Pepperoni Rolls

I totally copied this recipe from Suzanne. It's delicious and can be grabbed as a snack or you can pack 2 for a lunch. I only made minimal changes. Check out her website - it's awesome and she has step-by-step pics of this yumminess.

Pepperoni Rolls

Dough

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 teaspoon yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 egg

1/3 cup oil

1 cup chopped pepperoni

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

4 cups flour (approx)

Filling

pepperoni slices or sticks

mozzarella or pepper jack cheese (approx. 2 cups)

In a large bowl, combine water, yeast, salt, sugar, minced garlic, egg, oil, chopped pepperoni, and the 1/2 cup of cheese. Let sit five minutes. Stir in the first cup and a half of flour with a heavy spoon. Add the next cup of flour a little at a time as needed, stirring until dough becomes too stiff to continue stirring easily. Add a little more flour and begin kneading. The amount of flour is approximate since dough can be temperamental.

Continue adding flour and kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic. Let dough rise in a greased, covered bowl until doubled. (Usually, about an hour. Mine took about 2 hrs to rise enough.) Uncover bowl; sprinkle in a little more flour and knead again before dividing in half into two balls.

Working with one half of the dough at a time, roll each ball of dough out onto a floured surface into a rectangle (approximately 8×12 inches). Sprinkle flour over the dough to keep from sticking as you roll. Make one slice lengthwise down the dough. Slicing from the other direction, make a slice down the middle, then again, until you have eight pieces. Sprinkle with cheese. Place about 3 pepperoni slices or sticks on each piece. Roll up, pinching seam to seal.

Let rise approximately 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Bake for 20-30 minutes. (Watch carefully–the size of your rolls will vary the baking time–they’re done when they’ve browned.) Makes 16 rolls.

Cheers!

Shrimp Burritos

My BF wanted me to try to make a mexican dish with shrimp. So I opted for shrimp burritos. They turned out pretty good. I would just make the rice a little different next time.

Shrimp Burritos

15-20 shrimp

1 tbsp butter

3-4 tbsp chopped onions

splash of lemon juice

light sprinkling of garlic powder and cilantro

First, prepare the rice. I made mine like a Chipolte knock-off. Boil rice with a dash of salt, a splash of lime juice and a generous sprinkling of cilantro. When the rice is almost done, melt the butter on a frying pan and saute the onions until they are translucent. I liked mine fairly browned. Add the shrimp, lemon juice, garlic powder and cilantro. Cook until shrimp are pink. I made my slightly browned. Remove from heat and wait for them to cool a little. Cut into little pieces.

Serve the shrimp and onions with your favorite burrito toppings. We had black beans, salsa verde with corn, sour cream and shredded cheese.

Makes roughly 4 medium sized burritos.

They were yummy :)

Chicken Quesadilla

A few weeks ago, I had a craving for a Taco Bell quesadilla but didn't feel like going out because there was a ton of snow out. Luckily, I came up with this recipe. It's delicious and comes together in about 15 minutes.

Sauce

1 part softened cream cheese or sour cream

1 part mayo

1 tsp sugar

cayenne - to taste

paprika - to taste and for color

I usually do 3-4 tbsp cream cheese and 3-4 tbsp Kraft Mayo with Olive Oil

Chicken

2-3 breasts cut into little pieces

season chicken with Old El Paso seasoning or a mixture of cumin, garlic powder, seasoned salt and paprika

Fry the seasoned chicken pieces until no longer pink. Put chicken in a large bowl. Pour the sauce mixture over the chicken and mix well.

Spoon the chicken/sauce mixture onto half of a large burrito shell on a pan on medium heat. Sprinkle fiesta cheese over the filling and fold shell in half. (I love my split pan for this recipe :))

Let it warm enough to melt the cheese - about 1-2 minutes per side. Remove to plate and cut with pizza cutter. Makes about 6 quesadillas.

Enjoy!

Mini Chicken Pot Pie!!

My BF liked the chicken pot pie I made a while ago (that I made a double batch of and stuck one in the freezer) so much that he asked me to make one for his dad. Well after I made the full sized pot pie for his dad, I had leftover dough bits and pot pit filling. I remembered that my BFs mom gave a free mini pie maker like the one below.....

