I cooked!

I have another blog about restaurants. If you look at it, you will see a LOT of restaurants in recent weeks. And that doesn't include any chains or places we've already been to.

But tonight, I put my foot down (on myself) and cooked.
I made Giada's Pasta Primavera and tomato, basil, mozzarella salad.

Very very good! Even BAJ had seconds, although The Boy wasn't so into anything but the tomatoes and cheese.

Mmm, Pizza

Went ahead and made that no bread machine pizza again. So easy and so yummy. I added some minced garlic, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper to the dough, as well as using olive oil instead of vegetable oil. I also used 1c of whole wheat flour.
As a topping, I used diced tomato, fresh garlic, and red pepper. Yum.

Chocolate chip cookies

I made these from the ATK cookbook, and I brought them as a "birthday" celebration at A's school. The kitchen was VERY hot, so I had a hard time rolling them into balls, and so just used a tablespoon to drop them on the cookie sheet. They came out very tasty and puffy, but because of the stickiness, I figured I mismeasured the flour and added a little more. BAJ said he could taste the extra flour, but he might have been busting my chops... this has been known to happen on occasion.

Anyway, this was a really good chocolate chip cookie recipe. I think I liked it better this time than the last.

Appetizer night

We are hosting another appetizer night tonight. We get together with friends of BAJ's from high school about once a month...sometimes we stay in, sometimes we go out. The past time we got together that we "hosted," we did an appetizer night, with much success (See here) so we decided to do the same again.

I've already made Minty Lime Freeze, from Kraft Foods. I obviously haven't had it prepared, but did sneak a taste of the whipped topping, and it was yummy.

Since I have a LOT of mint leftover, I'll also make mojitos, which I've never had before... what better time than now!

I'm also making Is It Really Better Than Sex? Cake by Paula Deen, which I have made previously with success.

Finally, I'm making Crab Rangoon, which I LOOVE when we go to PF Chang's.

Well then.

So I'm trying to back up pictures on my computer by uploading to picasa. I ran out of space, so started deleting things I didn't need. I deleted a folder with the name of this blog, which means I apparently deleted all the pictures from the blog. Oy.

Best Pizza yet.

I used the pizza dough recipe I posted last night to make this. This time, I used regular old AP flour. I did change the oil to olive oil, and added some Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes to the dough.


I used regular old jarred pasta sauce, and added some basil from my garden on top. I think the thing I did differently was that I kneaded the dough a little bit longer than I usually do.

Woohoo, this was delicious! I also made a mini pizza from the leftover dough (the whole recipe is too much for my pan), which BAJ is taking in for lunch today. We'll see how that one goes reheated in the micro...

Pizza Dough

Sooo, the Biblical Womanhood blog I found pizza dough on previously is no longer in operation. Because I like this dough SO much, here's the recipe, which I refound at Money Saving Mom.

Pizza Crust:
1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F.)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups flour

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the rest of the ingredients in and mix.

Dump onto a floured surface .

Knead into a smooth dough (five minutes or so).

Roll out and press down onto a greased pizza pan.

Add toppings. (Have fun and be creative with this! Our favorite variety is salsa or barbecue sauce, diced cooked chicken, and cheese.)

Bake at 450 degrees F. for around 12-15 minutes until the crust looks crispy and lightly browned.

By the way, you can make up a double or triple batch of the pizza crust dough and freeze the extras if you don't need it. This speeds up the preparation even more as all you have to do is pull out a bag of dough and a bag of chopped cooked chicken in the morning and then put the pizza together right before you're ready to eat. You can also freeze the pizzas already cooked but I doubt it would ever stay uneaten long enough to make it to the freezer around here!

Frugal test

I have a copy of The Tightwad Gazette (from the library!) that I'm perusing. Many of the tips, I know I cannot bring the hubs on board. But I discovered a recommendation for reusing coffee grounds. Not sure how to do this, I looked online to discover the blog A Penny Closer, which did this same experiment.

