Survived this week! Plus toasted ravioli, buffalo chicken dip, and BBQ Chops!

It's Friday, which means we made it through both the cinnamon roll sales and the sandwich sales! Whew! We made a good amount of money, which is great because my kids can do more labs with that money and invest it into another food sale. The kids had a lot of fun and took a lot of ownership with the project, and I am so proud of them! The lunch sales definitely went better, probably because it was later in the day....I am so exhausted!
Happy Halloween!

Here are a few recipes that I have made lately and wanted to share: (easy easy easy!)

Toasted Ravioli
8 oz fresh cheese ravioli
2 T extra virgin olive oil
Dry Italian Bread crumbs
Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 400 F. Lightly spray a baking sheet. Brush ravioli with olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Place on baking sheet and bake in preheated oven until golden, about 7-9 minutes. Serve hot with chilled red sauce as an appetizer, or with heated sauce as a meal.

Pork Chops w/ Homemade BBQ Sauce

Norris was helping our neighbors out with sheetrocking last night, so I volunteered to make all the hungry boys dinner. I had made some BBQ sauce a few days ago to baste onto some chops we've had, and we all agreed that these were at least in the top two best chops we've ever had! They cooked perfectly in the oven--I don't have a broiler rack nor do I want one because they're so large and take up valuable space! So, I used a pizza pan with a cookie sheet on the rack underneath to catch any drippings.

6 large chops (we had the "grillers" since they were on sale and they were huge and awesome!)

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c ketchup

2 T W sauce (worcestershire...?)

2 T soy sauce

a few other seasonings if you want (depending on what I have and my mood for spiciness!)- thyme, hot pepper sauce, garlic salt, spicy garlic seasoning, ground red pepper (choose a couple, or none, and add about 1 t of whatever you want; adjust according to taste)

Rub a little salt and pepper on the chops and lay them out on the pan. Baste the top side with some sauce. Put under broiler on high heat for about 8 minutes per side (adjust according to chop size). Flip, baste again, and broil another 8 minutes. Be sure to check to see they are done!

Serve with remaining sauce.

**food safety note: separate the sauce you will use for basting from the sauce you will use for serving so that you don't dip a basting brush with raw chop juice on it into the sauce you will later eat!

I served with roasted spicy garlic potatoes and salad...the hungry boys loved it!

Tonight we are having a sort of Halloween party with our neighbors, so we are making a few things for that. I have seen a bunch of posts on other blogs about this buffalo chicken dip, so I am trying the recipe from allrecipes.com tonight! I am serving it with chicken flavored crackers and celery sticks. I plan to use fat free and low fat versions of everything possible. Hopefully this does not affect the flavor too much. I will be able to just stick it in the crockpot, which is the best part! Now on to figure out something to bring to "Girls' night" which happens to fall on election night and something for next Monday night when Sara and Joey come to stay with us! So excited to have them coming!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup Ranch dressing
3/4 cup pepper sauce, such as Franks® Red Hot®
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1 bunch celery, cleaned and cut into 4 inch pieces
1 (8 ounce) box chicken-flavored crackers


DIRECTIONS
Heat chicken and hot sauce in a skillet over medium heat, until heated through. Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing. Cook, stirring until well blended and warm. Mix in half of the shredded cheese, and transfer the mixture to a slow cooker. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, cover, and cook on Low setting until hot and bubbly. Serve with celery sticks and crackers.