Homemade Pizza

I think homemade always tastes better than store bought. Awhile back, an ex's parents gave me a recipe for an I guess, semi-homemade pizza. I thought I'd give it a shot and I haven't made pizza any other way since. I'm not a big fan of tomatoes so I much rather have white sauce or a pesto or even bbq sauce on my pizza than just typical tomato sauce. That's probably why I like making my own pizza so much. That and the fact that when you go to Pizza Hut or Dominos, they don't put many toppings nor do they put a lot of cheese that I like. This is a pretty easy way to make pizza at home and the topping possibilities are endless. I've made this recipe many times and have tried different sauces and different toppings and it has always turned out great.


I was originally taught to use this pizza kit. It comes in a box and is pretty cheap, but I only needed the dry ingredients in it to make the crust. I didn't use the cheese or the sauce or anything so it got to the point where I just started buying the cheap packs of pizza crust mix that usually cost under $1 and bought everything separate. If you are making your pizza with tomato sauce and you want pepperoni on it, then your better off buying this box and just buying some more toppings and some cheese to go with it.

To make the crust, follow the directions on whatever packet of dry ingredients you end up buying. I like to add garlic powder to mine to make it taste more like a breadstick. When the dough is mixed, drop about a tsp of canola oil on top the ball of dough, cover it with saran wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes.

While it's resting, prepare your toppings. Make sure if you're putting any kind of meat on your pizza that it is precooked. Don't put raw because the pizza doesn't cook long enough to thoroughly cook it. A few combinations that I've tried and really liked are:

• bbq sauce, shredded chicken, olives, pineapple
• white sauce, olives, ricotta cheese, spinach, ground turkey
• basil pesto, shredded chicken, ricotta cheese, olives, cilantro
• white sauce, ham, pineapple, olives
• white sauce, ricotta cheese, crumbled bacon, olives
• tomato sauce, pepperoni, turkey sausage, ham

 Preheat the oven to 400. Roll out or stretch the dough on a floured surface until it's about 12" round or will fit your pizza pan. Spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray and lay the dough out, folding up the edges to make a crust. You can also add cheese to the inside of the crust if you'd like. Use a fork and poke holes throughout the dough so air can circulate and your dough won't bubble up. Spread a layer of sauce evenly over the dough. Cover with you toppings. I like a lot of toppings so my pizzas are always pretty thick where you can't see much of the sauce anymore. Put it in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Take it out and cover your pizza with cheese. I usually buy a 2 cup bag of shredded mozzarella or pizza cheese and use the whole bag because I like a lot of cheese. Put it back in the oven and cook for another 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is lightly golden. Take out and let it set for 10 minutes. If you cut it right away, it'll fall apart, especially if you have a lot of stuff in it. I've learned from experience. Plus, it'll be too hot to eat anyway. Use a pizza cutter and cut the pizza into 6 pieces. That's usually the best size where it won't fall apart.

*Reheating leftovers: it tastes best if you put it on a baking sheet and pop it in the oven at 400 for about 10 minutes, but the microwave will do too, it just won't be crispy like it's straight out of the oven.

Christmas Cookies

Christmas time is one of my favorite times of year. I love to cook and bake and this is the time that I can go all out baking and have fun with it. On average, I make 10-15 different kinds of cookies every year and they always seem to be a hit with all my family and friends. Some are old favorites and some I find throughout the year and want to change it up and try something new.

Venetians or 7-layer cookies
Eggnog Thumbprints
Florentines
Rudolphs
Holly Clusters
Rice Krispy Balls
Russian Teacakes
Bakeless Fruitcake
Santa's Whiskers
Hungarian Cookies
Pecan Tassies
Lemon Pretzels
Red Velvet
Macadamia Nut Cookies
Raisin Cookies


With such a variety of cookies, it makes for a very good presentation and everybody seems to be so impressed, when majority of the cookies are so easy to make. The only few that take some time to do, are the Venetians, Pecan Tassies, and the Hungarian cookies.