This weekend, I made a pot of coffee, using 4 c of water and 4 scoops of coffee. I reused those grounds (and filter), and added 2 scoops of coffee and 4 c of water to make my coffee this morning. Success! It tasted just right, after adding the requisite cream and sugar, and saved me a filter and 2 scoops of coffee. So this means I will use 6 scoops every 2 days instead of 8.

Now, can I use the same grounds and filter tomorrow? I think I will try!

Why bread needs salt

My husband loves bread. He saw the bread needed to have a slice lopped off to fit into the baggie. He ate that slice. He then came upstairs, with said slice, and said," Before I base your lunch tomorrow on this bread, how about if you try it?" I took a bite, and thought, hey this isn't bad. Then it hit me... this bread is TERRIBLE. I tried to finish it but simply couldn't.

So, salt is a necessity in bread.

Hope to try again tonight.

Bread

We ran out of sandwich bread, so I decided to try making it in the machine (which may or may not be broken). I found this recipe, and gave it a whirl.

I used 1/2 c of whole wheat flour, and olive oil instead of vegetable. I think I forgot to add salt.

It's still cooking, but it looks great and smells really good too!! Pictures and an update soon!

Pizza Dough, Part 2

Tried again with the no rise dough I tried last week. This time, I didn't use the whole amount of dough made, opting to make a mini pizza with the leftovers. I put the mini in the freezer after baking to see how that works out.

This came out a lot nicer and less doughy. It was a much better amount.

I really want to find a pizza stone and a pizza peel. I've been wanting the tile Alton Brown mentioned on his show (he said it's like 99 cents, but I haven't been able to find the right stuff... a little more research and now I think I know what I need), and I discovered yesterday that Bed Bath and Beyond no longer sells pizza peels!

Anyway, back to the dough. It came out really nice, with the addition of some Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and crushed red pepper. Even The Boy ate it!

Pioneer Woman's Mac and Cheese

Have you ever heard of "Pioneer Woman?" Not only do I subscribe to her blog, but she is much the buzz in the other blogs to which I subscribe. Everyone raves about Pioneer Woman. Check out her blog here.

I have been on a quest for delicious homemade macaroni and cheese, a mac and cheese like none other, one that would satisfy BAJ. This, sadly, was not it. He said that it was "not bad," to which I added, "But still mac and cheese," and he agreed.

Sigh.

From the peanut gallery, however, this was DELICIOUS. Perhaps the best I've made. I can't tell you that this was easy, because it involved a LOT of whisking, but it was well worth it because it was outstanding.

YUM.

The rest of the peanut gallery agreed... I served it up for The Boy, who had already started feeding himself before I turned my back.

That's right. Not only did he eat it, but he also fed it to himself.

That's SOME Pig.

Anyway, here's the recipe. I went ahead and baked it, fearing the partially done pasta would not be a success. (I was unsure how long to cook this "not done" pasta, so went for half the cooking time on the box). I used rotini pasta, and added a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. I halved everything except did use a whole egg. I used Cheddar cheese as well.

Pioneer Woman’s Mac & Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

4 cups dried macaroni
1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 4 tablespoons) butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 heaping teaspoons dry mustard (more if desired)
1 egg, beaten
1 pound cheese, grated
1/2 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt (more to taste)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
*Optional spices: cayenne pepper, paprika, thyme

Cook macaroni until very firm. Macaroni should be too firm to eat right out of the pot. Drain.
In a small bowl, beat egg.
In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat. Cook mixture for five minutes, whisking constantly. Don’t let it burn.
Pour in milk, add mustard, and whisk until smooth. Cook for five minutes until very thick. Reduce heat to low.
Take 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly pour it into beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid cooking eggs. Whisk together till smooth.
Pour egg mixture into sauce, whisking constantly. Stir until smooth.
Add in cheese and stir to melt.
Add salts and pepper. Taste sauce and add more salt and seasoned salt as needed! DO NOT UNDERSALT.
Pour in drained, cooked macaroni and stir to combine.

Serve immediately (very creamy) or pour into a buttered baking dish, top with extra cheese, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top

Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi with Green Beans

When I am meal planning, I always ask my husband if he has any requests. Typically, his response will be "I want some kind of shrimp." Some of those real home chefs might think this empty palette a wonderful thing. I am not a real home chef. I'm just someone trying to cook some "slop," as my mom always used to say. He's a "finicky," shall we say, kind of guy, so I get frustrated sometimes.

