Pretzel Roll Sliders

Green Tomato Bacon Jam flavors these sliders, tucked into soft pretzel buns and topped with guacamole and sharp cheddar. Your team will demolish a plate of these burgers.

Did you know one of the founding teams of the NFL was in Dayton Ohio?

One of the cool aspects of being a military family is the opportunity to explore new towns every few years. It seems that when you know you're only living in a region for a short time, you tend to dive right in and explore the new home.

Before moving to Dayton, I knew about the Wright brothers*, but I didn't know about Ermal Fraze (inventor of the pull tab that we all use to open cans--like a can of Ermal's Belgian style cream ale). I didn't know that mass production of the cash register started here. Nor did I know that the Dayton Triangles were one of the founding teams that started what is now known as the the NFL.

What does this have to do with these sliders? Well, honoring the spirit of Dayton inventors who left such a rich legacy, I developed a recipe for Green Tomato Bacon Jam. I've used this easy freezer jam in summertime burgers and, because I think it is a terrific use for green tomatoes, I'm calling your attention to the recipe via these sliders. Even if you don't get green tomatoes in your community supported agriculture (CSA) farm share, chances are good you'll know someone twiddling their thumbs over a pile of green tomatoes when the days shorten and frost threatens.

In addition to developing recipes to preserve the seasonal abundance, I want to share how I use these preserves all year long. [I don't know if I'll ever use Apple Fig Chutney as anything other than a condiment for Indian food like my Squash and Beef Masala, though.] So consider this another tickle in your brain to grab some green tomatoes in September and get jamming.

Other recipes (not one of them fried) that use green tomatoes can be found on my Green Tomato Recipe Collection, part of my Visual Recipe Index. For 106 more ideas on what to do with a pound of ground beef, see my Ground Beef Recipe Round Up.

Roasted Sweet Potato Nachos

Layers of roasted sweet potatoes seasoned with salsa verde, black beans, salsa and even taco meat if you've got it--all tucked under a blanket of cheese and baked until bubbly. Serve with tortilla chips for a tasty vegetable appetizer, another Awesome Veggie App {link to my Pinterest board}.

It's time for the Game!

In our family, that could mean Ticket To Ride, Sushi Go!, Qwirkle, Timeline or our newest find, Black Fleet (all game links are Amazon affiliate links). Several years ago, after repeated failures attempts we became a family who plays games together.

We don't play Candyland or Monopoly. To be honest, I never found those games particularly enjoyable and thought I just wasn't the type of person who liked to play games. I was wrong. It wasn't me--it was the games we had. If you'd like to have a blast playing games together, read on. If not, jump down to the nachos.

How did we become a game-playing family? My spouse. His engineer brain took on the task after my efforts failed, and he has succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. Over the holidays we had 12 people around the table, 3 generations, ages 14-86, laughing to the point of bladder control issues while playing Telestrations.

Telestrations is a combo of Telephone and Pictionary. Each person gets a drawing pad and a list of words. You read a word, draw a picture to describe the word, then pass your pad to the next person who writes a word based on your drawing. That person passes it to the next, who draws a picture based on the word they see, and so on. We bought 2 games so we'd have enough drawing pads for everyone--it's great for large group.

The Board Game Family is the blog where my spouse discovered our first successful games. Check them out here. Once you know the style of game that you like to play, you can find new ones yourself. We've had great success with Spiel des Jahres winners, and now enjoy cooperative as well as competitive games each week. It's great fun--yes I'm saying this about sitting around the dining room table playing games with my teens--and good for our mental and emotional health as well.

We don't feed our games, so the table gets cleared off, hands washed, and food put away before the games come out. If you're interested in another sort of game--say, you wanna watch football while eating these nachos--be my guest. They're certainly yummy and would work for that sort of game too.

For other recipes using sweet potatoes, please see my Sweet Potato Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index for this blog.

Cranberry Salsa & Refried Bean Nachos (or Quesadillas)

It's the 4th Wednesday of November. In America, most everybody knows what's for dinner tomorrow. 

What's for dinner tonight?

I've finalized my Thanksgiving menu with a whole 30 hours to go. My Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farmers delivered our turkey and final Fall share last night. I've plotted my Stuffing Strategy and my cornbread is getting drier by the hour. The cranberry sauce is chillin' in the fridge, squeezed in between the turkey from Maker's Meadow and the jar of stock I remembered to thaw for gravy. I've gathered all the ingredients for MA's Make Ahead Irish Mashed Potato Casserole and Alanna's World's Best Green Bean Casserole. My daughter and I will be successful with our Caramel Pumpkin Butter Cheesecake [that will happen after this post goes live, so as I type it's hopeful optimism. While I'm being hopeful, I'll hope neither Robert Barker nor Simon or Vincent will jump up and steal any food].

