Homemade Pizza That Tastes Good

I’m not exactly a pizza connoisseur, but I love me a good pizza. I’m terribly spoiled, because I live in Upstate New York, where there are more pizza parlors than people (so it seems). I have tried my hand at making a good homemade pizza, but have failed miserably.

My daughter, however, makes GREAT homemade pizza! OMG this is amazing!!!

We made the crust in the bread machine, a simple white bread dough. We allow it to rise and then we stretch it out in a pan. Allow it to rise again.

I always failed in the next step– from there, I always spread the sauce and cheese and baked it. But the daughter baked the bare dough for just a few minutes before she added the toppings. The crust turned out perfect.

Her toppings are amazing. She used canned pizza sauce (not spaghetti sauce!). She chopped up and cooked frozen meatballs. She used plenty of pepperoni. She steamed fresh broccoli. She slathered on mozzarella cheese (I think she used about 45 ounces of cheese for 4 pizzas!). She spread freshly chopped garlic and plenty of Italian seasoning (dried) herbs. And she baked it all again.

IT WAS MARVELOUS. The pizza was very filling and so delicious. It wasn’t greasy like pizza-parlor pizza, either– the cheese was more like the consistency of egyptian magic cream– smooth and flexible but not oily and runny.

Yeah, it was a lot of work. And yeah, it was expensive. The cheese alone costs $10 per 30-ounce bag. Ouch. Pizza is just an expensive meal, which is so ironic because it was invented as a cheapo means to use up leftovers.

I also think homemade pizza is more healthy. Which gives us another excuse to make it again!

Easy Shrimp & Chicken Garlic Pasta

Oh have I got a new recipe for you!! This is our new favorite. I’m sorry I don’t have any photos– the food is gone as soon as I cook it! It’s an easy to make, light meal that is very satisfying.

Easy Shrimp & Chicken Garlic Pasta
Serves 6-8 hungry people
1 5-lb bag cooked, frozen shrimp
3-4 chicken breasts, cubed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
3 handfuls of raw kale, de-stemmed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 pounds thin or vermicelli spaghetti
2 Tablespoons pesto sauce

Place the frozen shrimp in the sink and run under cold water, to thaw.

In a large wok, add the olive oil and toss in the chicken cubes. Turn on medium-high and simmer.

Remove the tails from the shrimp and toss them in the wok. Stir the chicken and shrimp until both are cooked/warmed well. Add the kale and garlic and cook for another 3 or 4 minutes, until the kale softens. Turn off the heat. Add pesto sauce and stir well. Serve over spaghetti.

Tip: Do not overcook the chicken or it will turn to rubber. Don’t add the garlic until last– you want it a little raw and not burned to a crisp.

This stuff is SO good, more filling than nitrix, I think. I’d eat it every night, if I could. It’s very good for you, too, because the olive oil, garlic and kale are very healthy.

Easy Garlic Bread… Is This Cheating?

Carole saw my post about Chicken Barley Soup where I posted a photo of my soup next to a plate of bread. Forget the soup, baby, what’s that bread?!?!?

Well, it’s not MY bread. I haven’t baked bread in… gee, must be 5 months? Now that we have our kitchen back, I’ll probably start it up again sometime soon… after I finish a few things around here…

Anyway, that bread in the photo is from Panera bakery. I think it’s their Italian loaf (I don’t actually buy bread from Panera, I get it from a friend who gets loads of extras and gives me some every week). In case you are wondering how we convert the Panera loaf into garlic bread, here’s how… but I wonder if this is “cheating” because it’s technically not my bread, and it’s also such an EASY recipe that I can’t claim it as something exclusively mine! But here’s how we prepare the bread:

Easy Garlic Bread
Preheat the oven broiler to 400 degrees.
Slice the bread lengthwise.
Spread butter or margarine over the bread.
Sprinkle garlic powder or spread minced garlic over the bread.
Place the slices on a cookie sheet.
Broil in the oven for approximately 3 minutes. Watch the oven carefully to ensure that your bread does not burn.
Serve hot.

Depending on your likeness for garlic, add as much as you want. My tastes really vary– sometimes I want a ton of garlic, other times I don’t. Garlic is supposedly very good for you. I’ve heard all the stories about how garlic is a wonder food, everything from cancer curers to testosterone boosters… beats me! I’ve heard it is full on anti-oxidants… but I can’t say that these “studies” on any foods have shown anything consistent and reliable. But I like garlic, it’s natural food, and it’s GREAT on Panera Bread with soups and stews! Manja!

Garlic Eggplant Pasta Dish

Well, chalk this up to another good recipe I managed to throw together! I admit, as I was sifting through my refrigerator, I had my doubts. I wondered what the kids would think of it, and I wondered if it would be good.

SCORE on both counts! Yay!

This was so easy. And it’s good for you: eggplant, artichokes, olive oil, marinated garlic, marinated black olives, a little basil, OOOO LALA! Eat this healthy stuff, and I’ll bet your term life ins rates will lower! I used all this stuff from leftovers in my fridge (food too expensive to throw to the dog). The garlic and olives I got from the deli at my grocery store.

Here it is:

Garlic Eggplant Pasta Dish

1 small eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup artichoke hearts, sliced into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup marinated garlic cloves, sliced in half
1/4 cup marinated black olives, sliced in half
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 cup olive oil
prepared spaghetti sauce (I used a big can of Prego)
1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained
pasta (rigatoni or rotini are perfect)

Start the water boiling for your pasta. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil. Throw in the eggplant and allow to soften. Don’t let it get mushy, though! Toss in the artichokes and basil, and heat up. Toss in the garlic and olives. Keep the mixture moving in the saucepan so that nothing gets browned.

Cook the pasta. Heat the ground beef and sauce.

Serve!

I placed everything in separate dishes (eggplant mixture, pasta, ground beef, and sauce) for the picky eaters. But everyone ate it all. It’s delicious!