Mother's Day 2012

The menu said "Steak & Shrimp Kabobs" but instead we opted for Hawaiian Pizza with shrimp...

not a bad trade at all!

The men of the house spent the day playing video games and helping

me rearrange furniture. I finished an afghan I've been crocheting, and

cleared out some backlog on the DVR. It was a good day!

Thank you to my dear husband and to each of my sons - you make me happy

to be your Mom!!

Quickie Pizza Crust (from scratch)

The kids want pizza, but I don't want to order out.

I don't have any pre-made dough in the fridge...and I don't feel like going to the store to buy a pre-made crust.

I really, really don't want to order delivery.

What's a mom to do??

Make a quickie crust. Mixing time (5 minutes) plus resting time (10 minutes) then bake time (10 more minutes). After that load and bake. Viola! Dinner is done!!

Better yet - get the kids to help and use the resting time and 1st bake time to prep the ingredients to top the ready crust...

Or, if your house is like our house...use that time to fight about what kind of pizza to make.

Yay!!

Ingredients:

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (100-110 degrees F)

2 TBS extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups AP flour

*cornmeal*

Directions:

1. Combine active rise yeast in warm water until completely dissolved.

2. Add olive oil to water and yeast mixture.

3. Begin mixing wet ingredients on low using an electric mixer with a dough hook. Gradually add sugar, salt, and flour.

4. Increase mixer speed to medium and continue to beat (mix) until a soft dough ball forms.

5. Cover dough ball and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

6. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Prep baking stone or pan using non-stick spray and sprinkling with a light dusting of cornmeal.

7. After dough has rested, knead into a ball - then stretch to desired shape for baking. (I use a small dough roller to help stretch the dough to the desired shape and size.) Prick stretched dough with a fork.

8. Bake at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes.

9. After the crust has baked alone, remove from oven and top with desired toppings.

10. Bake for additional 10-12 minutes after toppings are loaded as desired. Allow additional baking time, if desired, for melting and browning of pizza toppings.

11. Enjoy!

Hint: When we want a thicker crust pizza, we use this recipe to make one large rectangle pizza. When we want a thinner, crispier crust I divide the dough ball on to two separate baking stones and stretch the dough further. If all else fails, tortillas make great pizza crust and in our case...Pizza Hut is about 4 blocks away! Although, my kids prefer my pizza over take-out these days...I kinda like that!!

This recipe is being shared at Everyday Mom's Meals this week for Church Supper #36 - go visit and tell her I said hello!  Check out what other great recipes are being shared this week while you are there :)

Pesto Chicken Pizzas

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh cilantro, minced
• 1 cup fresh parsley, minced
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• pizza crust (home made or store bought)
• 1 cup diced, cooked chicken
• 2 cups diced tomatoes
• 1 can (2 1/4 oz) slice ripe olives, drained
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. (Making the pesto.) In a blender: combine the cilantro, parsley, walnuts, Parmesan cheese, and garlic cloves. Cover and blend well. Once fully processed, add olive oil in a steady stream while continuing to blend.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
3. Place pizza crust on prepared baking sheet. Top pizza crust with about pesto, spreading with the back of a spoon.
4. Next, sprinkle with chicken, tomatoes, olives, and cheese.
5. Bake at 425 degrees F for 12-15 minutes - or until cheese is melted.

Hint: The original recipe called for flour tortillas as the crust - that is my favorite pizza crust! We had been traveling all day and I didn't realize we didn't have any tortillas. Apparently our oldest thinks flour tortillas make great late night snacks...Any whoo... In 15 minutes I prepared a home made crust (recipe to follow). Being flexible in the kitchen can be very rewarding! Another way to save time would be to substitute prepared pesto sauce - instead of making it from scratch. Enjoy!!

I'm sharing this recipe at A Little Nosh for the Tastetastic Thursday 4/19 party - go see what other great ideas are being shared!!

