BBQ Chicken Pizza

So Friday night at our house is always pizza night - it started as a tradition with my parents and I have continued it along with my family.  One of our all time favorites is BBQ Chicken Pizza - everyone loves it and if you take the right shortcuts, it is so easy to make.  One of the best pizza tips I have is to ALWAYS get your dough from your favorite pizza shop.  It is always so fresh, the usually will cover it with some cornmeal, and because it is your favorite pizza place, you know you will love it.  It is about 2 bucks and totally worth the trip.

Ingredients:

1lb. Chicken breast

1 Pizza Dough from your favorite pizza place

1 C + 1/2 C BBQ sauce - whichever one you love - we are obsessed with Sweet Baby Rays

8 oz. Fresh Mozzarella, sliced very thin

1/2 C Shredded Gruyere Cheese
1/2 Small red onion, sliced very thin
Fresh cilantro, torn
Salt
Pepper
Cooking Spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Spray an oven-safe cooking dish with non-stick spray and pour in 1 cup of the BBQ sauce.  Put chicken in the sauce, turning it over to make sure that it is completely covered in sauce.  Place the chicken in the oven and bake until chicken is cooked about 35-40 minutes.  Take the chicken out of the oven and cool.  Once it is cooled, cut the chicken into small bite sized pieces. 

Spay a pizza sheet with non-stick spray.  Stretch out the pizza dough to make a nice circle.  Place the thin slices of fresh mozzarella on the bottom, and then sprinkle with the shredded gruyere.  

Next put on the sliced onions, chicken, and the rest of the BBQ sauce.  Season with salt and pepper and put in the oven. Cook until the crust is a nice golden brown and the cheese is all melted, about 12-14 minutes.  Once it has cooled a bit, add the cilantro and serve.  

Enjoy!!

Empty Out The Fridge Pizza...

Okay so one thing I HATE is throwing away good food.  You know the deal - you make a recipe - you use half of something and then end up throwing away the other half - so annoying!  One good thing about it is making something new - that you have never made before - and something I constantly do is use those foods to make a funky pizza.  I like to pick up a pizza crust from my favorite pizza place and start creating.

This is one that I made after Thanksgiving.  I had a Butternut Squash leftover that I wanted to use so I scoured the fridge to find things that would taste delish with it.

Here is what I came up with...

Butternut Squash, Bacon, Caramelized Onion and Blue Cheese Pizza (Yeeesssss)

Ingredients:

1 Pizza dough crust from the grocery store or local pizzeria 

1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
2 T. Olive Oil

1 Onion, sliced thinly
4 Pieces of Bacon
1 C. Cream Sauce (I make my own but you can buy some at the store)
1 C. Balsamic Vinegar (optional but I think the reduction really makes the pizza) 
1/2 C. Blue Cheese, crumbled
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Toss your butternut squash in olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper in an oven safe baking dish and place in the oven.  Roast for about 30 minutes - make sure to check on it a few times and mix it around a bit.  When the squash is nice and roasted take out and let it cool down.

While your butternut squash is in the oven, heat a skillet (I used my cast iron) over medium high heat.  When the skillet is hot, add your bacon.  Cook the bacon until crisp and set aside.  After you take out the bacon, keep the bacon fat in the pan, and add your onions.  Sauté your onions in the fat until they are a nice golden brown and put aside.

Spray your pizza pan with some nonstick cooking spray and roll out your dough.  Add the cream sauce to the pizza.  Next add the rest of your toppings (minus the balsamic vinegar) and pop the pizza in the oven for about 15 minutes - until the crust gets nice and golden.

While your pizza is cooking, place the balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Once you have it at a boil, reduce to a simmer and reduce to about half.  After the pizza is a little cooled, add the reduction to the pizza and it is done!  It is amazing - and now I wont have to throw anything away :)

Enjoy!

Football Food... Sticky Spicy Drumsticks

So I don't know about you - but I love the quality of food at Whole Foods but not the price.  So I try and get whatever meats they have on sale to help a bit.  This week they had these beautiful drumsticks on sale and I couldn't pass them up!

So what to make... I love chicken and how versatile it is and really can take on whatever flavors you are in the mood for.  So today it was sweet and spicy - I love those two flavors together.  So I searched my pantry and came up with this quick marinade.  It was easy to make, and I had everything on hand - I will definitely be making this one again!

Sticky Spicy Drumsticks

Ingredients:

4 lbs. of Chicken Drumsticks
1/2 C. Honey + 2 T. 
2 T. Soy sauce (I like the low sodium)
2 T Hot Sauce (Sriracha is preferred)
1T. Apple Cider Vinegar
1 t. Minced garlic
Juice of 1 Lemon
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients and add to a large Ziploc bag.  

