Home Made Pizza

Hi Everyone!

This is my boyfriends favorite meal! Its a twist on your usual pizza but I assure you it will not dissapoint!  I like to make my own dough because i find it makes a better pizza than the box doughs!  This is a recipe my mom got from an amazing Italian cook book. So here goes!

Dough Recipe:

♥ 2 1/4 cup of flour ( Half whole wheat and half white or all white)

♥ sprinkle of salt

♥ 1 tbs of quick rising dry yeast

♥ 3/4 cup of warm water

♥ Olive oil

– I reccomend using half whole wheat and half white flour for this dough because if you use all whole wheat it will not rise as well. Start by mixing your yeast according to directions on the pack. Then pour yeast and water into flour with one tbs of olive oil. Mix dough with hands and knead for ten minutes – if you had a bad day take your frustrations out on that dough! haha!  Once kneaded roll dough into a ball and cover with olive oil and let rise. I usually heat my oven to 180 degrees then turn it off and place the bowl with dough inside, covered with a tea towel. Make sure to leave the door open an inch or two and keep an eye on it. After about 20 minutes the dough should risen enough. In the meantime you can prepare your pizza toppings!

Pizza Topping Ingredients:

♥ Extra lean ground beef or chicken

♥ 1/2 cup of rice

♥ Cheese – I find that Kraft shredded pizza cheese is the best!

♥ Red pepper chopped

♥  2 Fresh mushrooms finely chopped

♥ Diced pineapple

♥ One can of pizza sauce

– You can use any toppings you enjoy on pizza! Cook your ground meat in a frying pan then transfer cooked meat to a strainer. Use hot water to rinse meat and remove left over fat. Wipe out frying pan and then return meat over heat. Add whatever spices you like to the meat for flavor.Remove from heat.  Cook rice according to directions on package, I use whole grain minute rice because it is faster! Add rice to meat, then pour sauce into the pan, mix well. At this point you should roll your dough onto a large greased cookie sheet. Pour meat/rice/sauce mixture ontop of dough and spread evenly from corner to corner. Once your base  is spread out you can add your meat and veggie toppings- do not add cheese yet! Bake pizza at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes or until crust looks done, then cover pizza with cheese and put in oven on broil until bubbly! I find that adding the cheese lasts make a better pizza! Mmm mmm! Enjoy!

Laura’s Moms Stuffed Chicken Breast

Hi There!

This is my absolute favorite meal to cook! I will admit it is more time consuming than my regular meals but it is something you will want to cook for a special occasion, believe me once you try this you will be hooked!! My old roommates mom cooked this for us once and I had to get her recipe! Here’s what you’ll need:

♥ 1/2 cup sliced toasted almonds

♥ One pack of feta cheese

♥ Green onions or chives

♥ Parsley

♥ One tsp pepper

♥ 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

♥ Bread crumbs

♥ One Egg

♥ One tsp salt

– Slice a pouch in each chicken breast. Then combine almonds, feta, chives and parsley. Stuff into chicken breast. If neccessary secure chicken breasts closed with tooth picks- just remember to remove before serving! Once chicken is stuffed whipp egg on a flat plate and dip your chicken into it, then roll chicken in bread crumbs. Bake in oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Heres the best part- the sauce! You will need:

♥ 1/2 cup of mayo ( Helmans works best in this recipe)

♥ 2 tbs of butter

♥ 2 tbs of lemon juice

♥ 2 pinches of mustard powder

– Mix mayo and butter in frying pan, whisk until begins to brown then add lemon juice and mustard powder. Should form a creamy sauce, if its a bit lumpy thats okay it will still taste delish! Place a spoonful or two of sauce onto serving plate then place chicken on top. Enjoy!

Cold Pizza

Hi There!

No this is not the left over Pizza Hut veggie lovers you may be thinking about! This is a delicious dip that is served with tortilla chips! It is extremely good with Tostitos Multi Grain Tortilla Chips!  Perfect for your weekly Hockey Night or Girls Night!

♥ One pack of  low fat or fat free sour cream

♥ 1/2 pack of low fat sour cream

♥ 1/2 pack of ground beef

♥ one pack of taco seasoning

♥ Salsa

♥ Veggies : Green onion, red and orange pepper

♥ Cheese

– First use a hand mixer to blend sour cream and cream cheese. Once mixed spread onto a platter. Fry ground beef until cooked over a medium heat. I like to use a lean ground beef, a tip to get the most fat out is once your beef is cooked pour into a strainer then rinse with water. Wipe out frying pan then return rinsed beef to the pan and add the taco seasoning according to directions on the pack! After spreading your sour cream-cream cheese mixture on your platter top with salsa and cooked ground beef. Then add cheese and top with chopped veggies! Voila!