Crock pot Sweet Potato, Turkey and Quinoa Chili

Quinoa....this stuff is....different. I wanted to start cooking healthier and I started researching different grains that are better for you than others. I came across quinoa. I wasn't sure how it tasted and it was fairly new to hit popularity so not many people knew much about it. I originally tried it plain, without any seasonings or sauces because I wanted to see how it tasted. I didn't like it. But I didn't want to rule it out quite yet so I searched on Pinterest for recipes that looked good and could ease me into eating it and I came across this one for a chili where it was mixed with sweet potatoes and ground turkey and I actually really liked it. Most people may not like the initial taste of quinoa, but when you season it right and mix it with other things, it does taste pretty good. I decided to give this chili a try and tho I don't like beans I was able to omit them and still have a tasty meal. If you want the original with the beans in it like typical chili has, click on the link  http://iowagirleats.com/2014/01/13/crock-pot-sweet-potato-and-quinoa-turkey-chili/ and follow their recipe. I'm sure either version is just as good as the other.

*Note: You can buy quinoa rinsed or not, so make sure you check if it's been pre-rinsed before cooking it. The rinsed kind are a lot easier to cook with because when you have to rinse it yourself, it can make a bit of a mess because they're such small little balls, that they stick to everything. You can find bags of it at Costco or Sam's Club.

You'll need:
1 pound ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper
4 cups chicken broth
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into small chunks
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp red chili pepper flakes In a large skillet, put a little bit of olive oil to coat the pan and saute the chopped onions 5-7 minutes. Add the ground turkey and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until no longer pink. Make sure to break up the turkey so it's in smaller crumbles as it's cooking. Add garlic and let it cook 30 seconds more. Scrape out pan into your crock pot. Add remaining ingredients and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours. Check sweet potatoes to make sure they are tender, by sticking a knife through one. Pour into bowl and top with toppings of your choice.

*I topped mine with tortilla strips, shredded cheese and avocado. Fresh cilantro would've been good too.


*Save 1 cup of chicken broth to mix in when refrigerating it so it won't be dry when you reheat it.

Sweet Chicken (or Pork) Barbacoa

I don't eat fast food. The closest I get, is eating at Cafe Rio and there's only one thing that I get there every time I go: the Sweet Pork Barbacoa Salad. It is amazing. I'd eat it all the time if it wasn't so expensive and if it was a bit more healthier for me. I found a copykat recipe for it and thought I'd give it a try and hope that it tastes the same. It tastes pretty darn close. I've tried making this recipe a few times, a few different ways and each way came out tasting just as good. I tried going the little bit healthier route and using chicken breasts instead of pork. The original recipe in the link, uses pork butt, but my version will use chicken. You can always follow the link for the pork. They both taste great. http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2013/05/my-favorite-cafe-rio-copycat-recipes.html

The last time I tried this, I made the chicken and put it in lettuce leaves for a lettuce wrap feel and added a little bit of cheddar cheese, fresh cilantro, a couple slices of avocado, some cilantro lime rice and a few tortilla strips to give it that little bit of salty crunch. I've also made mine a salad in a taco bowl that I made from using my tortilla bowl molds and putting a tortilla in the oven to make it harden into a bowl shape.

You'll need:
4 chicken breasts
2 cans of Root Beer (I had a 2 liter bottle and used 1/2 of it)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
1 can diced green chiles
1 14oz can of enchilada sauce (red)
1 cup brown sugar

Marinate chicken in a mixture of 1 can of soda and the 1/2 cup brown sugar, in a reclosable bag. I like to marinate it overnight, but marinating it for a couple hours works just as well if you're short on time.

Drain the marinade and place chicken in your crockpot along with 1/2 of a can of root beer, water, garlic and salt. Cook on high 2-4 hours or low 7-8 hours. Remove chicken from pot and shred. At this point it should be easy to shred using two forks. If it doesn't fall apart easily, let it cook a little longer.

While chicken is cooking, in a blender preferably so you don't have big chunks of chiles, blend together the remaining 1/2 of can of soda, can of diced chiles, 1 cup brown sugar and the can of enchilada sauce.

Put the shredded chicken along with the sauce you just blended together, all back into the crockpot and heat through, for 15 minutes or so.

Healthy Blueberry French Toast Bake

I love fruit and any chance I get to add fruit to a healthy recipe, I'm trying it. I stumbled across this recipe on Pinterest and thought it was worth a shot. I don't like milk and I've tried soy milk and didn't care for that, but then one day the store had almond milk on sale so I thought I'd give it a try and it actually tasted pretty good. At least the vanilla flavored almond milk does and it doesn't make you feel guilty with all those extra calories that regular 2% milk has that I grew up on. I was able to make this ahead of time and cut it up and have an easy meal for breakfast for the week, that just had to be warmed up.




