Fruit Pizza

Here's a simple, refreshing dessert that you can modify however you'd like.
Ingredients:
Sugar Cookie dough
Assorted fruit of your choice (I used white peaches, raspberries, kiwi, and blueberries)
Large tub of Cool Whip
8 oz cream cheese, softened

Directions:
1. Roll sugar cookie dough into 1" balls.  Place balls in greased mini muffin pans and bake according to package directions.  They will (most likely) finish under time since they're small, but cook them until lightly browned.  Cool, then remove the little cups.
2. Blend Cool Whip and Cream Cheese with a hand mixer.  Place a dollop in each cookie cup.
3. Slice, dice, or chop fruit of choice, as necessary.  Top each cookie cup with at least 3 fruit slices, if possible.
4. Serve as close to assembly as possible.

Ham and Pineapple Biscuit Pizzas

Here's a super simple mini "Hawai'ian" pizza biscuit idea.  People loved them, and (other than some chopping) took no time to create at all.

Ingredients:
12 buttermilk biscuits (I used pre-made, frozen), cut in half
1/2 C pizza sauce
24 slices of Canadian Bacon (or just chop up a smoked ham steak)
1/2 C drained pineapple tidbits
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2 C shredded Colby Jack Cheese

Directions:
1. Prepare biscuits, if necessary, then slice in half.
2. Line baking sheet with biscuits, cut side up.
3. Smear pizza sauce on each biscuit.
4. Top with ham, pineapple, and bell pepper.
5. Sprinkle shredded cheese over the top
6. Bake 7-9 minutes at 350, or until cheese is completely melted.
7. Serve and enjoy.

This go over well.  They still do fine at room temperature, and if you refrigerate them, they do well the next day reheated as a snack.

Pizza Bread

What?!  {I'm sure you're declaring in mock indignation} Another pizza recipe?!!

Yeah, yeah, I know, but I'm on this easy pizza kick.  Sure, it doesn't get much easier than pre-made dough, sauce, and toppings, but putting them together in different ways is what makes it interesting, right?

Regardless, I found this and this and decided to give it a go.  Much like the Pizza Pretzels, you're just taking a moment to assemble and then bake. No biggie.

Ingredients (that I used, substitute at will):
Pillsbury Rustic French Loaf
Turkey Pepperoni
Shredded Cheese (I used a mix of what was in house - Asiago, Mozzarella, and Mexican 4 Cheese)
Italian Seasoning (to taste)
Contadina Pizza Sauce

Steps: Roll out the french loaf dough.  I found this was easier when I chopped it in half.  I made two loaves because this was an appetizer/side dish for the family and I wasn't sure how much we'd eat. Then, sprinkle liberally with cheese, add pepperoni, and more cheese if you'd like.  Then, roll it and place it seam side down on a greased baking sheet.  I then brushed some olive oil, Italian seasoning, and extra cheese on top.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until nicely golden.  Slice and serve. Best eaten immediately!

So yes, it really is just like the pretzels, just substituting bread and not making the pretzel shape.  We served it with a Chili and a Baked Potato soup.  Those who ate the chili just dipped the bread in that.  I, however, ate the baked potato soup and chose to use the pizza sauce.  Either way it was easy and supper yummy.

Word of caution: I've decided that the only reason I don't like these recipes is because I'm a terrible roller.  I might be a baller, but roller I am not.  That's why cutting the loaf into two short pieces helped because I wasn't rolling and re-rolling the dough to keep up with it.  That's just me...you are probably more dexterous than I am, and if so you can disregard this.  In any case, be quick, then it's easy and (obviously) quicker to enjoy!

Pizza Pretzels!

Trolling the internets, as I'm wont to do as of late, has turned up a recipe for Pizza Stuffed Pretzels, which is actually a slightly harder recipe than the one it's based off of from Rachel Ray.

Seriously?  Why make it more difficult.

Ultimately, here's what I did...

Ingredients:
Pre-made whole wheat pizza dough ball
Bag of Mozzarella Cheese
4 oz. of Asiago Cheese
Pepperoni
Olive Oil
Dash of Italian Seasoning
Pizza Sauce (pre-made) for dipping

Thomas stretched out dough until it was the size of a cookie sheet.  I cut it (the long way) into four equal strips.


Then, I added mozzarella cheese, a layer of pepperoni, then sprinkled Asiago cheese.


From there, I rolled it into a log shape, and finally into the pretzel shape.


I placed each pretzel onto a greased cookie sheet.  With a basting brush, I lightly brushed each one with olive oil, then sprinkled a combo of the cheeses on top, as well as a dash of Italian Seasoning.




Finally, I baked them at 400 for 15-20 minutes (I love when the cheese is crisp).  I warmed up the pizza sauce in the microwave, and served the pretzels with the sauce on the side to dip.


Pretty simple for a Friday night, and absolutely delicious.  It's a nice change from the standard homemade pizza, and if you're feeling adventurous, then play around with the fillings.  Make a chicken, pineapple, and (pre-cooked) peppers with a BBQ sauce dipper.  Who knows, but the possibilities are only limited to your imagination.

It may seem childish, but it was darn sure delicious!!

This is an all cheese one I made for myself - plus I only bought enough pepperoni for three of the four pretzels!

The Joys of Pizza

I'll be the first to admit that I love pizza.  There are tons of ways to prepare it, and it takes a lot to make a truly bad pizza.  Sure, there are ways that aren't preferred, but short of burning it, or choosing your anti-crust, you could probably live with any pizza put in front of you. 

