Wednesday, March 16, 2011

PIZZA DOUGH :)

At long last and by popular demand (ha ha) I am posting my most favorite of all time Pizza Dough recipe! Trust me this will NOT disappoint!! Make it tonight...that's what I'm doing! And it'll make enough dough for 3 12 in. pizzas. I actually make 2 12 in. pizzas and use a small rectangle jelly roll pan for a "rectangle" pizza. Hey use whatever pans you want..it makes one heck of a pizza!!

Mom's Pizza Crust (Lehman's Anniversary Cookbook pg.59)

2 1/4 c. warm water
1 1/2 Tbsp. yeast
3/4 c. oil
3 tsp. sugar
6 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt

Stir water and yeast together until dissolved. Add oil. Set aside. Mix dry ingredients together. Add liquid mixture to the dry mixture. Knead until smooth. Let it rise in the bowl for 15 minutes. Divide into two (or three balls in my case) balls and spread onto two (or three) pizza pans. Let it rise 10 to 15 minutes. Spread with your favorite toppings. Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes (depending on how dark you like the crust).

To use the frozen pizzas I just take them right outta the freezer and pop in a preheated (375 degree) oven. They usually take a bit longer to bake...30 to 40 minutes.

DELICIOUS!!!!! Again try it...you won't be disappointed!!! Well off to plan my menu and grocery list for the next week. Good times. Have a great day!!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Salisbury Steak (Ok now I'm VERY hungry)

Yes I know it's been a few days yet again since I updated. Life is just busy and I have a hard time getting on the computer when I do have the time...LOL! I should review my last entry so I know what recipes I said I was going to post! I do remember raving about the Salisbury Steak so I wanted to share it with you. I'm super hungry right now too so posting this recipes might just push me over the edge :)!!

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did (well with exception of Wee-One...again the whole love/hate relationship with ground beef). I can't take credit for the picture...that was on the Taste of Home Website (www.tasteofhome.com).

SALISBURY STEAK:
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup soft bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup chopped onion
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 pound ground beef
GRAVY:
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) beef broth
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 jar (4-1/2 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained
Directions:
  • In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into four patties; place in a shallow 2-qt. microwave-safe dish.
  • Cover and microwave at 70% power for 5-6 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine flour and broth until smooth. Stir in the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, basil and mushrooms.
  • Turn patties; drain. Pour gravy over patties. Cover and microwave** at 70% power for 5-6 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160° and juices run clear. Gently stir gravy; cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Serve with mashed potatoes. Yield: 4 servings.
**I DID NOT do mine in the MICROWAVE. I made mine in the oven. I cooked them at 350 for an hour (just because I had roasted potatoes going at the same time and had the oven on). So instead of cooking them for a few minutes like they do in the microwave before putting on the gravy, I just formed the patties, put in the pan, dumped all the gravy on them, covered them and popped them in the oven. I might have turned up the heat a bit too at the end (to 375) just to make sure they were cooked all the way through. **

Like I said above I made roasted potatoes with these patties because Hubs loves him some roasted potatoes. I thought either noodles or rice would go good with this dinner too. Not sure what kind of vegetable I made that night but you can darn well bet that I did serve one...ha!

Ok so that's it for now. I'll review my last post and post the other recipe(s) I talked about. Now go make yourself some Salisbury Steak (I promise you won't be disappointed). ENJOY!!!

Friday, March 4, 2011

So it's been awhile...yet again!

I seem to have a problem with finding the time to blog these days. So much to do, so little time so they say :)!

I have been trying new recipes almost weekly, a few here and there and would LOVE to share them with you all. Of course they have been kinda hit and miss with Wee One! One that I found he really does truly enjoy each and every time is my Homemade Pizza! I FINALLY after searching high and low for a year or two, found the BEST pizza dough recipe EVER. Don't worry I'll share it with you...soon! We have Homemade Cheese Pizza at least once a week. And the wonderful thing about this recipes, besides the fact that it's SUPER easy, is that it makes 3 pizza's (depending on the size of your pizza pan). Yes that's right...3 pizzas! I freeze two of them for later and they turn out amazing even after being in the freezer.

I also made the BEST Salisbury Steak (with ground beef) this week. I always was kinda partial to those Hungry Man Salisbury Steak dinners and always wanted to make Salisbury Steak (hoping it would taste like those Hungry Man dinners) and GUESS WHAT?!? This recipe tasted so much like those Hungry Man dinners I was speechless. Well actually I think I commented on how good it was like 15 times during supper...Just ask Hubs...ha! Of course Wee One wouldn't touch it. He has a love/hate relationship with ground beef. I'll post that recipe soon too. I again just couldn't believe how WONDERFUL it was...and let me tell you it smelled just as good while it was cooking. I'm drooling just thinking about it...ha!

