Homemade Pizza

Made my first pizza! It was pretty yummy, aside from the crust... Not sooo crusty. It was more like a biscuit. But I did use bisquick. I was in a pinch, ran out of flour and it was the only thing I had. But I fulfilled my dream of eating a meatball pizza!
Seriously...I really had a dream about a meatball pizza. And it was the best meatball pizza in the whole world! As soon as I went in for a big bite.....I woke up.

So for the crust I used:
2 1/2 cups of bisquick
3/4 cups of water
1 pack fast acting dry yeast

Dissolve yeast in water. Mix with bisquick until combined. Knead 20 times on lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into 2 pieces and roll out.
Feel free to use your own recipe, or store bought. I didn't care tooo much for this so I probably won't be using it again.

Let's get saucy!
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
8 oz. tomato sauce
1/4 tsp oregano
salt & pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

sauteé garlic and shallot in oil until tender, 4 minutes. Add sauce, oregano and salt and pepper. Cook on medium-low until sauce had slightly thickened.

That's a spicy meatball! (said in cheesy italian accent!)
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup italian bread crumbs
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp oregano
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 lb. ground beed

Mix all ingredients together and roll into 1 inch balls. I had 12 balls total. Cook in 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat.
I like to put a lid on them and let them steam then take the lid off and brown them, turning the heat to med-high for browning.
Cool to room temp and cut into slices.

Sprinkle italian bread crumbs on a baking sheet and top with rolled out pizza dough. Spoon sauce all over the dough. Top with meatballs and whatever toppings you like! I put tomatoes and onions on mine. Sprinking with shredded parmesan cheese and be generous with the mozzarella. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 450 degrees. When the crust is golden turn off the oven and turn the broiler on high. Broil until cheese is slightly golden.

Roast Pepper Chili

Sooo good! And good for you :)
You will need:
1 pound ground sirloin
1 purple onion (chopped)
2 poblano peppers
1 red, yellow, & green pepper
2 tbsp freshly minced garlic
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
14 oz. petite diced tomatoes
14 oz. black beans (drained but not rinsed)
14 oz. kidney beans (drained but not rinsed)
1 12 oz. beer
2 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1.5 tbsp: garlic powder, onion flake, paprika, salt, black pepper
1 tbsp cumin, ancho-chili powder, cayenne pepper
2 packages chili seasoning

Wash and dry the peppers, put the onion in the freezer. Put the peppers on a preheated grill or grill pan,  high heat, cooking until the skin is slightly charred and looks wrinkled and pulls away from the meat of the pepper. Rotate the pepper to ensure even, all-around cooking. Make sure to cook the bottom and the top as well. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the pepper.

When the peppers are nice and charred put them in a baking dish and cover with plastic wrap to cool. The plastic wrap allows condensation to form and the peppers stay moist. This allows to the skin to peel more easily.

Preheat a large stock pot or dutch oven to medium high heat. Add olive oil. Take the onion out of the freezer, chop, and add to the pot. Turn the heat to medium and cook until soft, about 5-7 minutes. Add sirloin. While the meat is cooking peel and seed peppers. Dice the peppers and add them to the onions and sirloin. Add all your spices and seasoning. Mix well. Add the beer and cook until almost completely evaporated. Add the beans, tomatoes, and stock. Stir to mix everything together and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Let simmer for at least an hour.                                                    

Cupcakes!!

I volunteered to host a bake sale at work in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness. It is October and breast cancer is all the rage this time of year. So for a good cause, as you know baking is not my thing, I put on my best game face and took a challenge. With the help of the box mix I was successful! Remember my last baking venture?

Yea... Not my best work. Well this time around I made pretty, delicious cupcakes! And I have proof.

I made all kinds of goodies for this bake sale. I baked for hours! Hard labor I know... Here's what I created!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip with Peanut Butter Frosting

Cake:

1 box chocolate cake mix

1/4 cup peanut butter chips

Make according to box directions. Spoon into paper cupcake holders and sprinkle on the peanut butter chips. Bake according to box.

Frosting:

1/2 stick of butter

4 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

3-4 cups powdered sugar

splash of milk if needed to insure proper consistency 

Cream butter, cream cheese and peanut butter together. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Add milk if necessary, if frosting is too thick. 

See! Pretty! 

My other creation was just a plain ol' chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting. I put red food coloring in the frosting to make it pink!! 

They're ta-ta-tastic cupcakes!

Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole

I love my mom's hashbrown casserole. I can never make it quite like her but mine is pretty tasty. It has all the components of a great casserole: sour cream & cheese!!!! Lots of cheese!
It's great for breakfast... lunch... dinner. Yes, dinner. I have altered the recipe some to make it dinner friendly. It's a little more savory, equally delish.
To make this you will need:

• 1 bag diced potatoes. (I like the kind with peppers and onions. Or you can get the shredded kind. Whatever you like)
• 2 cans Campbell's Chedder Cheese soup
• 12 oz. sour cream. 
• 1 cup shredded chedder cheese, divided.
• salt & pepper. 

Break up the hashbrowns and pour them into a large mixing bowl. Stir in sour cream and chedder cheese soup and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. You probably won't need to add much salt.

YUM!

If it doesn't look this creamy feel free to add more sour cream.

Put it in a glass casserole dish. Cover it with the rest of the shredded cheese.

Put it in the oven.

I made two small ones. But feel free to make one large one. It's yummy no matter what you put it in.

Bake at 350 degrees until it's bubbly and the cheese is melty and golden. About 20 minutes. But just use your eye. If it's bubbly and golden, it's done!

And it will look like this:

Café Rio Pork

  I got this recipe off a friends blog and please let me tell you, it is SO GOOD!!!


Café Rio Pork
3 lbs pork roast (butt or shoulder)
1 c dark brown sugar
1c worcestershire sauce
1t dried oregano
1t powdered ginger
1t salt
1t chili powder
1t garlic powder
2T dried minced onions

  

   In a large mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients.

Wisk in worchestershire sauce

.

 

Put the pork in the crock pot and cover with mixture.

Put the lid on and set your timer! 

Now being me, I didn't have 3 pounds of pork lying around. I had 6. So I doubled the recipe. And it turned out great! If you do have 3 pounds of pork then cook it for about 8 hours. I left it in the crock pot for 10 hours over night. I kept it in the crock pot while I was at work and when I came home it was cool and ready to shred! It looked like this:

YUM! 

Good pork when prepared for shredding should fall apart in your hands when you go to shred it. 

I hardly did any work here. It was so tender! I strained some of the mixture it cooked in.

Put the pork back in the crock pot & prepare 1 cup of dark brown sugar

Add the brown sugar to the pork along with: the strained mixture and 1 can of red enchilada sauce

I cooked that on low for about on hour.

End result:

The closest this pig will ever get to heaven! 

Instant Gratification...Delayed

Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success.

-Brian Adams, Author

If there's one thing I don't like to do, it's wait. And how I love to cook! The two don't go hand in hand and one thing I've learned about cooking is you have to be patient. You have to put love and time into what you're making. But I hate it! Especially when I'm making something for the first time. I don't want to sit around and wait. I want to make it and it be done and then I want to eat it!

Fortunately, if I ate so hastily I would probably acquire some food borne illness. Not desirable. And the meal would not be as it was meant to be. 

So the moral of the story is: when it comes to cooking, instant gratification is not always the best gratification. After all, delicious things come to those who wait...

Patience is the greatest of all virtues.

Cato the Elder, Roman orator & politician (234 BC - 149 BC)

*Quotations courtesy of http://www.quotationspage.com  

Parmesan Chicken w/ Spaghetti

Rachael Ray made Parmesan Crusted Chicken on 30 Minute Meals one day and it looked soo good! So I made it. Now it's one of my go-to meals when I don't know what I want for dinner. My mom is a fan, especially when I pair it with oven roasted rosemary veggies. Tonight, I stuck with spaghetti.

First things first. You need:

1 cup of parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp sea salt
Mix together in a pie plate.

Coat chicken with cheese. I like chicken tenders or thin sliced chicken. 

Add 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil to a skillet and heat up over medium heat. 

While that's heating up start on the spaghetti. 

When the oil is hot add the chicken! 

When the chicken is done put it aside on a plate. Don't put a paper towel on the plate to absorb some of the oil. The chicken could stick to the paper towel and that would not be tasty.  Do however, sprinkle with a little more cheese! There is noooo such thing as too much cheese! 

Heat up some marinara sauce or your favorite pasta sauce in a sauce pan. Drain pasta and plate. Add sauce. Add chicken. And more cheese!!!! Outcome should look like...

Most yummy! 

I dream of baking...

I really do. I'm not the greatest baker. My cupcakes alone are enough to prove that! 

But I dream of making all kinds of goodies: cupcakes, cookies, cakes, cupcakes... 

I love cupcakes. 

And cheesecake. 

And brownies. 

I have finally found a website that indulges all my sweet-tooth fantasies! I gain 5 pounds per picture just looking through them. And there are a lot of pictures. 

A friend of mine introduced me to this site and I am soo thankful! 

I can't wait to start 

"trying"

 some of the recipes. 

If you have a sweet-tooth then you have to check this out!

The cutest sweets around!

Bakererella

Thick Cut Fries w/ Parsley & Sea Salt

This is a delish snack for anytime and is great with whatever you would eat fries with!

