Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Yeah, I sounds weird, but actually, it was yummy! Slightly difficult to figure out if I had the crust cooked all the way. You cook it first then add the toppings. This seems to be a VERY important detail. Mine came out super soggy so I cooked it a little longer on the bottom rack. Still flimsy but better than gooey. I did forget to put sauce on it. It's a flimsy crust so you really want to be careful with the amount of toppings. So being focused on that I completely forgot the sauce. Yes, I'm a dork.

Everyone ate it! Yes, even my picky of pickies! He ate two slices! It makes about a medium sized pizza which is no good for us. We just put veggies in our belly, not dough, so it's a lot lighter. I did fix a salad with it all so that helped. I have a feeling some munches will be coming our way after the kids go down. Good thing I have some protein bars!

So try the pizza and try to almost burn the crust in the oven before you put the toppings on it. Enjoy!

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Orzo Vegetable Soup

Pretty simple soup to make. I was able to get a good two hours of quiet today so I did this. Doesn't take two hours, I just took my time. And sat and did nothing for awhile. That was nice.

I got this recipe from a cookbook called 'Homemade' - Clodagh McKenna

Four things I changed, one not on purpose: didn't use oil - used water for cooking the raw veggies, used chicken broth because that's what I had, black beans because I don't like chick peas and used a big can of tomatoes. I won't be putting in the tomatoes again. Don't like them. You know that part in cooking a recipe where you do what they told you and you either say 'awesome!" or go, 'wow, that sucks'? Yeah, the tomatoes was my 'that sucks' moment. Don't use me, I don't like tomatoes that much. You like them, go for it!

2 tbsp oil (or water, you will need at least a cup of it)
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 zucchini, finely chopped
3 1/4 c vegetable stock
14oz tomatoes
14oz chickpeas
1tsp oregano
1/2 cup orzo
salt and pepper

Cook onion and garlic with oil, then add raw veggies. (I cooked all veggies at the same time with the water)
Cover and cook
Pour in stock, tomatoes and chickpeas, boil and then simmer
stir in remaining ingredients cook for ten minutes or until orzo is done.

Like I said, pretty yummy, I just won't put the tomatoes in it again. The big can of tomatoes was by accident and had to fish out a bunch of them. It was fun.

Egg Sandwhich

In the mornings of hubby and me working out I make breakfast. It's crazy filling and is so yummy. We are both texture freaks so I have to cook the crap out of the veggies but hey, it's something. I actually apply this way of cooking to almost any vegetable I but in an item. It's stupid simple but takes a bit of time. Totally worth it.

onions

bell peppers (red, green, yellow, whatever)
tomato
fresh spinach
bacon
eggs
hot sauce - we use that one Asian one....starts with an 'S'
favorite cheese - we LOVE jalapeno Havarti but cheddar works great too

Turn pan on med/med high and pour about 1/2 cup water in pan. Chop (almost mince) all veggies (not spinach) and cook in water until smaller and soft. Water should be gone. Remove veggies, scrape any residue out of pan and cook bacon as usual. Remove grease and turn burner down to med. Combine everything but bacon in a bowl then cook until done. While cooking toast bread of choice. When egg is just about done top with cheese. Pile everything on bread and pig out!

Chocolate Syrup/Chocolate Milk

Hubby loves protein mixes. Ew, yuck, gross! I've been drinking chocolate milk after a workout with some baking soda mixed in. Yes, sounds weird but it's suppose to help the muscles heal or something. Honestly I don't know. I found a few 'after workout' drink recipes and the first one had baking soda in it.
4 cups water (or 1 liter)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons sugar or agave nectar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed citrus juice

You mix and drink. IT WAS DISGUSTING!

However the chocolate syrup recipe was awesome, super easy and even more awesome. You use about a tablespoon per 8oz. Guess who isn't buying chocolate syrup anymore?

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-process
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
In a medium saucepan, bring water and sugar to a boil, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Add cocoa and salt; mix well with a whisk. Let mixture simmer until thick, whisking continually to keep from scalding. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add vanilla. Pour into an airtight container and refrigerate.

