The Perfect Pizza.

For as long as I can remember, pizza has been one of my favorite foods, hands down. It's in our dinner rotation once a week, usually on Fridays and once more if there is a college basketball game we want to watch on TV ( sidenote: my alma mater Wichita State is playing for the NIT championship on Thursday- woop!). Until recently, our pizza has always been take out; the greasy, cheesy take out. I'd eat 4 slices and (obviously) have big regrets a few hours later.

I got a Kitchen Aid stand mixer for my birthday last December, and since then I've been doing a lot of experimenting making pizza dough at home. I've gone through about 4-5 different recipes, some good, some just so-so. I was determined to find the perfect dough recipe- one that was not only tasty, but simple enough to throw together in a short time.

I ran across a great food blog several weeks ago called Annie's Eats. I found an excellent dough recipe there; it's crusty and chewy, and tastes fantastic. The best part is that the recipe makes 2 pizzas, so I make a pizza immediately and freeze the other half for the following Friday. I expected to have to do a little of my own experimenting but her recipe is perfect, as is.

half 3 meat, half chicken, bacon and ranch.

Even if you have a dough recipe you like, you might learn something new from her pizza making tips and tricks. You also might like her recipe for chicken ranch pizza- this is my new favorite!

Now I'm craving it!

A question: nutrition guides on menus?

A few days a go, we went to lunch at Jason's Deli. I always get the same thing there, so I don't even look at the menu- but I wanted to check out the kids menu this time for Cameron. It's been awhile since I had been to Jason's, so I hadn't noticed that they were now putting calories, fat and saturated fat content under each menu item.

I know that in New York, all restaurants and places that serve food drinks must put this information on their menus. I thought it was a neat idea and a helpful step for those wanting to make better eating choices- but I had never seen it on menus here in Kansas.

Anyway, I was going to get Cameron a grilled cheese sandwich (a no fail lunch for him) until I realized that it had 26 grams of fat. I don't recall the calorie count or amount of sodium, but it instantly steered me away and I ended up ordering him a turkey sandwich, which only had 11 grams of fat (with the fat mostly coming from the cheese, I'll bet). In that moment I definitely knew that I would make better choices for my family and myself when it comes to eating out if this information were mandatory on all menus.

Would you make better choices seeing fat and calorie content on menus? What if you were deciding between two items- would this push you to pick the item that might be better for you? Would it even affect you at all? I'm interested to know!

Superbowl, party of 2 1/2.

Last night's festivities got pushed aside due to my 2 sick boys who have been both been whining, hacking and coughing all weekend. We actually had a couple of invitations to some low key get-togethers, and I was really looking forward to enjoying some great food and drinks while watching the game with friends. Since that didn't happen, we all just hung out by ourselves, and in lieu of wings, chili, and dip I made my homemade chicken noodle soup!
I want to share this recipe- because I have yet to find a better chicken noodle soup recipe, and it's wicked easy. And since that little Groundhog saw his shadow the other day, it looks like we're in for 6 more weeks of winter- meaning you'll need some new cold weather recipes!
What's perfect about this recipe is that you can customize it how you like. If you are in a hurry, you can used canned chicken (which is excellent in soups), or you can take a little more time and make your own broth and cook the chicken. The secret, is the Reames Frozen Egg Noodles. My dad always made chicken noodle soup with them, and I still use them because they are so good. You can find them at pretty much any grocer (including Sam's Club, in bulk) in the freezer section.

Chicken Noodle Soup:
5 (10 oz.) cans of Chicken Broth (I use Campbell's)
1-2 broth cans full of water
12 or 16 oz. bag of frozen Reames Homestyle Egg Noodles
12 oz can of Tyson canned chicken or 2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded
1 large carrot, chopped
1 tbs (give or take) dried parsley flakes

salt and pepper to taste
optional additions: celery, onion, or whatever you like in your chicken noodle soup.

Bring the broth and water to a boil. Add the frozen noodles, and bring back to a boil. Add the rest of the ingredients, reduce to a simmer, and continue to simmer according to the noodle package directions, about 25 minutes (more or less depending on how you like your noodles, more firm or soft.)
I like to serve the soup with warm garlic breadsticks to dip into!
The measurements are rough estimates- you can add more chicken, more veggies, or use reduced sodium broth, all according to your diet and how YOU like it! Enjoy!

Fun-due.

In Jon's family, it was tradition for whoever's birthday it was to make a special request for their birthday dinner. Jon always chose fondue. I'd never had fondue until we met, much less heard of it, but I was told (by Jon himself) that it was my responsibility as his wife to carry on the tradition for making him fondue on his birthday every year. =) So far, I've done good!
After searching through many recipes, I found that most of them use oils, which didn't necessarily appeal to me at all. The few times we had been to The Melting Pot, our meat fondue was broth based, which I liked. I finally found a recipe that was made with broth, and it's the most fantastic recipe for meat dipping. Not only is it flavorful, it's really easy too. While the broth is simmering on the stove top, I cut up the meats and veggies. We usually skip the cheese fondue when we're at home, because eating the meat fondue takes 1-2 hours in itself.

The recipe:
2 cans beef broth (I use Campbells)
1/2 bottle of dry white wine, OR 1 cup of water
2 cups of water
2 bay leaves
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg. of dry French Onion soup (dry plain onion soup is fine too)
2 tsp. pepper
2 tsp dried parsley flakes

*If you're making it for more than 2-3 people, I'd suggest doubling the recipe. The broth tends to get really thick toward the end, in which case you could add a little more wine or water.