(What?  Anti-crust, you ask?  Oh you know, it's that crust that just turns you off when you're not in the mood for it.  Too deep, too thin, too crispy, too gooey...  Just not what you were expecting.  You get the point.)

Me, I can live with cheap pizza, frozen pizza, fancy pizza, grilled pizza, thick crust, hand tossed, etc., etc.  I have two all time favorites, both from Chicago: Turnabout Pizza in Lemont, and Connie's Pizza on Archer in Chicago.  However, since those are both 2,000 miles away, I find I'll eat just about any type of pizza, any night of the week, and it takes a lot for me not to enjoy it.  A lot.

In any case, when I find a new pizza recipe, I'm usually pretty psyched to try it out.  I was scrolling through Pampered Chef recipes last week, collecting about 20 that I wanted to try (for you, of course, for you).  One was the recipe for Barbecue Bacon Squares.  It took a second for me to recognize this as pizza, even with pizza dough in the recipe.  I think because I was focusing on the "squares" in the title that I didn't recognize this jem for all of its pizza goodness.  I had a few issues along the way, but here's the story...

I started with frying up the bacon.  I cooked it extra-extra crispy.  I figured this had to be the case since it was going to be put in sauce and baked.  I'm not a fan of soggy bacon (ever), and I thought that would be just the thing to throw off the yumminess of the pizza, so I just kept frying.  Then, I put it on some paper towel to cool and harden.  This made it easy-peasy to crumble, and it was outstanding.  Real talk.

Next came the crust.  There are a bunch of recipes for pizza crust, or you can just buy a box mix, or even a pre-made, ready to go crust.  I chose option #3.   Fresh and Easy has a pre-made dough (regular or whole wheat) that you sit out to rest, roll (or toss), and go. Thomas is the king of tossing a crust, so I promptly gave him that job.  I then pre-cooked the dough for about 3 to 5 minutes so it didn't become too soggy with the ingredients.


I had an issue with the rub and the sauce.  Okay, truth be told, two issues.  The first is that I don't own the rub.  The second was that I didn't think there was nearly enough sauce to make this enjoyable.  I made the sauce as suggested in the recipe, and then I added almost twice as much BBQ sauce to give it the rub's flavor and make up for the tiny amount of sauce made from the recipe's proportions.  It was still light on the sauce, but since I think this was originally supposed to be a smaller appetizer, as opposed to a baking sheet sized pizza, I'll forgive them for that.  I also added about a pound of pre-baked chicken (with fajita seasoning) to bulk up the dish's protein quotient, so I needed a little more juice for the swallow-ability quotient.  (Oh, you know what I mean.  No one likes a dry pizza.)

 Then, because we eyeball all things cheese related in this household, I topped it up with about half of a pre-shredded bag of mozzarella. I baked it all for the allotted time, then  threw it under the broiler for about three minutes to get that nicely browned top.  I love the slightly overdone cheese on a pizza.  It gives it that nice crispness that is making me drool again, just to think about it.


Speaking of a nice crispness, I loved having the water chestnuts on the pizza.  I used the whole can, and was pleasantly surprised on how well it complimented the bacon and chicken.  I suppose I could have just gone the extra step and made this more "Hawai'ian," and added pineapple, but it wasn't in the house, so it didn't even cross my mind.  I'd definitely make this dish again.  It was delicious, and it was easy: two huge thumbs up in my book.  There were no leftovers by the end of the evening, but there probably should have been.  Whatever, no regrets, it rocked!

A cool summer pizza

I had an awesome recipe planned for tonight's dinner.  As part of my triumphant return from New Orleans (look for the food post later), I told Thomas I would make dinner.  He only had one requirement: something light.  Now the recipe I had in mind was from June's Everyday Food magazine.  I get in on my Nook and figured it was worth a try.  (No, I'm not revealing what it was until I actually get the chance to try it out. Well, I knew today was going to be a busy one, so I left my reader at home, and subsequently enough information that I couldn't find the recipe online.  Of course, I turned to Pampered Chef to see what I could find.  Luckily, I found this.  Thomas is not such a fan of a protein-less meal, so I did add some chicken to my shopping list.

I was able to use one of my new favorite toys - the garlic press.  It's so easy to use, it has a huge hopper to fit multiple cloves, and it comes with a little Barbie-brush looking cleaner that helps clear out the little holes when you're done.  No peeling necessary, just pop it in and squeeze it out!

I also was able to use my PC huller to gut the tomatoes.  I'm not going to lie, I hate tomatoes.  However, it's not for the taste, it's for the goopy insides.  With my huller, I can clear it out without any real touching or goop-related incident.  Score!  The recipe was remarkably easy to follow, and other than adding some slightly warned (pre-cooked) chicken, I pretty much did everything it told me to.  I mean, they told me to have cream cheese on a croissant crust.  

Who would I be to argue with that kind of yumminess??                                                                                                   

It didn't take too long to put together, and it was just as refreshing as I could hope.  Thomas loved it, so this is going to be put on the "let's try that again" pile.  (and I can't wait!!)

On a completely unrelated note...

I had Thomas pull out my lone, remaining carrot from the garden yesterday.  I didn't think it would be any good because it's left over from my late winter planting.  All of the white and purple ones are still coming up, but this was the last of the orange danvers.

Yes, my husband has a good sized paw, and yes, that carrot is truly thicker than the sweet corn we had with dinner.  And, surprisingly, the carrot worked really well with some early zucchini as a stir-fried side.