Bacon & Shrimp Pizza Bake plus Another Easy School Night #Recipe Using #PillsburyBiscuits

Now that school is in full swing, we have a much better idea of how our average weekday looks.  It has become very clear that home cooked dinners have become less frequent.  Our twins are in first grade and no longer get rest time in the afternoon, so they really needed to have their bedtime moved up.  On the days when we need to fit in Taekwondo, homework, dinner, and baths between the time our children get off the bus and the time they go to bed, we have to make dinner a quick one.  Rather than get takeout on those days, I would much rather have some quick home cooked meals planned, for which I can do some of the prep in advance.

Our Bacon & Shrimp Pizza Bake recipe was based on Pillsbury's Grands! Pepperoni Pizza Bake.  We actually made both for dinner earlier this week.  Our children love pepperoni pizza, so I knew the Pepperoni Pizza Bake recipe would be hit with them.  I, on the other hand, prefer other toppings on my pizzas, so I made a variation of the recipe by Pillsbury.

Recipe #1:  Grands! Pepperoni Pizza Bake

INGREDIENTS:

1 can (16.3 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® Homestyle refrigerated original biscuits
Approximately 8 oz of pizza sauce
1 (8oz) bag shredded mozzarella cheese
16 slices pepperoni (1-1/2 inch diameter)

Step 1.  Preheat oven at 375°F.

Step 2.  Grease a 13" x 9" glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Step 3.  Separate the biscuits and cut each into 8 pieces.

Step 4.  In a large mixing bowl, toss the cut dough pieces in the pizza sauce and half of the shredded mozzarella cheese.

Step 5.  Spoon the coated biscuit pieces into the baking dish and position the pieces in a single layer.

Step 6.  Add a single layer of pepperoni on top of the dough pieces.  (If you are a pepperoni-lover, you can add a bit more.)

Step 7.  Evenly sprinkle the second half of the shredded mozzarella over the pepperoni.

Step 8.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cheese has started to brown.

Step 9.  Cut into 6 to 8 pieces and serve while warm.

Recipe #2:  Bacon & Shrimp Pizza Bake

INGREDIENTS:

1 can (16.3 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® Homestyle refrigerated original biscuits
Approximately 8 oz of pizza sauce
1 (8oz) bag shredded mozzarella cheese
12 strips of bacon (cooked)
15 precooked shrimp (thawed and shelled)

Step 1.  Preheat oven at 375°F.

Step 2.  Grease a 13" x 9" glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Step 3.  Separate the biscuits and cut each into 8 pieces.

Step 4.  Cut cooked bacon into bite size pieces and slice the shrimp lengthwise (like you would to make butterfly shrimp).  This can be done in advance.

Step 5.  In a large mixing bowl, toss the cut dough pieces in the pizza sauce and half of the shredded mozzarella cheese.

Step 6.  Spoon the coated biscuit pieces into the baking dish and position the pieces in a single layer.

Step 7.  Add a single layer of shrimp on top of the dough pieces.  Then add a layer of bacon pieces on top of the shrimp.

Step 8.  Evenly sprinkle the second half of the shredded mozzarella on top of the shrimp and bacon.

Step 9.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cheese has started to brown.

Step 10.  Cut into 6 to 8 pieces and serve while warm.

Two of our three children had two helpings of the pepperoni dish.  You can adjust this recipe to suit your family's needs.  If you do not usually like a lot of sauce on your pizza or pasta, then I would recommend using less pizza sauce to make these recipes.  We had some of the bacon and shrimp dish leftover and I was happy to find it reheated just fine in the microwave, but you could also reheat in the oven.

For more time-saving recipes, download the Pillsbury recipe booklet.  Which Pillsbury recipe would you try first?


I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective. The content and opinions expressed here are all my own and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of General Mills. Compensation was provided by General Mills via Clever Girls Collective.

Super-Easy Mini Apple Pies (Crostatas)

Every year, my sister and brother-in-law take the children apple-picking during the month of September.  They always return with a nice supply of apples and even a few pears.  This year, we were given Fuji apples for baking and some other varieties for eating.  Although I enjoy baking, I only bake a pie once a year.  It is too much work compared to cake, cookies, and brownies.  Luckily, I can usually convince my husband to core and peel (and sometimes even  slice) the apples for me.  He is a huge fan of apple pie.

This year, instead of using the same old recipe, I searched Pinterest for an alternative easy apple pie recipe.  I finally came upon one by Pillsbury for Mini Apple Crostatas.  It looked tasty, so I gave it a whirl. I must say that I was very pleased with the results and so was my family.  Even our 8 year, who claimed that he did not like apple pie, admitted that it was delicious.  The only thing I did differently was to cute the refrigerated pie crust into quarters rather than cut circles out of them.  I thought my mini pies would come out triangular in shape, but they turned out round anyways and I didn't waste any of the crust.

(Click photo to enlarge)

If you try this recipe, you should know it is for making 4 mini pies with one pie crust.  I doubled the recipe to use both pie crusts.  Also, my baking time was 3 or 4 minutes less than the time suggested, so you may want to set your timer for less time and keep a close eye on the crust to prevent burning.  This recipe was so easy that our 8 year old son was able to help cut the pie crust into quarters and to spoon in the apple filling.  Even if you do not consider yourself a baker, if he can do it, so can you!

NOTE:  Just wanted to add that, for the caramel sauce, I used Smucker's Caramel Sundae Syrup.  It worked out perfectly and was not too sweet, even with vanilla ice cream added on top.

BlogHer 2010: Celebrities & Cultural Icons

I know I have a whole other day of networking to do, but some of the highlights of my time at BlogHer 2010 has been seeing some famous faces. Below are a small handful of photos I have taken during Thursday night's and Friday's events of a few celebrities and cultural icons, such as the Pillsbury Dough Boy.

On Saturday, I hope to track down Playskool's Mrs. Potato Head and perhaps Elmo to take a photo with. In addition to the photos I took with Dora the Explorer and Boots, plus the one I took with the My Little Pony cutout (sorry, I do not have a digital copy to share), I think if I could get a photo with those two as well, my twin preschoolers will be in awe of their mommy.

Chef Scott Leibfried (from Hell's Kitchen) at the Bumblebee Event on 8/5

Padma Lakshmi (of Top Chef) at a Hillshire Farm Sandwich Making Cook-Off

Nick Jr.'s Dora the Explorer, Boots, Me, and Today's Girl Doll Katie

Actually, the Today's Girl Doll Katie from Constructive Playthings has accompanied me in sighting all these famous faces except Chef Scott. Unfortunately, Katie missed out on all the evening events since they all ran much later than her bedtime.

Thank you to Constructive Playthings for generously sponsoring me for BlogHer 2010.