5 good sized red new potatoes
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tbsp. dried parsley or 1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup of vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Cut potatoes into 1/2 inch slices. Rinse under cold water in a colander and pat dry with a paper towel. Toss with the  rest of the ingredients. Return to colander and drain off excess oil. Spread out the fries evenly on a baking sheet and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until desired crispiness.

Note: I am a big fan of using extra virgin olive oil in pretty much everything. However, when I'm baking potatoes and want them crispy, vegetable oil works great!

To bake...Or not to bake?

I would say, not. I might have a knack for some things in the kitchen. Baking is not one of them. Unless I go the semi-homemade route and it already comes in a box. Add milk, water, or some other lubricating substance and bake. No problemo. Follow a recipe from scratch? I got nothing. I always forget some key ingredient or don't add enough of this or that and what do I get!?!?! THIS:

OY! It's box mix from now on...

Ice Cream, Ice Cream, We All Scream For...Cefiore?

It's serious delicious refreshment. Thanks to my sister I know what I've been missing. It's not ice cream it's non-fat frozen yogurt and it's sooo good! They have great flavors and everything is all natural so it's  good for. Cefiore started out in Southern California and now they have stores all over the world. They have a store here in Louisville located on the corner of Bardstown Road and Eastern Parkway right next to Qdoba.
They have great flavors: Raspberry Pomegranate, Pineapple Tart, Green Tea, and Acaiberry. Top with your favorite topping which can be anything from fresh cut fruit to shredded coconut and chocolate chips. They also serve waffles, smoothies, teas, and coffee. They offer samples if you can't decide which flavor to enjoy. The pineapple tart was really refreshing but I opted for the raspberry pomegranate frozen yogurt. I topped it with fresh strawberries, coconut and white chocolate chips. It was SO GOOD!

I wanted to get a good picture but couldn't wait to dig in. It was calling my name!

Check them out at: www.cefiore.com

Then go see them at their store and try it for yourself! I will definitely be going back for more. Maybe tomorrow?

Simply Scrumptious

 I love Giada de Laurentiis. I was shopping in Target the other day and saw her newest cookbook, "Giada At Home" and I just had to have it. It is full of amazing recipes and I've been DYING to try some! So since I love eggs and my boyfriend loves steak I decided to go with the Grilled Tuscan Steak with Fried Egg and Goat Cheese. It's a really simple recipe and it turned out sooo good.  I omitted the goat cheese because Anthony (my bf) doesn't think it's cheese unless it comes from a cow. I substituted shredded parmesan and it worked great. You can find the recipe in Giada's cookbook or online

Grilled Tuscan Steak w/ Fried Egg

Need a little more? I made fried tortellini to go with my steak! 

Get your favorite store bought ravioli or tortellini

Beat 2 eggs with 1/2 cup of milk

Mix together 1/2 cup of flour with 1/2 cup of italian seasoned bread crumbs

Sprinkle in a pinch of salt and pepper

Coat the pasta with egg then dredge in the flour

Heat about 3 cups of vegetable oil to about 300 degrees

Deep fry until golden and serve with your favorite marinara sauce. YUM!

Mang-o-licious Tacos

So, I wanted tacos for dinner. But I didn't want my plain old tacos with ground beef and taco sauce. My Love for mexican inspired dishes and my spontaneous creativity got me thinking about trying something a bit different and on a hot summer day nothing is more refreshing than my Grilled Chicken Tacos with Cucumber Mango Salsa. This is so easy to make and will definitely quench your appetite. I almost couldn't eat it because I was drooling over it so much. Which garnered me enough "you're so weird" stares from my boyfriend I just had to give in and taste it. IT WAS SOO GOOD! Sweet, savory and juicy with a bit of crunch and a lot of YUM-O. Just enough flavor and texture to make your taste buds tango to taco heaven!

My muses for this recipe are the Mango Chicken Salad from Qdoba and some mango salsa covered crab cakes I had once at a local eatery. They were sooo good! But I like being in control of what goes into my food and onto my plate. It's much healthier for you when you're in charge of what goes in and what stays out. So please do try! I guarantee it will be a crowd pleaser.

Mango Salsa

1 small cucumber - seeded

1 mango

1/2 red onion

1 jalapeno - If you like it spicy leave the seeds. If you don't scrape them out. Or just scrape out some of them for a medium heat.

juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon of honey

about a teaspoon

or so of dry or fresh cilantro

pinch of salt and pepper

Dice the first 4 ingredients into small, evenly sized pieces. Toss with remaining ingredients then cover and let it hang out in the fridge while you prepare the chicken.

