Chicken Alfredo Pizza

My brother and sister-in-law have a family tradition of eating pizza every Friday night and yesterday they invited us to their pizza party. We each made a pizza to share. They were planning on making a more traditional pizza with marinara sauce so I decided to do something a little different. This was a great pizza and a fun change to the traditional homemade pepperoni.

Pizza dough
Ragu Roasted Garlic Parmesan sauce
1 chicken breast, cut into pieces
1/4 lb bacon, in small pieces
1/4 cup ham, in small squares
1/2 lb mushroom slices
Mozzarella cheese

Prepare toppings by cooking chicken breast (seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, and basil) and bacon and slicing ham and mushrooms. Spread sauce over uncooked pizza dough. Top with mozzarella cheese and then toppings. Bake at 400° for about 20 minutes.

Teriyaki Salmon

There are limitless opinions, articles and books written about nutrition during pregnancy. I understand why some women swear off eating fish completely during pregnancy because there are so many warnings about the risks of mercury in seafood. But I have also read studies that show a correlation between higher intake of omega-3 fatty acids during pregnancy and increased cognition in babies and young children. So here are the omega-3 fatty acids that I ate this week, all wrapped up in peppers and teriyaki sauce.

Large (approx. 2 lb) salmon steak
Approx. 1/2 cup Yoshida's teriyaki sauce
1/2 green pepper, sliced
1/2 red pepper, sliced
1/4 orange, sliced (mostly for looks...)

Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare salmon by brushing teriyaki sauce onto fish, making sure it is thoroughly covered. Top fish with peppers and slices of orange. Bake for about 30 minutes or until fish is flaky and opaque.

Barbecue Steak

This week I decided to splurge a little bit to celebrate recent events with my husband. He has been wanting to learn how to cook a really good steak. I bought two New York Strip Steaks and then started researching the best way to cook them. For this dish I mostly did "behind the scenes support" and let my husband do most of the actual cooking. He did a fantastic job. These were some of the best steaks we have ever had.

New York Strip Steaks
Steak seasoning
Salt and Pepper

Preheat barbecue. Rub steak seasoning, salt, and pepper into steak on all sides. Cook the first side for 5-7 minutes depending on thickness (we cooked it for closer to 7 minutes). Flip steak and cook the second side for 4-6 minutes (we cooked it for about 5).

Zucchini Tomato Sauté

This dish is inspired by one that a friend of mine in Guatemala made for me a few years ago. Frying things in excessive oil or lard is pretty much a way of life in Central America so of course the original dish had a lot higher fat content and different spices. I really like to make this side dish in combination with Fettuccine Alfredo. This time I made it as a side dish to steak and potato wedges.

2 cups zucchini, sliced
1-2 cups tomatoes, diced (I often use canned tomatoes with italian seasoning)
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning (less if using canned tomatoes)
Salt to taste

Combine ingredients in a medium skillet and saute over medium-high heat until onion and zucchini soften. Serve warm.

Rosemary Garlic Potato Wedges

Having recently learned that potatoes are an excellent source of many vitamins and minerals (even vitamin C! I never would have expected that.) I have wanted to incorporate them more into my diet. I really like making potato wedges; it kind of "dresses up" a plain old potato and makes it seem almost gourmet even though it is a very simple process.

Potatoes
Rosemary
Garlic Powder
Parmesan cheese
Salt

Clean as many potatoes as you wish and cut into wedges (I usually cut each potato into four wedges). Place on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. Sprinkle a generous amount of rosemary, garlic powder, and Parmesan cheese over potatoes. I have found that I should use a lot more of my spices than I would naturally use. Bake at 375º for 30-45 minutes or until cheese starts to turn golden. Add salt after cooking.

Blueberry White Chocolate Swirl Bread

On our way home from church yesterday, my husband said he had a great idea to use the blueberries we had in the freezer. Sweet bread with white chocolate and blueberry swirls. So it became my responsibility to put his idea into action. I looked up lots of recipes for sweet breads (including the Great Harvest Cinnamon Burst copycat bread recipe) online and in books. I finally came up with my recipe using that copycat recipe and the one for egg bread that I found in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

About 5 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp yeast
1 1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs

Filling:
1 lb blueberries, prepared with about 1 tsp lemon juice and 1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Heat butter and milk until butter almost melts. Stir in sugar and salt. Add eggs, yeast, and 2 cups flour. Mix well. Continue to stir in flour. Once the dough starts to become thick and somewhat sticky, begin to knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and not too sticky. Place in a lightly greased bowl to rise until about double in size (about 1 hour).

Punch down dough and then form into a ball; divide dough in half and cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Lightly grease two loaf pans.

Roll each portion of dough into a 12x7" rectangle. Top with about 1/2 lb blueberries and 3/4 cup white chocolate chips.

 

Roll up dough and pinch seam and ends to seal. Place seam side down in prepared loaf pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double (about 30 minutes). Bake at 375º for 25-30 minutes. Remove loafs from pan and drizzle with a glaze made from powdered sugar and milk.