I am in the zone.

The last thing I want to think about, or act upon, is fixing food for those housemates of mine who have strange ideas about eating multiple meals in the days running up to the Big Event. I don't even want to eat out because people are running around like crazy right now, and I don't want to order in and cause more leftovers to need a home in my packed fridge.

Enter these nachos. They are easy to fix, are made up mostly of pantry ingredients (no need to use much fridge space), can be vegetarian and gluten free--and don't result in leftovers that I'll need to store. Plus the flavor and texture are unlike what we'll be eating tomorrow.

With all the cranberry recipes I've shared, this could be the most unexpected.  It's delicious, unusual, and a departure from the usual seasonal fare.  If you happen across cranberry salsa (link to my recipe if you want to make your own) and/or cranberry cheddar cheese (which I found at Costco), grab some refried beans and treat your taste buds to this change up dish.  This can be a fast and flavorful snack, which was well-received by the whole family during a hectic time. For other recipes using cranberries, please refer to my Cranberry Recipe Collection.

You have a choice in what blogs you visit. I'm thankful you chose to visit mine. Happy Thanksgiving!

Spicy Asian-inspired Kohlrabi Pickle Spears

Spicy, tangy, crunchy and zippy, these quick pickled kohlrabi spears wake up your appetite.

Oh my goodness. These pickles. The flavors that are bouncing around my mouth right now. I am clearly a pickle person. I mean, on our near weekly trips out for burgers and fries I always ask for pickles on my burger [interestingly, pickles are one of the 3 condiments the whole family chooses--onions and mustard being the other two]. I like pickles on sandwiches, including pickled turnips on My Favorite Grilled Cheese Sandwich. I would never suspect that I could create a gourmet pickle, though, especially after my pickled yellow squash failure-turned-successful-sliders? However, the layers of flavor that rocket through my mouth as I bite into one of these pickles--spicy, crunchy, tangy, zingy--remind me of the layers of flavor bouncing around my mouth when I eat Ma Po Tofu from Great Wall Chinese Restaurant on Logan Circle in Washington DC. So many flavors to experience in that dish!

I received a monstrous, alien, gigantic kohlrabi in our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share. No kidding, no camera tricks--those are pint jars and it's bigger than the pair of them together [thanks again Carole for the jars]. I decided to pickle it primarily because I had my canning pot set up from making Cranberry Salsa and also because there was enough peeled kohlrabi sticks for me to compare pickling methods for making kosher dill kohlrabi spears. [Dueling Kohlrabi Dills will be another post, after the 3 week brine time we'll crack open both the jar from the pantry and the jar from the fridge and check 'em out.] First I need to share these Spicy Asian-inspired Kohlrabi Pickle Spears--an easy refrigerator pickle.

After I filled up the pint jars for the Dueling Dills, I still had a lot of kohlrabi left over. I poked around on my favorite canning blog, Food In Jars, and found Marisa's recipe for Asian-inspired Refrigerator Pickles. I decided to adapt it using what I had on hand. Specifically, I swapped in kohlrabi for the cucumber, crushed red pepper for a chili pepper, star anise instead of scallions, cilantro instead of mint, and a standard apple cider brine that I boiled before pouring into the jar. After I got  everything pickled, I put all the jars away and forgot about them. Until Saturday.

I was feeling peckish mid-morning and poked my head in the fridge looking for a snack. I spied the pickle jars. Since I'd mentally pencilled in Thanksgiving as the Dueling Dill Pickle Off, I chose the jar of Spicy Asian-inspired Kohlrabi Spears. I ate one. Whoa. Party in my mouth. I had another. The party continues. I travelled around the house sharing pickles with my spouse reading in the living room and the kids watching TV in the basement. My daughter thinks these pickles are too spicy, but the rest of us approve.

If you've got a freakishly huge kohlrabi--consider whipping up a jar of these pickles. Your mouth will thank you.

For other recipes using kohlrabi, please see my Kohlrabi Recipe Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, and garden bounty. I've got more ideas on my Pinterest boards. Want to know how to use this blog? Click here.

Bacon, Beef and Beet Chili

A hearty chili of beef, beets, and tomatoes--flavored with bacon.

