Chicken Fajita Pizza

02 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by in chicken fajita pizza, pizza, yummy stuff

≈ 2 Comments

 This is a great pizza. It’s a favorite in my house. Instead of the traditional tomato sauce, you use salsa.

You will need an 11″x15″ jelly roll pan, greased.
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit/220 Celsius.

Ingredients:

Pizza crust
2 Tablespoons cooking oil
2-3 cups chopped skinless, boneless chicken meat
2 cups sliced yellow or white onions
1 cup sliced green peppers
1 cup sliced red peppers- If you don’t have red, just use an additional cup of green.
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup salsa- Use whatever heat you prefer.
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack, mozzarella, or cheddar-jack cheese

Make the pizza crust dough
Bake the crust for 6-8 minutes.
Saute the chicken in the cooking oil until no longer pink.
Add the onions and peppers.
Sprinkle with the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and salt.
Stir and let cook until the onions and peppers are tender. This will take about 5 minutes.
Spoon the chicken and vegetable mixture over the hot pizza crust.
Top with the salsa.
Add the cheese.
Bake in the preheated oven for another 15 minutes or until the crust is golden and the cheese is melted.

Serve. This is enough for 4-6 people.

If you want, you can make 2- 12″ round pizzas using the same amount of crust and dividing the toppings between the two crusts.

Enjoy!

It’s a Tip About Dishes

29 Saturday Dec 2012

Posted by in dishes, unglazed feet, yummy stuff

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Do you have any baking pans or dishes that are stoneware and say microwave safe?

Well, they are, but they aren’t.

If they have unglazed feet-or a section that is plain pottery- you could have problems with them cracking.

The reason is because water absorbs into the unglazed stoneware and when you put it in the microwave, the moisture heats up and pops and possibly causes cracks or breaking.

The best way to solve this problem is to make sure you don’t soak the pan or dishes in water.

If it needs soaked, pour water into it.
Don’t set the whole dish into the water.

Gingerbread Cookies

14 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by in gingerbread cookies, yumm stuff

≈ 4 Comments

Making gingerbread cookies is a tradition in my house. Usually my nieces and sister come down and if they can’t, it is just me and my daughter.
We have a lot of fun.

I usually mix the dough up a day or two before baking and stick in the fridge, but you can just make it a couple hours before and it still works out.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon  cloves
3/4 cup brown sugar
12 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg

Soften the butter in a large mixing bowl.
Add the brown sugar and cream.
Add the molasses and egg and beat until well blended.
Add the baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and mix in.
Gradually add the flour and mix on low speed until well blended.
Take the dough out the the bowl and pat into a disk. This makes it easier to roll without cracking.
Cover with plastic wrap or put into a covered container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

To bake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/175 Celsius.
Take the dough out of the fridge and let rest for ten minutes. You might want to just roll out half the dough at a time.
Flour your counter and roll out the dough. If you want thinner, crisper cookies you need 1/8 inch thick. If you want thicker, softer cookies you want to roll out to 1/4 inch.
Cut into whatever shapes you want.
Bake for about 10 minutes. A little less for smaller cookies, a little more for larger cookies.
If you want them crip, the cookies need to be firm to the touch.
If you are wanting softer cookies, take them out a little before that and they will finish cooking after removing from oven and they will still be soft.
Let cool and decorate as you want.

Depending on size and thickness, you may get up to 19 dozen.
If you make them larger and thicker you will get about 3-4 dozen.

If you roll them too fat, they have a tendency to poof out and lose some of their shape.
Use unsalted butter. If you use salted, don’t use the salt.

Baked French Fries

05 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by in baked french fries, french fries, potatoes, yummy stuff

≈ 6 Comments

Who doesn’t love french fries?
Sometimes they can seem a little greasy so this is a great alternative. They taste great and are really simple to make.
You will need a large baking sheet.
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit/230 Celsius.
You will also need a large bowl.
Ingredients:
4 medium size potatoes
2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
salt to sprinkle
pepper to sprinkle
Peel your potatoes and cut them into fries between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick.
Add the sliced potatoes to the big bowl and add the olive oil.
Mix the fries and oil to make sure all the pieces are coated well.
You don’t need lots of oil, just a light coating is good.
Lay the fries out in a single layer on the baking sheet.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Put in oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Turn the fries over, sprinkle with the salt and pepper, and bake another 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and serve.
Serves 4-6 people.

1-2-3-4 Peanut Butter Cookies

23 Monday Jul 2012

Posted by in 1-2-3-4 peanut butter cookies, peanut butter, peanut butter cookies, yummy stuff

≈ 14 Comments

These peanut butter cookies are a breeze to make. They have no flour in them and you won’t miss it. They are called 1-2-3-4 peanut butter cookies because they only have 4 ingredients.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit/190 Celsius
You will need 2 or 3 cookie sheets, ungreased.

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda

In a mixing bowl, stir everything together until smooth.
Drop by teaspoon or small size cookie scoop onto the cookie sheets.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until set.
After taking out of oven, let stand on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before removing.

As soon as they appear set, take them out. If they are in the oven too long they will end up dry and get very crunchy/crumbly after they cool.

I made these with the peanut butter I made.
It will work with creamy or chunky peanut butter.

Makes between 3 and 4 dozen cookies.

Enjoy!

Homemade Peanut Butter

07 Saturday Jul 2012

Posted by in peanut butter, peanut butter recipe, yummy stuff

≈ 12 Comments

Making your own peanut butter is super simple. It takes almost no time to do.

