twirly whirly pizza

wish i could claim origin on this one, not that it's THAT impressive, but cred goes to parents magazine, sept issue, i believe.
i asked mike what he wanted for dinner... true to form, he was not interested in making a production of it and wanted whatever was quick, easy and no big fuss. i asked him this late in the afternoon and right as he and bebe were heading out to the golf course (abandoned) to do a little off-road running while giles biked along side...until he grew weary, then dad heads back to the car to exchange little bike for big, comfy jogging stroller.... we love our BOB!
all that to say, it was time to visit my recipe binder to see what i could make with things we had on hand... enter, tear sheet from magazine- the twirly, whirly pizza. i had been holding on to this recipe for a few weeks and finally put it up in the binder, not sure when i'd get around to making it. but it did stick with me and when i was grocery shopping last, i picked up a couple of the ingredients i wanted to have on hand in case i decided to make it. obviously, i made it!

twirly, whirly pizza: this is a very, very, very adaptable recipe. i didn't follow the recipe exactly myself- like didn't measure the pizza sauce or the cheese...

you roll out a can of pizza dough, i used the great value brand from walmart- and i made two.

spoon some pizza sauce (again, great value) over the dough

i decided to use these toppings: chopped spinach, mini pepperoni, feta cheese, pizza blend shredded cheese, and on one pizza i used kalamata olives chopped up and on the other, i used roma tomatoes

you spread on your ingredients, be mindful that you are rolling this dough, so do go too crazy...

roll the dough and slice into eight pieces

place on a greased pie plate, on their sides and top with a light dusting of shredded cheese. bake these for 22-25 minutes on 400. my other observation came with the fact that one batch baked first and i needed the pie plate for the second batch. obviously the first batch cooled while the second cooked. i decided that once the second batch came out of the oven, the first batch could go back in for a few minutes. this time they went in on a cookie sheet. this allowed the sides of the rolls to crisp up a bit. mike and i both were a big fan of this, so we'll be sure to do that again. in fact, maybe next time i will just bake on a cookie sheet from start to finish... hmmmm.... anyway, we paired this with a classic caesar salad and fresh watermelon. it was enjoyed by all. and it really was super easy. enjoy!!!

layering on the ingredients

roll up dough carefully, then cut into 8 slices... i made my first cut in the middle

placed on their sides in pie dish, top with a bit of shredded cheese

voila!

One dish dinner...

here's the happy little camper eating some leftovers from the One Dish Dinner.... only he's showing that of course, there really doesn't have to be only one dish- maybe you'd like to add cheesy cauliflower, watermelon and yogurt too!
hopefully this little picture won't send you running for the hills or opt to never try my One Dish Dinner... but I understand if it does.... i actually apologize for the photo, i keep forgetting to take pics as I cook! it really did look much prettier than this in the beginning.

so, back to the ODD, it seems to be a favorite of mine...it does make it easy to plan for dinner. i like a vegetable, meat and carb- having it all in one dish, great!

so my latest one dish dinner: Spinach and Mushroom Chicken casserole

now with a title like that, i bet you are all kinds of curious as to the main ingredients, right? i bet... ha ha ha...

I started with leftover Rotisserie Chicken (traditional herb seasoning from Walmart) - and as always, it's just guessing here on the amounts...well, to start, actually--- i sprayed a 9x13 glass dish with Pam and preheated the oven to 350.

So, Rotisserie Chicken- maybe 2-3 cups

an entire container of fresh mushrooms, sliced

a box of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and pressed dry

2-3T frozen seasoning vegetable mix

a whole small onion, chopped (I really only use sweet onions, the others give me a headache)

1/2 of a large bag of whole wheat pasta- egg noodle type- boiled, only partially cooked though since they are headed into the oven

1 can cream of mushroom soup

4oz reduced fat sour cream

and I definitely would have added sliced water chestnuts if I had any on hand, seeing as I was out- no addy this time

for added crunch, once this was in the casserole dish, I sprinkled chopped pecans across the top

this baked for about 35 minutes, during the last 5 minutes I added French's French Fried Onions on the top and baked for 5 more minutes

It turned out pretty good. I would possibly cook the noodles only 3 minutes, remove them from the boiling water and layer them on the bottom of the casserole next time, instead of mixing them in...don't know just might.