Chili is good for hockey season. When I have an afternoon available I'll make a pot of chili on a back burner while processing vegetables or making another dinner. The chili goes into the fridge for later in the week, then on the appointed day hangs out in the crock pot on Warm.  All day.  I just need someone {my sled hockey player} to grate the cheese and set out the fixings, and it's time to eat.

See the bowl in these photos? I got it at Hot Soups for a Cool Cause, a fundraiser for the Dayton International Peace Museum. My folks and I attend the twice-yearly events since their visits happened to coincide. With my donation I not only got an assortment of delicious soups and excellent conversation--I got to keep the bowl! I was amazed to learn that the potter lives a few blocks away--small world. I did not have this chili at the fundraiser (though I had a tasty borscht last month at the Cool Soups for a Hot Cause event). Instead, I pulled it out of my ear--doing a bit of a riff on my Acorn Squash, Beet and Sweet Potato Chili.

Our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farmers are great at growing beets.  The family is just not that into beets, despite 8 years of exposure to this delicious vegetable. No matter. If we get beets in the farm share, we get beets in our bellies. We eat what is in the fridge. Or else!

This time, bacon was my vehicle to facilitate the beets' acceptance. A little bacon goes a long way, flavor-wise, so I am glad to incorporate some into this chili. I'm gratified that the kids like chili--it's easy to cook, reheats well, and can assimilate a bunch of vegetables.

I've updated my Visual Recipe Index--for more recipes featuring beets, check out my Beet Recipes Collection!

Beef and Venison Sloppy Joes with Yellow Squash and Peppers

aka Butch and Bambi Bought the Farm-Fresh Vegetables

Ground beef and ground venison sloppy joes, combined with yellow squash and purple peppers from the farm share, with a kick from Korean hot red pepper paste.

I've bumped the recipe that was scheduled to appear today at the request of my spouse. He told his coworkers I'd have the recipe from last week's sloppy joes luncheon up on the blog, and who am I to refuse him? [Don't answer that one.] It was ugly food, though, and I'm always happy to bump ugly food to a later date in hopes I can remake it and get better photos.

The clever subtitle is also courtesy of my spouse [wish he also edited the photos--it's hard]. Since half of the meat in this recipe came from a cow named Butch and the other half from a deer skillfully obtained by his colleague . . . . the spouse's colleague not the cow's . . . it seemed an appropriate title. Adding some of the fresh vegetables from our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share is just bonus. Flavorful bonus.

The basis for my recipe today is Pioneer Woman's Sloppy Joe Recipe. As in my Very Veggie Sloppy Joes for a Crowd I jumped right off in a "use ALL the vegetables" direction. Since I added ground venison, however, I didn't want to get too wild with the seasonings--ketchup and mustard is pretty tame I think. However, instead of all the chili powder and hot sauce I used some gochujang (Korean hot red pepper paste). Once opened, it keeps for a while in the fridge--I've included a photo of it so you know what to look for in the Asian section of the grocery store or an Asian market or here [Amazon Affiliate link].

I tend to throw leftovers at the family for weekend lunches because I usually fix a big breakfast, and my brain is percolating something good for dinner. Such a pain when they want to be fed again in the middle of the day, you know? Before taking the Joes to work for the luncheon, though, my spouse saved out just enough for the 4 of us. I was delighted to realize we could have one of my childhood comfort foods: sloppy joes on a bun with a slice of cheese and mustard, potato chips, apple slices, and milk. Perfection for a Saturday afternoon lunch.

If you're lucky enough to get some venison, please try this recipe. I'll even share my gochujang, since I don't foresee sticking it into waffles or anything . . . though a pizza is in the creative ideas stage, and it's been delicious in grilled recipes and with bok choy.

Want other recipes for ground beef? Here's a round up of 106 of them. Want other recipes using yellow squash? Look here.  Need other ideas for bell peppers--any color? Try this collection.

Sausage Cheese Apple Balls

A blend of Italian and breakfast sausages with cheese and apple in a bite-size appetizer.

With Fall comes an increase in my kids' busy schedules. Marching band, sled hockey and sewing all happen in the evenings and that means sometimes dinner is actually Substantial Afternoon Snack. A snack like this, with some apple slices, veggies and hummus, and a glass of milk or cider is enough for my kids to fuel up and power through the rest of a long day.

