I've made homemade pizza before, but never with homemade dough.
I wanted to use the ingredients that I prepared last weekend, and it was the best idea.
I made 2 kinds of pizzas. One had a tomato/mushroom/spinach sauce with mozzarella and pepperoni.
The other was something I threw together. I took 3 tablespoons of my homemade ranch dressing, about 2 cups of the BBQ sauce I made last weekend on top of that, 8 ounces of pepper jack cheese and chicken I prepared ahead.
It was seriously the best pizza I had ever eaten. The pizza crust was so delicious, and the combination of the sauce and toppings was perfect. I didn't even have to us extra spices.
Anyway, here's a picture (that honestly doesn't do it justice, but I barely had time to take a picture of it before I devoured the last slice.)
For recipes see this post.
I hope everyone is having a great weekend!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Magazines
What was I doing on Black Friday, you may wonder...
Well, first of all I slept in, then I went online. I found a site that pretty much showed all of the great deals online and in stores for the day. Someone did all the work for us, he should get an award!
Anyway, I was browsing the site and came across a great deal on magazine subscriptions. You might also be wondering to yourself "why would someone want to subscribe to a magazine when there is the Internet?!?" Well, to answer your question, because I like tangible things, so sue me! Also, these subscriptions were a steal!
With the Black Friday deal, and another deal I got from Groupon, I got 8 subscriptions for under 40 bucks. The only bad thing I can think of is I don't think I will be eligible for the great prices if I want to re-subscribe.
One of the magazines that I was most excited about is bon appetit. I got my first issue today, and the cover sucked me in (I haven't even taken the magazine out of the plastic wrapping yet!):
It's hard to see in the small picture, but that there is fried chicken, and they claim it's the BEST EVER.
You KNOW I am going to put it to the test.
More to come, I hope you all had a wonderful Monday.
-April
Well, first of all I slept in, then I went online. I found a site that pretty much showed all of the great deals online and in stores for the day. Someone did all the work for us, he should get an award!
Anyway, I was browsing the site and came across a great deal on magazine subscriptions. You might also be wondering to yourself "why would someone want to subscribe to a magazine when there is the Internet?!?" Well, to answer your question, because I like tangible things, so sue me! Also, these subscriptions were a steal!
With the Black Friday deal, and another deal I got from Groupon, I got 8 subscriptions for under 40 bucks. The only bad thing I can think of is I don't think I will be eligible for the great prices if I want to re-subscribe.
One of the magazines that I was most excited about is bon appetit. I got my first issue today, and the cover sucked me in (I haven't even taken the magazine out of the plastic wrapping yet!):
It's hard to see in the small picture, but that there is fried chicken, and they claim it's the BEST EVER.
You KNOW I am going to put it to the test.
More to come, I hope you all had a wonderful Monday.
-April
Make ahead meals, the recap!
As you may have read, I was ambitious yesterday. I had a whole list of things I wanted to make ahead for the week.
I wasn't as successful as I wanted to be, but pretty successful none the less.
I made hamburger buns, and froze half of them.
I made pizza dough and froze it.
I made chicken for quesadillas. I had so much of this I may use half in the enchiladas soon.
I made delicious BBQ sauce, half of which I froze.
I made and froze black bean burgers.
I made ranch dressing.
I made croutons :D
I also prepped the beef in the crock pot which was DELICIOUS!
During the course of the day I was snacking on some spinach artichoke dip (which I promise to blog about when I make it again.)
I took a couple of pictures of the BBQ sauce. Everything else was pretty typical, so the pictures wouldn't have been as exciting. This BBQ sauce is so beautiful and tasty!
I wasn't as successful as I wanted to be, but pretty successful none the less.
I made hamburger buns, and froze half of them.
I made pizza dough and froze it.
I made chicken for quesadillas. I had so much of this I may use half in the enchiladas soon.
I made delicious BBQ sauce, half of which I froze.
I made and froze black bean burgers.
I made ranch dressing.
I made croutons :D
I also prepped the beef in the crock pot which was DELICIOUS!
During the course of the day I was snacking on some spinach artichoke dip (which I promise to blog about when I make it again.)