Pepperoni & Mushroom Stuffed Heart Pizza Bread

As Valentine's Day approaches, I've been looking around my kitchen for a package of heart shaped cookie cutters in graduated sizes. As of this post, those cookie cutters are still MIA. (Sounds to me like a good reason to head to Hobby Lobby!)

What I did find in my cabinets were some heart shaped mini-cake pans, a silicone small hearts cupcake pan, a heart shaped cookie baking pan....and way back in the corner were the bread tubes that I fell in love with and never use but once in a blue moon. Why? Mostly because the recommendation for use is to buy the refrigerated bread dough to bake in them.

While I'll admit, I have in the past. I will also admit I don't like to buy the refrigerated bread dough in a can that costs more than a loaf of baked bread. It seems a bit over the top, so I just don't do buy it.

Then I came across a recipe for a basic bread dough that works beautifully in place of those store bought cans of dough, has many other uses, and doesn't cost nearly as much to make.

That allows to me to spend money on those other Valentine's Day specials: M & M's, candy sprinkles, conversation hearts, the boxed cake mix with the pretty Valentine colors and matching icing.



I decided to use that basic bread dough recipe with the heart baking tube, and experiment by making a Pepperoni & Mushroom stuffed Pizza Bread. I could have made cinnamon rolls in the heart tube with this same dough recipe, but I think I'll save that idea for this weekend!

Ingredients:

1 bread dough ball from Basic Bread Dough recipe
1 small can of tomato paste
1 small package of deli sliced pepperoni
1 small can of sliced mushrooms, drained
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tsp Italian seasoning blend

- Allow the dough to come to room temperature. On a well-floured surface roll the dough out to a large rectangle shape.

- Top first with tomato paste, spreading almost all the way to each edge. Next add pepperoni slices, mushrooms, and mozzarella cheese. Last top with Italian seasoning blend.

- Using a pinching method, roll the covered dough along the longest side until you have a tube shape pizza roll.

- Prepare bread tube by spraying inside, (including the lid). Make sure oven is preheated to 350 degrees F and the racks have been removed or lowered so that the bread tube can bake standing upright in the oven for 1 hour.

- Carefully slide the pizza roll into the prepared tube with one end capped. I folded the end of my roll so that it would be sealed. (As it cooked, the melted cheese and sauce escaped, so this really had no impact.)

- Bake for 1 hour in the 350 degree F oven with the tube standing up, open end of the tube toward the top of the stove. To prevent spills or leaks, putting an oven liner or cookie sheet below the bread tube is a good idea.

- After the pizza roll has cooked for 1 hour, allow it to rest for 10 minutes before removing it from the bread tube.

- This stuffed Pepperoni & Mushroom bread is great served with additional pasta sauce for dipping and will make a great after school snack for my kids.

Chicken Con Queso Pizza

We are trying different recipes at our house this month. Breaking out of our rut so to speak...

Tonight we made pizza. Pizza? Yes, pizza.

We make pizza here usually about once a week.

Tonight however, we made pizza with Queso in place of the traditional pizza sauce.

And it was good! Really, really GOOD!!


Besides the Queso, the other *secret* ingredient in our pantry tonight was Southwestern Seasoning. Personally, I am a fan of the Pampered Chef bled. It's awesome! But I haven't placed a Pampered Chef order for over a year...and lucky for me look what McCormick is making now and selling at my local grocery store - Southwest Seasoning. Woohoo!!

Now let's talk pizza:


Ingredients:

1 pizza crust, (we used a homemade crust tonight, I like the ones you can buy in the refrigerator section of the grocery store too)
1 cup Queso dip
1 (13 oz) can chicken breast, drained
1 small red pepper, diced
1 small green pepper, diced
1/2 small red onion, diced
2 TBS Southwestern Seasoning
1/2 cup bacon crumbles
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend

* Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Prepare pizza crust according to recipe or package directions.

* Combine chicken breast, red pepper, green pepper, red onion, and Southwestern Seasoning in a mixing bowl. Mix well.

* Spread Queso dip over pizza crust.

* Top Queso with chicken and vegetable mixture.