Yeah, how stupid easy is that?! Right now the mixture is in my daughters old sippy cup. We have lost all of our containers and it was all I have. Good way to hide it from the kids.

There was a coffee recipe also I tried (sorta) today. I woke up to find we have no milk in the house. Which sucks because if I wanted to get some I have to walk to the store because we are still down to one car. Totally different story. Grrr. Anyway, I tried the coffee one, skipped the sugar because I only had some sweeten condensed milk. Threw in the baking soda for good measure and wasn't too bad. the cocoa doesn't like to blend well with the cold so that was a little weird. But, I'd do it again.

So here is the link to the recipes for the drinks. We both tried the smoothie one with cottage cheese. Yeah, not doing that again. There's been a lot of misses here lately with food. Kinda depressing.

Enjoy

http://espn.go.com/espnw/training/nutrition/6642310/make-recovery-drinks

Protein Bars

Dieting has never been my strong point. I suck at keeping track of my food and frankly, don't care too. However, I'm being forced to because I'm getting into shape with my sexy hubby who is about to be even sexier! Yeah!

Anyway, I'm on the hunt for protein bars because I'm way to cheap to buy them from the store. A buck a piece IF I'm lucky? Hahahaha! No. I went on a small search and found big results! I hate protein powder but I'm being forced to eat some of it. It taste like there is a massive amount of splenda in it and ugh! Hate it. Unfortunately, most recipes call for it to cut the calorie intake. Understandable, but I'll take them for taste. I need them anyway. Sounds weird but it makes sense to me.

I'm going to post the link to the main page I found the three bars I've tried. The Peanut Butter Fudge ones are AWESOME! (The no bake ones, simple ingredients) Taste just like a no bakes. I tasted the Pumpkin ones, (not the cake ones) not too bad. I'll eat them but they have that 'fake sugar' taste to them. I also made the lemon (I love lemon) and they turned out weird. Probably not my fault, the recipe was written weird. They are okay. I'll finish them and might try them again....maybe.

http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/great-recipes.asp?food=homemade+protein+bars

I'm looking into juicing so I'll post what I find later.

Found a new website/app for recipes!

A friend of mine suggested ziplist as an app for my phone. I'm always on the hunt for awesome recipes and I am in love with this site. It actually takes you to other people's sites. Which is even better for me because it shortens my ever growing list of websites to choose from. Here are a few recipes I have found, tried and loved!

http://www.plainchicken.com/2012/09/chicken-ranch-pasta.html

I used half milk half sour cream because I'm not a fan of all milk sauces. The total time was about 45min but I had to defrost chicken and bacon. Hubby hasn't tried it yet but I'm pretty sure he'll enjoy it. Claire and Korey dived right in!

http://faithfulprovisions.com/2010/04/30/slow-cooker-chicken-tacos/

This one was soooooo simple and I had everything for it. I make my own taco seasoning mix (seriously, there's no need to buy it, you probably have everything on hand for it). For an added side I made my mac and cheese but added salsa to it. Matt put the chicken on his rice and still killed it. Which worked for me, I only had four flour tortillas.

http://www.framedcooks.com/2012/03/beef-stroganoff-casserole.html

Made this one last night and hubby was impressed! He said it was just like hamburger helper. A lot less salt too! I usually have ground turkey on hand so that's what we had. This recipe calls for cheddar cheese on the top. I used two bread pans and made one with cheddar and one with mozzarella. I liked the mozzarella one better, turned out creamier.

These are just some of the recipes I have found and I've been using the site for two weeks now.
Enjoy!

Erin

Deviled Eggs, with a kick!

To start off, I hate deviled eggs. Eww, yuck, gross. Now, it wasn't a fair statement because I knew they had mayonnaise in them and I'm not a fan. So for the first time ever around Fourth of July I tried one. My sister got a book on them and had three or four different kinds. I went nuts over this one. I did find out I don't like regular deviled eggs though.

Couldn't tell you what the official name is of them but they are yummy!

