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!