I thought it would be fun for me and my son to get busy in the kitchen by making a meal together. We’ve had a lot of “snow days” lately so it would give us something to do – plus, we would end up with a great meal right…….? Well, we had a blast and produced a pretty good meal too!
I decided to make one of my old standby recipes that I have made a million times – it’s pretty hard to mess up. It’s called Mexican Stromboli. It calls for ROTEL, one of my all time favorite products. I use it in soup, chili, and taco meat- it’s so versatile. In addition to the Stromboli, I decided on fresh green beans as a side dish and my son picked the dessert – chocolate cake with whipped cream and sprinkles.
We headed out to Kroger to pick up the items we needed for the meal. I love seeing those yellow sale tags everywhere. We purchased everything we needed and headed home.
We made the cake first; this proved to be a big mistake since junior begged to taste it all afternoon. He loved using all the different kitchen gadgets – such a boy. His favorites were the manual can opener and the tongs (which we didn’t need but he insisted on using). It was a learning experience for him and me, plus it kept his attention a lot longer than I thought it would. He helped make everything and then set the table and even helped load the dishwasher!
The meal turned out great, right down to the cake with sprinkles. I have had him help me a little here and there in the kitchen before but never to this extent. It was a lot of fun – he really liked measuring things out and he took a lot of pride in his work. I loved the fact that he finished what he started – not his strong point. I think we will have to do this more often.
Mexican Stromboli
1 lb Ground Beef
1 can Rotel – I use original flavor
1 can Rosarita Re-fried beans or whole beans
1 tube refrigerated pizza crust
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Sour Cream for garnish
Brown the ground beef and drain the excess fat. Add the can of Rotel and let it cook down until the juice is gone. Then add the can of beans, mix well and continue cooking until heated throughout. While the mixture is cooking lightly, grease a baking sheet and spread the pizza dough out into a large rectangle – I don’t push the dough all the way to the edges. Then place the mixture down the center of the pizza dough and sprinkle with the cheese. Bring the sides of the pizza dough up to the center of the mixture, overlapping slightly to seal. Use a fork to seal the ends. It should look like a miniature “log”. Poke a few holes in the top with a fork to vent.
Bake at 350 degree’s for 20-25 minutes – until crust is golden. Slice and top with sour cream. See my whrrl story for pictures:
I was compensated for this story by Collective Bias. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
