When money is tight, we really learn to appreciate full refrigerators and leftovers. But once you’ve exhausted all of the options, and begin to feel like you’ve made enough leftovers with your leftovers, it’s time to think out of the recipe box ;). Bob from Cooking Stuff did just that. He had some leftover pizza dough that he used to make a savory snack that also doubles as a delicious lunch. And if you are a firm believer that bacon really does make everything better, then you’ll be happy to hear that the special ingredient in his pizza tunnels is bacon.

Follow this handy tutorial the next time you have a few slices of bacon leftover from breakfast and can’t figure out what to do with last night’s pizza dough.

First, roll out the dough into a big oblong.

How big? However big you like. I made it about twenty inches by seven or so. I think. Then I just put on the bacon,

some thin sliced red onion

and cubes of mozzarella.

Cheddar would be good too or Gruyere. Hell, any cheese would be good, it’s bacon, bread and cheese for crying out loud. Next I rolled it up. I didn’t make to too tight, but I didn’t try to keep it loose either. I sealed the seam with a little water (didn’t work out that well, unfortunately) then topped it with some olive oil and a little more cheese.

Baked it on a baking stone at 475 for about thirteen minutes, or so.

I love the little browned bits of cheese on the outside, it gives a great taste and texture. Sometimes I do it on pizza too, around the edge of the crust. So the verdict is, they are wicked good. But next time I’m going to put more stuff in there.

If working with yeast doesn’t come easy, then you’ll want to be sure to keep track of delicious quick bread recipes like Mindy’s Cranberry Sauce Bread! Mindy makes this bread when she wants to use up the leftover cranberry relish, but you don’t have to wait until next winter to bake up this carby treat. Who can resist a slice or two of her moist berry bread?

If you’re following a quick bread recipe, you’ll want to remember this key point: baking soda instantly becomes active when wet, and a little goes a long way — use it in recipes that call for acidic ingredients, like the cranberries and oranges in this recipe! It’s the baking soda that gives Mindy’s cranberry bread its addicting texture. If you’re using less acidic ingredients, you can use baking powder — just remember it isn’t as strong as baking soda!

Just because it’s a bread recipe, doesn’t mean you can’t experiment (be sure to remember these tips)! You can even ask Mindy and read about her baking experiments on Mindy’s Mouthful. Her bread recipe actually came about after a bit of recipe tweaking :).

This is a recipe you’ll want to have on hand those days you’ve whipped up some cranberry sauce and aren’t sure what to do with the leftovers. This is also ideal for the holiday season, because even though it is a bread pudding recipe, you can easily use the leftover buns to prepare this tasty dessert.

Yep, day old bread or buns are what you’ll want to use in any bread pudding recipe. Why is that? Well, if the bread is too moist (which is usually the case when it’s fresh), the pudding can come out on the soggy side. For example, Fiona, the blogger behind The Crazy Englishwoman Cooks!, toasts and cubes the bread she uses in her Cranberry Bread Pudding.

There are a few different ways to make the perfect bread pudding. I tend to prefer custardy puddings, which is why I like Fiona’s. She uses 5 eggs to make her bread pudding extra tasty, and I can’t imagine better spices to complement the tart cranberries than cinnamon and nutmeg. So just how delicious is it? This recipe has stood the test of time; Fiona’s been making it the same way for 7 years!

Whether or not the recession has knocked at your door, saving money is always in season. Beans aren’t just special for their musical qualities, they can also do wonders for your pocketbook. In some recipes, you can replace pricey meat with beans, or just use beans to reduce the amount of meat in the recipe. They’re hearty and provide a great amount of fiber and flavor.

Speaking of flavor, Shirley from Plum Bush Cottage uses a ham hock to liven up her Smokey White Bean & Ham Soup. Ham hocks are like soup bones, in that they add a hefty amount of flavor, without a hefty price. The small white beans she uses are mild, so they allow all the other ingredients to shine through.

And you don’t even have to worry about opening up a can of broth, because the ham hock, ham steak, and aromatics will make your mouth water all on their own. This may be a slow-cooked soup, but it definitely won’t last very long in your bowl!

When I was browsing Emily’s blog, My Muffin Thursdays, awhile back, out of all her delicious recipes, her Mom’s Creamy Pea Gravy caught my attention the most. Why? Well, it’s one of those comforting from-scratch recipes made-up at home; not complicated but still delicious. Also, it brought back fond memories of my own childhood.

