Another Take on Ale Braised Sausage

As you'll hopefully remember I made katie's Ale Braised Sausage with a pasta twist before. Well this time i decided to stay a little truer to the recipe she found since i was bringing it to a Super Bowl party! So the recipe is the same as on my other page (minus the pasta) but i thickened up the sauce quite a bit with extra flour so that people could stab the pieces with a toothpick and just munch!
It worked well and everyone got their fill of beer sausage yumminess!

Margarita Pizza!

Only this is a weight watchers kind... sort of... well it's supposed to be~
So it would have been EXCEPT instead of using wheat pizza dough i used pizza dough i already had made in the freezer~ So for the sake of giving you a weight watchers recipe we're going to pretend that i used the correct pizza crust! It was a big hit though, can't say if i can really use this review though for you since it was the wrong crust, but whateve!~

Ingredients
3 roma tomatoes, sliced thin
1/2 c (i think) of FF Mozzarella cheese
2 ish tbsp freshly chopped basil
1/2 small onion sliced
1 tbsp ish of extra virgin olive oil
1 wheat pizza dough, pre cooked, thinly

Directions
Preheat oven to 450
take your pre cooked pizza dough and top with tomatoes, onions, basil, and cheese
Now sprinkle with olive oil
bake a/b 10 mins or until cheese is melted.

I forgot the point value so i'll look it up when i get home!

Bruschetta

This got HUGE reviews! I took it to a Church social and made it for my girls night and both nights they LOVED it! So easy and a total winner! I used a recipe from Epicurious and just added to it a bit~

Ingredients
* 8 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and diced (only used 6)
* 2 tbsp finely minced garlic (got mine from the jar)
* 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
* 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley (oops only had dried... totally fine!)
* 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
* 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 tsp finely minced fresh tarragon (yeah, i used ground)
* 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
* 2 baguettes, cut in 1/2-inch-thick slices
* 6 cloves garlic, cut in half (and i deleted using this)
I also added in crumbled feta cheese, around a cup or so.

Directions
In a bowl, mix all ingredients except bread. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside, unrefrigerated, 3 hours. Heat oven to 350°F. Toast bread on a baking sheet. Top with tomato mixture. I found people really liked them too b/c they sat on the bread for a while before they were eaten so the bread softened some. Many people commented that was one of their favorite parts!

Mini Twiced Baked Potatoes!~

Mini Twice Baked Potatoes!
Have to give a major shout out to Katie on her Good Things Catered blog, she totally helped me impress. I made these for a bible study potluck and got major WOWs and then again when my MIL and FIL came over for dinner... I think these are a favorite with FIL. And don't worry, they are much easier to make then they look! A great tip and doing it ahead of time and wait to bake until the day you need them... they also aren't bad rewarmed in the oven!


Mini Twice Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:
1 lb. gourmet red potatoes (about 1- 1 1/2 in in diameter)
1 c. medium cheddar, finely grated
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, finely minced
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp half and half

Directions:
-Place steam insert over large stockpot and bring to a boil over medium heat.
-Wash potatoes and halve legth wise, cutting an additional bit from the bottom so that the half can stand on its own.
-Place potatoes into steam insert and cook, covered, until fork tender, about 20 mins.
-Meanwhile, place cheddar, cream cheese, and parsely into medium bowl, stiring to combine completely.
-Let potatoes slightly cool and using a mellon baller, scoop out main portion of each potato half, leaving a solid shell.
-Place scooped out potato into bowl with cheese mixture.
-Once all potatoes are completed mix scooped potato and cheese mixture thoroughly until as smooth as possible.
-Add half and half to smooth mixture and salt and pepper to taste.
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees and prepare baking sheet.
-Place potato sheels onto baking sheet.
-Using pastry bag or plastic sandwich bag with end snipped, pipe mixture into potato shells.
-Bake filled potatoes until heated through and just browning on top.