Pizookie Overflow
Heyyyyy 😀 Happy Sunday! Hope you’ve had a wonderful weekend so far <3
Last night was a lot of fun.
I didn’t get the chance to blog again yesterday- once I got home from teaching Zumba, I had to shower, make the last-minute things and put everything out.
The good news is that I made the lasagna in advance –I always think about lasagna being *so easy* until I actually set out to make it. All of the little steps are a beast- and just had to assemble the pizookies, get the appetizers together and make the salad and sparkling water.
For the sparkling water, all I did was slice an English cucumber and 2 lemons, and added it to Trader Joe’s lemon sparkling water. It was so refreshing and a good option for my friend Kelly and I, who couldn’t partake in the vino and beer.
Appetizer row:
Hummus, served Opa! style in a mortar and pestle, drizzled with olive oil and paprika.
Carrots, baby heirloom tomatoes and sliced bell pepper
Artichoke dip (from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan)
with Mary’s Gone Crackers and Pita Crackers.
A cheese plate:
Strawberries, fig paste, bleu cheese, goat gouda, cheddar and soft herbed goat cheese.
[The cheese plate items + the lasagna noodles and Mary’s crack are the only things I grabbed from Whole Paycheck. Everything else for the dinner was from TJs]
Set out plates and placemats:
Made the salad
[herbed goat cheese, diced green apple, dried cranberry, rosemary and candied pecan mix, with arugula and spinach and top- tossed right before serving]
and lit the candles 🙂
It was so nice to have a friend dinner party, finally. Now that we’re back in the swing of things, we’re planning to have friends over a lot more often.
For our meal, we had two different types of lasagna:
Meat lasagna on the left (Ina Garten’s recipe, using my homemade marinara), and butternut squash and goat cheese lasagna, using brown rice noodles and the same sauce, plus a lot of shredded goat gouda [adapted from *this Cooking Light Recipe*].
Salad with balsamic:
[this is probably my new favorite salad… but I say that every time I make a salad]
my plate:
and the best part:
PIZOOKIE!!!!!!!
For the pizookies, I used Tollhouse dough for the regular ones, and a store-bought gluten-free dough for the GF girls. The plan was to make the dough, but in the end, it didn’t happen. [And I needed so many ingredients, it was just easier this way] Two types of ice cream –Coconut Bliss Vanilla or regular Vanilla- and lots of dark chocolate chips.
For the pizookies, just add the dough to the tart pan (or a little soufflé dish) and bake for 15-20 minutes, top with desired toppings and serve. For these ones, the regular ones overflowed since I got overzealous with the dough, but it made for a cool-looking presentation.
Super easy, and I’m pretty sure everyone likes warm cookies with ice cream. 😀
It was an amazing night, with lovely company <3
[I went upstairs to get ready for bed with Bell, but didn’t make it very far]
This morning, we’re just hanging out before getting started on Sunday chores.
Have a wonderful day and I’ll be back later with a family post.
xoxo
Gina
55 Comments
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Every single thing you made looks so yummy!*
Everything looks amazing! You make one awesome hostess. I have to say too, you must the goat cheese producers most favourite person ever. You pimp them out.
What an awesome night! All the food looks amazing! I want to go to one of your famous dinner parties! LOL!
the lasagna looks good! p.s. i made your perfect protein pancakes this morning (with a few substitue: brown rice, soy milk and added coconut) omg so delicious!! i think the coconut addition was definitely a brilliant idea. 🙂 have a great sunday!
That looks like a delicious spread.. I want to have dinner parties! I may need a larger kitchen table though haha.
such a beautiful house and beautiful dinner party.
I want to eat ALL of that food!! you sure know how to do it all 🙂
I love getting ideas for good make-ahead dinner party items – thanks for sharing! The butternut squash lasagne is such a great vegetarian idea!
You Gina, are the hostest with the mostest! Yay, glad it was a great time………………..!
No shame in using a pre-made cookie dough! All the preping you did has me exhausted just reading about it. Looks like a lovely night, I’m sure your guests left very happy.
Looked amazing Gina – I love that you put effort into your hosting…being from a cultural background I can appreciate all of what you do.
Have a restful day.
You are such a great party hostess! I hope that if I ever have a party at my place it’ll be as amazing as yours. I love how you met the dietary needs of everyone. Typically when I go to parties the only thing for vegetarians is the potato salad…It’s so kind of you to think of everyone 🙂
Everything looked so yummy. thanks for the recipes, can’t wait to try the butternut lasagna!
Your house looks SO beautiful! That spread looks and sounds amazing, so glad that you had a nice dinner party. 🙂
I would love to come to one of your dinner parties!!