Believe it or not, I used to mix peas with the gravy my own mom used to make when I was a kiddo; I only ate veggies if they were served with a topping or condiment, whether it was ketchup, cheese… or gravy! I know I would’ve liked Emily’s family recipe because it’s made creamy and delicious with butter and evaporated milk instead of turkey or chicken drippings, like many of the gravy recipes we’re used to.

This is also an ideal recipe for those who don’t like getting their daily recommended amount of calcium with a glass of milk or those who are on a vegetarian diet. Though Emily’s mom usually serves this over mashed potatoes, I could easily see this in a pot pie or tasty casserole dish. This family recipe for pea gravy is the stuff many tasty comfort foods could be made of :).

Amy from Mothering Corner has an eye for creating kiddie masterpieces out of food. Okay, so maybe I’ve been tempted to try out one of her bento tutorials for myself, but that’s because I see her compositions as foodie works of art! I couldn’t help but think this is a great way to get kids to eat fruits and veggies, or just their lunch in general!

If you have a kiddo who likes to swap lunches with their friends at recess, even though you insist that the lunch you make them is more nutritious, I guarantee your kiddo’s lunch will definitely be the envy of all of their friends after you’ve followed Amy’s tutorial. The great part about it? She uses simple ingredients, like bread and cold cuts! You don’t have to buy anything fancy; Amy doesn’t even use a pricey knife set, take a look at the tools she uses to craft this bento lunch!

This is the bunny cutter I used. You can easily do this with bread in different colors.

I used this cutter to form the ears by cutting an oval shape from a piece of ham.

I removed one of the ears of a bunny, that bunny is obviously for my gal. At the same time, I cut the noses from cheese.

Here are the ears for my bunnies.

But then, I suddenly remembered Mommy Moon asking me who to decorate Hello Kitty? :) Actually, it’s all about the same for any character.

If you have this multi cutters of ribbon, flower, star and etc, you can easily cut out the decorative details. I used kamaboko for the flower, but you can use anything such as wiener, carrot or ham too.

I placed the sandwiches in the lunch boxes, then added in the eyes and noses punched from nori.

So, here’s the end result:

Cake is the great unifier among desserts. Wherever you go, it’s likely you’ll find some kind of tasty cake. Whether you’re south of the border or over-seas, you can find cakes made from the most unique ingredients. Though yellow cakes with chocolate frosting have their place, they aren’t the only sweets with think of when we hear the word ‘cake’.

Even the term fruit cake doesn’t make us think of an unpopular holiday dessert anymore, thanks to one-of-a-kind cakes like Meredith’s Coconut Raspberry Cake with Almonds. It is a fruit based cake, with raspberries that go into the cake batter, but there’s also coconut. The warmth of the coconut complements the lightness of the berries nicely, and the cake is topped off with a vanilla cream cheese frosting and almonds. Though this is a two layer cake, you’ll certainly taste more than two flavors in every bite.

So you see, cakes are more than just sweet crumbly desserts covered with a buttery frosting. When it comes to finding the right one for you, follow Meredith’s lead. Meredith found inspiration in a cupcake recipe and made it her own by changing up the recipe here and there to create, what she calls on her blog Meredith’s Food for Life, a delicate cake.

Living with food allergies and sensitivities isn’t easy, I can attest to it. I also know that there are plenty of families being newly diagnosed with intolerances every day. Sarah from Life is Still Sweet knows what it’s like to suddenly have to change eating habits and even grocery shopping strategies, as some of her own children have food allergies and sensitivities.

This week Sarah’s sharing a few key tips with us. Because she’s become quite the expert when it comes to cooking unique meals that are allergy-friendly, I knew she’d have a lot to contribute to this week’s Tips and Tricks Friday post. And our special topic is? (Drum roll!) Adjusting to the allergy-friendly life!

When you first get the news that one of your kids may have an allergy or sensitivity to a certain food group, you are thrilled that perhaps some symptoms will be relieved. Then lunch rolls around and you feel like you’re left with the only two foods your child won’t eat.

After a bit of research and some kitchen refinement I now have a steady arsenal of meals and snacks that the family won’t complain about. Here’s a few tips from what I learned along the way.

