Mango Raspberry Vinaigrette

Mango Raspberry Vinaigrette is a little bit sweet, a little bit tangy, and a whole lot tasty! The tang reminds me of a french dressing just a little bit, but the flavors in this vinaigrette create something much more flavorful than your traditional store-bought french dressing.

Easy Caprese Personal Pizzas

Easy Caprese Personal Pizzas

Ingredients (makes 2 personal pizzas)

1 (8 oz) package Pillsbury crescent rolls

2 teaspoons fresh garlic, minced

1 tablespoon good quality Olive Oil (I like Lucini)

2-3 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, chopped

2-3 roma tomatoes, sliced thinly

1/2 cup shredded Sargento Mozzarella Cheese (more to your liking)

pinch of salt
balsamic vinegar (optional)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
• Using 1/2 of the crescent rolls, press 4 triangles into a rectangle shape and press seams together firmly. Do the same with the other 1/2 of the crescent rolls, so you have 2 rectangular pizzas.
• Mix the Olive Oil and Garlic together and brush evenly over both pizzas. Bake in oven for about 4-5 minutes until they just start to brown.
• Remove from oven and top with tomatoes, Sargento Mozzarella Cheeese, basil, and a pinch of salt. Divide toppings among both pizzas. Drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar if you like.
• Bake topped pizzas in oven for another 3-4 minutes until cheese melts. Enjoy!

Don, Madison, and I created this recipe years ago, when we were all young :),  we took a family vacation to a secluded mountain cabin in Murphy, North Carolina. It was perfect!

We did some hiking...

Found some interesting critters....

 

Relaxed on the porch overlooking a peaceful creek...

 

and made delicious treats in the fully stocked kitchen!



Some folks stopped by to welcome us with some fresh tomatoes and basil straight from their garden, and we decided that called for a pizza night! We went to the grocery (which was miles away!!) and picked up some garlic, olive oil, and our favorite shredded mozzarella. Sargento Cheese melts perfectly every time and tastes so fresh and delish!

Because we were on vacation, we decided to go with an easy crust and picked up some crescent rolls.  Then we headed back to our special retreat and got creative in the kitchen! We ended up with what we crowned as Easy Caprese Personal Pizzas! A wonderful little treat that we enjoy time and time again! I hope you  enjoy this recipe as well! It is fun to make with the family!

Sargento published my recipe in their cookbook! Check it out Sargento CookBook

You might also like this pizza recipe from my friend KC The Kitchen Chopper - Chicken Fennel Smoked Gouda Pizza, Chopped

I am an Allrecipes Allstar Brand Ambassador (a voluntary position) and I’m not compensated for my work withAllrecipes.com. Products received from advertisers are only used for experienced-based reviews on Life Tastes Good. The reviews, content, and opinions expressed in this blog are purely the sole opinions of this blog.

Bruschetta Chicken

Bruschetta Chicken

Y'all...listen closely! run to the store and get the ingredients for this recipe - you are going to LOVE it! It is so easy and so delicious you will want to make it all the time, so buy extra chicken!! Be sure to use fresh ingredients - it makes this recipe what it is!

I got the idea for this recipe a few weeks ago when I was making Salsa Chicken. I love simple recipes that use fresh ingredients and deliver lots of wonderful flavors! THIS recipe does all of that!!

Ingredients

• 4 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1/4 cup First Cold Pressed, Extra Virgin Olive Oil (use a fairly good quality. I like the Lucini Brand)
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3-4 chicken breasts
• 3-4 slices mozzarella cheese or 1 cup shredded mozzarella

Directions

Prepare the topping early in the day or a day ahead: In a large bowl, combine the roma tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, basil, salt, and pepper, and mix well.  Refrigerate the topping until ready to use.

