Crockpot Pizza

A favorite recipe of mine to feed a bunch of people (or to have left overs if you want to hoard it all to yourselves) is Crockpot Pizza.  Who doesn't like a Crockpot recipe and who doesn't like pizza??  I like to make this dish if I am having a few guys over from the team or if I want to make a meal to last a few days.  It's super easy and soooo yummy.

1 1/2 lbs ground beef (or sausage), cooked and seasoned

Here is where my recipe may differ from yours.  I season my meat with Cavenders (an all purpose Greek seasoning).  It really is just a combination of garlic, onion, and a bunch of other things.  But I buy the salt free one.  I also add in my own: garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and a little bit of brown sugar.  I know brown sugar sounds a little odd, so you don't have to use it, but I absolutely love brown sugar in my spaghetti meat, lasagna meat, and definitely crock pot pizza.  It just takes the bitterness out.  And also, I'm a dumper. I never measure seasonings, I just sprinkle a lot on. You can't go wrong with too much flavor.

8 oz. shredded Mozzarella Cheese

1 chopped onion (optional for my family! :)

1 pkg pepperoni

1 box of Rigatoni Pasta, cooked slightly until not crunchy, and drained (it will continue to get softer in the crock pot so don't over cook the noodles!)

1 can cream of mushroom or chicken soup

15 1/2 oz. can of spaghetti sauce (I use the cheap stuff cause all the spices in the meat add the flavor)

So you have the noodles and the meat cooked...

Layer:

1. Meat

2. Pasta

3. Cheese

4. Soup 

5. Sauce

6. Pepperoni

REPEAT x 1

I top the whole thing off with a few shakes of my grated parmesan cheese.  Cook in the crockpot on LOW for 4 hours.  (it's easy to do for a Sunday lunch or if you come home on your lunch break and can turn the crock-pot on).  

Enjoy :)  It goes great with corn, garlic bread or salad (or all of them!)

P.S.  Basketball practice officially started Monday...here's to late nights and long weekends but what I hope is a FANTASTIC season for the team.   GO WILDCATS!!!!

Spice Up Your Tacos!

For the first recipe, I'm starting off simple.  Jeff and I love to eat Mexican!  Since Jeff likes spicy foods, I have been playing around with my taco meat and think I have found something good. Here's how I cook my meat:

1 lb. ground beef, chopped SMALL and drained

1 pkg taco seasoning (for a real kick, use a hot and spicy one)

1 can diced tomatoes w/ green chiles (don't drain)

~1 cup whole kernel corn (I use frozen, you don't need to heat it prior to adding it to the mix)

If the meat needs a little more liquid, add ~ 1/4 cup water

Then serve it with all the taco fixings (sour cream, cheese, salsa, lettuce, and even some applesauce!)  Enjoy!

I have found a new calling...blogging!

My husband Jeff will agree that I spend way too much time following other people's blogs.  But what he will soon realize is that I will spend way too much time updating our own :)  I love to cook and have people over.  We have a really small apartment so that can make it a little tricky at times.  But, since we do not have any kids right now, I am going to use this blog to share some of my favorite recipes and also some new ones that I'll be trying.  My best friend, Amy, and I love to cook for our husbands, the basketball team and anyone else!  Someday, we are going to write a cookbook for coaches' wives on how to feed an army of people :)  So stay tuned for some recipes and I'll also keep you updated on what's going on in our lives...