Throw all of it in a pot and let it simmer (on low) on the stove top for about an hour. Your house will smell incredible. If your neighbors are in close proximity like ours are, chances are they'll be able to smell it too and be incredibly jealous.


In the meantime cut your meats and veggies into inch x inch bite sized pieces. After the broth has simmered on the stove, transfer it into your fondue pot. For dippers, we like to cut up a chicken breast, any cut of steak meat, pork loin, raw jumbo shrimp, and red potatoes. For the dipping sauces, we just use whatever we have in the fridge that doesn't have fuzzy green stuff growing on it: BBQ sauce, teriyaki sauce, Ranch dressing, Wasabi sauce, and cocktail sauce.




Yes, it's THAT easy- so go ahead and dust off that fondue pot you got for your wedding and never used. Your fondue pot will thank you.

Jon's 30th Birthday weekend: good food and fireworks.

It's official, Jon is an old man. Even though his birthday isn't until tomorrow, we celebrated by going to Sumo, a hibachi-style Japanese restaurant we've been hearing great things about. The food was excellent and our cook was quite a ham. He insisted I take his picture, even though Jon told him the pictures would be going up on the internet. "Oh, would not be first time!" he replied jokingly. He had a strong accent and was a little hard to understand. He was also surprised when my sister-in-law, who is Korean, asked for the kids chopsticks (the ones with the paper and rubber band). "YOU? You don't know how to use chopstick?" Everyone laughed.



After dinner we came back to the house and had some friends and family over. Everyone was hanging out in the front yard. Around 9:30, my neighbor across the street came running over to our house and said "Leslie! My kitchen is on fire!" I could hear the alarms going off in her house, but didn't see any flames. I screamed at Jon to grab the fire extinguisher and go over and put the fire out. Jon ran over and 2 of his brothers followed. I stood in front of the house with my neighbor watching the boys try and fight this. The second Jon used the extinguisher, I could see the them jumping back from the orange glow in their kitchen as the fire blew up in their faces. To say I panicked was an understatement. I yelled at someone to call 911, but they had the fire put out just as we got emergency dispatch on the line.
By this time, everyone who was in our yard was now in hers watching this all unfold. Jon and his brother had small grease burns on their arms and face, but no one was hurt. The house was filled with black smoke, but once it cleared we were able to help get things cleaned up. I am still amazed that the situation wasn't worse than it was. Had we not had people hanging outside to help, it would have cost them minutes and probably their home. Instead, they lost a microwave, some cabinets, and will have to replace the flooring. That's it. God had a hold of the situation and am so thankful that all that was lost were material things that can easily be replaced!

Mom's 60th surprise birthday!

Saturday my sister and I threw a party for my mom's 60th birthday. This particular weekend has been on my mind for almost a year, and I have been dying to blog about it in some fashion, but mom reads my blog so unfortunately I've had to keep my mouth shut for a LONG time. I hate keeping secrets and this one was tough not to blab.

Anywho, the party was quite a success, if I do say so myself! Everyone seemed to have a great time. We had around 35 friends and family come and wish her a happy birthday and eat some great food that my sister cooked up. We managed to keep the party a secret until the night before, when we agreed we should go ahead and let her know that there were a few people coming by. We didn't tell her who, so I think there was still an element of surprise each time the doorbell rang! Happy Birthday, mom- we love you!

I put my college degree to work and made the invites!

My mom, sister and I

For those who dropped by and asked for the recipe of the chocolate chip cookies I made, here is the recipe. I know many of my blogging friends visit Katie over at Good Things Catered and can attest that she has many wonderful recipes- her amazing cookies are just one of them. 

Easy Cheesy Chimichangas!

I've never shared a recipe on my blog until now, but I've made these chimichangas a few times and decided they were too good not to pass on. And heck, with Cinco de Mayo coming up, you can make these, invite your friends over and have a little fiesta. I promise they'll be impressed (especially if you whip up some margaritas). 

I made this recipe up after having grilled chimichangas at a local Mexican joint, and I have to say that I think my version is better! You'll see that this recipe is far from "authentic" Mexican; the rice is directly from a box, and I didn't make my own tortillas.  If you feel adventurous enough to make your own tortillas or rice, be my guest! 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
  
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 package grated cheddar cheese or Mexican cheese blend
• 1 box cheesy Mexican rice (I used Old el Paso brand)
• 5-6 burrito sized flour tortillas
• Salsa, sour cream, queso or other toppings you like

Start by preparing the rice according to the package directions. Brown the beef, and add in the taco seasoning. Set aside until the rice is done.

Lay out the tortillas and begin by dividing the rice between 5-6 tortillas. Add a handful of cheese on top of the rice, and finish by adding the beef on top of the cheese, dividing it between your tortillas. 

Fold in the sides of the tortillas, and then roll them up. Place the seam side down into a buttered skillet on medium heat. Butter the top (go ahead and make Paula Dean proud) of the chimichangas, and carefully flip them when the bottom side has browned. Brown that side and they are ready to eat! I like them with sour cream and queso on top. Enjoy!

Though I haven't tried it, I think you could substitute shredded chicken in place of ground beef and they would be excellent. 

My diet, illustrated.

Hey, they make a great team.