Insanity Is Not An Option - Page 2 of 235

Stuffed Pizza Skulls | Pizza Pockets

Let these Stuffed Pizza Skulls be the star of the Halloween party this year. Simple to make and frightfully delicious, these pizza pockets will impress any ghoulish crowd.

Hosting a Halloween dinner party?

My family loves Halloween. Although insanity is not an option, during the Halloween season (you know…from September 1st through October 31st), I kind of walk the line. I go ~~a little~~ totally overboard with decorations. I buy new things each year, online and in stores. I come up with new Halloween crafts to try. I make costumes and I buy costumes. And I plan Halloween menus, as every mother should! This year is a little more overboard than most (I know *gasp*) because it’s Bubby’s 10th birthday and he’s going to have a spooktacular costume party birthday bash…at my house…with like 10 to 12, 9 and 10 year old boys. Hold me. Making sure there’s plenty of good and ghoulish food on hand is going to be key to keeping these monsters at bay. These Stuffed Pizza Skulls are most assuredly on the menu!

A skull cakelet everyone needs!

It all started with a Facebook post. A friend posted a video of some super easy stuffed pizza skulls and I went on a mission to find a pan to make this happen. The damned thing was $45 on Amazon. Holy high dollar cakelet, skull man! So I did some more searching and found this beauty (and might I say it’s a super high-quality beauty) on Perigold for just $27. SOLD! Let me just say, this is not a sponsored post and I paid for this out of my pocket. I’d never even heard of Perigold before, but you can bet your witch’s ass I’ll be shopping there again. Super quick shipping, great discounts, high quality, and they have so. much. stuff! Note: You do have to pay shipping, but it was still WAY cheaper than Amazon (I know, I’m shocked too!).

Tips for making perfect stuffed pizza skulls!

Knowing I couldn’t let down a group of 9 to 10 year old boys (kids are mean, y’all), we decided to do a test run. They came out pretty good for a first shot, but here are some tips I wasn’t smart enough to figure out the first time.

Don’t overstuff. Look, I’m an over stuffer. We’re talking pizza and you can never have enough sauce or cheese. Never. Except with these Halloween pizza pockets. If you use more than the quantities listed in the recipe, you’ll have blowouts (see above photo on the left – those are the just cheese pizza skulls that I overstuffed).
Lay the pizza dough into all 6 cavities as soon as you cut it. If you try to do these one at a time, the dough gets pretty hard to work with and stretch.
If you’re making multiple varieties of these pizza pockets – we made 2 cheese, 2 ham and cheese, 2 pepperoni and cheese, place the pizza pockets with the meat in them in the outside slots. They cook better that way and the ones in the middle, with just cheese, won’t burn up.

Stuffed Pizza Skulls

Course Appetizer

Keyword stuffed pizza skulls

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 6

Author Christy

Ingredients

1 can prepared rolled pizza dough
1.5 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
6 tsp Parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup pizza sauce
18 slices pepperoni
1-2 tbsp Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb Seasoning

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Spray skull mold with nonstick spray. Set aside.
Unroll pizza dough and stretch or roll into a 21x 8-inch rectangle with the long edge closest to you. Cut into six even strips.
Lay dough into skull cavities, press down lightly, and leave flaps over pan for closing the pizza pockets.
Into each cavity, layer 1 tablespoon shredded mozzarella, 1 tablespoon of grated parmesan, 1 tablespoon pizza sauce, 3 pepperoni, another tablespoon sauce, 1 more tablespoon mozzarella, and a sprinkle of seasoning.
Fold dough over fillings and pinch dough together to seal, making sure edges are sealed tightly. Repeat for the five remaining pizza pockets.
Bake for 20 minutes, remove from oven and let cool slightly, flip plan onto serving platter.
Serve with warmed pizza sauce and additional Parmesan cheese for topping.

Recipe Notes

You can use any topping you like instead of the pepperoni. Try chunked ham, diced veggies, or just add a little shredded cheddar in for a 3-cheese pizza pocket.