Pat your drumsticks dry and generously salt and pepper them.  Add the drumsticks to the bag and make sure that your marinade is covering all of your chicken.  Let them marinate for at least 2 hours in the fridge.  I let mine go for 4 hours and they really tasted yummy!

Preheat your oven to 475 degrees. Transfer your chicken and marinade into a large roasting pan or baking dish with high sides.  Brush your drumsticks with the remaining honey and season with salt and pepper.  

Bake the chicken, basting it often with the juices of the pan until it is well browned and the sauce looks nice and sticky.  Mine took 40 minutes, you can use a thermometer and make sure it is 165 degrees.

Serve the chicken on a platter and drizzle with the sauce - it was amazing!!

I will make these again for the next Pats game - I think this marinade would be great on wings too!

Enjoy!

Mmmmm Leftovers - What To Do?

Okay... I have to admit - I love leftovers.  Especially Thanksgiving because there is so much you can do with it.  I have made potato croquettes (Paula Deen has an AWESOME recipe here). Everyone likes a good hot turkey sandwich or even a nice hash, but I really wanted to try something different.

I had some leftover wonton wrappers from making Crab Rangoon last week and I thought... how can I make this work.  What did I come up with?  Delicious mini thanksgiving bites.  Everything you love about thanksgiving in one little bite.  I even customized them for each member of the family.  

I hope everyone is enjoying this glorious day of laziness I know I am!

Thanksgiving Dinner Wontons 

Ingredients:

mini muffin pan
12 wonton wrappers
Leftovers from Thanksgiving (you can pick and choose what you like):
1 C. stuffing
1 C.turkey (i think a mix of light and dark works best) - cut up into small chunks
1 C. mashed potatoes
1 C. sweet potatoes
1/2 C. squash
1/2 C. gravy
1/4 C. cranberry sauce
anything else you love :)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees.

Spray your pan with nonstick cooking spray and place one wonton wrapper in each hole - making a little cup for your yummy goodness.  Place the wontons in the oven for about 5 minutes letting them get a little brown.  

Add about a tablespoon of stuffing to each wonton to make a little base "crust" and pop back into the oven for another 5 minutes.

While they are cooking put the gravy in a small sauce pot on medium-low heat to get it warm.  Put all other ingredients in small bowls to make it easier for assembly.

Remove the wontons from the oven and start creating!  My favorite is turkey and sweet potatoes, my kids like just a little turkey and a lot of mashed potatoes and my husband likes a little of everything - you can do whatever works for you.  In the mini wontons you can fit about a 1 tablespoon of turkey, 1 teaspoon of gravy and a tablespoon of potatoes on top. I like to add a little bit of gravy to the turkey layer and then add whatever potatoes you like on top to keep it together. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. If you want, you can just add the gravy to the wontons at the end.

After you have put all of your wontons together, pop them in the oven for around 10 minutes.  If you like it (I do!) add a little bit of cranberry sauce to the top, any extra gravy and serve!  A delicious twist on your Thanksgiving Favorites in under 30 minutes :) 

Enjoy!


 

 

Our Family's Stuffing Recipe

So... as adventurous as I like to be in the kitchen - there are a few things that need to stay traditional.  For me, one of those recipes is my mom's stuffing for Thanksgiving.  It is so delicious and so easy and everyone loves it.  Every time I host Thanksgiving - making the stuffing is my favorite part.  My mom and I do it together and it a tradition that I never want to change.

There is a lot of controversy out there about stuffing your turkey - you shouldn't because it isn't able to cook fully - or bacteria can form - but I am here to tell you that we stuff that bird as much as we can - and then cook the rest on the side in a casserole dish.  You know what goes first?  The bird's stuffing.  It just tastes SO much better... so do as you wish - but this recipe works both in the turkey and out.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

My Momma's Stuffing

Ingredients:

2 12oz. Bags of cubed herb stuffing (I like Pepperidge Farm)

4 T. Salted Butter

2 12oz. Jimmy Dean Premium Pork Regular Sausage, defrosted

2 medium onions, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

5 apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped

4 cups of turkey broth (if you cannot find turkey, chicken is fine)

1 T. poultry seasoning

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

Brown sausage in a large dutch oven.  Remove sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Add butter to the dutch oven and sauté the onions and celery until translucent.  Add apples and cook for 5 minutes.  Add back in the sausage and mix well.  Turn off heat and add one bag of stuffing with 2 cups of broth. Mix until everything is well incorporated.  Add the second bag and the rest of the broth and mix again.  

