pizza Archives - Makin' it Mo'Betta

Crescent Roll Pizza Ring {Quick & Easy Meal or Appetizer}

Kim

The weather may not feel like Spring, but the clocks have sprung forward and Spring sports have begun. At least here in the Mo’Betta house. This means that most evenings, right at dinner time, I have to haul my kids across the county to either soccer or volleyball practice. Therefore, dinner has to be something quick and easy. This ‘recipe’ fits the bill. It’s made with crescent rolls, and you can fill it with pretty much whatever you have on hand.

My plan was to make one with ham and cheese, just to discover I had two slices of ham left. *typical* So, I went with plan B…pepperoni and cheese, which I’m sure the kids would prefer anyway. (Except for my youngest who picked out the pepperoni, but he is the pickiest kid on earth.)

Since the kids don’t all like sauce (because that would be too easy), I just made this with pepperoni and cheese, then had pizza sauce on the side for dipping. Crescent roll rings would be great for parties and game day food too. They make a cute presentation, can be cut into any size you like, and filled with pretty much anything you want. Since all you have to do is lay the pre-cut crescent roll triangles out on a pan and lay your toppings on, they come together quickly and easily too. Pretty much a win in my book!

Crescent Roll Pizza Ring

2 cans Crescent Rolls (I used Pillsbury Reduced Fat)
2 cups shredded cheese (I used Italian Blend)
Pepperoni (I used turkey) – as many as desired
Italian Seasoning, garlic powder – optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Spray a baking pan or pizza pan with non stick spray (my pizza pan has holes in it, so I put aluminum foil on it, and sprayed the foil)
Separate crescent rolls into individual triangles, placing them in a circle on the pan, with pointed ends facing out (so it looks like a sun). The inside of the circle (wide ends of triangle) should overlap.
Place fillings (pepperoni and cheese) over the overlapped/wide portions of the crescent rolls.
Take the pointed ends of rolls (outside of circle) and bring them over the toppings, securing the toppings inside. You can tuck the pointed ends under the ring or just pinch the dough together.
Sprinkle some cheese, garlic powder, and italian seasoning over the top of the ring if desired.
Bake approx. 20-25 minutes, or until golden and crescent rolls are done.

Recipe adapted from

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Upside Down Pizza Casserole

Kim

Just in time for the weekend, I present this little twist on your regular pizza night. My family loves pizza in all shapes, flavors and forms. We eat low carb, crustless, thin crust, thick crust, with meat, without meat, you name it! So, when I saw this at Eat at Home, I knew I had to give it a try.

I’m glad I did! It was delicious. I’m not sure why it seemed even better than “regular” pizza, but it was to me. My girls thought it was too much sauce, but I felt it was just right. My son picked out the meat, but then he ate it. There just isn’t any pleasing all of my kids at the same time!

See, it’s literally an upside down pizza! However, it has a thicker, heartier filling and it is made in a 9 x 13 casserole dish, which is easy and convenient for me. Plus, it’s just something a little different. I get tired of the same ol’ thing.

If you serve it crust side down, it isn’t the prettiest. However, one bite of all that ooey, gooey, cheese will make you forget what it looks like. Or you could always serve it crust side up, like a pot pie.

Upside down Pizza

1 premade pizza crust (I used Pillsbury)*

3 cups shredded cheese (I used an assortment of cheeses; great way to use up those partial bags!)

1 jar pizza sauce

Meat and/or veggies of choice (I used turkey pepperoni, Canadian bacon, and some leftover Italian Meatballs)

*If you want to make your crust from scratch, check out the one from . It looks simple, but the night I made this I was very short on time. My girls had to be on opposite ends of the county at the same time…anyone know how to clone? I could use another ‘me’ sometimes!