 

Barbecue Chicken

I can't believe I had never made barbecue chicken before! For some reason I thought it would be complicated and time consuming but it wasn't at all. Growing up my mom always used chicken with bones because it is a little less expensive, but it is great with or without bones. Boneless chicken takes a little less time to bake. This time I used chicken thighs and wings.

Chicken (any cut)
Barbecue sauce of your choice

Clean chicken and remove skin and fat (if it has skin and fat). Place in pan. Bake at 350º for about 15 minutes. Drain juice and then brush barbecue sauce onto chicken. I used a lot of sauce; probably about 3/4 bottle. Continue to bake for at least 20 more minutes or until fully cooked. The time will be longer if you are cooking more chicken. I ended up cooking the chicken for about an hour and a half while we were waiting for the potatoes to finish but surprisingly the chicken didn't dry out at all, it just got really tender and juicy.

Sticky Chicken

This is a tangy, sweet and super-simple dinner that takes less than a half hour to make. This recipe is one that my mom made for us growing up. I have learned that the type of barbecue sauce used in the recipe makes a really big difference in flavor; when I use the "honey" flavor sauce it tastes very sweet. I find that I prefer a less sweet sauce. I also learned that there is a difference in quality between a name brand and generic brand barbecue sauce.

1 lb boneless skinless chicken, cut into chunks
1 cup apricot jam
1 cup barbecue sauce
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1/2 cup cashews
1 8 oz can mandarin oranges

In nonstick pan over medium-high heat, saute chicken until lightly browned. Combine barbecue sauce, jam and soup mix with chicken. Bring to boil. Turn on low and simmer 10 minutes. Just before serving over rice, add mandarin oranges and cashews.

Traditional Cinnamon Rolls

The cinnamon rolls I used pizza dough for were great, but a few days ago I decided to make some "real" cinnamon rolls. I chose a recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and found that the main differences between my pizza dough/roll recipe and cinnamon roll recipe are that the cinnamon roll dough is a little sweeter and that I let them rise for a lot longer. These turned out very light and fluffy and the dough was also very simple.

4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp active dry yeast
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs

Filling:
3 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

In a large mixing bowl combine 2 cups of the flour and yeast; set aside. Heat milk and butter in the microwave until butter almost melts, stir in the 1/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup butter, and salt. Add milk mixture to dry mixture along with eggs. Mix well (3-4 minutes). Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

Turn dough on a floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes). Place dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size (about 1 hour).

Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in half. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Lightly grease pan(s).

Roll each portion of the dough into a 12x8" rectangle. Brush the melted 3 Tbsp butter over dough. Combine the 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon: sprinkle over dough. Roll up, jelly-roll style, starting from a long side. Seal seam. Slice each roll into 12 equal pieces. Place in prepared pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place till nearly double (about 30 minutes).

Bake in a 375º oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Cool slightly; remove from pans. Drizzle with icing (powdered sugar icing or cream cheese icing).

Cinnamon Rolls

My pizza dough recipe makes about enough for two and a half pizzas. So what do I do with the extra dough? I have a pan that is a little smaller so sometimes I make it into another pizza, sometimes into breadsticks, sometimes into rolls. This time I used the remaining dough to make some cinnamon rolls. And they tasted great!

Ingredients:
leftover pizza dough
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup cinnamon sugar (approx.)
Cream cheese frosting

Roll out leftover pizza dough into a rectangle, about 8"x16". Spread melted butter over entire rectangle. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over butter. Roll dough so that the longer side forms the coils of dough (in other words so that the roll is about 8" long). Cut rolls about 1" thick using unwaxed dental floss or thread. Place on pan about 2" apart and let rise another 30-45 minutes. Bake at 375° for about 15 minutes. Let cool about 10 minutes before frosting.

Stuffed Crust Pizza

If Pizza Hut can do it, why can't I? I am surprised that I had never even thought of filling my own pizza crust with cheese before yesterday. What a great idea! It worked out very well. The only thing I might change for next time is rolling the dough a little thinner on the edges so that there is proportionately more cheese to bread.

I started out by making the same pizza dough that I usually use, let it rise for the usual time, and rolled it out so that it was a little bigger than my pan (in this case I used a pizza stone). At the time I only had pre-shredded mozzarella cheese to work with, but I think that bigger strips of mozzarella cheese would make the process even easier. I made lines of cheese close to the edge of my pizza and folded the dough over top. It didn't seem to have any trouble sticking or holding its shape.

Then I spread the sauce, cheese and toppings and baked as usual. I didn't even have to increase the cooking time. When it came out of the oven I spread garlic butter on the edges to make them more like bread sticks. My stuffed crust pizza tasted great and was a lot of fun.

Chicken Burritos

Ever since driving by a Chipotle on a recent visit to Colorado, I have been craving a good burrito. Unfortunately the closest Chipotle to me is about an hour drive away, so a few days ago my husband and I decided to try making them at home. We didn't use any sort of recipe and admittedly, the burritos didn't end up tasting much like Chipotle, but they were still good and worthy of filing away for future reference.

