Homemade Pizza Hut Pizza

Playing catch up is so hard! I made this Pizza Hut pizza quite a while ago during the winter. It was pretty good except for the fact that I cooked it a little too long! Oops!

Source: cdkitchen.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

That's their beautiful picture of their pizzas.
And there's mine. Sort sad huh?

As always, you can click on the link or I've copied it here for you. The only thing they didn't have was how long to cook it for! I think I cooked them for about 19 minutes and noticed they were getting over cooked! Sad! So let me know if you know how long you're really supposed to cook these for. I'm guessing between 12-15 minutes.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/3 cup warm water (105 degrees F)
1/4 cup non-fat dry milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 package dry yeast
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (for dough)
9 ounces vegetable oil (3 ounce per pan)
butter flavored cooking spray
***Sauce***
1 can (8 ounce size) tomato sauce
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dry basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

DIRECTIONS:

Put yeast, sugar, salt, and dry milk in a large (2 qt.) bowl. Add water and stir to mix well. Allow to sit for two minutes. Add oil and stir again. Add flour and stir until dough forms and flour is absorbed. 

Turn out on to a flat surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Divide dough into three balls. In three 9" cake pans, put 3 Oz. of oil in each making sure it is spread evenly. Using a rolling pin, roll out each dough ball to about a 9" circle. Place in cake pans. 

Spray the outer edge of dough with cooking spray. Cover with a plate. Place in warm area and allow to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. 

Sauce: 

Combine ingredients and let sit for 1 hour. 

For Each Nine Inch Pizza: Preheat oven to 475 degrees F Spoon 1/3 cup sauce on dough and spread to within 1" of edge. Distribute 1 1/2 Oz. shredded mozzarella cheese on sauce. Place toppings of your choice in this order: Pepperoni or Ham Vegetables Meats (cooked ground sausage or beef) Top with 3 Oz. mozzarella cheese Cook until cheese is bubbling and outer crust is brown.

Roasted Garlic Pasta Salad

So my sister told me about a blog she's been visiting to get her dinners and I've gotta say ... it seems like a great site! My goal this summer has been to eat healthier, "lighter", summer meals that don't bust the bank! This blog is really nice because she puts how much the meal is going to cost you. Well, about how much since prices change of course. Her blog it budgetbytes.blogspot.com.
For dinner last night, I made her Roasted Garlic Pasta Salad. It was really good! Now, I've been trying to get my whole family to eat more veggies and this salad was perfect for it. The ricotta cheese created a nice creamy sauce that wasn't overpowering. I am not a fan of tomatoes (nor anyone else in the family) so this was hard for me. I've been forcing myself to eat tomatoes for quite a few years so I've gotten better. I was the only one who ate them quartered up in the salad. We actually removed the tomatoes and blended them and put them back in for everyone else. My hubby said it made for great leftovers for lunch. Now, without further ado, the recipe.

Servings Per Recipe: 8 (about 1.25 cups each) 
Prep time: 10 min. Cook time: 20 min. Total: 30 min. 

3 Tbsp Garlic
1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 lb. Pasta Shells
15 oz. Ricotta Cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1 pint Cherry Tomatoes
3 cups Baby Spinach
Salt and Pepper to taste

STEP 1: Place the garlic in a small bowl or dish and drizzle 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil over the exposed cloves. Cover the bowl with an inverted plate. Microwave on high, in one minute increments, until the garlic is soft and fragrant (about 2 minutes) I minced garlic and it was done in 1 minute. Use caution when touching the dishes, they will be very hot. Allow the garlic to cool.

STEP 2: Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, add the pasta, and cook for 7-10 minutes or until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta cooking water.

STEP 3: While the pasta is cooking, add the minced garlic to a medium bowl along with the ricotta cheese, a healthy dose of freshly cracked pepper, and about 1/2 tsp of salt. Add the 1/2 cup of hot, starchy pasta cooking water. Stir until it forms a smooth sauce.

STEP 4: Drain the pasta. Return the drained pasta to the warm pot (the burner should be turned off). Add the fresh baby spinach and pour the ricotta sauce over top. Slice the cherry tomatoes and add them to the pot as well. Stir until everything is well mixed. Add in the parmesan cheese and stir again. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm!


http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2012/05/roasted-garlic-pasta-salad-853-recipe.html

Shred Chicken

I read on pinterest a tip on shredding chicken. All you have to do is cook your chicken, stick it in you kitchen aid with the paddle attachment on, and turn it on. I did a whole flat of chicken and it came out great. It was so much better than shredding it using 2 forks like I usually do. Here's proof that it works!

Split Pea Soup

Maybe not my best idea ever but I decided to start eating healthier in January and I also got pregnant at the same time. Eating healthier wasn't the problem. It was trying something new while you're in that first pregnancy stage where things don't always agree with you. That was this split pea soup. It was not good for me because the house smelled for days afterwards and I did not like the smell!! 

Here's the link to the recipe. I know it doesn't look appetizing but I bet if I wasn't pregnant it would have been better! 

I know, it looks gross but really good for ya!

