Flower Power Pizzas

I made up the recipe for these cute little pizzas this evening and they were great.  I'll try to post a picture the next time I make them.  I didn't think of it until they were almost gone tonight. Ingredients

• 8 frozen dinner rolls (dough)
• 1/2 lb. ground beef
• 1 tsp. grill seasoning (I used a combination of steak and barbecue seasonings)
• pizza sauce
• 1 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
• 10 chives, chopped
• real bacon bits

What you do

• Thaw dinner rolls according to package directions.  When thawed, flatten with the palm of your hand and arrange close together on a cookie sheet in a flower pattern (one in center and seven around to create the petals) .  Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Let the dough rise another 15 minutes or however long it takes your oven to heat.
• Bake dough for approximately 10 minutes.  You want it to just barely start to turn golden brown.
• Brown the burger and season it.  Drain the grease.
• Assemble your flower power pizza by topping with pizza sauce, cheese, chopped chives, and bacon bits.
• Bake another 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and delicious.

Blueberry Pudding Cake

I clipped this recipe out of a magazine years ago and finally tried it this year. I don't know what took me so long - it is delicious and so easy! 2 c. blueberries 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. lemon juice Combine above ingredients and place in a greased 8-inch square baking dish.

1 c. flour 3/4 c. sugar 1 tsp. baking powder 1/2 c. milk 3 Tbsp. melted butter Combine above ingredients in a small bowl and spoon over berries.

3/4 c. sugar 1 Tbsp. cornstarch Combine above ingredients and sprinkle over batter.

1 c. boiling water Slowly pour over everything.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until the cake is done.

Enjoy!

Use this tip for the tastiest grilled burgers ever

While I was at the local grocery store over the 4th of July weekend I was struck by inspiration. I had a hankering for grilled burgers and while I had the burger in one hand I glanced up and saw breakfast sausage. They have their own recipe and make the sausage back in their butcher shop (can you believe that they still have an on-site butcher? I love it!) so it is fresh daily. Anyway, I would consider the sausage variety to be on the mild side. That's okay with me as I don't care for overly spicy sausage.

Alright, back to my tip - I was inspired to mix the burger with the breakfast sausage and see what kind of grilled burger it would create.

The results were excellent. With the added charcoal flavor (yep, no propane grill for me) my sausage burgers were quite possibly the tastiest grilled burger I have ever had. No, I'm not exaggerating - they really were.

So there you have it. My burger grilling tip. Enjoy :)

Andrew's Easy Iced Coffee Recipe

When I was a kid, nothing could quench my thirst on a hot summer day like a drink from the hose or an ice cold glass of lemonade. As an adult and parent of two busy kids - nothing quenches my thirst and gives me some much needed energy like a high octane iced coffee. As a parent of two kids, I also don't have a lot of time so in order to enjoy an iced coffee I improvise a bit from what some might consider the proper way to fix iced coffee.

What You Need:

• Brew up a strong batch of coffee. I have a coffee scoop that I use where normally I put one scoop in for each cup of water. When I brew coffee to have as iced coffee I make it strong by adding an extra scoop or two.
• Coffee syrup (Torani is my favorite brand) or good old chocolate syrup if that's what you have handy. Yesterday I made a caramel chocolate iced coffee that was out of this world. Just add the amount of syrup that suits your taste buds.
• Milk - the amount is up to you. It also depends on the size of your glass. I tend to make a giant quart-sized iced coffee so that requires a bit more milk than a regular glass.
• Ice, of course. I don't have the time to crush and blend my ice/drink in the blender so I just drop in a bunch of ice cubes. Not using the blender also saves on cleanup time, too ;) .

All you need to do is brew up the coffee (let it cool for a bit), grab a glass, add the ingredients, stir and enjoy!

Bonus Tip - if you think of it, the next time you have some coffee leftover in the carafe fill up an empty ice cube tray and make coffee ice cubes. Then, the next time you make an easy iced coffee you don't dilute your wonderful drink with regular ice cubes. I'd like to thank my wife for that idea. :)