6          Eggs
4 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 Tbsp salsa
1 tsp    chili powder

Mix them up as usual and put a sliced jalapeno on top. It's not crazy spicy but there is a nice mild kick. Try them because they are delicious!

Orange Chicken with Fried Rice

When this Orange Chicken recipe was first made by my husband it was funky. The breading failed when it was combined with the sauce. The flavor was there and was the only reason I tried making it again. Took a couple of tries because I kept screwing up. I thought I would just wing it when I had my kids pulling me in different directions. Don't recommend doing that. That's why people write recipes. When I finally focused and did it right it turned out amazing! My daughter loves lemon chicken and she went crazy over this one. Trent, well, he wants plain chicken....or oatmeal. To make the orange peel easy to work with I just shaved some off with a veggie peeler. So if you want to make the orange chicken, don't do the breading part. Or, if you know how to do the breading, explain it to me!
Now this Fried Rice recipe.....can you say "holycrapthatisamazing!"? I suck at preparing for ahead of time and this one you takes a bit of planning. You must you COLD rice. Doesn't fry well when you combine everything together. It's an easy recipe to add whatever random veggies you have lying around. We aren't veggie fans here but if I cut them small enough no one cares that much. I do suggest to grab some sesame seed oil. It adds that yummy Asian flavor and smell. I bought some of the stuff for a recipe awhile back and loved the smell. I also did two eggs in this instead of one. Couldn't really find the egg before.
I made these separately then added them together one night. I was sad I didn't double the batch because I was ready to eat Matt's. I was a good wifey so kudos to me.
Enjoy!

Erin

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/asian-orange-chicken/detail.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chinese-chicken-fried-rice-ii/detail.aspx

Veggie Burgers

Nope, not a vegetarian but I had my first veggie burger Sunday at this amazing restaurant and fell in love. So of course, I had to make one myself! Mine wasn't as good but I'm going to cook it in the oven next time. On the grill would be best but I don't have a grill. The flavor was there but the texture was mushy. Kids hated them and Matt wouldn't even try one. I'll try them again and if they are still mushy I'll just make them for me. It was a super cheap recipe that kept me full.

I did go with the other reviewers and added corn. Had some frozen in the freezer along with a pepper and onion mix so that's what I did. If you beat me to making them let me know if cooking them differently helps the texture!


http://allrecipes.com/recipe/homemade-black-bean-veggie-burgers/detail.aspx

Crazy Life

Yes, I know, I haven't posted in a million years. It's what has kept me sane these past two months of being off work. Why was I off work? I had a baby! I know, I'm awesome.

So let me tell you of some goodies I have found. There's a Cheesy Ranch Potato Bake that is to die for. I added bacon the second time I made it and it was even better! A potato soup that has everything for a good base (that's yummy just by itself) but if you dress it up with bacon, cheese, broccoli or anything that sounds good, it will be good. Crazy fluffy pancakes that have you add 2Tbsp of vinegar to a 2/3c milk and it does wonders. I've bought myself an electric skillet and it makes breakfast so much faster. And I have found by freezing the pancakes I can pop them in the toaster and be okay with them. I ran out of vanilla so I added almond to the pancakes instead, can you say YUM!? Won't make them any other way now.
Let's see, what else? Oh! Six Can Tortilla Soup! Love it! Take a can of black beans, corn (can or frozen....fresh even?) two cans of chicken broth and a chicken breast (cooked and shreaded or use canned chicken but that's just gross to me). Add cumin and chili powder and heat through. So easy, cheap and yummy!
A friend of mine posted a chocolate cake recipe that I went crazy for. I found a yummy white cake recipe that's oh so good. And I have learned that halving the white sugar in sweet things and and adding brown sugar makes things softer. And using butter instead of oil will make things like cake stay softer longer. Who knew?
So that's some newbies I have found and all of them (except the chocolate cake) are from Allrecipes. Look for the one with the most reviews.
Erin

Beer Can Chicken

I just realized that I said I was going to post my beer can chicken recipe. Yep, I completely forgot.

