Hawaiian Pizza with No-Rise Crust

When I was little my parents went bowling on Saturday nights and my grandma babysat us. Since my grandparents lived right across the street my grandpa would make us a pizza, then come "deliver" it through the front window of our house. I thought it was so cool that my grandpa did that. Now, my family always makes pizza on Friday nights and I have started to somewhat adopt that tradition as well. Even if we don't have pizza on Friday nights, pizza is often on our menu anyway because there are so many different combinations that you can make! I especially love Hawaiian pizza and like the twist of adding sweet chili sauce to the bbq sauce. Feel free to replace or add to these ingredients! You could use Canadian bacon and even add some red onions. I thought I bought a red onion at the store, but I can't find it at the moment. How one loses produce I will never know! Let's just blame that one on mommy brain. Also, this crust does not need to rise so if you decide to make a pizza at the last minute then you can just whip this crust up.

Hawaiian Pizza

Ingredients:
For the dough
1 Tablespoon yeast
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons canola oil
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (whole wheat works too!)
For the pizza1/4 cup bbq sauce
1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
3 slices thin sliced deli ham
3 slices bacon, cooked until crisp then broken into small pieces
1/4-1/2 cup pineapple chunks (or tidbits)
1-1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella

Directions for the dough:
1. Combine yeast and water in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large mixing bowl) until foamy.

2. Add the sugar, salt, canola oil and flour, then knead on a low speed (or by hand) for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. It should feel tacky to the touch, but none should stick to your fingers.

3. Spread dough on a pizza stone.

Directions for the pizza:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and prepare pizza stone or pizza pan.

2. Combine the bbq sauce and sweet chili sauce and spread over pizza crust.

3. Add the ham, bacon and pineapple chunks, then sprinkle the cheese evenly over the pizza.

4. Bake for 12-15 minutes.Pin It

Garden-Special Primavera

Who doesn't love a good meal with a ton of veggies during the summer? One of my favorite summer activities is to go to the farmer's market on the weekends. I've only been once this summer due to my schedule, but I was able to pick up some fresh beans, zucchini and garlic before the rain started really coming down last Saturday. I impulsively picked up the new Mixing Bowl magazine that Better Homes & Gardens has created and started marking a ton of recipes that I wanted to make. I think I marked more recipes in this magazine than any other that I have gotten - which is quite a feat! So with the combination of these 2 things, I bring you - Garden-Special Primavera! I'm including the original recipe (a little bit adapted), but I did cut the recipe in half and had enough for 3 servings.

Garden-Special Primavera
Adapted from Mixing Bowl Magazine by member Debra


Ingredients:
2 cups fresh green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1.5 cups fresh asparagus, trimmed & cut into 2-inch pieces (Omitted since the asparagus didn't look that great - I'm assuming since the season is almost over!)
1 cup broccoli flowerets
12 ounces fettuccine, linguine, vermicelli or spaghetti
1 small red pepper, cut into julienne strips
1 small zucchini, halved lengthwise & sliced
1 small onion, cut into thin wedges
2 gloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup prosciutto or cooked ham (I actually just sliced up some deli meat ham and it worked great)
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh or dried basil

Directions:
In a large saucepan, cook beans and carrots in a small amount of boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Add asparagus and broccoli. Return to boiling; reduce heat. cover and cook 5 minutes more or till vegetables are crisp-tender. Drain.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, cook pasta according to package directions. Add sweet pepper and zucchini to pasta in boiling water for the last 3 minutes of cooking. Vegetables should be crisp-tender. Drain and return mixture to the saucepan. Add the bean mixture to the saucepan and keep it warm while preparing the sauce.

For sauce: In a medium saucepan, cook onion and garlic in hot butter over medium heat for 5 to 8 minutes or until tender but not brown. Stir in chicken broth. Bring to boiling; reduce heat.

In a small bowl, stir together whipping cream and flour. Add cream mixture to saucepan. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in the 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, cooked ham, green onion and basil. Cook and stire for 1 minute more. Pour sauce over pasta and vegetables. Toss gently to coat.

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Sausage & Pepperoni Pizza

I really like making pizza for a quick weeknight meal. This one isn't the healthiest to make, but it tastes good! I also didn't have any shredded mozzarella so I ended up using a fiesta blend instead, which ended up being just fine.