I took a couple of pictures of the BBQ sauce. Everything else was pretty typical, so the pictures wouldn't have been as exciting. This BBQ sauce is so beautiful and tasty!
It was so pretty simmering for hours...
Doesn't it look delicious? The recipe made a bunch, and it's nice and thick!
I promise to show you pictures of when I use it on chicken this week.
If anyone is interested in the recipes, I'll list them below.
Thanks for reading about my first attempt at this. I think I will have more fun (and time) next time around.
-April
Recipes (you will see most are from here because she's my food sister, I swear!):
For the croutons I just seasoned them with some herbs de provence, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Make ahead meals, take 1
I have been reading a LOT of cooking blogs lately, and I have learned a lot of wonderful tips and recipes that have pretty much all been successes. I promise that when I make them again, I'll post about it.
One thing that I have been wanting to try is make ahead meals. Let's face it, I work a full time job, and when I get home I don't want to make a time consuming meal (I would rather make cupcakes, honestly!)
In order to get around this, I wanted to try to make a few meals on a weekend day and freeze them or have them ready in the fridge for sometime in the next couple of days.
Today is the day, I'm feeling ambitious and ready to go. So, at the moment this is what I am going to attempt to cook today. I know I'm posting at 6pm, but I've been working for a while now.
Here is the list:
Make hamburger buns (half to freeze)
Make ranch dressing
Prepare black bean burgers and regular burgers (to freeze)
Prep chicken for quesadillas
Make croutons (I LOVE doing this!)
Prep beef with pepperoncini for the Crock pot tomorrow (I have SO much pepperoncini)
Prep and freeze lasagne
Make and freeze pizza dough
Prep and freeze enchiladas
Let's just hope I can get through all of this tonight...
-April
One thing that I have been wanting to try is make ahead meals. Let's face it, I work a full time job, and when I get home I don't want to make a time consuming meal (I would rather make cupcakes, honestly!)
In order to get around this, I wanted to try to make a few meals on a weekend day and freeze them or have them ready in the fridge for sometime in the next couple of days.
Today is the day, I'm feeling ambitious and ready to go. So, at the moment this is what I am going to attempt to cook today. I know I'm posting at 6pm, but I've been working for a while now.
Here is the list:
Make hamburger buns (half to freeze)
Make ranch dressing
Prepare black bean burgers and regular burgers (to freeze)
Prep chicken for quesadillas
Make croutons (I LOVE doing this!)
Prep beef with pepperoncini for the Crock pot tomorrow (I have SO much pepperoncini)
Prep and freeze lasagne
Make and freeze pizza dough
Prep and freeze enchiladas
Let's just hope I can get through all of this tonight...
-April
Rum Punch Cupcakes
Jessii and I love cupcakes, saying that is actually an understatement.
Don't get me wrong, I like cakes, but there's something special about a cupcake. It's small, sweet and it lives in a cutely decorated wrapper. Also, they are portion controlled ;)
With that being said, you will see a LOT of cupcakes being posted here. I'm not kidding, we make a LOT!
First up was a new recipe for me, Rum Punch Cupcakes. My husband and I were invited to a Sangria party, so I had to make a dessert that had alcohol in it, right?
These are moist, slightly sweet and they have a punch of Rum in the cake AND the frosting.
The balance of coconut milk, rum and pineapple is wonderful, and the best part is the frosting is whipped cream (with some rum, of course!)
Look how pretty she is, simple and sweet :)
One thing I will mention is that this is the first cupcake recipe that I have made where the batter was very thick, it reminded me of thick frosting, see:
Don't be fooled though, they baked wonderfully and were very moist.
I took a big bite. Hey... I wanted to show you how moist it is :D
Try these sometime if you are having an 21+ party and want a sweet treat.
Rum Punch Cupcakes (recipe borrowed from This great lady )
For the cupcakes:
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature (yeah, that's a cup!)
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
¾ cup canned coconut milk
3 tbsp. dark rum (optional, I used it)
-April
Don't get me wrong, I like cakes, but there's something special about a cupcake. It's small, sweet and it lives in a cutely decorated wrapper. Also, they are portion controlled ;)
With that being said, you will see a LOT of cupcakes being posted here. I'm not kidding, we make a LOT!