More freakishly fun food ideas:

We can’t wait to make these Stuffed Pizza Skulls again and I’m sure your little goblins will love them as much as mine do! We’ll also be serving up bloody witch fingers (mini sausages in BBQ sauce), Pizza Dough Spider Dip Bowls, Bloody Shirley Temples, and Eyeball Chili. What’s on your Halloween dinner party menu? I’d love to hear in the comments below. Recipe links are more than welcome!

25-Minute, 5-Ingredient Pizza Dip Recipe

By Christy Leave a Comment

You haven’t lived until you’ve tried this 5-Ingredient Pizza Dip recipe. Be forewarned, this 25-minute appetizer is highly addictive so get ready to make a batch or two for your next gathering. It’s the perfect football party food!

This simple Pizza Dip recipe is a family favorite of ours. No, it’s not low sodium (at all) like most of my recipes. This easy 5-ingredient dip is the reason cheat days were invented – for us anyway. It’s our go-to addiction for just about anything. Football Sunday? Friends coming over? Having a bbq and the food won’t be ready for a while? Rainy, depressing Saturday and we’re stuck indoors? All of these scenarios always lead to the same answer…PIZZA DIP! Luckily this simple recipe only requires five ingredients plus some spices that I typically have on hand. It pairs with just about any hearty chip too, so that’s never a big deal. It’s ooey, gooey, and oh-so-good.

This pizza dip is all about the layers!

In case you don’t know, cheese is my favorite food group, and pizza is my all-time favorite food. That makes this simple appetizer the best thing since sliced bread (don’t get me started on bread and carbs…also favorites!). The beauty of this dip is not only how delicious it tastes, but how easy it is to make. No fuss here. Just start layering, put it in the oven, let the magic melting happen, and enjoy!

Layer 1: Cream Cheese

I use Philadelphia Spicy Jalapeño Cream Cheese Spread because we like things with a kick. If you’re not a fan of spicy, you can use plain or another flavor variety. Just layer it in the bottom of a baking dish.

Layer 2: The Marinara

Use whatever marinara you’d like for this. For pasta dishes, I always make my totally-from-scratch marinara and I use that if there’s any in the fridge or freezer. Usually, though, for this quick indulgence, I go with a jarred variety and always keep Prego Lower Sodium Sauce on hand.

Layer 3: My favorite food group!

Top the sauce with some cheese. I use a mix of mozzarella, colby jack, and parmesan, then I sprinkle a little Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb seasoning over the layer for added flavor. You can never have enough garlic!

Layer 4: More sauce!

Pizza isn’t pizza unless it’s saucy and this dip is no exception. That second layer of sauce is a must!

Layer 5: More cheese please!

As with all good pizza (dips), they need to be topped with cheese, glorious cheese. This final layer is the one that gets all crispy and bubbly which is always the best part! Then you just put the dish in a 350ºF preheated oven, set the timer to 20 minutes, then once the timer goes off, leave it in the oven for another five minutes because that’s when the browning happens.

Who’s hungry?

All that’s left to do is grab some bagel or pita chips or crackers and hope you can wait long enough for it to cool down before digging in. That last part is pretty important because this golden concoction comes out hot and bubbly. I may or may not have burned my tongue a couple of times…just to test the batch to make sure it was ready for everyone else, of course!

5-Ingredient Pizza Dip Recipe

Author: Christy

Recipe type: Appetizer

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Ingredients

1 7.5-oz cream cheese spread
1.5 cup marinara sauce (adjust to how saucy you like it)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup shredded colby jack cheese
⅓ cup shredded parmesan cheese
Optional: Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb Seasoning to taste
For serving: Pita chips, crackers, or bagel chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 35ºF.
Spread the cream cheese in the bottom of a baking dish.
Top with a layer of marinara.
Add a layer of mozzarella, colby jack, and parmesan.
Sprinkle with seasoning if using.
Add another layer of sauce.
Top with cheese mixture and sprinkle with seasoning again.
Place in middle rack in preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes.
Allow the dip to sit in the oven for another 5 minutes after the heat has been turned off, until the entire dip is bubbly and the top is golden brown.
Remove from oven, let cool about 10 minutes, serve with chips and crackers.