... so I naturally had to make a mini chicken pot pie. IT WAS THE CUTEST THING EVER!!

Here is the tiny pot pit on top of the full sized one ^_^ It's so adorable. I ended up throwing it in the freezer and taking it to work for part of lunch the next day. It reheated wonderfully and the crust was still flaky and AWESOME!!! I will totally be making more of these to throw in the freezer.

This has been your daily dose of cute food ^_^

Coconut Shrimp

I LOVE coconut shrimp from Outback. I saw Lucy's version so I needed to try it out. I made some modifications and, even though they don't look like much, they tasted wonderful. The BF even gave them a 9 out of 10! The picture below is of the ones that were left on his plate. I snapped a pic as he was devouring them :)

Coconut Shrimp

24-30 raw shrimp, peeled, deveined and butterflied

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 eggs beaten

1-2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1. Pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel.
2. In a small bowl combine cornstarch, salt, pepper, and cayenne.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and lemon juice.
4. In another bowl, place the coconut.
5. Coat the shrimp with the cornstarch and shake off any excess. Dip into the egg mixture and then press into the coconut to get full coverage.

6. Place shrimp in a single layer on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake at 375 for 6 minutes. Turn shrimp and continue baking for another 6 minutes, until the coconut is crispy and the shrimp is done.

Enjoy ^_^

Chicken Pot Pie

Earlier this week I roasted a chicken just for this recipe. I ended up boiling the bones down with celery bits and carrot peels to give it the broth a good flavor. I had 4 jars of yummy concentrated chicken broth in my freezer. I used one of them for this recipe. I actually doubled this recipe so I could have one pot pie in the freezer for another dinner.

Chicken Pot Pie

1/2 c butter

1/3 c plain flour

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1-1/2 c broth

2/3 c milk

2 c cooked chicken

10 oz. frozen mixed vegetables - I used fresh corn off the cob, peas and carrots.

9 inch double pie crust

Put your chicken in just enough water to cover it. Let it cook for about 4 hours on low to get all the flavor out. You can cook it faster, but this makes the broth richer. I add some pepper, salt and a celery stick and onion to it. Strain out and keep 1-1/2 c broth.

Melt butter, stir in flour, garlic, salt and pepper. Then stir in broth, milk and bouillon. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer about 2 minutes. Add chicken and vegetables. Roll dough out for a 9 inch pie crust. Pour in filling and cover with more pie crust dough. Seal edges and cut 2 slits in top to vent steam. Bake at 425 for 35 minutes.

~ adapted from Sandra's recipe at Keeping it Simple

Oven Roasted Potatoes

This is just a quickie post. I tried these roasted potatoes. Modified recipe from AllRecipes. DELICIOUS!!

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

Preheat oven to 450*F. Mix everything in a large bowl. Place on a baking sheet or roasting pan (I used a Pyrex dish). Roast for 20-30 mins, turning occasionally to brown on all sides.

I could eat these by themselves, they were that good. So good that they didn't last long enough for me to take a picture... :)

Spicy Chicken Rub

I was looking for a new chicken recipe and I found this. I subscribed to the newsletter a while ago but completely forgot about it. Anywho, we cook on our George Foreman a lot since we live in a tiny apartment so I tried to adapt it to fit my needs. While I thought this turned out WAY too spicy, my BF loved it with the rice. Next time I make it, I'll probably try to make it with a little less heat.

Spicy Chicken Rub

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

2 chicken breasts cubed (you can also use 4 whole chicken breasts)

Mix the spices together. Roll chicken in spices and rub. Grill until done. Serve with BBQ sauce if desired.

Also, I need to thank Kristen for the Chex Mix Turtle Bars that I won in her giveaway. These things are delicious! Everyone should go out and try them.

One last note - my Gluten-Free Dessert Mix Giveaway ends at 9pm Eastern Time tomorrow. Sign up now!

Baked Ziti

So, I finally got around to making baked ziti. I hunted for a recipe on RecipeZaar and I found one I could work with that didn't call for ricotta (BF hates ricotta). I also added a little more to it to make it a little heartier.