Preheat oven to 425 F (or as directed if using premade crust)
Grease a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish
sprinkle cheese in an even layer across bottom of pan
add meats and veggies over the cheese
pour sauce over the meat, spreading it over entire surface
Top sauce with pizza dough. Since I used a premade crust, I just opened the can, stretched it out enough to cover my casserole dish, and laid it over the filling.
Make a few slits in the top of the dough and bake 25 minutes or until golden brown and crust is done (check times on premade crust)
Enjoy!

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Pizza Puffs & Cookbook Review + GIVEAWAY!

Kim

One of my favorite food bloggers is Nicole of . I’ve been reading her blog for years now, and she has inspired me to try many new things…like tofu! Yes, my family wasn’t thrilled with that, but I discovered tofu isn’t so bad 🙂 We share the desire to take our favorite foods and lighten them up, and that healthy eating can be delicious! I was very excited for her when she announced she was writing a cookbook, and I was even more excited when I was contacted by the publisher to review the book! Not only that, they are offering a free copy to one of you!!

You know when you start looking over a cookbook, and immediately start bookmarking pages that it’s a good one. One of the first recipes in the book is for Pizza Puffs, and I knew they had to be made immediately. My kids and I love all things pizza!

Pizza Puffs from

3/4 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

3/4 cup fat free milk

1 egg, lightly beaten (I used Egg Beaters since I was out of eggs)

4 oz. (1 cup) part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

34 slices turkey pepperoni, quartered (I used about 20)

1/2 cup pizza sauce (homemade or store-bought; I used this easy version)

2 tablespoons fresh basil, thinly sliced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375˚F. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and oregano; whisk in milk and egg. Stir in mozzarella and pepperoni; let stand 10 minutes.

Stir batter, and divide among mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20-25 minutes.

Warm pizza sauce, then stir in 1 tablespoon basil. Sprinkle puffs with remaining 1 tablespoon basil. (I omitted) Serve puffs with pizza sauce for dipping. (if desired, my kids didn’t want sauce.)

Yield:

24 pizza puffs

Nutrition Information (per pizza puff):

38 calories; 1.4 g fat; 14 mg cholesterol; 123 mg sodium; 3.5 g carbohydrate; 0.1 g fiber; 3.0 g protein (stats per book)

*using the above stats, I calculated these as 1 Weight Watchers Point Plus (per puff)!

These made a great portable meal for the kids the other evening when we they had an insane schedule and had to actually eat dinner between volleyball games. I preferred them at room temp, so they will be great to pack for lunches at school, to have as appetizers, you name it! (When hot they are puffy and airy with melty cheese; when cooled they are more dense like actual pizza bites – they are good both ways!)

The cookbook is like Nicole’s , it has a wide variety of recipes with amazing pictures of each dish. The next on my list to make is the Greek Orzo and the Chocolate Dutch Baby. I’ve also already made Oven Fried Pickles from the book! It’s also the perfect time of year to try the Lightened-Apple Crisp, and the Carrot Cake Pancakes with Cream Cheese Glaze looks absolutely amazing!

So who’s interested in Prevention RD’s Everyday Healthy Cooking Cookbook with 100 Light and Delicious Recipes?! Just enter via the rafflecopter form!

Disclosure – As stated in the post, I was given a copy of the cookbook for review. All opinions are my own.

Low Carb Pizza Crust (that you can pick up, hold and fold!)

Kim

I’m not a newbie to low carb, and I’ve experimented with different low carb pizza crusts before. There was the egg and cream cheese crust and a previous cauliflower pizza crust attempt. The cauliflower crust had potential, so I decided to give it another try after I saw ‘‘ by The Detoxinista. The key, she said, was to really squeeze all the liquid from the cauliflower before mixing your other ingredients. I gave it a try.

Tip: Make your crust thicker than you think you need bc it will flatten out quite a bit once cooked (because of the moisture drying out.) Once you bake your crust, add toppings and bake a few more minutes.

We had a little meat lover’s action going on.

But check it out! Low carb pizza that you can pick up, hold, and fold, just like regular pizza! Pretty cool.

