Pizza and Poppers

Pizza and Poppers??? Yep, Pizza and Poppers. It's the best Pizza I have ever made and some of the best I've had (outside of my moms and Teds, of course). My jalapeños were too big and I didn't get all the seeds out, but the poppers were good too.

Pizza Ingredients:
3 eggs
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp basil
1 tbsp tomato sauce
+ whatever you want for toppings (We used more mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, and Canadian bacon.)

Directions:
1. Combine mozzarella cheese, eggs, garlic powder, and basil in a bowl and mix very well.
2. Press evenly onto a non-stick (or Pam sprayed) pizza pan or cookie sheet.
3. Bake at 450 until golden brown (about 10 to 15 minutes).
4. Remove the crust from the oven.
5. Spread on the tomato sauce.
6. Add the rest of your toppings.
7. Put pizza under the broiler and broil until cheese is melted and toppings are cooked to your desired done-ness.

Jalapeño Popper Ingredients:
Jalapeño peppers
cream cheese
bacon

Directions:
1. Cut the peppers open and take out the seeds.
2. Fill the peppers with cream cheese (I found some Roka Blue Cream Cheese that was amazing).
3. Wrap the peppers with bacon.
4. Cook the poppers either on the grill or broil them until the bacon is done and the peppers are a bit soft.

The peppers I used were too big, but they didn't have any smaller ones when I was shopping for them.

Both of these recipes were ones I had found online posted by people who pulled them from other people. Not sure who originally came up with the recipe.

Greek Roasted Chicken

This is a very simple chicken recipe/marinade that makes the chicken taste like the stuff you get at a small town fair or at a small carnival/festival put on by local groups like the Lions Club or Snowmobile Club (for you northerners). Not sure why, but it really reminds me of that. Note that it needs up to a day for marinading.

Ingredients:
3-4 pounds of chicken (cut-up, split, whole, whatever you want)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:
1. Wash chicken and pat dry.
2. Combine lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper and stir in together.
3. For a whole chicken, rub all over the chicken, including in the cavity. For chicken parts, put in a zip lock bag and pour in marinade.
4. Let sit in a fridge for at least an hour, up to a day. The longer it sits, the better the flavor.
5. One hour before cooking, take chicken out of the bag and let sit.
6. Grill, bake, or broil the chicken as you desire. I prefer to slow grill it.

To slow grill chicken:
1. Heat 1/2 the grill (with charcoals on one side or 1/2 the gas burners turned off).
2. Sear the chicken for 3-5 minutes per side directly over the high heat.
3. Move the chicken to the indirect side, turn heat down a bit, and let sit for about 20 minutes per side, flipping once.
4. After about 10 minutes of high heat and 40 minutes of low heat it will be about done.
5. If you want to crisp up the skin, turn up to high again and put directly over the heat for a minute or two per side.

Overall it was a very easy meal, yet very tasty.

This recipe was based on one from Dana Carpenders 500 LC Recipes

Beef Fajitas

A simple beef fajita meal that doesn't take much to prepare, but is very tasty.

Ingredients:

For Marinade:
1/2 cup chicken broth or lite beer
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 small onion, sliced thinly
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic

Rest of Ingredients:
2 lbs of skirt steak or any other steak you want to use.
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced thick
1 green pepper, sliced

Toppings:
Guacamole (We love Wholly Guacamole)
Salsa (Mrs. Renfro's is wonderful and most varieties have no sugar added)
Sour Cream
Cheddar Cheese

Directions:
1. Mix together marinade ingredients.
2. Put steak in a big zip lock bag and marinade in the fridge for a few hours. The tougher the steak, the longer you should let it marinade.
3. When ready to cook, remove steak from bag, saving a few tbsp of the marinade.
4. In a large skillet, heat the oil.
5. Add in steak, peppers, and onion when the oil is hot.
6. When the meat is done and the veggies are tender, add in the reserved marinade.
7. Serve on tortilla or plate and top with the guacamole, salsa, sour cream, and cheese

This recipe was based on one from Dana Carpenders 501 LC Recipes

Note that the tougher the steak, the longer to let it marinade.

Ultra Meat Sauce and Spaghetti Squash

Dinner tonight was a very simple Spaghetti Squash with meat sauce. I'll break it down into 2 sections as that will make it a bit easier.

Spaghetti Squash

Ingredients:
1 Spaghetti Squash

Directions:
1. Cut Spaghetti Squash in half length-wise and scoop out the seeds and stuff
2. Put face down on a baking sheet covered in tin foil.
3. Bake for 375 for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the squash.
4. To test for when it is done, take the back of a spoon or fork and it should puncture the skin very easily.
5. Flip over and use a fork to shred out the spaghetti part and put in a bowl.

Ultra Meat Sauce

Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 green pepper, diced
4 oz mushrooms, sliced (A can of mushrooms works fine)
15 oz can of tomato sauce (We use Hunts 100% natural)
1 tsp Italian Seasoning

Directions:
1. Brown and crumble the ground beef in a large skillet/pan.
2. When the grease starts to collect, add the onion, garlic, green pepper, and mushrooms.
3. Cook until onions and peppers are soft.
4. While the meat and veggies are cooking, put the tomato sauce in a pan and heat through, adding the seasoning and letting it simmer to mix the flavors. Some garlic would be good in the sauce too
5. Pour off the grease from the meat and add in the tomato sauce.
6. Serve the sauce over the Spaghetti squash and top with some Parmesian cheese if desired.

The Ultra Meat Sauce recipe was from Dana Carpender 500 LC Recipes Cookbook

Sausage Skillet Mix-Up

Fairly simple dish with some nice flavor.

Ingredients:
1 lb fresh pork sausage
1 small onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 cup chicken broth
2 tsp chicken bullion powder
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 cups Cauliflower

Directions:
1. Brown the pork sausage in a skillet over medium heat
2. Drain grease (if desired) and add in the remaining ingredients
3. Cover and turn burner to low and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until cauliflower is tender
4. Enjoy!!

From Dana Carpender 500 LC Recipes Cookbook

Chorizo Omelets

So, what's for breakfast? That's what our family often asks on a Saturday Morning. This breakfast isn't quite so quick, but very tasty. I don't have exact quantities as it will all depend on how you like your omelets.

Ingredients:
Eggs, beaten and mixed with heavy whipping cream or some milk (HWC preferred)
Chorizo, fried up in a separate pan
Red and Green Peppers, chopped and sauteed in butter
Onion, chopped and sauteed in butter
Cheese, whatever kind you want to sprinkle on
Sour Cream
Hot Sauce

Directions:
1. If you can, get the red and green peppers and onions sauteing at the same time. We use our big electric griddle smothered in butter to get them nice and browned.
2. Fry up the chorizo
3. As those are cooking, mix the eggs and HWC (or milk). I usually do about 3 eggs to 1/2 oz to 1 oz of HWC. Too much and it will get runny and not hold the omelet together (that's what happened this morning).
4. Put the eggs on a big flat electric griddle so that the omelet has room to spread out. It makes it nice and thin and you can work with it easily.
5. After the egg sets up a bit, put on the veggies, chorizo, and cheese if you want it in.
6. Wait about a minute and fold over the sides of the eggs and put on more cheese.
7. Scoop off the griddle and plate up. Then top with whatever you want. I put on more veggies and chorizo and some sour cream, cheese, and hot sauce.