Baked Ziti

about 20 oz spaghetti sauce

about 8 oz sour cream

1/2 cup milk

16 oz vegetable broth - (I only had chicken broth on hand)

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

16 oz ziti pasta, uncooked

1 lb browned ground meat (I used lean beef)

1 1/2 cup fresh chopped mushrooms

Preheat oven to 425°F. In a very large mixing bowl, combine spaghetti sauce with sour cream and milk. Stir in broth. Add 1/2 cup mozzarella, parmesan cheese, mushrooms and browned meat. Stir in ziti and blend well. Pour out into 9x13-inch baking dish, cover with foil, and bake for one hour. After one hour, take out baking dish, uncover (carefully—very hot steam), and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella (add more if you like). Return dish to oven without cover and bake 5 more minutes, or until cheese is melted.

~Note: This FILLED the baking dish. Just to be safe, I put it on a foil covered baking sheet so if it bubbled up too much, I wouldn't have a mess to clean in the oven.

This turned out nice and creamy and very delicious! I'll be making this again for sure.

Copy-Cat McDonald's Chicken McNuggets

My last experiment with chicken nuggets was kinda sucky. However, this recipe I modified was delicious! Don't they look yummy!

2 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts (that’s 4 breast fillets)
1 teaspoon of Salt
1/2 teaspoon of Oregano
1/4 teaspoon of Onion powder

1/4 teaspoon of Garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon of Pepper
2 Eggs, beaten
1 Cup of Flour
about 1.5 Cups of Oil for frying (I used Canola oil)

Heat oil in a heavy-duty skillet on medium-high heat while preparing the chicken nuggets - it should be ready to work with once half of your nuggets are ready to go in.

Cube chicken and place in a food processor. Blend chicken until it has all been taken apart and is a fine paste. Remove to a bowl and add salt, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper, and combine well.

Pour out flour on a plate and have your beaten eggs in a small bowl ready to work with.

Roll the chicken paste mixture into 34 ping-pong ball-sized balls (smaller than a golf ball).

Roll ball a “chicken ball” in flour, then in egg, and then in flour again. Then, press the ball down to make a nugget. Set nuggets aside.

Sprinkle the hot oil with some flour and if it bubbles really quickly right away, your oil is ready for frying. Place as many nuggets as possible in the oil, and fry until the bottoms are golden, turn and fry until the other side is golden. Will take about 4-5 minutes per side. Remove to a towel-lined plate (to catch any excess oil).

The original site has tips for making them perfect. Check it out.

~ adapted from recipe at For the Love of Food

Homemade Pizza

I've been wanting to make pizza for a while but I've been too much of a wuss to try. Well after my BF failed to convince me that frozen chicken pot pies were appetizing, I decided to give it a shot. For a first attempt, this was DELICIOUS! I adapted the recipe for the dough from this recipe at RecipeZaar. Even my BF loved it ^_^

Pizza Dough

1-1/2 cups water

2 tsp sugar

1-1/4 teaspoons salt

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp cornmeal

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1 tsp oregano

1-1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Add ingredients (except for cornmeal) to machine bread pan in order as per manufacturer's instructions. Set to "Dough" cycle. Lightly grease one 9 x 13-inch pan and sprinkle with cornmeal. When the dough cycle is complete, roll out dough and place in pan. With a fork, pierce the dough a few times towards the middle of the pan. Here you can brush it with olive oil or butter. Let rest in pans for 10-15 minutes. Bake at 400°F for 8 minutes to set the crust (this will make the crust cook evenly with your toppings). Add toppings of your choice (I used Chef Boyardee pizza sauce, mozzarella and fresh mushrooms). Bake at 400°F until done (approximately 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of toppings).

Note: I thought the crust was a little too thick. Next time, I think I'll make 2 crusts and freeze one after I bake it for 8 minutes.