This was the bestest chicken recipe EVER! It turned out so juicy and with so much flavor. I have had it before a few years back at my sister's. I guess it usually is done on the grill. I live in an apartment where they don't allow grills (yes, very sad) so I had to find something. The is an oven recipe and talk about simple! It wasn't even hard to get the can in the chicken. Thinking about it, it is complicated to get it out. You need like five hands. Budget wise it's nice two. I can usually find a small chicken, I think around 6lbs-ish, for under five bucks. I am also able to use the 'hot out of the oven' chicken for a meal then shred it for another recipe.

So go for it, get your hands dirty and thank me later!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Beer-Can-Chicken/Detail.aspx

Plum-Side Down Cakes

YUM! I found this recipe in a cookbook my aunt got me. It's mainly for kids and having them cook with you. Claire likes to cook with me but usually doesn't eat it. I was happy to find that in this recipe I only needed one thing, the fruit! I might try canned next time to make it 'cupboard ready'. However, I did like the idea that this was 100% fresh. You can use any fruit with it. Next time I will lessen the amount of fruit in the bottom of the pans. They fell apart while trying to remove. Other than that, simple, easy and oh so tasty! Enjoy!


2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp light brown sugar
3 plums, sliced
2 Tbsp shortening
1/2 C sugar
1 egg
1 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 C milk

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray muffin it with nonstick cooking spray.
Melt butter and stir in brown sugar. Spoon in muffin tins.
Arrange the fruit slices in the bottom of each cup.
Beat the shortening and sugar until fluffy.
Beat in the egg until well combined.
In another bowl stir together flour, baking powder and salt.
Add the dry ingredients and milk to the shortening mixture. Beat until smooth.
Spoon batter over the fruit.
Bake for 20 to 22 minutes.
Cool for 10 minutes.

Makes 6 servings

Update

Okay, promise I've been cooking. I've just gotten too busy and too lazy to write about it. I've been making noodles that have turned out PERFECT! I recently made some vodka cream sauce (spagehtti sauce). It turned out okay, wasn't a big fan. Claire and I made some playdough. One batch turned out crappy and no color the other was perfect playdough. I made chocolate pudding. That sorta was okay. My blender crapped out on me....well, exploded. still tasted good though. I just found out that you can take heavy whipping cream and turn it into whip cream (I know, I know). Claire wanted hot chocolate so I added a bit of hazelnut syrup to it and oh so yummy! I will be posting my Beer Can Chicken recipe. That turned out wonderful!

Keep Cooking!

Christmas Dinner

As the weeks came closer to Christmas we learned that it would be best to just stay at our house. I'm glad we did! It was a little weird since I can remember only one dinner (and that might have been Thanksgiving) that we stayed home. I was quite proud of myself though it was taking forever. Having worked the night before I was tired but determind. So worth it!

Matt asked for a old fashion Thanksgiving meal for Christmas. All these years we have been together and I just now learn that he doesn't like ham. I thought he did! Hahaha! Anyway, I asked him to give me a list of what he wanted and I would make it happen. So turkey, gravy, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls and apple pie were my challenge. I really wanted to make my mom's rolls but Matt came up with a good point. "You have your plate full and there's no one here to empress, take shortcuts where you can." So I bought the rolls and gravy then added stuffing to the list. Oh, and apple cider. Matt may not like it but I've been craving this stuffing since we had it add his sisters' house.

I wasn't that impressed with the turkey but it wasn't the turkey's fault or the recipe's, it was mine. It had to be in the oven for 30 minutes then four hours more at a lower temp covered. I forgot to tell Matt to cover it so it burned all the skin. Still tasted good which it nice, I was worried. Plus, it's the four of us eating this turkey for a month. I was going to go for just turkey breast but it was the same price as the 16 lbs turkey I bought. I like dark meat so might as well. Plus, it will give me a chance to find some recipes for cooked turkey!