You will need a food processor.

Ingredients:

16 oz. dry roasted unsalted peanuts
1/2 teaspoon salt- optional. Use up to 1 teaspoon if you like a saltier peanut butter

Add the peanuts to the bowl of a food processor. Sprinkle with the salt.
Put the cover on and turn the processor on.
In just a couple minutes the peanuts will go from chopped to butter.
When it is starting to turn to butter, it will ball up.
At this point, you may need to put your hand over the shoot cover because the ball could start to push it up.
After it has turned to butter, remove the cover and test to see if it is as smooth as you like.
You also may need to scrape the sides to get all the nutty crumbs into the bowl.
Turn on again if needed and check it after another couple minutes.

Scrape into a bowl and refrigerate. This will make 16 oz. of peanut butter.

For variety, you could use honey roasted peanuts or any variety of seasoned nuts.
If you use seasoned of any kind, you will not need the salt.

Enjoy!

Broccoli Salad

30 Saturday Jun 2012

Posted by in broccoli, broccoli recipe, broccoli salad, yummy stuff

≈ 8 Comments

This is a great way to use broccoli. It has a variety of tastes and textures that compliment each other in a way that may surprise you.

You will need a large bowl.

Ingredients:

SALAD
2 heads of fresh broccoli, cut up into bite size pieces. DO NOT cook!
1 small red onion, chopped
4 to 8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped cashews- salted or unsalted

DRESSING
1 cup mayonaise
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar

Combine all the salad ingredients in your large bowl.
In another bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Start off with the lesser amount of sugar and add more if it is not sweet enough for you.
Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients and mix well to coat.
Refrigerate until chilled.

Serve.
Enjoy!

Serves 6 to 8.

You can use the broccoli stems. Some people don’t like them because are a little tougher.
To get rid of the toughness, peel the stem pieces with a vegetable peeler.

Fried Green Tomatoes

27 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by in fried green tomatoes, tomato recipe, yummy stuff

≈ 13 Comments

I love fried green tomatoes. They are really simple to make.
When it comes to this dish, either people really love them or they really hate them.

My mom used to say they were an acquired taste. I am not sure I agree with that.
I will say that it really isn’t a taste most young children like.

The tomato is a bit tart, but the coating and frying just makes it yummy.

You will need a large skillet.
You will still need to cook in batches unless you have a big electric skillet.

Ingredients:

2-3 green tomatoes, sliced into slices 1/4″ or less
1/2 cup flour, cornmeal, or a mixture of flour and ground flax seed
salt
pepper
4 Tbs. butter for frying. Or you can substitute cooking oil.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium high heat.
While the pan is heating up, dip eat slice of tomato into the flour. Turn to make sure both sides are coated well.
One by one, add the tomatoes slices and season well with the salt and pepper.
Cook for a few minutes, flip the slices over, and season again with salt and pepper.
Cook another few minutes.
You may need to turn the heat down so the coating won’t burn.
To see if they are done, you can poke one slice with a fork.
They will be tender when done.
Remove to a paper towel covered plate.
Serve.

This will make enough for 4 people depending on the size of tomato and how thickly they were sliced.
The thinner the slice, the faster the cooking time

Enjoy!

Breaded Zucchini

11 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by in breaded zucchini, yummy stuff, zucchini

≈ 8 Comments

Zucchini is a staple in many people’s homes during the summer. You can do so many things with it.
Breaded zucchini is  really simple and really tasty.

You will need a large frying pan.
You will need a large shallow container with a tight fitting lid, like tupperware or rubbermaid.
You will also need a bowl for mixing.

Ingredients:

2 small or 1 medium-small zucchini
1 egg
2 Tablespoons water
2 teaspoons seasoning salt
1 cup flour
1/4 to 1/2 cup butter, for frying

Beat the egg, water, and seasoning salt in a bowl large enough to fit the sliced zucchini into.
Wash and trim ends off the zucchini. Slice into 1/4″( or a little less) rounds.
Add the zucchini to the egg mixture and stir well.
Let the zucchini marinate in the egg mixture for 15 to 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Put the flour into the large, shallow container.
One by one toss the zucchini slices into the flour.
Cover the container and shake well to coat the zucchini with flour.
You may need to do this in batches if you don’t have a large enough container to spread the zucchini out.
Heat a large frying pan and add 1/4 cup butter.
Add the zucchini slices and fry until golden brown. Turn over and fry the other side.
Drain on paper towels.
You may need to fry in batches and you may end up needing to use more butter.

Serves 3 to 4 people.

Soaking the zucchini in the seasoned egg mixture imparts more flavor to the zucchini than just dipping it into the mixture and than right into the flour.

Grilling With Frozen Vegetables

07 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by in grilling, grilling with frozen vegetables, vegetables, yummy stuff

≈ 2 Comments

When it comes to grilling a meal, I like to put as much of the food on the grill as I can.
This includes vegetables.

I don’t buy many vegetables. I grow them and freeze or can my bounty.
And eat a lot fresh too.

But, grilling time comes sooner than most garden veggies are ready.
But, you can impart some grilling flavor to your frozen vegetables and it’s oh so tasty.

Heat your grill up.
In an oven proof pan, add a little water, your frozen vegetables, and whatever seasoning you want.
Leave the pan lid off.

Put the pan on the grill for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
You will want to cover the grill so the vegetables get that nice smoky flavor.

This will work with charcoal as well as gas grills.
The charcoal may give it more of a smoky flavor.

Happy grilling!