Chicken:
1 lb. chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
1-2 Tbsp canned chipotle in adobo (we chopped up the chile and used a little sauce)
Ground black pepper to taste
Garlic powder
Cumin
 1/2 cup onion, chopped

Begin by sauteing onion over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes. Then add chicken, chipotle chile (warning: very spicy), and spices. Cook until chicken is no longer pink inside.

Black Beans:
1 can of black beans
1-2 tsp garlic powder
Salt to taste

I usually rinse canned beans with water before using them in cooking. This reduces unnecessary sodium and gets rid of that clear slimy stuff that they are preserved with. Heat in microwave or in a small saucepan, mixing in garlic powder and salt.

These burritos had regular white rice, cooked with a little oregano, salt, and fresh cilantro for flavor. I used store-bought "fresh" salsa, homemade guacamole, and a little bit of freshly squeezed lime, then wrapped the burrito as best I could.

Coffee Cake

As the birth of my first baby is approaching, along with a complete shift in my personal identity as well as the composition of my day, I have been trying to change my cooking philosophy as well. I have been looking for more recipes that are simple to make and, having recently (and I hope permanently) exited the "morning sickness" phase of this pregnancy I have been making a more concerted effort to make meal preparation a higher priority in my day. Which is why I have been trying to make more breakfast foods.

In spite of the cliché stating that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day," I have never really been a big "breakfast-person." Although I do enjoy breakfast food, I usually don't prepare it except on special occasions. But my husband talks about how much he values the time his mother spent to prepare breakfast for the family to eat before heading to school, work, and other daily activities. So a few days ago I got up a little early just to make this coffee cake that I copied out of a magazine at the doctors office about 6 months ago. Apparently I didn't get up early enough, though, because it finished baking within minutes of my departure for work - still too hot to eat - and our breakfast cake ended up being a dessert cake that night. Oh well, maybe next time. Nevertheless it was a good and very easy recipe. Unfortunately I cannot give the author her due credit because I didn't write down her name or the name of the magazine.

Cake:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Beat butter and 1 cup sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Stir in sour cream and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and stir until well mixed. Put half of the batter into a 9" square pan. Combine 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon, and nuts and pour two thirds of mixture over batter. Then pour remaining batter into the pan and top with the last third of cinnamon mixture. Bake at 375° for about 50 minutes.

Fresh Green Beans

My husband's favorite vegetable is green beans. We usually eat them from the can but recently found a really good sale at the local grocery store. There are many different ways to cook them, but we decided to fry them in just a little bit of butter because it kept them crispy on the outside and kept their fresh taste. They were really good. Even better than they are canned.

1 Tbsp butter
1 lb. fresh green beans

Wash and remove stems from green beans. Fry for 3-4 minutes in butter.

Crock Pot Chicken and Potatoes

I meant to plan our Sunday dinner in advance, but I just didn't. So today I had to use the ingredients that I had (and some that I borrowed from my sister-in-law) and put together our dinner. I have to say I was impressed with how it turned out. I will definitely make it again.

4 chicken breasts, cut into pieces
1 envelope chicken gravy mix
1 10 oz. pkg frozen peas
1 26 oz. can cream of chicken soup
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups potatoes, cut up
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp cumin
Black pepper to taste

Mix ingredients together in crock pot. Cook on low for at least 6 hours or on high for at least 3 hours.

Almond Poppy Seed Muffins

These muffins made a delicious Sunday breakfast and only took about ten minutes to prepare for baking. I have always been a little hesitant to make muffins from scratch because they almost never taste as good as the ones from boxes, but these were actually pretty close. And they were more convenient because I had everything to make them in my cupboards at home.

1 1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla
2 1/2 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup poppy seeds
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix milk, oil, egg, almond extract, and vanilla together. In a separate mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and stir 30 seconds. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray or use paper liners. Bake 15-18 minutes. Makes 12-15 minutes.

Waffle Cones

One of my husband's favorite gifts this Christmas was a waffle cone maker. Waffle cones only take a few minutes to make and they are so much fun. We made them for my family this past week when they were visiting. This is the best recipe we have found so far.

1 whole egg
1 egg white
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup sifted all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled slightly

Beat the egg, egg white, and salt in a small bowl with a fork until well blended. Beat in the sugar and beat until sugar is incorporated and the egg has lightened in color slightly, about one minute. Beat another 15 seconds to mix in the flour and remove all lumps. Add the melted butter and stir until well blended.

Spoon 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of the waffle cone iron. Bake for 1 minute and check for proper color. Cook for another 5 to 10 seconds if necessary. Roll waffle cone around plastic mold and hold for a few seconds until cone begins to harden. Cool completely before eating with ice cream. You can also make waffle bowls.

 

It was almost like Cold Stone when we mixed the ice cream with the cookies and candy of our choice.