This meal was a success.

I found it in my Google Reader, and was pleased to see I had everything necessary to make... all the shrimp recipes in my magazines called for fish sauce or clam broth... what's up with that? I found it on the Sweet Savory Southern blog, which has all kinds of tasty treats. You can find the recipe here.

I did things a little differently... Obviously, I used spaghetti (whole grain!) instead of orzo. But, I also used olive oil instead of all that butter. I heated the oil and added the garlic (way more than a teaspoonful). I got it fragrant, and then added the shrimp, which I had seasoned with both salt and pepper. I cooked it all the way, then added the lemon juice and some more pepper. This seemed to cut down on steps, which made sense to me.

I also served what has quickly become my signature side dish. It's my take on ATK braised green beans. I heated some olive oil, and added some diced onion. I added some chicken stock and green beans, and simmered until the beans were soft (I think I did 10 minutes?), and added some Craisins into the mix about halfway (I usually add them at the beginning, but forgot)... stirred a few times while simmering.

We both enjoyed the meal as a whole, and even got The Boy to eat some pasta and some beans.

Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi

• 1  cup  uncooked orzo (obviously I subbed spaghetti)
• 2  tablespoons  chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt, divided
• 7  teaspoons  unsalted butter, divided
• 1 1/2  pounds  peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp
• 2  teaspoons  bottled minced garlic (I used fresh)
• 2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper

1. Cook orzo according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. Place orzo in a medium bowl. Stir in parsley and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cover and keep warm.
2. While orzo cooks, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add half of shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer shrimp to a plate. Melt 1 teaspoon butter in pan. Add remaining shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer to plate.
3. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in pan. Add garlic to pan; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in shrimp, juice, and pepper; cook 1 minute or until shrimp are done.

Pizza!

I found this recipe on a website about saving some loot around the home. It came at a perfect time, since the last few times I've made pizza dough in my bread machine, it's come out funky for some reason. I can't figure out if there's something wrong with the bread machine, so a fast recipe without a bread machine is great. This is that recipe. It's pretty basic, and very fast to make.

I made a few modifications, but nothing major... I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour, and the remaining cup and a half, I used bread flour (King Arthur; I think it's whole wheat as well.) I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil, and added some hot pepper flakes, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning.

This was actually my first time kneading dough. Woo!

I completely forgot the pictures, but it looked pretty!

I did find that this made more dough than was necessary for my pizza pan. Next time, I will use half the dough and freeze the rest.

I also didn't have any mozzarella in the house (woops!), and instead used shredded Monterey Jack. BAJ said it tasted different, and wouldn't say whether it was bad or good, just different. I am still fighting a cold, and couldn't really taste anything, but it tasted pretty good to me! I topped with canned mushrooms, and frozen mixed pepper slices.

Grilled Turkey and Ham Sandwiches with Tomato Soup

Posted about this one here. These are the pics.

Stir Fried Chicken and Pineapple in Sweet and Sour Sauce

From ATK, this was GOOD STUFF. I chopped my chicken a little too large in some cases, and it cooked for a little too long. I really hate getting oil so hot that it's smoking, because it's so messy and it HURTS, but I do it nonetheless. I have invested in a few aprons too.

In all, this was pretty tasty, and I'll probably make it again. I did use fresh pineapple, about half of it too (although I halved the rest of the recipe..woops, just realized!). I served with brown rice and a frozen steamed vegetable we like.

Cranberry-Orange Chicken Bake

Another secret recipe from ATK. This one was really good.. I have to make it again, as well as the other modification, Apricot Chicken Bake. I actually made the base recipe, Pineapple Chicken Bake, tonight.

Made on March 30.

Uhhhhh...

Dunno WTF this was, but it looks tasty!

Cheesy Chicken and Salsa Skillet

Posted about this here, this is the pic.

Mozzarella Sticks

I posted about Mozzarella Sticks here, and this is the corresponding picture.