Crescent rolls - a mini-miracle in a can!

My entire family loves the flakey, buttery goodness of crescent rolls. Did you know that the crescent roll is probably one of the most versatile foods you can pick up from the store?  I knew about pigs in blankets, but once I found Pinterest and saw all the yummy, easy, creative things folks were doing with them, I keep some on hand at all times. 
In a nutshell, you fill the little crescent triangle with a combo of the items below, roll up and voila! Even Grandma Emma wasn't opposed to using a canned biscuit dough - even though her biscuits were to die for.  Give this little southern girl some molasses and one of those hamburger bun sized biscuits and I'd be occupied for a good while - but that's another blog entry! :)

Use one can of crescent roll dough and one of the combos below:

• PIZZA CRESCENTS: pizza sauce, cheese and your favorite pizza topping - you can also sprinkle the outside of the rolled pizza crescent with garlic salt. 
• APPLE PIE CRESCENTS: a slice of your favorite apple and roll up - add cinnamon sugar to the outside
• POPTART CRESCENTS: spread your favorite jam or jelly on the unbaked crescent and roll up.  Make a powdered sugar/milk glaze and drizzle on the warm, baked rolls. 
• NUTELLA OMG'S:  spread nutella on the unbaked crescent and just drool while they cook! 

• APPLE/BRIE APPETIZERS: I made these on a whim for an event I was attending and was shocked at how wonderful these were.  Take one chunk of granny smith apple (peeled) and layer with a small slice of brie cheese and two pecans, drizzle with honey, roll and bake.  If you want to impress at a small party, these are what you need! 

• CHEESE BISCUIT CRESCENTS:  put a hunk of your favorite cheese on an unbaked crescent, roll and bake. 
• CINNAMON ROLL CRESCENTS:  mix cinnamon and sugar, sprinkle generously on unrolled crescent, roll up and bake.  While warm, drizzle with powdered sugar glaze. 
• REESE CRESCENT: spread peanut butter on the crescent, sprinkle with chocolate chips, roll and bake! Don't you love the little hands?

• CHICKEN POCKETS:  add shredded chicken, roll and bake.  You can also add any mexican ingredients to make it a little more spicy!

Feel more than free to add your own combinations to this blog!  I'd love to hear from you!  

Lazy day cookies? Oh, heck yes!

I do frozen, homemade cookie dough to save time.  It's really a great feeling to take the frozen, already formed cookies out of the freezer and plop them on the cookie sheet.  Unfortunately, life doesn't always allow time to make more batches, but the mom kids want something sweet.  These lazy day cookies are perfect.  They're even easy enough for the kids to make. 

You need:

• one box of your favorite cake mix (I used a yellow)
• 2 slightly beaten eggs
• 5 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 cup of chips or candy (I used Easter m&m's.)

Do this:

• mix the cake mix, eggs and butter until well blended (I mixed it by hand.)
• gently mix in the goodies
• pour into a greased baking dish (This is what they look like going in the oven. I didn't take this picture, so I don't take credit for it.  I'm having camera issues!)

• bake for about 20 minutes at 350
• RESIST THE URGE TO CUT THEM UNTIL COOL!!! They'll fall apart if you don't wait. 

Note:
You can use any combo of cake mix and chips that you wish.  Personally, I think chocolate cake mix and peanut butter chips would be wonderful - but I love any kind of chocolate!  Strawberry cake mix and white chips, butterscotch chips and chocolate cake mix are also good possibilities. 

Update… The darling daughter made the chocolate/peanut butter type and they were delicious!

Easy, Peasy, One, Two, Threesy!!!

If you're like me, sometimes you just can't be in the kitchen for a long time, but you want something satisfying and yummy.  Although I can't take credit for these 3 recipes (or any, for that matter) they are both mom and kid approved.

Enjoy!

1. Cinnamon-Sugar Pretzels
 (Crunchy, sweet and salty goodness!)
You'll need...
one 16 ounce bag of your favorite pretzel (I've used the waffle kind and the mini twists)
2/3 cup of oil
1/2 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of cinnamon

Do this...
preheat the oven to 300 degrees
mix oil, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl
dump pretzels in a baking dish
pour oil mixture over pretzels and mix well to coat

You'll bake the pretzels for 30 minutes and I stir them well every 10.  When they're done, I pour them out onto a cooling rack and keep in a sealed container. 

2. Banana Pops
You'll need...
1/2 of a banana
peanut butter
rice krispies
skewer or popsicle stick

Do this...
spread peanut butter over the banana
roll in rice krispies
insert skewer or stick into the bottom of the banana
Enjoy!  (If you're feeling especially adventurous, I'm sure you can get creative by using nutella or cocoa krispies!)

3. Cookie Dough Yogurt (healthy and delicious)
You'll need...
about a cup of plain Greek yogurt ( I never measure.)
about a teaspoon of sweetener (I use stevia.)
a teaspoon of peanut butter
a dash of vanilla
a teaspoon of mini chocolate chips
Do this...
mix the yogurt and sweeter
add the peanut butter and vanilla
sprinkle chips on top