Bagel Pizzas

Is summer going by crazy fast for anyone else? My hubby has summers off (he's a school psychologist), so we've been really busy almost every second. He goes back to work at the end of next week (BOO!), so things will start to settle down a bit after that. Come August, I'll have 2 of my 3 kids in school, so I'll have much more time for this little blog of mine!

So anyway, the other night we were late getting home from the pool and were starving. I had some bagels and pepperoni about ready to go bad and needed to use them up. Thus, this idea popped into my head. My kids scoffed at me ("Bagel pizzas? Are you sure, Mom?") at first, but then I reminded them that we always see those pre-made frozen ones at the store. They still were skeptical because we've never purchased the ones at the store before, but everyone loved these.

You could totally make them ahead of time and keep them in the freezer for quick meals. I plan on doing that and then popping them in the fridge to defrost to send with my kids to school that week. Pizza is so versatile (you can eat it hot or cold), so I think it'll be perfect for their lunches to change things up a bit.

Lastly, this is a perfect meal to let your kids prepare! My kids were fighting over who got to spread the sauce, and they loved spreading on the cheese and pepperoni. :)

Ingredients:
plain bagels
pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce
shredded mozzarella
pizza toppings

Break bagels in half, and lay them out on a foil-lined baking sheet. Top with a few spoonfuls of sauce, then cheese, then toppings. Sprinkle a little extra cheese on top before baking.

Bake at 375* for about 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and pepperoni starts to get crispy around the edges.

I served ours with some fresh, sliced cantaloupe and a salad. It was a really yummy summer supper!

What meals do you throw together in a pinch?

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BBQ Chicken Pizza

I've been trying to post all day long, but blogger has been acting up -- it kept shutting down Firefox every time I uploaded a picture?!

This pizza is delish. I've been meaning to make it for a long time but kept forgetting to put it on the menu. Then when I was browsing one of my favorite recipe blogs about a week ago, I saw they'd put up a recipe for it, which reminded me I wanted to make it. We'd never had it before, and it was so yummy. Even if you're not a cilantro lover, try it with some cilantro sprinkled on -- it's not even close to as good without it!

Ingredients:
pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce
your favorite BBQ sauce
2-3 chicken breasts, diced
red onion, sliced
canned pineapple, chunks or crushed
mozzarella, shredded
fresh cilantro, finely chopped
pizza dough, store-bought or **homemade

Cook your chicken breasts in a large skillet with a little bit of BBQ sauce until done. Meanwhile, combine equal parts pizza/spaghetti sauce and BBQ sauce in a bowl; set aside. When chicken is done, assemble pizza -- sauce, cheese, chicken, onion, pineapple, more cheese. I used crushed pineapple because I'm not a huge fan of big chunks of pineapple.

When pizza is done, sprinkle with fresh cilantro. Then devour.


**If using homemade dough: I use this breadstick recipe for my pizza dough. Prepare it the same way up through the first rise. After the first rise, divide the dough in half, roll it out to whatever size pizza you want, then let it rise again for another 30 minutes. Then bake at 425 for about 10 minutes BEFORE topping with pizza ingredients. Then top with ingredients and bake another 10 minutes.

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Garlic Chicken Pizza

My husband and I went to Olive Garden a few weekends ago, and I was inspired to make this after looking over their menu. I'm a huge fan of Fettuccine Alfredo and pizza, so why not combine the 2? I think Olive Garden has it right on the money. Delish.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, sliced
1 recipe Alfredo Sauce
1 recipe breadstick dough, prepared through the second rise
green onions, chopped
extra Parmesan, for topping pizza

You can either make one large pizza or divide the dough in half to make 2 smaller ones. If you make one large pizza, you'll need to give the dough about 7-10 minutes head start in the oven so it's not raw in the center and then increase the cooking time just a bit. If you do decide to make 2 pizzas, divide the dough in half before the second rise.

Cook chicken breasts in a little bit of olive oil. I seasoned mine simply, with just salt and pepper. While chicken cooks, roll dough into desired pizza shape.

To give the dough some extra yummy-ness, I drizzled the dough with olive oil and then sprinkled it with garlic salt. Then I spread some sauce on the dough. Okay, a lot of sauce.

Then scatter the cooked chicken on top of the pizza.

Bake at 425 for about 7 minutes. Then pull the pizza out, sprinkle the top with extra Parmesan and chopped green onions and return to oven for another 5-7 minutes. The pizza pictured below is one I made without green onions for the kids.

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Pizza Tot Casserole

I know what you must be thinking.... "What is she thinking?! Pizza and tater tots... together?" Yes, my friends, pizza and tater tots. This is a great quick recipe to throw together with just a few ingredients. And it's delicious too. This feeds my family of five with a little bit left over.

Ingredients:
¾ lb ground beef
Chopped onion
Green pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can tomato soup
½ bag tater tots
1 ½ c. mozzarella cheese
Optional: a few slices of pepperoni and Canadian bacon

Brown beef with onion, garlic and peppers.

Mix in soup. Pour beef mixture into 11 x 7 baking dish.

If you use the pepperoni and Canadian bacon, sprinkle those on top of beef mixture.

Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

Top with tater tots.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes until tots are golden brown.

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