French Bread Pizza

We've started a new tradition in our family: Friday Night Pizza Night. We've done it for a total of two weeks now, and I'm really excited about it for a few reasons. 1. I love traditions. 2. I love pizza. 3. I love trying new recipes.

This past Friday, I had almost an entire loaf of Easy French Bread left to eat before it would start getting hard. My friend Amber had mentioned how much her family loves French Bread Pizza, so I decided to give it a try. I have to say that it's my favorite crust for pizza! It had great flavor and the right amount of crunch. You can use whatever toppings you like, but I'm pretty fond of the combination we had.

• 1 loaf of Easy French Bread
• olive oil
  
• pizza sauce
• 2 cups shredded cheese (I used a Four Cheese Italian blend of mozzarella, provolone, romano and parmesan).
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 small green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 small can sliced olives
• 1/2 package pepperoni
• Garlic Rosemary seasoning (This is one of those "bread dipping' seasonings. If you can't find this at your market, you can make your own by combining garlic powder and rosemary.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut loaf in half and place both halves on a cookies sheet. Brush with olive oil. Place in oven for 3-5 minutes so that the bread hardens a bit to keep the pizza from being soggy.

Carefully, pull the cookie sheet out of the oven. Spread pizza sauce on bread and sprinkle over with cheese. Then sprinkle on the onion, pepper and olives. Place pepperoni on top. Shake Garlic Rosemary seasoning over pizza to taste. Bake in oven for 17-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Glazed Carrots with Bacon and Pecans

This is another recipe I tweaked a bit from The Best Vegetable Recipes. This has to be my favorite way to eat carrots! It's probably not the healthiest due to the bacon in it, but I think the taste of it makes it worth it!

Ingredients:

• 3 ounces (about 3 slices) bacon
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1 pound carrots (about 6 medium), peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick on the bias
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. thyme
• 3 Tbsp. light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
• Ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Cook the bacon in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Transfer bacon to a paper-towel lined plate to drain. Crumble bacon.

2. Remove all but 1 Tbsp. bacon drippings from the pan. Add the pecans and cook until fragrant and slightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer the pecans to the plate with the bacon.

3. Add the carrots, salt,, thyme, 1 Tbsp. of the brown sugar and broth to the skillet. Bring to a boil, covered, over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are almost tender when poked with the tip of a paring knife, about 5 minutes. Uncover, increase the heat to high, and simmer rapidly, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced to about 2 Tbsp.

4. Add the butter and the remaining 2 Tbsp. brown sugar to the skillet. Toss the carrots to coat and cook, stirring frequently, until the carrots are completely tender. Off the heat, add the bacon and pecans and toss. Transfer the carrots to a serving dish, scraping the glaze from the pan into the dish. Season to taste with pepper and serve.

Easy French Bread

The other day my friend Sarah and I were talking about making bread I haven't made a lot of bread before and a lot of the recipes I've tried result in heavy bread. She shared this recipe with me, and it was much lighter! Another plus was how easy it was. It took me about two and a half hours from beginning to end. It was delish, especially right when it had come out of the oven. I think fresh baked bread has to be the ultimate comfort food! I ate half a loaf by myself right when it came out of the oven. Sick, I know! I just couldn't help myself. You won't be able to either!
Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups luke warm water
• 2 Tbsp. yeast
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 6 cups flour

Directions:

Add ingredients in order. Stir 5 times, 10 minutes apart (I do this in my kitchen-aid mixer with the kneading tool). Divide roll. Shape. Place on cookie sheet. Cover lightly with a clean dish towel and let rise 30 minutes. Top with melted butter and bake at 350 degress for 25-30 minutes or until golden.

Oven Fries

I got this recipe from The Best Vegetable Recipes and tweaked it a little bit. I've tried to make oven fries a few times and they've always come out a bit limp. These have a few extra steps, but each step is worth it.

Ingredients:

• 4 large russet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/2 by 1/2-inch lengths
• 5 teaspoons olive oil
• season salt and ground black pepper

1. Rinse the cut fries in a large bowl or colander under cold running water until the water turns from milky colored to clear.
2. Put 1/2 teaspoon of the oil on each of two rimmed baking sheets (I would recommend lining the sheets with foil. It took a while to get all the oil off the pan during cleaning). Use a paper towel to spread the oil evenly over the entire surface. Place both sheets in the oven (on the lower-middle and upper-middle racks) and heat the oven to 450 degrees.
3. Fit a large pot with a steamer basket and fill the pot with enough water to reach just below the bottom of the basket. Bring the water to a boil over high heat and add the potatoes to the basket. Cover and steam until the potatoes are glistening but still very firm, about 5 minutes. Remove the potatoes from the pot and spread them out in a single layer on two clean kitchen towels. Pat the potatoes dry using a third kitchen towel.
4. Toss the potatoes and remaining 4 teaspoons oil in a large bowl to coat. Season generously with season salt and pepper to taste and toss again to blend. Carefully remove one baking sheet from the oven and place half of the potatoes on the baking sheet so they are spread out and not touching each other. Place the baking sheet back in the oven and repeat the process using the second baking sheet and the remaining potatoes.
5. Bake until the potatoes are golden brown and have begun to puff, 25 to 30 minutes, reversing the baking sheets (from top to bottom) halfway through the baking time. Serve immediately.

Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Rounds

Yesterday was rainy. I needed a little pick-me-up since it's July and somehow summer still hasn't hit Cleveland full force (I REALLY need a little bit of summer before a long winter returns). Due to the rain I had no intentions of going to the store so I started browsing some recipe books looking for something to bake of which I already had all the ingredients. I was thrilled when I came across this recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book. I cannot take credit for any part of this recipe had to put it on here because these cookies are fantastic!

Just a side note, I like my cookies soft and chewy so I usually don't bake them the full recommended time. This recipe calls for 10 minutes, but I left mine in just a little less. If you like I little crunch on the outside, 10 minutes is perfect (depending on your oven).

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups rolled oats (I only had quick oats on hand and they worked as well)
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces (or chopped cocktail peanuts)

In a large mixing bowl beat butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed until combined. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour. Stir in oats and chocolate pieces.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Low Sugar Strawberry Freezer Jam

My friend Brooke shared this recipe with me. It sets up more like a syrup than a jam, but it's flavor is very YUM! I also love the fact that the recipe calls for less sugar than most jam recipes. It made six to seven cups of jam when all was said and done.

• 5-6 cups strawberries, cut up
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 Tbsp. corn starch
• 1 packet strawberry flavored Kool-aid
• 1 cup light Karo Syrup

Place the sugar, corn starch, Kool-aid and Karo Syrup in a heavy saucepan. Stir over medium/high heat until sugar is no longer crystallized. Add the strawberries. After they are incorporated into the sugar mixture, remove from heat.

Spoon mixture in the jam jars you prefer.

Spice Rubbed Chicken with Tropical Salsa and Rice

In third and fourth grade I had a friend named Emily. We would play all sorts of little girl games, but one of our favorites was "cooking." Emily had the most amazing TOY food, and I loved to play with it. Little did I know at that time, that I would be browsing her recipe blog eleven years later for amazing REAL food (especially since we had lost touch with the many times each of our families moved)! Her blog is one of my favorites for grabbing dinner ideas. I have never tried one of her recipes and not enjoyed it. She has excellent taste and uses a lot of fruits and vegetables...I'm fond of this. I doubt you will be able to look over her recipes without having to try at least one.
This recipe I'm about to share is hers. I LOVED this dish. As I mentioned before, with the weather changing I am definitely getting out of my soup kick. The colorful salsa in this recipe, along with the grilled chicken was shouting at my taste buds and matched the warming up weather perfectly. Try it. You will love it.

Side note: In Emily's recipe, she made coconut rice, but I just did regular rice.
Chicken Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. chicken breasts., pounded to 3/4" thickness


• 1/4 cup sugar


• 1/2 tsp. chili powder


• 1 1/2 tsp. paprika


• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder


• 1/8 tsp. onion powder


• 1/8 tsp. dry mustard

Salsa Ingredients:

• 5 roma tomatoes, diced


• 2 mangos, diced


• 1 avacado, diced


• juice of 2 limes


• 1/4 cup cilantro


• 4 scallions, diced


• 1 tsp. vinegar


• pinch salt and pepper


• 1 jalapeno, diced with seeds and ribs removed

Rice:

• 2 cups white rice, prepared according to package directions
  

Directions:

For chicken:

In a bowl, combine sugar, salt, and all spices. Rub mixture onto both sides of chicken breasts. Allow to rest 30 minutes to absorb flavors. Grill or pan-fry till done. Chicken will develop a crust from the rub. Let chicken rest 1-2 minutes to allow juices to redistribute, then slice into strips right before serving.

For Salsa:

Combine tomatoes, mango, avocado, cilantro, onion, jalapeno, lime juice, vinegar, salt and pepper. Serve chicken and salsa over the cooked rice.

Serves 8.