I got the recipe from http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-blueberry-french-toast-casserole/. I made a few slight changes. You can easily substitute the blueberries for a different kind of berry if you prefer. I'd like to try it next time with raspberries. I also added extra blueberries as you can tell because one, I had them and two, I love berries. I also made a double batch, so if you want to make as much as I did in the picture, double the recipe below.

You'll need:
6 cups cubed, wheat bread
8 egg whites
1 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk (I'd add an extra 1/4-1/2 cup)
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cups blueberries

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk together the egg whites, almond milk, honey, extracts and cinnamon in a large bowl until everything is combined. For the double batch, I used a 9x13 baking dish. You could use a smaller one if you're just making the normal recipe. Fill the dish with the cubed bread.
Pour the liquid mixture over the bread and allow it to sit for at least 30 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the bread. Mix in the blueberries. Bake for about 45 minutes or until there is no longer any liquid between the bread. It should look similar to the picture on the right. If you doubled the batch, it will need to stay in for a little bit longer. When it's cool, you can cut it up and serve or put it in containers if you're doing a meal prep and it will be good for the week. Depending on how much you eat, it will last for 4-6 meals.

*It was a little dry, so I'd add a bit more milk next time, but it was still delicious.

Eggplant Parmesan

This is a fairly simple recipe. It's easy to make and it doesn't require a lot of ingredients.It's also a bit healthier than most recipes because you don't fry the eggplant, you bake it.

You'll need: 
1 medium to large eggplant
Jar of tomato sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 eggs
Panko crumbs
Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375. Scramble the eggs in a bowl and add a little bit of water to them so they're not as thick. In another bowl, pour in about a cup of the Panko crumbs. You'll probably need more, but it's better to use a little at a time so you don't waste much. Slice the eggplant in equal size slices, best at about 1/2 inch thick or you can slice them the long way too. Dip them in the egg mixture and then into the crumbs, coating both sides. Lay them single layer on a baking sheet and drizzle olive oil over them. Stick them in the over for 12 minutes. Take them out, flip them over and sprinkle olive oil over the other side and put back into the oven for another 12 minutes or until they're golden brown. Take them out and layer them in a baking dish:

 layer of sauce

layer of eggplant

layer of sauce

layer of cheese

layer of eggplant

layer of sauce

remainder of cheese

Put in oven for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Chicken Salad

Everybody has their own versions of chicken salad. I've even tried a couple of different variations, but there was one recipe that mom used to always make for me when I was younger, that I just seem to keep coming back to. The amount of ingredients varies depending on how much you're trying to make, but you can eyeball it and add or subtract stuff if you want. The secret ingredient to this deliciousness is mango chutney. It gives it a slight sweetness.

You'll need:
1 cup chicken, cubed or shredded
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup grapes, cut in half
1-2 tsp mango chutney (I like extra)
1-2 tbsp mayonnaise or greek yogurt (depends on how dry or wet you like it)
salt and pepper

Shredded chicken works a lot better when trying to fit in a sandwich, but cubed chicken works too. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. If you have big chunks of mango in your chutney, you may want to chop them into smaller bits. If you want to take a healthier route, try using greek yogurt instead of mayo to cut out the fat. I've tried it and it was good, but it does taste a bit different. As pictured, I think it tastes really good on pita bread, but it can be enjoyed with many things: rolls, bread, crackers, tortillas.

Dr Seuss Day

This week is Nevada Reading Week and since I'll be subbing most of the week, I thought I'd participate in the dress up days. Today was Dr Seuss day. I didn't have any Dr Seuss shirts, nor did I have any red and white striped clothing so I thought I'd make my own shirt. Luckily for me, everything I needed to buy to make it, was either on sale or I had a discount coupon for it so this shirt cost me about $5 to make. A lot better than spending a lot of money on a shirt from the store. And it took hardly any time to do.

Things you'll need:

 

T-shirt
Sheet of white felt
Black fabric paint

White thread and needle

Wash your t-shirt so the color is set. Sometimes the color comes of of t-shirts depending on the brand you get. I went onto Pinterest and found a template for "Teacher 1" copied it and pasted it into a word document so I could adjust it to the size I wanted, and printed it out. The white felt is light and thin enough that you could lay it over the printout and still see where the lines are to trace. Once it's traced, cut it out and go over it with the black paint. I used a fabric paint that had a tiny little tip at the end that would make it easier to use with smaller lines. When the paint was dry, I sewed it onto the shirt.