Sausage & Pepperoni Pizza
Source: Stef's Kitchen

Ingredients:
Italian sausage, cooked and crumbled
Pepperoni slices
Tomato sauce
Italian seasonings
Fiesta blend shredded cheese
Refrigerated pizza dough (I used Pillsbury)

Directions:
Roll out pizza dough onto pizza stone. Spread tomato sauce over dough and grind Italian seasonings over it. Sprinkle the Italian sausage and pepperoni over pizza, and top with cheese. Bake according to dough instructions.

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Sausage & Tomato Rigatoni

I used to rely on Kraft for most of my recipes when I first started to get into cooking. I still get the Kraft magazine in the mail and occasionally look at the site if I want to use up some ingredients. Anyways, I made this dish a long time ago and I remember Jon really liking it. He mentioned it a couple times in the past few weeks so I decided it was time to make it again - especially since my mom gave me some sausage the last time I visited! This is a really easy and great tasting meal. It could easily be made with another type of meat or without meat if you want too.

Sausage & Tomato Rigatoni
Adapted from kraftfoods.com

Ingredients:

4 cups rigatoni pasta (8 oz.), uncooked

1 lb. Italian sausage, cut into chunks

1 red onion, sliced (Omitted)

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/4 cup KRAFT Sun-Dried Tomato Dressing(I used a sun-dried tomato and feta cheese dressing - yum!)

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (Omitted)

1/4 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

COOK pasta as directed on package.

MEANWHILE, brown sausage in large nonstick skillet; drain. Stir in onions and tomato paste; cover. Cook 15 min. or until onions are tender and sausage is cooked through, stirring occasionally. Stir in dressing.

TOSS sausage mixture with pasta. Sprinkle with parsley and cheese.

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Thyme-coated Pork Tenderloin

I found a great deal on a pack of two pork tenderloins at a grocery store that I don't normally go to. I have cooked a tenderloin a couple of times before, but I wanted to do it differently this time. The pork was pretty good, but came out a little pink. I'm kind of a fanatic about meat and Jon insisted that it was done and that pork is allowed to be a little pink. However, I ate the end pieces that were a little more done. The only meat I like pink is my beef!

Thyme-coated Pork Tenderloin
Adapted from Cooking Light and inspiration from Julie's Foodie

I remembered to take the picture after I ate so it was quick before I started to clean up!

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon instant onion flakes (Julie's Foodie suggested using a Lipton onion soup packet, which I just happened to have in my pantry from my mom so I used that instead)
1 slice day-old hearty white bread (such as Pepperidge Farm), torn (Instead of making breadcrumbs, I just used some I already had and mixed it with the thyme & onion packet)
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten (I was too lazy to just use whites, so I used all of the egg even though it isn't as healthy)
1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°.

Place thyme, onion, and bread in a food processor; pulse until fine breadcrumbs measure 1/3 cup. (See my note above!) Place breadcrumb mixture in a shallow dish. Place egg whites in a shallow dish. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Dip pork in egg whites; dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Place pork on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. (I used a glass baking pan) Bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until a thermometer registers 155°. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

I served this meal with roasted potatoes tossed in olive oil, dried thyme & dried rosemary.

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Asian dumplings

We ate at Ruby Tuesday last week and I got their Asian dumplings with peanut sauce. They were amazing! I then thought it would be a great idea to make some of my own at home. I'm on vacation this week so it was the perfect time to try something new. Oh.my.gosh. These were such a pain to make! Some people make them with wonton wrappers, which I will probably try next time (if there is one), but I made my own dumpling dough that the recipe called for. First of all, I had to add a lot more flour to the dough to make it less sticky so I could actually work with it. Secondly, I had to make the pieces a lot bigger than what the recipe said, otherwise the dough would get too thin. So, instead of the 48 dumplings I was supposed to get out of this mixture, I only got 31. I was okay with that. I was so ready to be done making them! I did fry up a few this afternoon just to make sure they came out okay. The pan got so hot that my stove thought it was on fire and started beeping at me. Wonderful. They tasted great, although I am excited to make them with peanut sauce. I made the sauce the recipe called for (a mixture of soy sauce and sesame oil) and didn't like it with these dumplings. I ended up using sweet and sour sauce instead. However, I think the peanut sauce will be fabulous with these. I froze the rest of the dumplings to have at a later time! If you want to freeze them, just place them on a baking sheet until frozen, then transfer to a freezer bag.