First you need to remove any offending food from your house. Even if you have others that can eat anything on the planet, don’t have it in your house. It’s much easier to not explain to a starving wee-one why they cannot have their favorite snack any longer. It also decreases the chances of them “accidentally” eating something that you are desperately trying to avoid. Make friends with your neighbor or family members and clean out the pantry or fridge.

Plan on spending more time at the grocery store than usual. The first time I went to the store looking for products that were gluten free, I was in there for over an hour staring at labels. Now I’m more familiar with which products are appropriate for my family. It’s definitely worth spending the time reading labels, as many foods have hidden offending ingredients that you may not be aware of.

gluten free lemon muffins

Choose a couple of the family’s favorite food that you can no longer have, and work on recreating it. My family adores pizza. It didn’t bother them too much that my fabulous chocolate chip cookies were out, but you’d think it was the end of the world to not have pizza. I tried a couple of frozen versions from the store, but no one cared for them. We headed to the kitchen and tried out a few different recipes. This was the one our family prefers and now when they need their pizza I have something to give them.

pizza with gluten free crust

When you do find that prefect replacement, roll with it. While none of us have distinct terrible problems with dairy, we try to limit our consumption of the wonderful stuff. Sadly this limits our ice cream input. We found that sorbet is just as easy to make, and just as easy to change up. For Christmas we had cranberry sorbet, but this can easily be changed to lemon, or lime, or raspberry just by switching a few ingredients. This presto change-o bit works for many meals; tacos, chili, stir-fry, and even pancakes. The base stays the same, but with a few adaptations you’ve got a totally different take on it.

Lastly, branch out. Many other cultures rarely use the most common allergenic foods in their cooking. I love going to eat Thai food because they understand when I say “gluten free”, and there’s typically only one or two things on the menu that have gluten and dairy. Recently I tried a very uncommon grain. Millet is eaten in abundance in many other countries and it’s become a favorite grain around here.

Usually when I work with an unfamiliar food I try to make very small quantities just in case no one likes it. This way I’m not wasting it, and I have more left over to try out different techniques with how to use it. It takes some time to figure out how to use these new items to best suit you, but that is what makes the kitchen exciting and new everyday.

Stay encouraged and positive. The abundance of alternative ingredients can seem overwhelming at first, but seek help. Food bloggers are some of the friendliest folks out there. Send them an email and ask away. Cooking with your kid’s allergies/sensitivities will soon feel like second nature and sifting through all those new ingredients just makes life sweet.

Lynda from TasteFood reminisces over recipes. They’re the mementos she can share with everyone by way of a tasty meal. As she puts it, “Some people like to keep diaries. I keep recipes and menus.” So this means there is probably a good story behind most of the meals Lynda prepares.

Lynda’s had the opportunity to travel and even live abroad, so the recipes and menus she’s collected are from around the world — some have truly stood the test of time. She claims you can find a few 15 year old recipes in her cherished collection! Her Braised Chicken with Mushrooms is inspired by a recipe that’s 9 years old. The paper holding our recipes on may fade, but the memory of a good meal never does, we can all agree to that!

Lynda’s Braised Chicken with Mushrooms is like the hearty stew that fills you up after just one bowl, but you go back for a second serving anyway. Why? Because you can’t say no to fresh herbs and aromatics when they’re combined with a tasty assortment of mushrooms and sauteed then basted chicken!

Here we have another pasta dish that is unlike any other… well, any other I’ve ever tasted. It’s classically cheesy and addicting, just like every good mac and cheese dish should be, but Julia’s Bacon Mac and Cheese will even satisfy the meat-lovers.

Julia’s recipe is what you’ll want to prepare after a long, stressful week. This is an adapted Tyler Florence recipe, but I think Paula Deen would also be proud of Julia for coming up with a mac and cheese recipe that uses some of her favorite ingredients, like butter, of course, cheese (though she uses a Mexican Blend, to spice it up), and bacoooon! Julia’s macaroni is baked in the oven so that it becomes warm, ooey and gooey, the way we all like it.

The crispy bacon tops off the dish. In her blog My Food, My Art, Julia claims this is a “creamy artery clogging concoction”, but I bet bacon lovers could further rebel against every diet out there by adding bacon drippings ;). This is the kind of mac and cheese you don’t outgrow; I agree when Julia says it’s perfect.