It is also pretty tasty. The only thing I will do differently next time is to add more spices to the crust. The cauliflower has a little natural sweetness to it once baked, so I think adding more spices would help.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

adapted from – my changes in italics
{makes 1 large crust}

4 cups raw cauliflower ‘rice’*
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup mozzarella cheese
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon basil
pinch of salt

*pulse cauliflower in a blender or food processor to achieve a rice-like consistency

Preheat your oven to 400 F.
Cook your cauliflower ‘rice’ by boiling about an inch of water in a large pot. Add the cauliflower, and cover. Cook for about 4-5 minutes, then drain with a fine-mesh strainer.
Place your drained cauliflower ‘rice’ on a clean, thin dishtowel. Wrap up the steamed rice in the dishtowel, twist it up, and squeeze all the water out! This is the key to having a crust that will hold together! Be careful, the cauliflower and water is hot, but squeeze it good (rubber gloves are handy for this step!)
In a large bowl, mix your strained rice with the beaten egg, cheese, and spices. Mix well.
Press the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or sprayed aluminum foil (mine still stuck to the foil a little, but not bad) into your desired pizza shape. Keep it about 1/3 to 1/2 inch in thickness.
Bake crust for 35-40 mins in preheated oven. The crust should be firm and golden brown when done.
Remove crust from oven and add toppings of choice. I used pizza sauce, turkey pepperoni, turkey sausage, Canadian bacon, and real bacon bits, and cheese, of course! Return the pizza to the oven, and bake an additional 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is hot and bubbly.

**There are excellent step by step pics in the original post.

Verdict? Definitely the best low carb crust I’ve made so far, and I plan on making it again.

I am linking this recipe up at (Monday) , , , , , , , , , , (Tuesday) , , , , ,, (Wednesday) , , , , , , , , (Thursday) ,, , , , , (Friday) , , , , , ,, , , , ,, (Saturday) , , , (Sunday)

Breakfast Pizza

Kim

The other day I mentioned a breakfast pizza in my brunch post (don’t forget to enter the giveaway!) and thought I would share the recipe today. It’s so easy, and can be made pretty quick depending on the ingredients you choose. I am finding that you can put pretty much anything on a pizza crust and it’s going to be a hit! (Remember my macaroni and cheese pizza?!)

This is one of those meals that can be for breakfast, lunch or dinner (and brunch, of course). I went with the basics of bacon, egg and cheese, but the topping options are pretty much endless. I originally got the idea from Pinterest, and the pin was from the blog . I used my favorite store-bought crust, b/c I didn’t have time to make homemade pizza dough, and baked my bacon, which was a first for me. I highly recommend it if you hate dealing with popping, messy grease from regular bacon. I haven’t tried this with turkey bacon yet.

Breakfast Pizza

pizza crust of choice

2-4 oz. cream cheese (optional, but recommended)

4-6 eggs (depending on the size of your pizza crust)

6 slices of bacon (or topping of choice); cooked and crumbled

1-2 cups shredded cheese (depending on your preference)

salt and pepper (to taste)

As you can see, this recipe is so versatile that this is just a guide. I made 2 large pizzas, so I doubled my quantities on everything (the above is for one). Next time, I will use more cream cheese (I only had 2 oz for 2 pizzas) or I will try using sausage gravy as my ‘sauce’!

Heat oven to required temp for your pizza…I think mine was 425. I pre-baked my crust for abt 7 minutes.
While the crust is baking, scramble your eggs. Add salt and pepper as desired – just remember that if you are using bacon, it’s going to add a lot of salt. (I just used pepper.)
When the crust has finished baking, remove from oven and add your cream cheese. Cover crust as you would with pizza sauce. You can add any seasonings you like as well.
Add scrambled eggs on top of the cream cheese, place bacon or other toppings on top of eggs, top the whole pizza pie with cheese.
Pop back into the oven until cheese is nice and melted and crust has completely cooked. This took about another 7 minutes for me.

This was something everyone enjoyed, and it was so easy, I’m sure I will make it again soon.