First kid didn't mind it. I did what my friend did and put it on homemade whole wheat bread.

Other kid did not touch it. He was not happy with this meal at all! Can you tell?

Gyros

I know, I know, I start this blog and then don't post anything in like forever. Really, no one really reads this blog too much so it's all good! I had all these awesome recipes I was going to try in February and then I got pregnant!! So much for trying new foods! Everything sounded awful! So I will attempt to "catch up".
I made some gyros for the first time ever and they were SOOOOO good! We're not the best vegetable eaters so for everyone to eat all of their tomatoes and cucumbers, it was basically a miracle. What I liked the most about this recipe is that you can prep a lot of the food beforehand so making is was a cinch. It was ready in about 10 minutes once we decided it was time to eat. Plus, it was really light and perfect for a nice summer day. I HIGHLY suggest this recipe and I don't do that a lot. This is going into our dinner rotation.
I forgot to take any pictures (umm, I may have eaten mine a little too fast) so I've attached the picture and will provide the direct link to the person's blog who made these. Also, I doubled the recipe (did not do so in the recipe below) and it will make 6 gyros.

Source: thekitchn.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Yogurt-Marinated Chicken & Creamy Greek Sauce
Makes 1 to 2 pitas

For the marinade
1 large chicken breast (about 1/2 pound)
1/2 cup plain, whole milk yogurt (for the life of me I could only find nonfat and it was still great)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the Greek sauce
4 tablespoons mayonnaise (regular or light)
1 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1/8 garlic powder
Squeeze of lemon juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the chicken
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tomato, diced
1/2 cucumber, diced
Pita bread, for serving 

For the marinade, cut the chicken breasts into bite-sized cubes. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the yogurt, olive oil, oregano, salt, and pepper until combined. Add the chicken and marinate for at least two hours, but overnight if possible.

For the Greek sauce, mix together all of the ingredients and refrigerate. Adjust seasoning according to taste before serving. (Note: I used 1/4 teaspoon salt and a very generous amount of black pepper. You can't have too much in my opinion.)

For the chicken, wipe off the excess marinade. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and oregano, and cook until fragrant and golden, about 2 minutes. Remove the garlic. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes without stirring. Give a quick toss and continue cooking for another 3 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

To assemble, combine the chicken with desired amount of Greek Sauce, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pile onto a piece of pita bread, fold like a taco, and devour.

The Link directly to her blog: http://www.thekitchn.com/lunch-recipe-yogurt-marinated-chicken-creamy-greek-sauce-167581

Homemade Baby Wipes

I'm running out of wipes. The normal thing to do would be to go and pick some up but I don't have a Costco membership anymore and they're just so expensive. I ran across multiple pins on how to make your own. And the only thing I was missing was the paper towels. While I was out at Target yesterday, I picked up the recommended Bounty paper towels. Let me tell you, this was so easy to make.

Here are the ingredients:

1/2 roll Bounty Paper Towels (I used the bigger size too)

2 TBS Baby Wash

2 TBS Baby Oil

2 1/2 cups warm/hot water

That's it! I ended up cutting my paper towels into 4ths because I didn't have a container big enough to do 1/2 a paper towel roll.

Directions:

1) Cut your paper towel in half (or fourths like me!). I used an electric knife. It was still hard but it worked better then just trying to use a normal knife.

2) Put your paper towel roll in the container you're using.

3)Heat up you water (I stuck mine in the microwave).

4) Put your baby oil and baby wash in your water and gently stir.

5) Pour the water mixture over the paper towel.

6) Seal the container and flip it over for 5 minutes.

7) Take the cardboard piece out of the center and you're done!

Disclaimer: I just made these today and as of right now, I have not even changed Carly's diaper so I have not tried them out. If these totally suck, I'll let you know!!!

Cheesy Garlic Biscuits

I LOVE (and by love I mean I will eat a whole dozen) the biscuits from Red Lobster. They are sooooo yummy! When I saw this recipe from Pinterest, I had to give it a try. We both loved them. Am I saying the word love too much? The only problem I had with them was there was too much salt in the topping and I can't figure out how to make sure that the bottom of the biscuits isn't too crunchy. Otherwise, they were great! The hubby kept eating them and was happy/upset that I'd made them. He's trying to watch what he eats!

Here's what these biscuits look like. Mmmmm, I need to get me some more Bisquick so I can make these again!

Cheesy Garlic Biscuits Recipe

Makes 12

1 1/2 cups Bisquick

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup milk

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp oregano

3/4 tsp garlic salt

1. Preheat your oven to 400F. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray.

2. Put biscuit mix, cheese and milk in a bowl and mix well to form a sticky dough.

3. Using a spoon, drop lumps of dough onto the cookie sheet. Bake for 10 min.

4. In a bowl, melt butter and mix with oregano and garlic salt (this is where I'd use less garlic salt because they seemed just a little too salty)

5. When the timer goes off, take them out and brush with butter mixture and bake 5 min. at 400F and another 5-6 min. at 350F.

6. Transfer into a plate and serve immediately.

Again, these were really good and different then just eating a slice of breath with butter. Sooo much better than that!