Vegetable Puffs

Another Meatless Monday has come and gone! 

I wanted something different this week that was not going to be a production, and considering how much we have been going out to eat, I definitely wanted to kick up the healthy factor!  What I really loved about making this dinner was all of the beautiful and rich colored foods that go into it - it was a real pick me up for a gloomy day!  This recipe makes 6 thick slices if you are serving them along side something else, but if you are eating them on their own, I would say it makes 3 generous servings.

I was also beyond excited at the grocery store when I came across two new products that helped this dish along - Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cooking Cream and Pillsbury Seamless Crescent Roll Dough!   So with that being said, let's get to the recipe and pictures!

Vegetable Puffs
Yields 6 hearty slices

Ingredients 
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 broccoli crown, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, peeled and diced
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
6 ounces of spinach leaves
10 ounce container of Philly Cooking Cream in the Italian Herb and Cheese Flavor
2 rolls of Pillsbury Seamless Crescent Dough

To Prepare the Puffs
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  
2. Pour the bell peppers, broccoli, carrots, onions, and black beans into a large skilled over medium heat. 
3. After approximately 10 minutes of cooking, add the spinach.  It will look like A LOT of food, but the spinach will cook down quite a bit! 

4. Cook for approximately 10 more minutes, being sure to stir it often. 
5. Add the cooking cream, and coat the veggies completely.

6. Shut the vegetables off. 
7. Spread out one of the crescent dough sheets on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet.

8. Spoon the vegetable mixture onto the dough, being sure to leave a one inch border. 

9. After all of the vegetables or spooned on, fold the dough up onto the veggies to create an edge or barrier.

10. Place the other dough sheet on top of the vegetables, and tuck and pinch it under the puff. 

11. Bake the puff at 350 degrees until it is a deep golden brown color!

 

My Bread Has Risen...Hallelujah!

Santa was beyond good to me this year!  After I finished crying post opening my 4 1/2 Quart Kitchen Aid Mixer, I immediately decided some serious baking was in order within the next 24 hours.  Tonight I decided to delve into the world of bread making!

My mom and I tried to make bread one Easter.  It seemed like it was going to turn out right, and we tucked it safe and sound in the oven with our mouths watering.  When we opened the oven, it looked ok, and when we pulled it out of the oven, it required 4 people!  Somewhere our process went wrong and we ended up making unleaven bricks!

I am thrilled to report that this time ended much better, and more deliciously!

I used the Kitchen Aid recipe for Quick Cool Rising White Bread.  It made 2 loaves, so I made a plain white loaf and a cinnamon sugar loaf as well!  The recipe came together so easily, but there was a lot of waiting.  I tend to be fairly impatient in all aspects of my life, but when it comes to waiting for food I am horribly beyond impatient!  I think bread baking is going to force me to work on my patience, and also force me to really follow recipes a little more closely.  I had intended to make a wheat loaf tonight too, but I didn't realize that I needed powdered milk for that recipe.  Hopefully I can use my snowy afternoon to make it tomorrow!

Cinnamon Sugar on the left, and white on the right!