9 Cheeseburger Bites

The hubby was flying all weekend with students and we had what I'm calling... our first official sequester moment.  The squadron arranged for their flights starting friday, but when sunday rolled around it finally occurred to them that they might not have enough money to open the airfield for the guys to land and come home.  So that was a little frustrating...and brought the country's current state right to our living room.  Have you encountered a sequester moment yet?

My parents were visiting as well, so while he was buzzing around in the air, we had some much needed time together.  On Saturday we went to one of my fav restaurants, scored a table by the window looking out over the bridge and bay front.  While taking in the view, the subject of success came up so we went around the table talking about what success means to us.  I felt like I really learned a lot about who my parent's are as people, and hopefully they did about me.  I feel successful in my life in a few areas already (food to eat, car, house, etc.), the basics are covered and I don't take that for granted.  I also feel successful if I've positively impacted someone's day even just a little bit.  It leaves me feeling happy and content with life.  Have you thought about what success means to you?  Sometimes I feel like our culture defines success with excess, but I feel like that's just a temporary fix.  It doesn't reach inside and give the soul that sense of fulfillment.  Which is why you end up out buying something else later.  Anyways, that's my two cents.  These cheeseburger bites sure do bring me fulfillment though :)

After my Pepperoni Pizza bite adventure I wanted to see what other dishes I could transform into little hand-held two bite meals.  I figured you have to start somewhere, why not the basics and then get all ingredient crazy down the road.  The first taste of these made me think - meatloaf, but after a dip in the mustard and ketchup...it was all cheeseburger.  (Either way, you can't go wrong) Serve these up at your March Madness party, for the kiddos or nibble on one while you have movie night.


Cheeseburger Bites
(makes 12)

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 package shredded cheddar cheese (about 1 Tablespoon per cup)
dash salt or seasoned salt like Lawry's
dash pepper
dash cayenne pepper (optional)
1 13.8 oz package Pillsbury pizza dough, unrolled & divided into 12 squares
non-stick cooking spray
ketchup
mustard

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare your regular sized muffin pan with non-stick spray and set aside.

2.  In a large skillet, season the meat with salt and pepper and cook the ground beef over medium-high heat until browned.  Add in the onions and red bell pepper and cook for about 3 minutes.  Sprinkle with cayenne and re-season with salt and pepper if needed.

3.  Lay each pizza dough square in the muffin pan so that it forms a little cup.  Add a tablespoon or two of the ground beef mixture to each cup and top it about a tablespoon of shredded cheddar.

4.  Bake for about 15 minutes until the dough is golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbly.

5.  Remove the finished cups from the pan and let cool on a wire rack or eat right away, be careful it's hot!  Dip in ketchup and mustard for a real cheeseburger taste, enjoy!