So I'm going to make an effort to at least post once or twice a week. I'm not going to make any promises as time seems to just get away from me these days. Wee One and I like to play tractors and things like that while he' s up so of course I'm not on the computer unless he's napping or in bed for the night (and after he's in bed I usually find myself heading to bed myself)! So here's hoping I post a little more frequently.

Happy Friday!! I'll post those recipes tonight or sometime in the next few days. Thanks for checking in with me :)!!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Yum Yum!

I made Quick Corn Chowder and Herb Quick Bread on Tuesday night for supper. I thought for sure this would be a hit with Wee-one. NOPE...Wrong-o! Oh wait I take that back....the bacon bits we put on the soup were a hit with him AND Wee-one did (FINALLY) eat soup out of Hubs bowl (with Hubs feeding him). So I guess it wasn't a complete bust! He wouldn't touch the Herb Bread. Hubs and I enjoyed both the soup and the bread. I actually had them both for the past two days for lunch (delicious leftovers!).

I found these recipes in my new Dinner on a Dime Cookbook by Taste of Home. And I found the beautiful pictures (ha...yeah so I didn't take my own yet...I'm workin' on it) on the Taste of Home website. Here you go...whip up a batch of both real soon! You won't be disappointed.


Quick Corn Chowder


1 bacon strip, diced (I cheated and used bacon bits)
1 med. onion, diced
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) chicken broth
2 c. water
2 lg. potatoes, peeled and diced
1 can (15 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained
1 c. milk, divided
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 c. flour
Chopped parsley flakes



In a large sauce pan, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp (I skipped this and just went straight to cooking my onion). Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon to a paper towel to drain. Saute onion in drippings, until tender (I did mine in about a Tbsp. of butter). Add broth, water, and potatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.

Stir in corn, 3/4 c. milk, salt and pepper. Combine flour and rest of the milk until smooth; gradually add to soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Garnish with bacon and parsley. YIELD: 6 servings


Herb Quick Bread

3 c. flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. caraway seeds
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/3 c. vegetable oil

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, caraway seeds, salt, thyme and nutmeg. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, milk and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Transfer to a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the loaf pan. YIELDS: 1 loaf (14 slices).

All recipes can be found on www.tasteofhome.com


Tonight I'm making another new dish. Last night it was just Breakfast for supper BUT I'm going to post another recipe tomorrow for Chocolate Pumpkin Pancakes. My Hubs, Wee-one and I have been just snarfing these bad boys up...DELICIOUS. So keep checking back for more recipes. ENJOY!!!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

I'M BACK!!!!

Ok so did ya' miss me? I'm sorry for my "extended" absence. With all the holiday stuff going on it was just impossible to keep up the blog. Well now that it's a new year I'm hoping to post more! And I got 3 new cookbooks for my birthday/Christmas so boy am I ready to cook (and share) all my recipes with you!

I collect cookbooks...seriously! I have probably 50 plus cookbooks and enjoy just looking at them on occasion. Yes I'm goofy like that...LOL! Nothing like torturing yourself by looking at all the yummy desserts/cakes/cookies/pies in your cookbooks when you're watching your weight. And no I don't lick the pages....ha!

Ok so back to what I came to post. I wanted to share my menu for the week with you. Yes I know it's already Wednesday but hey better late then never right! I hope to start taking pictures of all my dinners too (since I bought myself a new digital camera for Christmas). I hope to post daily but it might be more like every other day or so. So here's my menu:

Monday:
  • Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
  • Scrambled Eggs

Tuesday:
  • Quick Corn Chowder (new recipe)
  • Quick Herb Bread (new recipe)

Wednesday:
  • Cinnamon Pumpkin Pancakes
  • Pork Sausage
  • Eggs

Thursday:
  • Ranch Turkey Pasta Dinner (new recipe)
  • Bread & Butter

Friday:
  • Homemade Pizza
  • Carrots

Saturday:
  • Pork Chop Potato Dinner (new recipe & slow cooker)
  • Green beans
  • Bread & Butter

Sunday:
  • Leftovers

So there ya' have it. I spent just $65.00 on my menu this week (out of my $75.00). Of course it helps A LOT that we aren't drinking pop at our house anymore. Saves about $10.00 a week :)! Ok so in the next day or two I'll post my new recipes that I tried on Tuesday. So stay tune :)!!