There you have it. Your new favorite dip is as simple as (pizza) pie. If you’d like a meatier version, top with some pepperoni or precooked ground hamburger. You can also top it with your favorite diced veggies if you want to add even more flavor and texture. Just be sure to adjust the baking time up a bit if you’re adding more ingredients. I assure you, no matter how you serve it, no one can resist this simply delightful dip!

How to Cope with BTS Mom Blues

By Christy Leave a Comment

While most parents rejoice during back-to-school season, some of us suffer from the BTS Mom Blues. Probably not a clinical term, but a real condition. Try practicing these five ways to cope with BTS Mom Blues to combat your loneliness, anxiety, and depression.

What are the BTS Mom Blues?

While many of you are cheering back-to-school season and cherishing your quiet time alone, there are others, like myself, feeling empty and blue. While you may feel that you are getting SO MUCH DONE in these first few days, weeks, months, some of us can’t concentrate or get motivated enough to get anything done.

These issues and many more, my happy-go-lucky-loving-your-empty-day-nest friends, are called the BTS Mom Blues. And it’s rough! I’m prone to tears at any given moment, I have the television on mindless shows for “white noise”, every time I get out of a meeting, I look up expecting one of them, any of them, to immediately need something from me.

But they don’t. They aren’t even here. I’m all alone in my house. Just me, no noise other than the constant pecking of these keys.

Coping with the BTS Mom Blues!

If you miss frolicking with your kids during the care-free summer days, and if you’re a sufferer like me, I have some tips for coping you should try. You might not want/need to listen, but believe me, at this point I’m an expert with six kids and a total of 29 years full-time parenting under my belt (with a 9 and 11 year old still at home!).

Tip 1: Let them know you’re OK!

When they go to school on the first day, and all the subsequent days, let them know you’re OK with it. Sounds silly, but telling them helps you convince yourself. Added bonus for giving them that added boost of courage and confidence. Mom “wins” help you cope with your BST Blues.

Tip 2: Let them be unicorns!

I know this one might sound a little trite, cliché even, but really it’s not at all. For those of us who suffer the BTS Mom Blues, we need to remember that our children need to be unique and forge their own paths in life. If we keep them with us all the time (which is truly what I want to do other than the occasional date night, etc.), we don’t give them the space they need to make friends, become stronger, learn more, and just grow up to be amazing humans…all on their own!

Tip 3: Make the most of together time!

No brainer here. When they get off of school, finish up your work, help them with homework, then let them help make dinner for the night or lunches for the next day. You’ll begin to realize that the time you spent alone wasn’t so bad after all and it just makes you appreciate your time together that much more!

Tip 4: Use the TV for mindless white noise!

During the day, if you feel it’s too quiet to function, like I do, since you’ve grown so accustomed to the chaos, turn on the TV for some white noise. Keep the volume low so as not to distract you from your work, but the background noise will actually help raise your productivity. Trust me, I know from experience. Don’t turn on something that will suck you in, of course, because that’s counter productive. I suggest Jerry Springer (yes, I’m serious) or something similar. Lots of fighting, no resolution. Just like when the kids are at home!

Tip 5: Remember that you deserve alone time!

As moms, I think this one is the hardest. I almost think guilt plays a HUGE part in the BTS Mom Blues. We need to be needed in all aspects of our lives. Home, work, husband, kids, you name it; we need to be needed so we feel a sense of emptiness if any of those aspects aren’t with us at all times. Break the cycle. They need you, whether they are with you in the moment or not, they need you. Remember that every time you start to feel blue.

That’s about it. I guess I’m not much on advice since I still suffer this horrible ailment (at least for the first half of the school year) every year, but that’s my advice in a nutshell. Seems simple, straight forward, and somewhat elementary (see what I did right there?), but it’s how I get through these days and I’m hoping it will help y’all out too. Hang in there, mommas, we got this. What advice do you have for beating the BTS Mom Blues? I’d love to hear them in the comments below!