Pollo

1 pound - boneless, skinless chicken breast. (I like chicken tenders for this)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon ancho chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Clean the chicken and pat dry. Lay aside in one even layer. Mix the dry ingredients together and sprinkle evenly over chicken. Flip the chicken over and repeat.

If cooking the chicken on the stove top: Pre-heat skillet to med-high and add a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Add the chicken and cook through. About 10-12 minutes flipping once.

If cooking the chicken on the grill: Pre-heat the grill on the lowest setting. Brush the grill with some of the olive oil so the chicken doesn't stick. Add the chicken. Brush the chicken with the olive oil. After half the cook time flip the chicken and brush with more olive oil. Chicken will be done in about 10-12 minutes.

Once the chicken has cooled slice it into strips for your tacos. Fill steamed flour taco shells with chicken and salsa. Top with your favorite toppings or nothing at all and ENJOY!!

Let's think outside the box on this one. This manga salsa isn't just for tacos. Use your imagination to put it on some of your favorite foods. It might be mango but it's still salsa!

I am not a girl scout...

But they make great cookies. If you like girl scout cookies you will LOVE my brownies. They're my better version of the samoa cookies.

Rich, sinful chocolate...

Gooey, melt in your mouth caramel...

Exotic, sweet, heavenly coconut...

Aaahhh....

Yes these brownies will make you feel like your flying on a puffy, succulent, chocolate cloud of happiness! They are sooooo good! I could eat the whole batch!

All you need:

1 box of your fave brownie mix. You can go triple chocolate fudge or original just try to stay away from nuts and other odds mixings.

10-15 melted caramel candies

1/4 cup of sweetened flaked coconut.

1 big sweet tooth!

Pre-heat your oven and bake brownies according to the directions on the box.

In a skillet evenly disperse the coconut and place over a medium heat. 

Lightly toast. 

WATCH the coconut. All you need is a few minutes. You do not want to burn it. It will become aromatic and turn slightly golden.

When the brownies come out of the oven place on a cooling rack. 

Drizzle with melted caramel. Be generous. 

Then sprinkle with toasted coconut. Let cool completely.

Mexican at your casa es muy fácil

I love mexican food! Or at least the americanized version. I've never been to Mexico so I can't say I know what authentic mexican taste like. But all the restaurants I've been to claim they are authentic so unless I'm told otherwise I'm going to go with it. I'm always trying to come up with something new to try at home and lets face it, when we think of mexican at home we think tacos. I mean after all, it's not called taco Tuesday because of fajitas! Well I do love my tacos but I needed something new to try out. Some different ingredients to mix together that help me make something delicious and save time. So after much consideration I thought I'd try my hand at an enchilada.

Now, according to Wikipedia an enchilada is "a corn tortilla rolled around a filling and covered with a chili pepper sauce." I'm not a big fan of corn tortillas so I use tortillas made from flour. So I guess you could call mine a burrito covered in enchilada sauce. Regardless, it was quite tasty. Comparable to what I'd find out at a restaurant and I don't have to tip! And it's sooo easy to make! So try it out and see for yourself! I bet you'll be replacing taco Tuesdays with... umm...enchilada Tuesdays?

You will need!

1 10oz can of Rotell Mexican lime and cilantro - do not drain

1 package of taco seasoning

1lb boneless/skinless chicken breast tenders

1 10oz can of red enchilada sauce

4 grande burrito tortillas ( I like flour but if you like corn go for it!)

8oz shredded mexican blend cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pour the rotell in a medium sized skillet over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Add the chicken and cook until the chicken in halfway done. About 3-4 minutes. Turn the chicken to finish cooking through. About another 3-4 minutes. When you turn the chicken put a lid on the skillet. When the chicken is cooked through take it off the heat. Take only the chicken out and let it cool down for a few minutes. Then shred the chicken. Add the shredded chicken back into the pan. Add the taco seasoning, mix well and set aside. Meanwhile, put the tortillas between 2 moistened paper towels and pop them in the microwave for one minute. This is make them easier to work with during assembly. When the tortillas are done take one and sprinkle with a little cheese. About a tablespoon and a half should do. Spoon about a quarter of the chicken onto the tortilla and roll into a burrito. Fold in the sides and roll from the bottom up. Repeat for the other 3 tortillas. Place the burritos in an 8x11 glass casserole dish that's been sprayed with non-stick spray. Cover with the enchilada sauce and sprinkle on the rest of the cheese. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. The cheese should be melty and the sauce bubbly.

Serve with spanish rice and refried beans! Top it off with a little sour cream and you're good to go for restaurant cuisine right in your very own kitchen!

Stay tuned for more restaurant quality meals right from your kitchen! And I'm not talking Bertolli...

Feliz comiendo!

Chau!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enchilada