Roasted Veggie Pizza

So tonight for dinner I made this amazing pizza and I thought I would share with you how I put it together.

 First I sliced up onions, tomatoes, and zucchini. I spritzed them with a little olive oil and hit them with some salt and pepper. I stuck them in a hot oven (425) for 10 minutes, flipped them and baked them for another 10 minutes. I made my roll recipe and rolled half of the dough into a pizza crust. the other half I used to make cinnamon rolls for dessert!!
For the sauce I used Hunts brand chunky veggie pasta sauce. I love it! It has carrots, onions, celery, and zucchini in it along with the tomato sauce. I put all  the toppings on with some mozzarella cheese (except for 1/4 we left cheese less for Bella [dairy allergy]) baked in a 400 oven for 20 minutes. It was pretty much amazing! I love this pizza! Not only is it super good for you with all the veggies but the roasted veggies have some awesome flavor. I have found if you pre cook them your pizza won't get soggy.

Also I have to give a shout out to my awesome hubby who works so hard in the garden. The tomatoes, zucchini, onions, and basil (which was added after I took the picture, sorry) all came from our garden!! I hope the next time you have family pizza night you take a few minutes to roast up a few veggies to top it with. Trust me it's worth it!!

Crockpot Lasagna!!

I don't know who told me about this (if it was you... let me know!) But I have been making this for a few years now and we just love it! One thing I love about crock pots is the walk away factor. I love to cook, but every once in a while I just want a break and it is so fun to have the crock pot do all of the work for me.

Crock Pot Lasagna

1 lb ground beef
1/2 onion diced small
2-3 garlic cloves crushed
1-2 zucchini sliced into circles
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 16 oz tub ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/8 cup dried parsley
2 bottles prepared Tomato Pasta sauce
1 package no boil lasagna noodles



In a skillet brown ground beef and onions and garlic. Add 1 1/2 bottles of tomato pasta sauce. Set aside. In a medium bowl combine ricotta cheese, egg, dried parsley, and Parmesan cheese. Set aside. In the crock pot first add the 1/2 cup reserved tomato pasta sauce. add a layer of noodles (I use 3 to 4 noodles per layer and break them in half to get them to fit). On top of the noodles spread 1/4th of the ricotta cheese mixture followed by several zucchini slices and a good handful of mozzarella cheese. After that ladle some of the meat mixture over top. Continue layering until you either run out of room or ingredients. Cover and set crock pot on high. Let cook for 3-4 hours.

It is so good and so easy to make. It serves 6-8 easy. We get at least 2 meals each time we make it. Enjoy!!

White Chicken Chili and Cornbread

Today it feels more October and not at all like July so I decided to make White Chicken

 Chili and cornbread for dinner.

 It was pretty amazing! And before I forget what I did if figured I would post a blog with the recipe.

White Chicken Chili

4 cups navy beans cooked and drained

1 onion chopped fine

2 cloves garlic chopped fine

2 cups chicken broth

2 chicken breasts cooked and shredded

1 cup Verde salsa

1 cup frozen corn

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
1 small splash of liquid smoke (I have chipotle flavored... YUM!!!)




Take 2 cups of the navy beans and mash them up. set aside. In a big, heavy bottomed pot saute the onions and garlic until translucent. Add everything else and simmer for about 30 minutes. Serve with shredded pepper jack cheese if desired.



Cornbread

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup flour

4 tsp baking powder

4 tablespoons sugar

1 tsp salt

1 egg

1/4 cup oil

1 cup milk

Combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl. Add additional ingredients and stir until combined. Pour batter into an 8x8 baking dish and bake at 425 for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center on the cornbread is clean.

It was a huge hit with the kids and it is very mild. If you want to kick up the heat (like I did) add a few drops of your favorite hot sauce.

I hope you are having sunnier weather wherever you are! Feel free to save these recipes for a far off fall day!

Seitan Tacos

Meatless Monday's around here are never going to be the same again! I have discovered Seitan! It is a sub. for meat made from wheat gluten. It's pretty fun to make and tastes really good. You can make it into lots of different things. I decided my first attempt would be to make taco filling.


I got out my trusty grain mill and milled up about 2 1/2 pound (weight AFTER milling) of whole wheat flour. I mixed it with water and made it into a dough. keeping the dough in the bowl I rinsed it in the sink with the water running. The starch and the bran washed away and left the gluten. It formed into a spongy ball. Once the water ran clear I cut the gluten into 2 inch pieces and rolled them out into a sort of cutlet type shape. I boiled them in broth (you can use any kind you want (beef, chicken, veggie, fish) for 1 hour. Then I drained them and chopped them up. at this point you could do just about any recipe that calls for ground beef. I decided to make taco filling. I sauteed the seitan with some mushrooms and onions, I added my taco seasoning and some water/corn flour mix and... bingo! Taco filling! The ladies at church tried the "meat" with some whole wheat tortillas I made. It got rave reviews! Everyone LOVED it! I hope you take a chance with this "wheat meat"! You won't be sorry! (unless you have gluten issues then this is totally not for you!)

If your Neighbor Gives You Lemons...

You get to develop lemon recipes! My neighbor lady was sent a box of fresh lemons strait off the tree from a friend of hers in California and she gave some to us. They smell so amazing and are HUGE! So I thought I would take the opportunity to develop a few recipes using these lemons. Kind of an Iron Chef type of moment but with 3 little ones a time limit of an hour just ain't gonna work!

Ok so I am having a blast with this one. I am doing Grilled Lemon Chicken and Lemon Orzo Pilaf. Sounds good huh?

Grilled Lemon Chicken with Orzo Pilaf

4 Chicken Breasts

Marinade-

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup olive oil

the zest of 1 lemon

the juice of 1 lemon

1/2 tablespoon sugar

 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp soy sauce
2 garlic cloves crushed
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Combine ingredients and Marinate Chicken for 30 to 40 minutes flipping chicken over halfway. Cook chicken on grill or pan fry or broil, 20 minutes, or until it reaches an internal temp of 165 degrees.  Meanwhile, take used marinade and boil it in a small sauce pan for 5 minutes (this will ensure that all the chicken "stuff" is cooked all the way, also it will reduce down and thicken a bit. pour the sauce over the chicken when it's done.







Lemon Orzo Pilaf

1 cup orzo pasta

1/2 onion diced fine

1 stalk celery diced fine
2 cloves garlic crushed

2 carrots diced fine

1/2 cup diced bell peppers (any color you like)

1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

2 tsp olive oil

1/4 tsp. oregano

1/8 tsp turmeric

3 cups chicken stock or 3 cups water and 2 bouillon cubes

1 Tbs. Fresh parsley chopped for garnish

In a large skillet saute the garlic, onions, peppers and celery in the olive oil until almost done. Add the Orzo pasta and saute until the pasta is a light golden brown color. Add spices and chicken broth. Cover and let simmer on low for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and pasta is tender stirring every few minutes so it won't stick to the pan. If you run out of liquid before the pasta is done, add more chicken broth, 1/4 cup at a time. Garnish with Parsley.

We had this for dinner and it was super yummy! Not tart at all. I hope you enjoy these lemon recipes.