Untidy Josephs

I know what you're thinking...what the heck is an Untidy Joseph? Well, growing up my mom would add a can of Manwich to a pound of ground beef and slop it up onto a bun. Yes, you know this creation as the Sloppy Joe. While this is a functional meal, it just didn't cut it for me. I felt like it needed something more, so I went in search of more and found a recipe for Old Fashioned Sloppy Joes. The name worked, but there was nothing common enough in this recipe to have it be referred to as Joe. It's filled with vegetables and delish flavorings. It's much to sophisticated and intelliegent to go by "Joe," so I'd like to introduce you to Joseph. Despite his intelligence, he's still a little on the sloppy side...I'd like to think of it as organized chaos. So, without further ado, please PLEASE give it up for Untidy Joseph:

• 1 pound ground beef


• 1 medium onion, chopped


• 2 celery stalks, chopped


• 10-ounce package of mushrooms (button or baby bella), sliced thin


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 8 ounces tomato sauce


• 1/4 cup ketchup


• 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar


• 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce


• 1 Tablespoon sugar


• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper


• 1 tsp salt


• 8 hamburger buns

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the beef. Remove to paper towels and wipe the excess fat from the pan.
Still over medium-high heat, cook the onions in the beef fat until they are softened and translucent, about five minutes. Add the celery and mushrooms, and cook until the mushrooms have released all their moisture and turned golden brown in spots, about eight minutes. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about thirty seconds.
Return the ground beef to the pan, and add the remaining ingredients.
Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Taste for seasoning. If the sauce is too thin, simmer uncovered for another 5-10 minutes until the desired thickness is reached.Serve on hamburger buns.

Italian Bread Bowls

I've been on a bit of a soup kick this winter. It's been so obvious in fact that my husband started complaining about all the leftover soup in our fridge. That's unusual. My husband was called "the garbage disposal" by his family growing up because he ate all the leftovers and never complained about it. I feel like I'm able to move on from soup now that the weather is starting to warm up...I hope.
I like to make bread bowls to serve soup in every now and then. My favorite soup to put in them is Veggie Cheese Chowder.

• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 7 cups flour
  
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal
• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon water

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.


2. Add salt, oil and 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with an electric mixer at medium speed after each addition.


3. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.


4. Punch dough down, and divide into 8 equal portions. Shape each portion into a 4 inch round loaf. Place loaves on a lightly greased baking sheeting sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes.


5. Preheat oven 400 degrees F. In a small bowl, beat together egg white and 1 tablespoon water, lightly brush the loaves with half of this egg wash.


6. Bake in preheated over for 10-12 minutes. Brush with remaining egg mixture, and bake 10-12 minutes longer until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.


7. To make bowls: Cut a 1/2 inch think slice from top of each loaf; scoop out centers, leaving 3/4 inch thick shells. Fill bread bowls with hot soup and serve immediately.

Minestrone Soup

We ate this soup at a church activity and so I have to give tribute to Marina Rice for this recipe. I like to serve it with garlic breadsticks and salad.

• 3 chicken breasts (cooked in chicken broth) cubed
• 6 cups of chicken broth
• 1 lb. Italian sausage - cooked, drained
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 cup kidney beans, drained
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 3 Tbsp. parsley
• 2 cups carrots, diced
• 3 stalks of celery, diced
• 4 small or 2 large cans crushed tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. basil
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 oz. pasta, cooked and added to soup as needed

Combine all ingredients and let simmer all day in crockpot on low heat.

This recipe makes a lot of soup. So much in fact, that it doesn't fit in my crockpot so I just do it in a big pot over the stove. It tastes just as good...I just make it in the early afternoon instead so it can simmer and blend the flavors until dinner.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

I've been looking for a good chicken noodle soup recipe for quite some time. I haven't found anything that really strikes my fancy. It was a very "cold and blustery" day today. The kind of day where I didn't even step outside long enough to get the mail. My husband had to go out in it though. He's also in the middle of tests at school, and we haven't seen each other much in the past two weeks. So, considering these two factors, I wanted to make something for dinner that was "warm and togethery."

I decided to combine my favorite ideas from the chicken noodle soup recipes I've been looking at, and boy am I glad I did! YUM! The perfect comfort food on this not so comfortable day.

• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1/4 cup green pepper, diced
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 tsp. crushed dried marjoram leaves
• 1 chicken boullion cube
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 chicken breast, cooked and cubed
• 6 oz. bow-tie noodles
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

In a large pot, melt butter. Add carrot, celery, green pepper, onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat until vegetables are slightly tender, but still a little crisp. Add chicken broth and 1 cup of the milk. Stir in marjoram, boullion cube and salt and pepper.

Add noodles and chicken. Cook until noodles are almost done.

In a cup, stir together remaining milk and the flour until smooth. Add to soup. Stirring over medium-high heat, bring soup to a boil and boil for three minutes.

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2/3 cup butter
• 2/3 cup shortening
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 cups flour
• 12 oz. chocolate chips

Mix together butter, shortening and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Mixture will be thick. Add chocolate chips. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 or 375 degrees, depending on oven (it takes 13 minutes at 375 degrees in my not-so-great oven).

Ma's Pancakes

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 4 Tbsp. sugar
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 2 Tbsp. oil

Stir together dry ingredients in large bowl. Combine wet ingredients then add all at once to flour mixture. Stir together with wire whisk. Pour batter onto hot, slightly oiled griddle. Brown on both sides.