♥ A great variation on this dish is to replace salsa with seafood sauce and ground beef with cooked shrimp! Equals yummy!!

Mom’s Delish Crab Dip!

Hey everyone!

Theres nothing I love more than a good dip! Here’s a great dip thats super quick and is sure to be a crowd pleaser! I use low fat/ fat free ingredients to be figure friendly 🙂

♥ 1/2 pack of low fat cream cheese

♥ One pack of crab meat ( If not available you can used canned crab or imitation crab)

♥ 1/2 cup  low fat mayo (Helmans is my fav)

♥ 2 tbsp sea food sauce

♥ Two green onions finely chopped

-Mix all ingredients together with a hand blender until finely mixed! This dip tastes better if prepared the night before or a couple hours before being served. Enjoy with your favourite crackers!

Easy Pancakes

Hey there!

There’s nothing I love more on a Sunday than brunch! And it isn’t complete without homemade pancakes! Sure the out-of-the-box kind may seem super easy, but I can tell you mine are just as simple, just as deliscious and made with ingredients you can pronounce! Here’s what you need:

 

♥ 2 cups of flour ( Half white and half whole wheat will make fluffier pancakes than just whole wheat, or you can stick to white if thats what you prefer!)

♥ 2 1/2 tsp of baking powder

♥ 1 egg

♥ 1 1/2 cup of milk

♥ Sprinkle of salt

– You should use a whisk to mix your ingredients. The batter should be of a thick consistency- but not too thick- it should easily stick to and drip from your spoon. Once you have all your ingredients mixed you can add in anything you fancy. Some great additions are:

– Chocolate Chips

– Blueberries

– Very Finely chopped apples with cinnamon

-Whatever your heart- or sweet heart- desires!

– Once you have your batter made heat up your frying pan or breakfast skillet to a medium-high heat, usually the 6 point on your stove top is a good choice! Let your pan really heat up and spray with a cooking spray, use olive oil or butter to grease your pan. You will need to do that for each batch of pancakes you cook. This recipe should make enough for 2-3 people to have about 3 pancakes each. I normally drop two spoonfulls of mixture into the frying pan at a time. A good tip is to preheat your oven to about 180 degrees and to place the pancakes into the oven as you cook them to ensure they do not become cold! Enjoy!

Mom’s Bannana Bread

Hey everyone!

If you are anything like me you buy bannas at the grocery store and about three days later the ones that are left are starting to look more like cheetas than bannanas. Luckily theres places other than the compost for those bruised bannanas to go- into a delicious bannana bread! Here’s what you need to make a yummy moist bannana bread!

♥ 1/2 cup of butter ( I prefer becel) 

 ♥ 1/2 cup of brown sugar   

 ♥ 2 eggs                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

♥ 1 & 3/4 cup of flour ( white or whole wheat or half and half will work)                                                                         

♥ 1 tbsp of baking powder                                                                                                                                                                                    

♥ 1 pinch of salt                                                                                                                                                                                                            

♥ 1/3 cup of chocolate chips (optional)                                                                                                                                                   

♥ 3 soft bannanas                                                                                                                                                                                                      

♥ 1/2 cup of grated carrots (optional)

– Blend butter, sugar and eggs with a hand mixer using a medium speed. Add bannanas then fold in flour, powder and salt. Once well blended add chocolate chips if desired. Grease a 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 bread pan- or any retangular shape loaf pan you have- and bake your bannana bread for one hour at 350 degrees. A good tip is to cover your pan in tinfoil so that your bread doesn’t burn and remember to KEEP CHECKING!! For the last ten minutes remove the tinfoil. Use a tooth pick to check when your bread is cooked, if the tooth pick comes out clean then your bread is done!

♥ Another great way to use this recipe is to make bannana muffins instead! The only difference is that you don’t ned to cover the batter with tinfoil and that you only need to bake 20-30 minutes, so remember to keep checking your muffins!

Hello cookers!

Hey everyone!

I will be posting videos to go along with most of my recipes along with step by step directions on how to make it turn out perfect everytime! I will be posting under several categories:

♥ Entrees

♥ Side Dishes

♥ Appetizers

♥ Desserts

♥ Drinks

♥ Breads

I appreciate feedback on any recipe, let me know how it went for you or offer any suggestions! Enjoy!