Spinoccoli Pizza

Sauce Ingredients:
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp flour
3/4 c. half and half
1 garlic clove, smashed
Salt and pepper to taste
6 tbsp. freshly grated parmesan

Pizza Ingredients:
1 ball of pizza dough (homemade or store bought)
Olive oil, for brushing
1 c. chopped fresh spinach leaf
1 c. small broccoli florets
4 oz. shredded cheese (I used an Italian blend)
Grated parmesan, for sprinkling


Directions:
To make the sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until bubbling, about 1 minute. Whisk in the half and half and garlic clove and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from the heat and whisk in the grated Parmesan until completely melted and smooth. Discard the garlic clove.
To make the pizza, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Roll out the pizza dough into a 12-14 inch round. Lightly brush the perimeter of the dough with olive oil. Spread a thin layer of the white sauce over the crust, leaving a border around the edge for the crust. Sprinkle the chopped  spinach leaves over the white sauce followed by the broccoli florets. Top with the shredded cheese. Finish with additional grated Parmesan. Bake in the preheated oven until the cheese is melted and bubbling and the crust is lightly browned, about 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before slicing and serving.

Notes: I came across this recipe in Annie's Eats a long time ago and bookmarked it...I finally got around to making it this week! We have pizza night once a week and I've gotten lazy and have mostly been buying frozen pizzas and I want to try making more from scratch. This was a great one! I would have never thought to have broccoli on pizza but it was a great combo with the cheese sauce. YUM!

Dirt Cake

Ingredients:
32 oz. Oreo cookies
1/2 c. butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. powdered sugar
2 3.5 oz. packages instant vanilla pudding mix
3 1/2 c. cold milk
12 oz. frozen whipped topping, thawed
Gummy worms

Directions:
In a food processor, chop the Oreo cookies until they become crumbs (white parts will disappear). You should have about 8 cups of crumbs. Set aside.
Beat together the butter, cream cheese and powedered sugar. Separately, beat together the pudding mix, milk and whipped topping. Combine the cream cheese mixture with the milk mixture until smooth.
To assemble, simply layer the crumbs and pudding mixture in a round serving dish (or a brand new flower pot) starting with the crumbs. Place a few gummy worms on top of each layer of crumbs. Its up to you how thick or thin to make each layer. Makes 10-12 servings.

Notes: I've made this cake a few times before and it's always a hit! It's really fun and easy to make, too. This time I made it for Easter to share with my family and some of our friends. Recipe found here.

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey
15 oz. can tomato sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
8 oz. large egg noodles
1/2 c. sour cream
1 1/4 c. small curd cottage cheese
1 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. In a large skillet, brown the meat. Add tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Stir well and allow to simmer while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook noodles until al dente. Meanwhile, combine the sour cream, cottage cheese, salt and pepper. Once noodles are cooked, drain and stir into the sour cream mixture.
To assemble, place half the noodles in a greased 13x9 baking dish, top with half the meat mixture followed by half the cheddar cheese. Repeat this layering process, ending with the last of the cheddar cheese. Bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Notes: This is a fairly simple recipe so I honestly wasn't expecting too much out of it but I was pleasantly surprised but all the flavor it had and I couldn't get enough! I will definitely make this again. It was simple and delicious!

Recipe adapted from here