way beyond one month!

I thought other folks might benefit from my little experiment, so I decided to go ahead and publish "a month of menus," including calendar, menus, recipes*, and notes. I've made some adjustments to my actual calendar to take out nights we ate out, spread out the chicken dishes, etc. (Once I get the first month complete, I may try to post a second month's worth.) I've posted each recipe as a separate posting for ease in searching, and the calendar appears at the bottom of the page. (My apologies that a few recipes are out of order. A blog is a difficult format for this, but it's a heckuva lot easier than a website!)

I hope someone out there will find this information useful! Bon appetit!

*Many of my recipes are from cookbooks or were published in a magazine or on a website. I have done my best to be respectful of copyrights, so in some cases I don't reprint a recipe here, but I point you to the book or link you to the website. I have attributed all other recipes as best I could, but I don't always have the original source noted in my own files. My apologies to anyone who isn't properly credited for a recipe!

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Twirly Whirly Pizza

Although I cut it out of Parents magazine, I founds this recipe on about a dozen different websites, so I'm not worried about copyrights! This is a fun one to make with kids - they can easily help, and it's pizza!

1 tube refrigerated pizza dough (we use Pillsbury's - VERY good)
1/2 c. pizza sauce (we use Prego spaghetti sauce)
1/2 c. shredded Italian-mix cheese, divided (we usually use a whole 2 cup bag!)
1 c. fresh baby spinach leaves (I skipped this for my toddler's sake, but I would've loved it that way)

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Unroll dough from tube. Spread pizza sauce on top.

2. Sprinkle with half of cheese and top with spinach leaves. Roll up, starting with short end.

3. Cut into 8 pieces, then lay pieces flat in a greased pie tin (I used a cake pan). Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake 22 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 8 servings.

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