First up was a new recipe for me, Rum Punch Cupcakes. My husband and I were invited to a Sangria party, so I had to make a dessert that had alcohol in it, right?
These are moist, slightly sweet and they have a punch of Rum in the cake AND the frosting.
The balance of coconut milk, rum and pineapple is wonderful, and the best part is the frosting is whipped cream (with some rum, of course!)
Look how pretty she is, simple and sweet :)
One thing I will mention is that this is the first cupcake recipe that I have made where the batter was very thick, it reminded me of thick frosting, see:
Don't be fooled though, they baked wonderfully and were very moist.
I took a big bite. Hey... I wanted to show you how moist it is :D
Try these sometime if you are having an 21+ party and want a sweet treat.
Rum Punch Cupcakes (recipe borrowed from This great lady )
Yield: 24 cupcakes
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature (yeah, that's a cup!)
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
¾ cup canned coconut milk
3 tbsp. dark rum (optional, I used it)
For the rum glaze:
6 tbsp. canned coconut milk
3 tbsp. sugar
¼ cup dark rum
6 tbsp. canned coconut milk
3 tbsp. sugar
¼ cup dark rum
For the frosting:
1 cup chopped pineapple
2-3 tbsp. rum
2 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 cups heavy cream
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1 cup chopped pineapple
2-3 tbsp. rum
2 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 cups heavy cream
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Stir to combine. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the butter and sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla. Combine the coconut milk and rum in a measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add in the dry ingredients and the milk mixture mixing each addition just until incorporated, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Stir to combine. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the butter and sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla. Combine the coconut milk and rum in a measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add in the dry ingredients and the milk mixture mixing each addition just until incorporated, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
Divide the batter between the cupcake liners. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 18-20 minutes. Let cool in the pan 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack set over foil or wax paper.
Meanwhile, make the rum glaze. Combine the coconut milk and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Off the heat, add the rum. Poke each cupcake several times with a wooden skewer. Drizzle some of the glaze over the cupcakes. (If desired, brush with additional rum.)
To make the frosting, combine the pineapple, rum and lime juice in a blender or food processor. Pulse briefly so that the pineapple is finely chopped but not fully pureed. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream and confectioners’ sugar on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the pineapple mixture with a spatula. Pipe the pineapple whipped cream on top of the cupcakes as desired.
-April
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Harry Potter
Good morning, it's raining.
I wish I could start off every morning saying that.
I digress...if anyone knows me well (or not that well, for that matter) knows I LOVE Harry Potter. Come on, why not?!?!?!
Since Jessii and I decided to start a blog, I have been thinking of ideas. I want to have a lot going on here. I want to have recipes (of course), adventures, reviews of products (food related or not) and I want to have series posts.
So without further ado, I present to you all my first series:
I'm not 100% sure what the first recipe will be, but I'm sure it will be something sweet.
Stay tuned...
-April
I wish I could start off every morning saying that.
I digress...if anyone knows me well (or not that well, for that matter) knows I LOVE Harry Potter. Come on, why not?!?!?!
Since Jessii and I decided to start a blog, I have been thinking of ideas. I want to have a lot going on here. I want to have recipes (of course), adventures, reviews of products (food related or not) and I want to have series posts.
So without further ado, I present to you all my first series:
I'm not 100% sure what the first recipe will be, but I'm sure it will be something sweet.
Stay tuned...
-April
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Introduction
Welcome to our little webland of delicious food... and possible adventures along the way.
Jessica and I are sisters. We are silly. We have fun. We eat tasty food.
We will post our food (and non-food) adventures here, and hope we can entertain you and make you want to run in your kitchen and pick up a whisk.
Enjoy your stay, we will :)
Jessica and I are sisters. We are silly. We have fun. We eat tasty food.
We will post our food (and non-food) adventures here, and hope we can entertain you and make you want to run in your kitchen and pick up a whisk.
Enjoy your stay, we will :)
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