When ready to make the chicken, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Turn each chicken breast over and, using your hands, open up the breast where it comes together so it lays more flat. It will look like a heart shape sort of and be more even thickness all over. Place each breast in the baking dish in a single layer and top evenly with prepared buschetta topping.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until no longer pink throughout. The bake time will vary according to how thick your chicken breasts are. The temp should register 160 degrees F when an instant read thermometer is inserted into the thickest part of the breast. Top with mozzarella and bake until cheese melts. Let rest about 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

A recipe for the Creamy Italian Salad Dressing coming soon! It is crazy good!

Roasted Tomato Pizza Dip

This cheese dip is delicious! 

It is a LOT of cheese, so it couldn't be anything other than delicious! 

No, it is not good for you at all, but definitely worth indulging once a year :o)

Serve this hot out of the oven with your favorite bread or chips. We picked up some Sea Salt Pita Chips and they went great with this!

**WARNING**

If you make this for your next gathering, be prepared to break up the fights that are surely to ensue!

Ingredients
1 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1.5 blocks of cream cheese, softened (12 ounces)
8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
8 ounces shredded Italian cheese blend
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon garlic cloves
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
bread and crackers for dipping

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place tomatoes on a foil lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper - toss to coat. Arrange in a single layer and roast for 20-25 minutes until bursting. Let cool.
While tomatoes are roasting, mix cream cheese with mozzarella and Italian cheese blend (reserve about 1 tablespoon each of mozzarella and cheese blend for topping). Stir in parmesan, fresh herbs and garlic and mix well. Transfer to an oven safe baking dish - I used an 8" square dish.  Top with reserved cheeses and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden an bubbly. Serve hot with bread and crackers for dipping.

recipe inspired by White Pizza Dip

Tomato Basil Soup

Tomato Basil Soup - This is the tomato soup recipe of my dreams! Yes, I dream about delicious tomato basil soup!

HomeMade Pizza

We love pizza!  We used to order pizza from a nearby pizza place quite often.  That was until Madison made her first homemade pizza!  Madison spoiled us with her culinary creations before she left for college - we weren't quite sure how we would get along without her!  It seems like just last week I was crying my eyes out heading west on I-16 after leaving my only baby alone in a strange city for her first year of college!  Now she's gearing up for finals week and saying goodbye to her Freshman year!
She survived! and, more importantly, so did I

Madison always used Bridgford Ready Dough for her homemade pizza, and it is a very good choice for the dough! Easy to use and very tasty!

Publix carries it in the freezer case

For this recipe I used the the Homemade French Bread.

This is the first time I used this dough to make pizza, and we liked it a lot.  I did not use a breadmaker - I made the dough by hand. After punching down, I spread the dough out on a large pizza pan.  Then I set it aside to rise. I like a thick crust, so I let this rise a couple hours to get it nice and puffy. You can let it rise until it looks good for your tastes.  Here is what mine looked like after rising a couple hours

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. When the dough is nice and puffy, poke some holes in the center of it with a fork. I try to leave the edges nice and puffy, so I don't attack them with the fork! Now you want to mince up some garlic in a small bowl and pour some olive oil over it - about a tablespoon will do - whatever looks good! Use the back of a spoon to crush the garlic a bit, and then gently brush the garlic olive oil all over the pizza!  Then put it in the oven for about 10 minutes. You just want to get it lightly browned.

Once your pizza is a little toasty you are ready to top it as you like. Here's what I did...

While the dough was toasting in the oven, I sauteed some fresh baby spinach in garlic and olive oil.  I used about 1-2 teaspoons olive oil with a clove of garlic (sliced). When that was warmed, I added a 10 oz bag of baby spinach and sauteed until it just started to wilt. It doesn't take long. I also sliced up some fresh plum tomates and set them aside until ready to top the pizza.

I topped the pizza with about 6 slices of Mozzarella first. Then I added the spinach and tomatoes. After that, I topped with about a cup of shredded Mozzarella and some shaved Parmesan cheese.

Now that my pizza is topped just the way I want it, I put it back in the oven for another 8-10 minutes. Take the pizza out of the oven when the cheese is melted and the crust is nicely browned.  Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing! ENJOY!