The sweet potatoes were so easy to make! I even liked them! There were mixed reviews on it. Some said it tasted awesome, others said it was more dessert like, and others said it was the worst thing ever. Well, we thought it was awesome! I will add more potatoes next time, I was unsure because it was using cans and I was using fresh. Seriously try this one! I did cut the flour down to about a half cup. That was one of many people's tips.

The stuffing was easy but time consuming. I will add a little more chicken broth to the stuffing that is not being cooked in the bird and I might go for a spicy sausage next time. Other than that, yum yum! Make sure you grab a big deep pan though. I started with a big skillet then switched to a deeper one. Even that was difficult to mix in.

The apple cider was so yummy! I went by a recipe from a book that came in my spices I got for Christmas (Thanks Kim and Angie!) and I made it in my new crockpot (Thanks Hubby!) Perfect warm drink to sit back and relax with.

The potatoes are no biggie, regular mashed potatoes but the apple pie.....OH MY GOSH! First off, I forgot to put butter with the apples, please don't do that. I added some white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, fresh nutmeg, and some lemon juice. Tasted good but needed some butter. The crust on the other hand......WOW! I made a vodka pie crust. Seriously, go for it, try it! You will thank me and America's Test Kitchen. It turned out PERFECT! I don't own a big food processer so I just mixed it with a pastry blender.

So that was our Christmas meal, hope yours was just as tasty!


http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Maple-Roast-Turkey-and-Gravy-2/Detail.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cranberry-Sausage-and-Apple-Stuffing/Detail.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Thanksgiving-Sweet-Potatoes/Detail.aspx

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/detail.php?docid=11482&extcode=M**ASCA00

*you might need to sign up to read the pie crust recipe....trust me, it's worth it!*

BBQ Meatballs.....Sloppy Joes

Do you remember my Sausage Meatball recipe? It tasted fine but I wanted to use beef instead? Well I did and it turned out great....sorta. I actually had a real onion for once so I used that instead of onion powder. I also used carrots and celery in the recipe. However, I didn't add an extra combining ingredient so they started to fall apart. I wanted to have them simmer in my yummy barbecue sauce too for an added kick. Well, after sitting in the crock pot for a good 30 minutes I checked on them and they had completely broken down. I cracked up as I stood there stirring the meat mixture into the sauce. Well, lets have sloppy joes instead? They turned out fine, just needed a bigger kick. More spice. That's an easy fix and I probably would have done so if I have known I was going to change the recipe. I served them with baked potatoes (nothing fancy about those, salt, pepper, cheese and butter) and everyone seemed to enjoy them. Claire killed her plate, and part of Matt's. I don't think he was that impressed but I think he also would have preferred a better kick.

Fluffy Eggsless Pancakes

My idea of yummy? Not really, however, pancakes are a food that Trent goes crazy over and I have no eggs at the moment. My first bite wasn't impressed. He ate them so ate least it wasn't a complete fail. After scanning over the recipe again I realized that I skipped over the butter! The recipe has you melt the butter in the skillet then add it to the batter. I read the 'melt the butter' and figured it was done. I am happy to report that these pancakes tasted much better. I wanted to add some fruit to them but Claire doesn't like peaches today. Enjoy!

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,165,133179-255194,00.html

Philly Steak Sandwhich

It sounded good one day so I looked it up. There was a huge debate going on in the comments about what a REAL Philly is. I could care less what a true Philly is, I just know that this one turned out great! I had bought some type of beef awhile ago on sale but I wasn't sure how to cook it. I made some type of beef stir fry that turned out okay but Matt wasn't a fan. Then I remembered this recipe a few days ago and got all excited! The only thing I had to buy was the buns and cheese. I normally don't keep Provolone cheese on hand, I'm sure Mozzarella would be fine, even Swiss perhaps! I didn't have marjoram on hand when I found this so I had to buy that at the time.