Chinese Dumplings - Potstickers
Source: chinesefood.about.com


Ingredients:

• Dumpling Dough*
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup boiling water
• Filling:
• 8 ounces celery cabbage (Napa cabbage)
• 3 tsp salt, divided
• 1 pound lean ground pork
• 1/4 cup finely chopped green onions, with tops
• 1 TB white wine
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• Dash white pepper
• Dipping Sauce:
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• Other:
• 2 - 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions:
Cut the cabbage across into thin strips. Mix with 2 teaspoons salt and set aside for 5 minutes. Squeeze out the excess moisture.

In a large bowl, mix the celery cabbage, pork, green onions, wine, cornstarch, the remaining 1 teaaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, and the white pepper.

In a bowl, mix the flour and 1 cup boiling water until a soft dough forms. Knead the dough on a lightly flour surface about 5 minutes, or until smooth.

Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a roll 12 inches long and cut each roll into 1/2-inch slices.

Roll 1 slice of dough into a 3-inch circle and place 1 tablespoon pork mixture in the center of the circle. Lift up the edges of the circle and pinch 5 pleats up to create a pouch to encase the mixture. Pinch the top together. Repeat with the remaining slices of dough and filling.

Heat a wok or nonstick skillet until very hot. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, tilting the wok to coat the sides. If using a nonstick skillet, add 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil. Place 12 dumplings in a single layer in the wok and fry 2 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown.

Add 1/2 cup water. Cover and cook 6 to 7 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Repeat with the remaining dumplings.

To make a dipping sauce, in a small bowl, mix the soy sauce with 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Serve with the dumplings.

Reprinted with permission from Everyday Chinese Cooking: Quick and Delicious Recipes from the Leann Chin Restaurants.Pin It

A nice Sunday meal

I think I've overcooked boneless pork chops every single time I've made them except once. I don't know why this is, but tonight I was determined to cook them right! They actually came out really well...maybe I need to pan-fry them every time I make them. This sauce is a perfect complement to the pork and would probably taste really well with chicken too. I made some twice-baked potatoes & a broccoli/corn mix on the side as well. I got a KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment from my in-laws for Christmas and tried it out for the first time today. I was impressed with the results! I am excited to make some other types of ice cream and even some sorbets for a lighter treat.

Apricot Pork Chops
Adapted from Cooking Light, as seen on Just 2 Good


Ingredients:
4 boneless pork chops (I only used 2)
1/4 Cup chopped onion (Omitted - Jon doesn't like onions and I made soup last night with a ton of them in them so I decided to be nice tonight)
1/4 Cup apricot preserves
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 green onion, sliced (Omitted)

Directions:
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat the pan with cooking spray. Add the pork to the pan; cook on each side approximately 6 minutes, or until done. Remove from the pan and keep warm.

Add the diced onion to the pan and saute until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Stir in preserves, soy sauce, garlic, and salt. Cook 3 minutes or until thickened. Add pork to the pan, turning to coat. Sprinkle with green onions.

Twice-baked Potatoes
My own recipe, although I'm sure a ton of people have made them like this & twice-baked potatoes is a popular recipe anyway!

Ingredients:
2 potatoes
Shredded cheddar cheese
Light Ranch dressing
Real bacon bits

Directions:
Pierce the potatoes with a fork and microwave them for 10 minutes, turning half-way through. Scoop out the insides and mix with the cheese, ranch dressing and bacon bits. Fill each potato skin with the insides. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Chocolate Strawberry Ice Cream
Adapted from Annie's Eats, originally from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz, 10 Speed Press, 2007

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (I only had a 1/2 cup left of heavy cream so I made my own from this recipe) - Melt 1/3 cup butter, pour in 3/4 cup of milk and stir. I used low-fat milk so add in 1 tablespoon of flour to thicken it up. - Note: it will not thicken as much as heavy cream, but it still did the trick, especially when mixed with the 1/2 cup I already had!
5 tbsp. unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen (I used frozen strawberries)

Directions:
Whisk together the cream, cocoa powder, and sugar in a large saucepan. Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it comes to a full, rolling boil (it will start to foam up). Remove from the heat and add the strawberries. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes.