When I set a goal of increasing my vegetable appetizer recipes on the blog at the beginning of this year, I deliberately concentrated on appetizers that don't use meat. Participating in #AppetizerWeek added a bunch to get the ball rolling [goodness, pun was not initially intended but I'm going with it] and I've added some each month. I'm going to broaden this list to include some meat-containing appetizers, starting with these Sausage Cheese Apple Balls.

I made these first while preparing to host a bunch of fellow military spouses, and I was ridiculously distracted in the preparation.  I'm so grateful that Joyce arrived, said 'can I do anything to help?' and took over the baking that night. Because the recipe makes a ton, I froze half of the dough. My son baked them later for a snack and I took some photos. Well, those photos fell into the swamp didn't turn out, so I made up another batch and tweaked it a bit. I now prefer a blend of breakfast and Italian sausage for our snacks.

Just like reading the same words over and over can improve fluency, preparing the same recipes over and over can help with cooking skills. My son is learning to cook by mastering one recipe at a time. Since he loves the classic Bisquik Sausage Cheese Balls it was easy to get him interested in making them again, with a twist. As Lydia commented on my Cheddar Apple Soaked Multigrain Muffins, apple pie and cheddar cheese go very well together, so I figured adding grated apple would work in these appetizers.

This recipe is so simple to throw together, even a teen can make it!

For more recipes using apples, please see my Apple Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. For more appetizer ideas, please see my Pinterest boards. Want to know how to use this blog? Click here.

Beef Tongue Nachos

Wait wait! Don't run away so quickly after reading the title. The picture caught your eye, right? Have an open mind! Try something new! Hear me out. You might like it.

One cook's trash is another cook's treasure. It fascinates me that, across the world, certain foods are perceived as desirable in some ages or areas and seen as unwanted in other times or places.

• Wheat bread was seen as a peasant food in earlier times, and white bread was the bread of well-to-do folks.
• Yellow cheese (from pastured cows) is more desirable on pizzas in Asia, whereas white cheese is the desired pizza cheese in the US. The source of this fact is a fascinating article I recently read. You can find it here. My spouse also backs up the idea that pizza cheese in Korea was just different than what he'd been used to [before my pizzas, that is]. Now anything goes.

Beef tongue evokes strong reactions. Depending on experience folks either love it because they've tried it or cringe because it looks like, well, a tongue. In keeping with my philosophy that if you choose to eat beef, you might as well use all of the cuts offered, I am firmly in the "love it" camp. My kids are still cringing because beef tongue looks different than all the ground beef in tidy packages in the freezer (link to my Ground Beef Recipe Round Up).

Does beef tongue skeeve you out?  How 'bout Mashed Potato Casserole, that can be made the day before, and cooked in a slow cooker or baked in the oven? My recipe for Make Ahead Irish Mashed Potato Casserole is in a Featured Bloggers Favorites contest over at SavingStar. Voting enters you in a chance to win a $50 American Express Gift Card, and the winning blogger also receives a gift card. You can find the contest here.

The whole family pitching in to make beef tongue enchiladas. The recipe is coming.

Each time I prepare tongue, the flavor overcomes more of the cringe factor. By our next cow it should be quite commonplace. With this tongue we had enchiladas, sliders, and nachos because there was plenty of meat and I felt like experimenting. This recipe gets shared first because I love the colorful photos and I could go for a plate of nachos right about now.

Fast & Easy Bean & Hatch Chile Dip

Three ingredients and a minute of preparation results in a spicy yet creamy Hatch Chile and Refried Bean dip. This is nice paired with chips and salsa.

Last minute three ingredient appetizer recipes are NOT something I'm good at. I usually roast a vegetable (like this link to a sriracha butternut squash hummus) from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share prior to processing it into a dip or layering it with other vegetables and cheese (like this link to avocado feta hummus) before serving. It's not terribly difficult, but it's got some steps.

Not this time. Not this dip.

I'd just whipped up a batch of fresh salsa using some roasted Hatch chiles and the pile of paste tomatoes from the garden [it worked fine, and was less runny than I'd expect for a fresh cantina style salsa--no recipe though] and I wanted a creamy counterpart. Looking around for inspiration, I grabbed a can of refried beans from the pantry [here's Kalyn's round up of slow cooker refried bean recipes for making your own], some cream cheese, and a couple more Hatch chiles.

I get freshly roasted Hatch chiles from the grocery store a mile down the road. Yes, I MapMyWalk'd it so I can declare the mileage on my half marathon training log. Simon is happy for the walk, and I love the flavor. I freeze individual chiles for use year round. If you don't have a source near you, a can of roasted green chiles would be a good substitute.