Great dinner party menu! I especially love the starter buffet, it looks lovely.
Do you cook with brown rice pasta often? I’ve tried a couple times, and both have been fail. It sticks to the bottom of the pot, no matter how much I stir it, and just essentially falls apart. I can’t believe how much of the noodles essentially disintegrate in boiling water. Tips?
Yes but I cook it for way less time than the directions suggest. Otherwise it’s gummy and a mess
I was immediately drawn to this post when I saw that the title included the word “pizzokie”. Mmm those things are my favorite little dessert. Have you guys ever been to Oregano’s? They have them in Arizona – not sure about Tucson.
yes, love oreganos!
Love your dinner parties- they make me so excited for *real* adulthood. aka when i’m not living on my part-time job salary in grad school and eating omelets for dinner half the time!!
actually- i had a quick question. do you have a post on the blog about how to move around a lot? i was looking but didn’t find one. i know you are used to moving around and you always make it work so well with working and such. i find myself potentially being in the same position soon (boyfriend has a serious job that makes him move every 4 months) and am wondering if you have advice on how to kind of deal/maintain a career/not lose your mind. kind of stressin 🙂
My kind of dinner party! So accomadating too. 🙂
Pizookies, here I come!
Your house is gorgeous!! All the appetizers have made me hungraaay! (:
The food and spread looks wonderful…the fact that you have people over, cook for other people, while in your 3rd trimester, after working all day and working all weekend, is pretty incredible. I don’t think anyone minded that you used a little premade cookie dough. I would have loved to dig into a warm pizzokie. You rock 🙂
And Ina Garten anything is pretty much guaranteed to be amazing!
thank you, friend! <3
great dinner party! can i come to the next one?m ;0)
for sure!
Awwww, this looks like such a good time!! Def have to remember this post when I throw my next dinner partieeee!
The hubby and I tried Renee’s for the first time yesterday, and we already can’t wait to go back! The gluten free slice is delish!
i’m already trying to figure out when i can get there for lunch this week 🙂 the gf slice and salad is perfect!
your home is gorgeous!
thank you! <3
Your home and dinner party look lovely! I hope you had a good time!
Where did you get your dress?
off 5th- prob my fave store 🙂
I love your blog! I’m in the middle of the Summer Shape Up (about to start week 3). I’m alittle late but having a great time! Thanks for posting them.
whoo hoo! glad you’re enjoying them so far
I’m sorry, did you say Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Lasagna?? I’m having a hard time fully processing the utter deliciousness potential of this dish.
it’s kind of insane 🙂
That party looks like it was so much fun! Look at all that awesome food! I need to try to make that squash lasagna!
This post inspired me to make my first pizzokie….holy amazeballs, that was delicious! I may have eaten it in 2 minutes flat…
I have been reading your blog forever and don’t know why it took me so long to try it!
i’m so glad you finally did! life-changing 🙂
what a lovely spread, gina! i would be your dinner guest anytime 🙂
come on over 🙂
Looks like an amazing spread – I’m sure it was a great party you put on !!
Your other pregger friend, is she GF too?? I bet your other friend really appreciated all this amazing gf gourmet!
😀
yep, i had two girl friends over- one is pregger and gf 🙂
How do you manage to make both your house and your meal look so perfect?! Whenever I cook up a nice meal, the rest of my house and especially the kitchen are always a disaster! 😛
Cooking light always has the best recipes–that butternut squash one sounds killer! 🙂
Wow! I want to be invited to your dinner parties!! Everything looked delicious. (Beautiful house too)
Gina, your home is absolutely beautiful!!!
Not to mention your cooking skills! Holy moly! I’m sitting here in awe. Seriously your food spread just looks so delicious! I live vicariously and pretend I’m enjoying this amazing feast while I dive into my law books haha.
You did such a great job! I bet everything was even more delicious than it looks!
XOXO
That looks delicious!! Holy cow! 🙂
I love Cheese Plates!!! Yum!!
I know where to look now if I ever want to host a dinner party! Sounds like absolute perfection! 🙂
What a scrumptious looking dinner! You make putting together all those dishes, and catering to various dietary needs, look so effortless. Do tell: what’s your secret? I am the most harried, last-minute dinner party hostess ever.
I’ve read your blog forever – coming out of the closet! Your dinner party looks amazing… thanks for always providing such great motivation for new foods and great workouts. 🙂
Looks like a great dinner party! I need to have one of these with my girlfriends!
your house looks so cozy! and that butternut squash + goat cheese lasagna sounds prettty perfect 🙂
Did you completely substitute the goat Gouda for ricotta? Looks amazing!