I like to make up the stuffing the night before and store it in the fridge until I am ready to stuff my bird.  

Here is a picture of Thomas the Turkey from last year ready to be served.  I hope you all have a very happy holiday with your families :)

Apple-Doodle Cobbler

While cruising through Pinterest for new Thanksgiving dessert ideas, I came across a recipe for an Apple Cobbler made with a Snickerdoodle topping - genius!  I loved the idea - but it was missing a few things that are needed to be a successful dessert in my house so I decided to alter it a little bit and try it out for tomorrow.  I swapped out the Snickerdoodle top to a recipe I have been using for years and then added some lemon juice to the apples (keeps them from browning and adds a little citrus kick).  Last but not least I decided to add a crumb topping... I looooove crumb toppings and a little extra butter never hurt anyone ;) Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!

Apple-Doodle Cobbler

Ingredients:

Cookie Ingredients (you can also use store bought or any recipe you love - this is my all-time favorite!)

       ¾ cup granulated sugar

       2/3 cup light brown sugar

       ½ cup butter, softened

       1 t. vanilla extract

       1 large egg

       1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces)

       1 t. baking powder

       ½ t. ground cinnamon

       ¼ t. salt

       1/3 C granulated sugar

       1 ½ t. ground cinnamon

  Apple ingredients

                8C apples (roughly 6-8 apples depending on their size)

                   ¼ cup brown sugar

                   ½ t. cinnamon

  Crumb Topping

                    3 T. Flour

                  1 T. Sugar

                  dash of Salt

                 1 T. Butter at room temperature

  Directions:

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  Combine 3/4 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, and butter in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and egg.

  Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; beat just until combined. Put the cooking mixture in the fridge to chill.  Add 1/3 Cup of Sugar and 1 ½ t. of cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.

  While the dough is chilling, add the brown sugar and ½ t. of cinnamon to a large bowl.  Peel, core and slice up your apples and add them to the brown sugar mixture making sure they are completely covered.  Add the covered apples to an butter greased 8x8 baking dish.

  Take the chilled dough out of the fridge and make 1 inch balls.  Roll each ball in the sugar and cinnamon mix and add on top of the apple mixture – slightly flattening the balls. 

  For crunch topping, combine flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Cut in butter with a fork until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over the top of cobbler. 

  

   Bake for 45-55 minutes – when the apples are tender and the topping is a nice golden brown.  Let cool and serve with vanilla ice cream  - YUM!

My First Blog...

So I love to cook... I mean I realllly love it. It makes me happy to feed the people I love and it always puts me in a good mood. My friends always tell me I have a knack for finding the best recipes on the internet and I am always up for trying something new - so here we go! 

So it is Thanksgiving - and this is my holiday to host! I like to keep things very traditional but I ALWAYS try at least one new recipe. This year - I am trying two new desserts: a Snicker-doodle Apple Cobbler I found on Pinterest (LOVE Pinterest) and an Apple Snickers Bar Salad. I will be altering them both to fit my tastes and posting pics later :) 

With Thanksgiving knocking on my door, I wanted an easy dinner tonight and my husband has been begging me to make Beef Stew (which I typically am not a fan of). So I took a basic recipe and made it more... me. Here is what I came up with! Thanks for reading along with me - I am excited to share my food journey with you! 

Not Your Momma's Beef Stew 

Ingredients: 
2 Lbs. Stew Beef (cubed) 
2 T. Canola Oil 
1 Medium Onion 
2 Garlic Cloves (peeled) 
2 Cups Beef Broth 
1 Cup Red Wine 
1 T. Worcestershire Sauce 
 1 T. Sugar 
1 t. Paprika 
1/2 t. Thyme 
1/2 t. Rosemary 
1/4 t. Sea Salt 
1/4 t. Pepper 
1/4 t. Allspice 
 2 Bay Leaves 
3 Large Russet Potatoes (peeled and cut into cubes) 
4 Large Carrots (peeled and chopped) 
2 Celery Ribs (chopped) 
2 T. Wondra Flour 

Directions: 
Heat up a large Dutch Oven over Medium High Heat and add oil. Once the oil starts to smoke a little add the meat and brown on all sides. Take out the browned beef with a slotted spoon. Add broth, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, sea salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, allspice, thyme, and rosemary. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours.Add your potatoes, carrots, and celery and bring back up to a boil. Once boiling bring back down to a simmer for another hour or so. Remove 2 cups of the liquid and add the 2 Wondra Flour - whisk and add back into the stew for another 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and Voila! Beef Stew even I love :) Let's be honest here - if you put red wine in something... I will like it. Here is a picture of my finished product - the hubby loved it too!

Not Your Momma's Beef Stew