~ adapted from RecipeZaar

Rice-A-Roni Mix

I used to love the pre-made rice-a-roni mixes because no thought had to go into making them.  I tried this method and it's sooooo much better.  I think the powdered bullion makes the difference.  Even my picky BF liked it :)

Rice Mix

1 cup of spaghetti, broken into small pieces

2 cups rice, uncooked

1/4 cup dried parsley flakes

6 tablespoons instant chicken or beef bouillon powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon thyme (I leave this out of the beef version)

Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container. To use, place 1 cup mix, 2 tablespoons of butter, and 2 cups of water into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until rice is tender.

Note: I like to heat my rice mix with the butter until the butter is melted and the rice and pasta are just slightly browned before I add the water. But either way will work fine.

~ stolen verbatim (it's perfect as it is) from http://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

So there are no pics for this one because I got lazy and I had too many things going on at once.  Oh well.  They turned out pretty good.  I think I might experiment with a McDonalds version I found next time.

Recipe

egg wash: 

1 egg with 2-3 tbsp of water, whisked

batter:

1/2 cup white flour

1/2 cup wheat flour

dash of Lawrys seasoned salt

dash of cayenne

dash of pepper

dash of oregano

Place on wire rack on top of aluminum foil on top of baking sheet.

Baked at 400* for about 20 minutes flipping them half way through.

Salmon Cakes with Smoked Paprika Sauce

Salmon Cakes with Smoked Paprika Sauce

6 oz fresh cooked or premium canned salmon (no bones or skin)

2 eggs

1 tbsp (or more) coconut flour

With fork, mash above ingredients together well enough to evenly distribute. The amount of coconut flour needed depends on the moisture content of your salmon. Start with 1 tablespoon and add the minimum amount that enables you to form patties. Coat large skillet with vegetable spray and heat up. Shape salmon mixture into four patties and cook over medium heat until lightly brown. This just takes a few minutes — long enough to set up the eggs. Do not over cook or they will be dry.

Smoked Paprika Aioli

1/2 cup real mayonnaise, store-bought or homemade

1 tsp smoked paprika

small amount of water to thin as desired

Mix sauce ingredients together with mini hand whip until very smooth. The amount of liquid to add will depend on how you want it to look. You can even leave the water out altogether and use as a spread.

Serves 2.

*Note: I used canned salmon and wheat flour and it turned out great. Also, I used about 2 tablespoons of mayo with a little water and regular paprika for the sauce. It was delicious!

~ adapted from recipe at http://www.starchfreerecipes.com

Tater Tot Casserole

Tater Tot Casserole

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 bag tater tots
shredded mozzarella cheese
1.5 lb of ground hamburger meat

Brown hamburger meat. Add cream of mushroom soup and stir together continuously. Let simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.
Place mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish. Lay tater tots neatly on top of the mixture.
Place in oven on 350' and let the tater tots brown.
Sprinkle with cheese and melt it in the oven.

Enjoy ^_^

~ adapted from recipe at http://www.cooks.com

Chicken Noodle Casserole (in a Bread Bowl)

Chicken Noodle Casserole (in a Bread Bowl)

For the bread bowl:
Use your favorite bread recipe (I used a whole wheat recipe). Take small stoneware bowls and coat the outside with olive oil or PAM. Place fist-sized portion of the dough over the bowls. Place in the oven about 15-20 minutes before the casserole. 

For the casserole:
4 chicken boneless skinless chicken breast 
1 - 12 ounce package egg noodle
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
3 -4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (I used 1 teaspoon dried)
1 cup crumbled saltines or butter crackers, optional

In a large pot of boiling water drizzle some olive oil and 1 tablespoon of salt. Boil the chicken until done. Cook the noodles in boiling water. While the noodles are cooking cut up the chicken into 1/2 inch pieces. Drain pasta and set aside.
In a pot, saute onion, garlic, carrots, and celery in the olive oil. Cook until the onions appear translucent, add the mushroom soup, chicken soup, and sour cream. Mix well. Salt and pepper if needed. Add the noodles, chicken, and parsley. Stir until fully coated. Transfer to a greased 2 1/2 quart baking dish. (I used a 9x13 pan) Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until bubbly. (Mine took about 25 minutes) If you are using crackers remove from oven and sprinkle with crackers and bake 5 - 10 more minutes.

Enjoy ^_^

~ adapted from recipe at http://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com