I’m linking up today with (Thursday) , , , , , (Friday) , , , , , ,, , , , ,, (Saturday) , , , , (Sunday) and , and

Bubble Up Pizza {recipe revisited}

Kim

Bubble Up Pizza is the most popular recipe on my blog. For good reason, I think. It’s super easy, super kid-friendly, and it’s pizza. And biscuits! How often can you go wrong with biscuits?! Well, I started getting some feedback on the recipe – mostly positive, but a few people said it wasn’t enough sauce, and a couple said they couldn’t get it done in the middle. So, I decided to make this again, per the recipe, to see if I had any issues.

I used a different pan, different oven, but the same ingredients as before.

Nope, no problems! It was a little too sauce-y for our taste (last time I reduced it a bit), but other than that, the kids loved it. It was done in the center, and did not get too brown on top. I cooked it for about 30 minutes. I think the type of biscuits you use will definitely make a difference. If you like a thick, deep dish pizza crust, you will probably like this, and like I said, it is very kid friendly!

Check out the original post for the recipe!

Macaroni n’ Cheese PIZZA

Kim

Mac and cheese pizza. It’s a thing. I wasn’t aware it was a thing, but it is. I was casually perusing the isles of a grocery store with my 11 y/o daughter and mom one day, when they were giving out samples of a macaroni and cheese pizza. My daughter went nuts, b/c she is a mac n’ cheese freak. I think she would eat it everyday. She ate several samples, it was embarrassing. Finally I said in that quiet hiss that only mothers can do…’no more! We’ll make one at home!’, and that’s how macaroni and cheese pizza became ‘a thing’ in the mo’betta house.

This is so ridiculously easy that I am almost embarrassed to post it. Almost, but not quite…b/c if you have a mac n’ cheese AND pizza fan at your house, and you didn’t know this was a thing, then you will love me. Okay, maybe not love, but, ya know – like me a little, because don’t we ALL need some seriously easy throw-together-at-the-very-last-minute recipes? Yes. Yes we do.

Macaroni and Cheese Pizza (short cut version)

(or your favorite brand)

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or again, your favorite)

prepared pizza crust (I like the Pillsbury Artisan Pizza Crust)

real bacon bits (to taste…I just sprinkle some over the top)

Prepare macaroni and cheese and pizza crust according to package directions. The Pillsbury crust says to pre-bake a few minutes, so after pre-baking, spread prepared macaroni and cheese over the crust. Sprinkle the 1/2 cup shredded cheese and bacon bits over the top. Pop back into the oven until everything is nice and melty and crust is completely done.

BAM! Dinner is D-O-N-E.

Now, obviously, this is a quick and dirty version, and you could make this with homemade mac and cheese and homemade pizza dough. It can be as simple or complex as you would like. All I can say is, it is quite a hit with my 2 girls! I know it may seem strange, but it is actually pretty good, and I am not a fan of macaroni and cheese. *gasp* I know, right?! I’m weird like that.

Have you ever had macaroni and cheese pizza? What is the “weirdest” pizza you’ve ever had?

I’m linking this recipe up with – (Thursday) , , , , (Friday) , , , , , ,, , , , (Saturday) , (Sunday) ; Pantry Party,

Pizza Cupcakes

Kim

When my 4 year old son saw these come out of the oven he said “Pizza CUPCAKES”!! He was so excited, so that’s what we’ve been calling them. It’s not exactly what I had planned, but seeing as how I had no real plan, this is what we ended up with. The kids loved it, so ‘pizza cupcakes’ are a keeper. I had this Bubble Up Pizza and Pizza Monkey Bread in mind when I started, but I wanted to do it in a muffin pan. However, I was tired, it was getting late, and I was in a hurry {side story- I had taken my daughter to a ‘bonfire’ party…a “boy/girl” bonfire party! and had got SO.FREAKIN’.LOST. that my nerves and dinner plans were shot by the time I got home. My child was at least 30 mins late to the party, just to find out that the house we were trying to find was about 2 miles from mine. TWO. MILES. True story. Navigation system my a*s.}

I ended up taking a can of Grands Biscuits, flattening them out, and pressing them in a muffin pan (bottom and up the sides). I put a little sauce in the bottom, then filled with cheese, and topped with a slice of turkey pepperoni. The biscuits rise (le duh) and they turned out looking like a cupcake!