Puree the mixture in a food processor or blender.

Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

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Easy Ham & Bean Soup

Time to start food blogging again! I took a hiatus during the holiday season since so much was going on, and I even made a ton of foods that I could have blogged about. Oh well. My parents gave us a huge chunk of ham to take home after Christmas. I decided to make ham and bean soup, cut off a few slices for sandwiches for lunch and freeze the rest for future use. I got a Better Homes & Garden cookbook for Christmas so I decided to put it to good use. I picked out this recipe and a few others for dinners this week. Oh, and I got a new camera for Christmas so I hope that my pictures comes out better!

Easy Ham & Bean Soup
Adapted from Better Homes & Garden cookbook

Ingredients:
2 cans navy beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup cubed cooked ham
4 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1.5 cups sliced celery (3 stalks)
1.5 cups chopped onion (3 medium) I used 2 medium and it was still too many onions...next time I will cut it down to 1 onion
3.4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1.4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf

Directions:
Cook celery and onion in hot butter. Add 4 cups chicken brother, 1 cup cubed cooked ham, and two 15-ounce cans navy beans, rinsed and drained, along with thyme, black pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes or until heated through.

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Orange Roast Pork

Our grocery store always has a periodic sale on meat - buy 5 for $19.95 and get a 6th package free with your advantage card. I usually only buy meat during this sale and try to extend it until the next meat sale! I've gotten pretty good at this by cutting down on meat in some of our dishes or only using part of the package and freezing the rest. Chicken is the only thing I buy whenever there is a good deal on a bag of it since we go through more of it. I bought a pork shoulder roast at the last meat sale and wanted to do something with it in the crock pot when I found this recipe. The verdict - I will definitely make this again! The gravy was so good, especially if you like citrus flavors.

Orange Roast Pork
Source: About.com

Ugh, sorry about the blurriness!

Ingredients:
1 (3-1/2 lb.) pork shoulder roast
1 onion, chopped
6-oz. can frozen orange juice concentrate
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. cold water

Directions:
Trim roast of visible fat. Place onions in bottom of 3-4 quart crockpot. Sprinkle salt and pepper over roast and place in crockpot on top of onions. In small bowl, mix together thawed orange juice concentrate and brown sugar, and salt and pepper, and pour over roast. Cover crockpot and cook on high for 3 hours, then reduce heat to low and cook for another 3 hours.

Remove roast and onions from crockpot, cover, and set in low oven to keep warm. Skim fat from juices in crockpot. Then pour into large heavy pan. Blend flour and cold water in small bowl and add to juices in pan. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring frequently with wire whisk, until thickened. Serve gravy with roast and onions.

*I served this with some mashed potatoes!Pin It

Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cheese

After having to go back to work after a nice 4-day Thanksgiving weekend, I needed some comfort food for dinner. This is definite comfort food, but then again, what pasta dish isn't?? It also heated up really well for leftovers the next day.

Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cheese
Adapted from Cooking Light as seen on Cooking This and That

I apologize for the picture - I REALLY need a light box in the winter! Also, I really wanted to eat!

from Cooking Light

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:
1 (1-pound) package uncooked ziti (short tube-shaped pasta)
1 pound hot turkey Italian sausage links (I used pork sausage because it was on sale)
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 (14.5-ounce) cans petite-diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (I used dried since I couldn't find fresh at the store)
Cooking spray
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded fresh mozzarella cheese (I just used the stuff in the bag :) )
1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese (I used canned Parmesan cheese)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain the pasta, and set aside.

Remove casings from sausage. Cook sausage, onion, and garlic in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble.

Add the tomato paste, salt, pepper, and tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Combine cooked pasta, sausage mixture, and basil. Place half of the pasta mixture in a 4-quart casserole coated with cooking spray. (I just used a 9x13 pan and it worked fine) Top with half of mozzarella and half of Parmesan. Repeat layers.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

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Mmm...pumpkin.