Garlic Scape Pistachio Pesto Hummus

Garlic scapes, basil, parsley and pistachios combined in a traditional hummus base for a fresh Spring dip. Garlic scape pesto freezes to have this seasonal treat year round.

For other recipes using Garlic Scapes, please see my Garlic & Garlic Scapes Recipe Collection. It's part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for seasonal eaters faced with a staggering amount of fresh produce we just don't know what to do with. I've got a Pinterest board of Garlic Scape Recipes here, and a Round Up of 28+ Food Blogger Recipes Using Garlic Scapes here. Want to know how to Use This Blog?

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Part One: The Making of Garlic Scape Pesto

To paraphrase Dick Van Dyke's Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ("Don't waste your pucker on some all day sucker.  And don't try a toffee or cream.  If you seek perfection in sugar confection, well, there's something new on the scene") don't waste your scapes in some Spring stir fry, instead try this pesto, it's green.

When I read Annie's post about garlic scape pesto I was intrigued.  I'd never tried it, but it sounded good.  When my CSA farm share and my garlic bed provided me with garlic scapes I knew I'd give it a try.  As it turned out, I didn't follow my own directions for stocking up on pesto supplies before the garlic scapes appeared.  I did have a block of parmesan, but I didn't have any pine nuts.

I got to thinking . . . why do I have to use pine nuts in pesto?  Weren't the original pesto makers just using what was readily available to them, not sourcing to China to make a sauce? (Check your bag of pine nuts, you'd be surprised)  I mean, I had great success using almonds and cashews in my Fresh Tomato Pesto.  In my pantry I've got almonds, walnuts, pistachios, and sunflower seeds available--I chose pistachios for this just because they are green and would enhance the bright green of this garlic scape pesto.

[In fact, I had a lil' ol' pestopalooza party with all the garlic scapes and fresh herbs after my Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share resumed--that flood of green after the long winter was so welcome--sure, the Strategic Winter Squash Reserve provided some lovely orange veggies, but man, I missed getting a big ol' box of leafy veggies each week!  I made pesto using garlic scapes and sun dried tomatoes.  I used basil and parsley for the leaves. I used pistachios and sunflower seeds for the nuts.  I wrote down the various combinations, but my favorite is the one I'm sharing below--garlic scapes with pistachio nuts and basil.]

Because I plan ahead, and will be putting up this pesto by freezing it, I keep it a little thicker by using less oil.  By freezing this pesto, the plant cell walls that weren't disrupted by the food processor will burst, resulting in a more liquid pesto when thawed.  If you're not planning on saving some for later, use more oil.

Grilled Cheese with Guacamole and Corn Salsa

Guacamole, hummus, and corn & black bean salsa nestled into the middle of a grilled cheese sandwich.  A delicious leftover repurposed into a snack.

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Leftover guacamole is like a Christmas tree on the lot on December 26th.  No one wants it.  Sure, you can cover it with plastic wrap . . . or water (check out these terrific kitchen hacks) . . . to help with the oxidation, but the fact is it's a has-been.

Or is it?

I turned some game day leftovers into a yummy grilled cheese sandwich, and before Grilled Cheese month [who thinks of these things? Zucchini bread day?Apple turnover week?] ends I wanted to share it with you.

I'm glad to even the score between vegetarian grilled cheese sandwiches and those containing meat on this blog, as I think grilled cheese (and tomato soup) is one of those combinations that appeal to a wide variety of eaters.

Earlier this month we stopped for grilled cheese on the way home from a Spring break trip to have my phone stolen at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. [Am I the only one who is scouting the opposite side of the road for places to eat on the way home when we've just barely embarked on a trip?]  We were surrounded by multigenerational families, couples, and individuals all enjoying a grilled cheese sandwich. [We stopped at Fair Oaks Farms and bought gooey grilled cheese sandwiches on bread that managed to be both soft and chewy--must investigate different kinds of bread for my sandwiches.]

I think I ranted enough about using your leftovers the other day with my Taco Rice Tortilla Pizza post.  Today I'd just like you to enjoy a tasty, if a bit messy, sandwich.  And rest assured I've got some other grilled cheese ideas kicking around for next April!

For more recipes using Avocados, please see my Avocado Recipes Collection. For more recipes using beans, please see my Beans/Legumes Recipes Collection. For more recipes using corn, please see my Recipes Using Corn Collection. These collections are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, the garden, the neighbor's garden, repurposed leftovers, and great deals on ugly produce at the grocery store.