Pretty darn cute if you ask me.

They received 2 thumbs up from the little guy!

and in true cupcake fashion, he ate the top first!

We have already made these again since I took these pics. I wonder if I can make broccoli look like a cupcake? Probably wouldn’t have the same effect!

I’m linking up over at: , , , , , , , ,

This recipe was voted

from !

Pizza Night! {with homemade turkey sausage}

Kim

We looovveee pizza around here, and we often have homemade pizza on Fridays. The perfect meal to kick off the weekend! My ‘go-to’ homemade crust is this one, and if I use a store-bought crust, it is usually this one.

Many times we have plain.cheese. (because my kids are such adventurous eaters *sarcasm*). But on this night I made a ‘meat lovers’ pizza with homemade turkey sausage. Turkey sausage is very tasty, less fattening, and super easy to make. I usually buy ground turkey in bulk from Sam’s Club and have been using a recipe from . I couldn’t find it online again when getting ready to do this post (but it was adapted from Judy Culbertson @ allrecipes.com)

Turkey Sausage

1 pound lean ground turkey

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon ginger

*fennel seeds (optional) Sometimes I will add in a sprinkle of fennel seeds if I am making the sausage to put on pizza. I leave it out if making breakfast sausage.

Crumble turkey in a large bowl. Mix in the salt, sage, pepper and ginger. Shape into patties if desired. In a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook meat over medium heat for 6-8 minutes on each side (if doing patties) or until no longer pink (and 165 degrees F).

I added some onions, red pepper and fresh basil to my pizza!

What’s your favorite pizza? Do you have any Friday ‘traditions’?!

I’m linking up today with , ; ; , , , , , , ,

Bubble Up Pizza

Kim

If you are popping over from Pinterest, Welcome to Makin’ it Mo’Betta! This is a popular recipe for good reason…it’s so easy to make, and kids love it! (At least mine do) Feel free to look around, and consider following me on any of my social media outlets for more easy recipes.

You’ve probably seen these casseroles floating around for a while – Bubble Up Pizza, Bubble Up Enchiladas, etc. I decided to give it a try since it was so simple to throw together, and totally kid-friendly! With the girls involved in so many activities in the evenings, I need meals that are quick and easy to get on the table. This is one we had when the hubs wasn’t home, since this is definitely not a low carb meal. (for a low carb pizza casserole, you could try this one)

(my original picture, I’ve added some newer ones!)

Bubble Up Pizza

2 cans (12oz) golden layer buttermilk biscuits (Pillsbury Grands! Jr)
1 jar (15oz) pizza sauce *I used this easy homemade sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese
your favorite pizza toppings – cooked sausage, turkey pepperoni, peppers, mushrooms *we had mini turkey pepperoni and Canadian bacon
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut biscuits into quarters and place in medium bowl. Toss biscuits with pizza sauce. Add pizza topping and half of the cheese. Toss until well blended. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray. Pour biscuit mixture into pan and top with remaining cheese. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, or until biscuits are done.

Recipe Source:

Verdict? The kids loved this! I thought it was pretty good too, just not very calorie friendly. I think I’m going to try it with rolls (like frozen Rhodes rolls) next time and see how that goes. It would be less fat than the biscuits. I’ll let ya know! I mixed everything up before basketball practice, then baked it when we got home, so I had a hot meal on the table in about 30 minutes! We had a salad to go with it. Quick and easy!

I’m linking up today with , , , , , , , , – ingredient spotlight, canned biscuits/rolls/etc,