Pizza Poppers

These pizza poppers are so easy and so delicious!
You just have to roll out your refrigerated pizza dough, put on any toppings that you want, fold them up, bake them, and enjoy them!
You can use whatever toppings you would like. I did one dish with just cheese and then one with cheese, pineapple, green peppers and turkey pepperoni.)
Pizza Poppers Recipe:

(I got these from OurBestBites and they call them Stuffed Pizza Rolls.)

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

1 roll refrigerated pizza dough
marinara/pizza sauce
2T grated Parmesan cheese
1 T olive oil or melted butter
1/2 t garlic powder
1 t dried Italian seasoning
mozzerella cheese, diced or grated
Pizza toppings of your choice: ie, ham and pineapple, pepperoni slices, sausage, etc.

*You can use regular pizza dough, or thin crust.

Preheat oven to heat specified on pizza dough package. Usually it's 400 degrees. If you make your own dough, 400 is usually a good heat as well.

Unroll your pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat or roll the dough so it's about 12" by 8". You're going to want to cut it into 24 squares, so just eyeball it if you need to. Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into 24 squares

Place cheese and desired toppings on each square. (Note that you're not putting the marinara sauce on the dough- it's for dipping after) Just eyeball how much. You just need to be able to enclose the toppings in the dough so keep that in mind.

When all of your dough squares have cheese and toppings on them, carefully lift up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings. Pinch to make sure each ball is sealed shut and then place them seam side down in a lightly sprayed pie pan (or similar sized dish).

Brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil or melted butter (I've used both and there's not much difference in result) and then sprinkle with the garlic and Italian seasoning and top with Parmesan cheese.

Cook them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Keep an eye on them! Doughs vary, so I'd check them after even 10 minutes.

Serve warm with warmed marinara sauce on the side for dipping.

Ricotta Cookies

Ricotta Cookies

1 lbs. butter room temperature

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 lbs. Ricotta cheese

2 tsp. vanilla

4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, Ricotta, vanilla and mix. Add flour and soda. Place small dough balls on baking sheet and sprinkle the tops with sprinkles. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes.

*I thought these cookies were delicious. They tasted like little cakes. I would not put sprinkles on them though. I thought that sounded weird and so I only put them on a few batches and I definitely preferred them without sprinkles. Also, this recipe makes A TON of cookies. So unless you need a lot of cookies then I would definitely halve the recipe. I think next time I make them I will put a little lemon zest in the batter.

Tri-Colore Orzo

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis (my best friend)

Ingredients
1 pound orzo pasta
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1/4 cup
2 cups fresh arugula (about 3 ounces)
3/4 cup crumbled ricotta salata cheese (or feta cheese)
1/2 cup dried cherries
12 fresh basil leaves, torn
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring
occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta and put the pasta on a large cookie sheet. Drizzle the pasta with 3 tablespoons olive
oil, toss, spread out, and set aside to cool.
Once the orzo is cool, transfer to a large serving bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and toss gently to combine. Serve.

I realize my photography skills are blowing your mind.