So I jumped on the pumpkin bandwagon. Actually, I've always loved pumpkin, but the only thing I've ever done with it is make pumpkin dip. I really wanted to make Reading, 'Riting & Recipes (adapted from Cara's Cravings) pumpkin cheesecake brownies so I started with those. I served them to some friends who came over to play Rock Band 2 & they really enjoyed them. They are very rich, but delicious!

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Swirl Brownies
Adapted from Reading, 'Riting & Recipes and Cara's Cravings.

Ok, so it's a super close up brownie - not sure why it has so many holes in it!

Brownie Batter
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cheesecake Batter
6 oz cream cheese, softened (I used neufchatel cream cheese)
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp each ground ginger and ground cloves (I omitted the cloves since I didn't have any)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8" square metal baking pan. (I used a glass baking dish)

For the Brownies
Beat together melted butter, sugar, and vanilla, then beat in eggs one at a time. Combine dry ingredients and then gradually stir into butter mixture by hand.

For the Cheesecake
In a separate bowl, beat together all ingredients.

To assemble
Spread about 2/3 of chocolate batter into prepared pan. Spread the pumpkin batter over it, distributing evenly. Drop the remaining brownie batter over cheesecake batter. To make the swirls, run a butter knife back and forth through the pan - don't be afraid to go all the way to the bottom of the pan like I didn't on this batch!

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until center is set. Cool completely and chill before cutting and serving.

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I had some pumpkin left over so I went on search for a pumpkin sauce. I've always wanted to try it so I figured this would be the perfect time to do that. I found a Rachael Ray recipe - simple & tasty.

Pasta with Pumpkin & Sausage
Adapted from Rachael Ray


Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage (I only used 2 links to save on meat)
4 cloves garlic, cracked and chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped (I omitted)
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
4 to 6 sprigs sage leaves, cut into chiffonade, about 2 tablespoons (would have loved to use, but couldn't find it in the store!)
1 cup dry white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
1 cup chicken stock, canned or paper container
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup (3 turns around the pan) heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ground or freshly grated
Coarse salt and black pepper
1 pound penne rigate, cooked to al dente
Romano or Parmigiano, for grating

Directions

Heat a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and brown the sausage in it. Transfer sausage to paper towel lined plate. Drain fat from skillet and return pan to the stove. Add the remaining tablespoon oil, and then the garlic and onion. Saute 3 to 5 minutes until the onions are tender.

Add bay leaf, sage, and wine to the pan. Reduce wine by half, about 2 minutes. Add stock and pumpkin and stir to combine, stirring sauce until it comes to a bubble. Return sausage to pan, reduce heat, and stir in cream. Season the sauce with the cinnamon and nutmeg, and salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer mixture 5 to 10 minutes to thicken sauce.

Return drained pasta to the pot you cooked it in. Remove the bay leaf from sauce and pour the sausage pumpkin sauce over pasta. Combine sauce and pasta and toss over low heat for 1 minute. Garnish the pasta with lots of shaved cheese and sage leaves.

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A different recipe...

I really didn't know what to expect from this dish. I found it in my favorite crock pot book and I had some boneless pork chops so I thought I'd give it a try. I actually thought it didn't sound that great, but what the heck! The last time I made boneless pork chops I basically ruined them and they were as hard as a rock. So - I didn't want this to happen again for obvious reasons! Consensus - this actually turned out pretty good and it's super easy.

Pork Chop Stroganoff
*Adapted from 101 More Things to do with a Slow Cooker by Stephanie Ashcraft

Ingredients:
4 boneless pork chops
1 can (4 ounces) mushrooms, drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream (I used light)
1 bag (8 ounces) pasta (I used wide egg noodles)

Place pork chops in greased slow cooker. Layer mushrooms over meat. Spread soup over top, then cover and cook on low heat 6-8 hours. Using a knife and fork, cut pork chops into bite-sized pieces. (When I had to cut the meat up, I didn't even need a knife because it was SO tender and I just used my fork to break the pieces up.) Stir sour cream into meat sauce. Cover and leave on low heat while preparing pasta according to package directions. Stir hot cooked noodles into the sauce and serve.

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