It's an easy recipe except if you have to cut the meat. I hate cutting raw meat. But after that it's easy flying. Yesterday I made these and totally burned the crap out of them. Once you get the sandwiches all set up you have to melt the cheese. I turned on the broiler then cooked them too long. Yeah, don't do that. So keep a good watch and enjoy.


http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Philly-Steak-Sandwich/Detail.aspx

Pizza

If my husband and daughter had their way, the would probably eat pizza everyday. And Trent, he must have the crust. That's a plus because Claire doesn't eat hers. How often does that work out right? Now, I myself love pizza and I never liked homemade until I found this recipe. There was one before this one and it was pretty good, just not better than something from a pizza place. This is the best recipe you will ever had! I was so excited when reading the reviews and all the positive comments. I actually found it by looking for a pizza sauce recipe, which is also awesome (I did have to make some tweaks). Altogether I think it takes about 2 1/2 hours. Trust me, it's worth the wait! I have a huge pizza pan and when made on that it is a nice thick crust. However, when I made this at my mom's yesterday, she only had two smaller pizza pans. So I cut the dough in half and it turned out so much better! Just like Little Caesars, but better! I'm thinking of making pizzas for Trent's birthday that is coming up. I'd like to try a veggie pizza and with having people over, what a great time to test it!

Now I have changed the sauce a bit and I did add a little extra something (thanks to my sister for the tip). I hate fresh tomatoes. I hate the smell and taste. However, I didn't want to go canned, I wanted to try to make it all homemade. Other than the cheese and pepperoni, it is! The sauce recipe wants a pinch of cinnamon and white sugar. I didn't like the cinnamon. I didn't like the strong taste of the tomatoes either. I thought of adding brown sugar to it one day just out of the blue and what do you know? It completely mild down the flavor! The trade off is the amount of sauce you get. I might try a mixture and see how that comes out. Another thing I did was before any toppings go on, mixed olive oil and minced garlic together and put on the crust. Then put a few slices of pepperoni (like five) and then topped with cheese. The pepperoni oils do something that is just amazing! And when you mess with the garlic and oil, make sure you put it on the edges! You will thank me!


http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Jays-Signature-Pizza-Crust/Detail.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pizza-Sauce-I/Detail.aspx

White Bread

I did make a PB&J sandwich today. This time it wasn't on the bread I normally make but I thought I would share it anyway. I love this recipe. It's simple and takes about 2 hours to prep. Freezing it uncooked is something I just recently learned and thought I would also share.

Right before you place it in the bread pan to rise is when you want to freeze it. I was concerned the bread free forming and not looking like regular bread. I did come up with an idea that worked perfectly. Place plastic wrap in the bread pan and spray lightly to keep the bread from sticking. Place the dough in the pan and wrap it tightly. Pull it out, place in a freezer bag and put in the freezer.
To defrost, unwrap and place in bread pan. Let it sit in the refrigerator for about 12 hours, maybe more. When it looks like dough ready to be put in the oven, have at it.

Also, you can use all purpose flour and it will turn out fine. I highly recommend using bread flour. I did the cost for this and it's about $1.00 a loaf. Not too bad for homemade!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grandma-VanDorens-White-Bread/Detail.aspx

Chicken and Rice

What to make when you are hungry and don't feel like cooking? Chicken and rice of course! I'm sure there is a real recipe out there, I don't use one. It's a tasty one dish kind of meal that can be made for two or twenty. Okay, twenty is a little over the top, but you get the idea. I also love this meal for the ideas it can bring. I thought of adding corn and some salsa to it to see what would happen. Cambells makes tons of 'soups' dedicated to this meal too. They have a nacho cheese one that is so yummy and adds a slight kick. To make things even better, this was ready in 30 minutes.

I took two frozen chicken breasts and stuck them in a baking dish. Poured a cup of rice around the chicken and then 2 cups of water. Chicken broth would be a great idea, but I do recommend low sodiom, this can get salty. Take the can of soup (I used cream of chicken) and scoop on top of the chicken. Add whatever seasons you like (I used onion powder and minced garlic. Normally I would add pepper too but I forgot). Stick in hot oven (400) and cook covered until rice is cooked. Add some broccoli (frozen or fresh) and cover in favorite cheese. Cook until cheese is slightly browned.