* Add bacon crumbles to top of chicken and vegetables.

* Cover pizza top with shredded Mexican cheese blend.

* Bake for 17-20 minutes at 450 degrees F, or until crust has browned and cheese is golden brown.

Breakfast Pizza...for Dinner

Ingredients:

* seamless crescent roll dough
* 2 cups hash brown potatoes with onions and green peppers
* 1 lb cooked, drained pork sausage
* 6 eggs, slightly beaten
* 1/2 cup half and half
* 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
* 1 cup shredded colby jack cheese
* salt & pepper to taste
* hot sauce........if you dare!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Unroll crescent roll on to prepared baking sheet, stretch gently to desired length and width.

Spread hash brown potatoes with onions and green peppers evenly over crescent roll.

Top potato mix with crumbled cooked sausage.

Mix half and half into eggs and pour over potatoes and sausage. Combine ingredients well.

Top with cheeses and add salt and pepper if desire.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until cheese is completely melted and eggs are thoroughly cooked. Use a fork or knife to test doneness.

**Tonight we served our breakfast pizza with a side of mandarin oranges....no leftovers!! Score!**

Taco Pizza

Ingredients:

1 refrigerated pizza dough roll
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 cup prepared salsa
1-1 1/2 lb. ground beef, browned & drained
3 TBS taco seasoning
8 oz shredded taco blend cheese
2 roma tomatoes, sliced
2 green tomatoes, chopped
**sliced black olives, as desired**
**sour cream, as desired**
**lettuce shreds, as desired**
**taco seasoning to sprinkle on top - just before baking...a little goes a long way!**

- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
- Spread dough on to prepared baking pan, allow to rest while other ingredients are prepared
- Brown ground beef, drain and add 3 TBS taco seasoning and 1/8 cup of water to combine well
- Allow meat and seasoning to simmer briefly before removing from heat
- Cover pizza dough with tomato sauce and add salsa
- Cover sauce/salsa mix with seasoned ground beef
- Spread shredded cheese evenly over meat
- Top with sliced tomatoes, black olives, and green olives
- Sprinkle taco seasoning lightly over pizza before putting it into preheated oven
- Bake at 425 degrees F for 20-25 minutes

Serve with additional salsa, sour cream, and shredded lettuce. Another great add-on would be guacamole or diced avocado.

Enjoy!!

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Buffalo Chicken Pizza:

1 seamless crescent roll

3/4 lb cooked chicken breast fajita meat

ranch dressing *

hot sauce *

bacon, cooked & crumbled

1/2 med red onion, diced

mozzarella cheese shredded (I use the 8 oz. bag)

Preheat oven to 375.

Unroll and press crescent roll onto cookie sheet or stone. Mix ranch dressing and hot sauce by 3 parts ranch to 1 part hot sauce (or as desired by taste). Use dressing mix as pizza sauce, reserve small amount to drizzle over top of pizza before cooking. Add precooked chicken, diced red onion, and bacon crumbles to top of sauced crust. Mostly cover with shredded mozzarella cheese. Drizzle remaining ranch-hot sauce mix sparingly over cheese.

Bake until cheese begins to bubble and brown.

After it cools a bit........Enjoy!!

Cheeseburger Pizza

1st - 1 seamless crescent roll

2nd - ketchup



3rd - Add some yellow mustard and smear - yes smear - around to all the edges with a big spoon

4th - top with cooked & drained ground beef



5th - a full 8 oz of shredded mozzarella cheese...you can add more if you like, I'll understand

(We sprinkle the cheese with garlic & herb seasoning too!)




6th - on top of the cheese some sliced red onion and...



7th - pickle slices

This is an ingredient I'm picky about. Must be good pickles, and we love the vlasic. I bought these instead of the hamburger slices last time so we cut 'em up. That works!



Ready for the oven!

375 degrees for no less than 25 minutes. We leave ours in the oven til the cheese is brown and the crust is brown around the edges. Burned? Not quite, just well done :)