I'm sharing more recipes on my Pinterest boards, follow me there. If you like a good peek behind the scenes like I do, follow me on Instagram. Need a good read? I'm sharing articles of interest on my Facebook page, follow me there. Want to know How to Use This Blog?

Very Veggie Puff Pastry Pizza Bites

Fresh and preserved veggies top this vegetarian puff pastry pizza bite.

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Welcome to my final recipe for #AppetizerWeek! I've had fun, learned a lot of html and a wee bit of social media-ing, and watched the laundry pile up [and the snow, and the emails] while sharing savory appetizers and wicked cool giveaways alongside a terrific group of bloggers. If you're just tuning in for your usual Farm Fresh Feasts Friday Pizza you will not be disappointed--this is a tasty lil' morsel of artichokes, olives, spinach and caramelized onions topped with goat cheese on a roasted garlic oil-brushed puff pastry base. It's pretty easy to fix for a game day appetizer spread, though I'd offer napkins and plates to eat it from since the puff pastry is deliciously flaky [carefully avoids comparing anyone I know to the pizza].

I believe in offering choices for everyone I'm feeding [unless you're my kid and want cake or cookies for breakfast. Then there is no choice but cookies "No"].  I usually fix pizza for my family on Friday night, and frequently I make two pies so everyone has a choice.  Since I shared Pickled Pepper and Pepperoni Puff Pastry Pinwheel Pizza Palooza yesterday, I thought I'd conclude my contributions to #AppetizerWeek with a vegetarian choice--Very Veggie Puff Pastry Pizza Bites.

I've tried to spend a bit of each post talking about my food philosophy and today is no exception.  Today I want to talk about pantries.  Much of the toppings for my weekly pizzas are what I consider to be pantry staples:  a jar of artichoke hearts, a jar of olives, pickled peppers and cheese in the fridge.   I've got pepperoni and leftover cooked meats in the freezer.  Picking up one or two items (especially on sale or marked down) with each shopping trip means that over time I end up with a well-stocked pantry (but without the crazy cash outlay).  Buying in bulk can save money--if you have make the space for it.  Because I want the seasonal Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share vegetables to feed my family year round, I've got an extra little freezer (doubles as a microwave stand) to store the farm vegetables that don't live in the Strategic Winter Squash Reserve. In addition, each year I expand my canning repertoire to put up the ever-increasing volume of tomatoes that we require.

I didn't go from zero (grasshopper) to 60 (ant) in a season--I've been evolving my ability to squirrel away food in season over the past dozen or so years.  [I've probably mixed up a bunch of animal/insect metaphors there, oops.] If I get a bunch of onions on sale, for example, I'll caramelize them in my crock pot (link to recipe below) and freeze them in ½ cup portions so I can bring them out when I get a hankering.  Too many leeks?  Slice them, wash them, and freeze them, to add to dishes. Peppers piling up? Chop and freeze them on trays, or roast and chop them before freezing--then add to soups, stews, and spaghetti sauce.  This means that I've always got ingredients on hand to make a variety of pizzas, like this one.

Visit all the other Appetizer Week blogs for more delicious ideas:

• Lasagna Dip by Cravings of a Lunatic
• Spinach Squares by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
• Ultimate Stuffed 'Shrooms by Cooking in Stilettos
• Feta Chicken Wontons by Makobi Scribe
• Roasted Red Pepper Guacamole by Clarks Condensed
• Parmesan and Garlic Boneless Chicken Wings by From Gate to Plate
• Greek Salad Skewers by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cajun Bacon Nuts by Life Off the Clock
• Jalapeno Poppers by Organized Island
• Mini Loaded Twice Baked Potato by Mom's Test Kitchen
• Chicken & Cheese Taquitos by Try Anything Once Culinary
• Very Veggie Puff Pastry Pizza Bites by Farm Fresh Feasts
• BBQ Chicken Nachosby Lemons for Lulu
• Apricot Blue Cheese Bitesby Food Lust People Love
• Low-Carb Kickin' Bacon Avocado Deviled Eggsby Yours and Mine Are Ours
• Sweet Onion Galette by Call Me PMc
• Buffalo Chicken Sliders by The NY Melrose Family
• Sticky Asian Chicken Wings by Flavor Mosaic
• Chicken Parmesan Sliders by Home Cooking Memories