Cream Spinach Roll-Up

1 Tube Crescent Dough Sheet
2 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. self rising flour
1/4 cup Half and Half
4 oz. Soft Onion & Chive Cream Cheese
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 pkg (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a saucepan over medium low heat, melt the butter.  Add flour and stir until creamed together.  Slowly stir in cream and then cream cheese, increasing heat to medium.  Constantly whisk until the mixture becomes thick and smooth. Mix in garlic, spinach and Parmesan. Open Crescent Dough Sheet and spread it out on a piece of waxed paper sprayed with non-stick.  Spread the spinach mixture evenly over dough.  Slowly start rolling from the long side.  Place on cookie sheet covered with foil that has been sprayed with non-stick.  Bake 20 minutes or until dough starts to brown.  Sprinkle down the center with a little cheese and continue to bake until dough is golden brown.  Cool and slice.

Comments:  Yes, I guess you could say I'm on a spinach kick.   I ate at Boston Market and had my favorite dish - Creamed Spinach.  They make the best!  I had bought a roll of Crescent Dough 'Sheet' and wanted to find a really good recipe in which to use it.  The thought of the Creamed Spinach hit me as the perfect filling for this dough.  But... Boston Market won't give out their recipe.  But... there are copycats on line that are pretty good.  I found the recipe that sounded best and gave it a try.  I cut down most of the ingredients because I would be using it as a filling and wouldn't need quite as much and the recipe above is what I came up with.  Boy is this one good!  It makes a great dish or appetizer.  You can bet I'll be making this often.  I do think I'll increase the garlic to maybe 1 1/2 tsp. to give it even more flavor.   This is good hot or cold.

Spinach Pull Aparts

1 lb. frozen spinach, thawed & drained
1 pkg. garlic knots, sliced into 2 pieces each
1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Pizza blend cheese
butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In the bottom of a non-stick dish or dish sprayed with non-stick spray, place arrange the garlic knots so they are touching but not tight.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Evenly top with spinach.  Sprinkle with Pizza blend cheese.  Dot with butter.  Bake 5-10 minutes or until cheese has melted.

Comment:  I've had the thought of this dish floating around in my head for some time now and finally decided to give it a try.  My original thought was to use crescent roll bread but when I spotted the garlic knots I changed my mind.  This recipe is a 1st try and it will be my last or should I say only one.  This is soooooo good.  I'm serving it with wings but believe me, it's delicious by itself.  It's quick, easy, and so appealing to the eye.

Ham & Cheese Pea Patties

1 can black eyed peas, drained
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
2 green onions, chopped with tops
ham
cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a med. cast iron frying pan pour enough oil to cover the bottom.  Place in the oven while it preheats to get it sizzling hot.  In a bowl mix peas, cornmeal, milk, egg and onions.  Pour half of the mixture into the frying pan with the hot oil.  It should sizzle when poured in. Top with a layer of cheese, a layer of ham, and another layer of cheese.  Evenly spread the remaining mix.  Bake 25-30 minutes or until browned and done on the inside.

Comments:  I've made what I call Georgia Pea Patties for years, using my mother's recipe.  Normally I fry them but found myself with some leftover ham and decided to give this mixture a try.  Boy is it good!  My food testers all loved it.  One thing to remember about the batter and that is that you wan it about pancake batter thickness.  You want to be able to pour it into the pan.  Also, to test your oil, flip just a drop of 2 of water into it to see if it sizzles before bringing it out of the oven.  When it sizzles you know its' hot enough.  Add as much cheese and ham as you like.  I had some 1/4" thick ham and put a thick layer of cheese before and after the ham.  Plus, if you don't like black eyed peas, I'm sure this will work well with others.

Spinach Bread - recipe from 1983 cookbook

1/4 cup butter or margarine, cut into chunks
1 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 cups Monterey Jack or Muenster cheese, grated
1 pkg (10 oz.) spinach, thawed, chopped and drained

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place butter in a 9 x 13 x 2 baking dish.  Place in oven while it preheats allowing it to melt.  In a large bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder, eggs, milk, cheese and spinach.  Pour and evenly spread over melted butter.  Bake 30-35 minutes.  Cool 5 minutes before cutting into squares.

Comment:  I found this recipe in a cookbook copyright 1983.  The recipe was so simple that I had to give it a try.  WHOW!  This is not only easy but it's also delicious.  It's a recipe that I will be making again and it's also one that I'm going to play with.  I bet it would be good with squash or broccoli or cauliflower.  Can't wait to try.  I will tell you the one problem I've found with this dish... if you taste it while hot you'll have a hard time walking away from it even if you're not a spinach lover.

Monkey Muffins

1 box Fleischmann's Simply Homemade Country White
1 container (6.5 oz.) Land of Lakes Cinnamon Sugar Butter Spread
Sweetened, Condensed Milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix bread mix according to package.  Add 1/2 tsp. cinnamon butter to 12 muffin (not mini) tins.  Roll bread mix into walnut size balls.  Place 3 into each muffin tin.  Top with another 1/2 tsp. cinnamon butter.  Allow dough to rise.  Bake 20 minutes or until golden and bubbly.  Remove from oven and drizzle with plenty of sweetened condensed milk over each muffin.  Allow to sit to absorb milk.  Scoop out with a spoon and serve hot or cold.

Comments:  The original recipe called for leftover bread dough or refrigerated biscuit dough, sugar, butter, cinnamon and sweetened condensed milk.  I had a box of Fleischmann's Country White that I thought would work perfectly for the bread part and a container of Land of Lakes Cinnamon Butter that actually included the other 3 ingredients.  It worked out perfectly and with very little cleanup.  I had a friend come over just as I took them out of the oven and added the condensed milk.  She nor I could wait for the milk to soak in.  We dug in and boy were these delicious.  What few were left over I passed on to a couple of my food testers.  They ate them cold and raved about how good they were.