Reheating Pizza

We love pizza at our house!!  Especially homemade!  It seems like when I order pizza, I always buy way too much....or not enough.  Usually we are all starving, and pizza sounds SO good, so I order an extra one and then we can't eat it.  When we have homemade pizza, we almost always have a few pieces leftover.

So...today I am going to tell you how we reheat our pizza.

Place your pizza stone or baking sheet into a cold oven and then turn your oven on to 400 degrees.

When your oven has preheated, place your pizza onto your stone/baking sheet and bake for ~10 minutes until heated.  If you have thick pizza, it might take a little longer to heat all the way through.

It won't be as good as fresh pizza, but it is much better than heating it in the microwave :)

Mexican pizza and this weeks menu

One of my goals for this year is to do better with menu planning....when I say do better, I mean actually start menu planning.  Several years ago I would plan my menu out a month at a time, it is SO nice to have a menu plan.  Most of the time I enjoy cooking....but I really dread trying to decide what to make for dinner everyday and find that I make the same things over and over.  I also find myself going to the grocery store nearly everyday when I don't have a plan.

I am going to try to plan for 6 meals with one night for leftovers.  I am going to try a new recipe(to us) each week.  

I am going to share my menu for the previous week here with you.  You can see how boring we are :) ...and maybe get some ideas for dinner at your house.

I am sharing last weeks menu, so I can share our new recipe of the week with you and let you know how it went. 

Menu:

Monday:  Chicken Enchiladas

Tuesday:  Mexican Pizza (recipe below)

Wednesday:  Steak Bites, Pasta w/ browned butter and Parmesan Cheese, and veggies

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday:  Breakfast Burritos

Saturday:  Homemade Pizza

SO....Saturday night we ended up eating frozen pizza and bell peppers.  Just didn't have time for homemade pizza and 2 of the boys were at friends parties....

The Mexican pizza was a huge hit and will definitely be added to the rotation on a frequent basis!

I found this recipe at Domestic Superhero.  She has great step-by-step pictures.  My family really LOVED this dinner!!

Mexican Pizza

Ingredients(for 5 medium size pizzas):

10 medium flour tortillas

~2 cans refried beans...canned from the store or make your own

1 small can red enchilada sauce (I used Macayo's brand), I only used ~1/2 small can for 5 pizzas

cheese

diced tomatoes

avocado

sour cream

Directions:  Adjust your ingredients depending on how many pizzas you will be making.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Heat your tortillas on a griddle or skillet until they get crispy, turn them frequently so they don't burn.  Spread a layer of beans on half of the tortillas, top with the other half.  Spread a layer of enchilada sauce on the top tortilla and sprinkle with cheese and diced tomatoes.  Place pizzas on baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes.  I had my pizzas on 2 large baking sheets and rotated the pans at 5 minutes.  I baked my for 10 minutes and then put them under the broiler for a couple of minutes to brown the cheese.  I served my with sour cream and diced avocado.

What are you making for dinner this week?  Please share ideas with me in the comments :)

Pizza Talk (BBQ Chicken w/alfredo and BACON)

i LOVE LOVE pizza!!  Usually when we make pizza we use this Versatile Bread Dough.  The recipe makes a ton, so I use what I need, divide the rest into freezer bags and freeze for next time.

I really LOVE BBQ chicken pizza w/Alfredo..mmmmmmm!!!  My husband's favorite is pepperoni w/sliced jalapenos.  My other boys are split between the two.

A few years ago while I was attending a Scouting Round Table meeting, the guy taught us how to make dutch oven pizza.  It is delish.  He told us that the secret to good pizza is in the cheese.  He used half Provolone and half Monterrey Jack cheese.  The blend is SO yummy!!  It melts SO nice and doesn't 'stretch' and pull all of itself off the pizza as you eat it!  Since that meeting we have changed the way we make pizza in our house :)

My husband likes a thicker crust, but I like to make our pizza with a thin crust so that it is nice and crispy all the way to the middle.  I don't think there are many things that are worse than a soggy pizza crust in the middle of your pie!  Below is how I have found to make the perfect pizza...according to me anyway ;)

The Perfect BBQ Chicken Pizza w/Alfredo Sauce and Bacon

Ingredients:

Dough

Alfredo Sauce 

Monterrey Jack Cheese ~1/4 of a pound, grated

Provolone Cheese ~1/4 of a pound, grated

2 chicken breasts pounded thin, marinated in Italian Salad Dressing

Your Favorite BBQ Sauce 

Bacon, cut into small pieces, fried and drained of grease

Directions:  Grill your chicken.  Salt and Pepper your chicken, I also sprinkle a little onion powder on it when I am cooking it for the pizza.  When chicken is almost cooked through baste each side with BBQ sauce.  Chop your chicken, add additional BBQ sauce and set aside.  Roll out your dough to desired size of pizza(~1/4-1/2 inch thick), cover with kitchen towel.  Preheat your pizza stone to 475 degrees as you preheat oven, put the pizza stone into cold oven (unless your pizza stone directions say not to preheat).  When the stone is preheated, cover with a small amount of cornmeal.  Transfer dough to pizza stone, coat dough with a thin layer of Alfredo sauce.  Evenly arrange BBQ chicken over Alfredo sauce, we always add a little more BBQ sauce at this point...just drizzle it on.  Top with your grated cheese (mix cheese together first so you have a good mix of both in each bite).  Now add Bacon(obviously in the picture above I just tossed it on, you may want to arrange it more evenly).  If you put your bacon on top of the cheese, the bacon will stay crispy.  Bake at 475 for 13 minutes on the bottom rack of your oven.  Remove and let cool a bit, cut...serve...enjoy!!

Same process for other types of pizza, just different toppings...same cheese :)  

PS, for pepperoni pizza we use Hunt's 4 cheese spaghetti sauce from the can.  Inexpensive and yummy!

PSS, Italian dressing is a SUPER simple...SUPER yummy marinade for grilling chicken!!

Another note....if you don't have a pizza stone, round cake pans work SO well for making pizza.  Just spray a little cooking spray in the bottom, add a dusting of corn meal, dough and toppings.  When we used to use the cake pans, I would put my topping clear to the edge of the pizza.

Versatile Bread Dough

Today I am going to share with you a bread dough recipe that I use to make lots of yummy food :)  It makes A LOT of dough.  Enough for 6 or 7 loaves of bread.  You can also use it for rolls(If I am making rolls, I usually use THIS recipe..unless I am in a hurry and have some of this in the refrigerator already) and pizza dough.  I usually make a batch, use part of it for pizza or whatever and then divide the dough into bags to freeze for later.

You will need a large mixer to make this recipe.  I use a Bosch.  Or...if you are ambitious, you could always mix by hand.

This week I will share the recipes or processes to make the yummy stuff in the bottom picture.

Versatile Bread Dough

Ingredients:

3/4-1 cup sugar (depends on how sweet you like your dough, I usually do 3/4)

3 T yeast

6 1/2 cups warm water

2 T salt

3/4 cup oil

~16-20 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:  Add the sugar and yeast to the warm water and let sit until the yeast starts to bubble.  Add oil and 5 cups of flour, mix.  Add salt, mix.  Add enough flour to make a soft, but not too sticky dough..when the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the mixer.  Knead in mixer for 5-6 minutes, or knead by hand.  Put the dough into a large greased bowl and cover until doubled, 45-60 minutes(if making bread or rolls).  I like to cover my dough with Saran wrap that has been sprayed with cooking spray and then with a towel, so the dough doesn't stick to the towel.  Form into bread loaves or rolls, place into greased pans.  Cover and let rise again until doubled, 30-60 minutes.  Bake at 350 until golden brown(mine usually takes 30-35 minutes, but it may depend on altitude, loaf size and your oven).  Take out and butter tops.  I let mine sit in a pan on a cooling rack for approx 5 minutes and then remove the bread from the pan and let cool on the cooling rack or a towel.  If you leave it in the pan for too long, it will begin to 'sweat' and then it will be 'wet' on the bottom of your loaf when you take it out.

Note:  If you are going to freeze this and then make it into bread....remove from freezer, let thaw on counter until room temperature.  Form into loaves or rolls, let rise until doubled in size and proceed as above.

Top left: Pepperoni pizza(obviously :)), Top right:  BBQ chicken pizza with Alfredo and bacon, Bottom left:  Pull-apart cinnamon bread, Bottom right:  Cinnamon pizza pizza(inspired by Papa John's Cinnapie)

Steak Pizza

 Have you ever had steak pizza?  We had some old neighbors that come over and ate homemade pizza with us one night.  They told us about steak pizza.  We tried it and LOVED it!  

Steak Pizza

Ingredients:

Pizza dough

Thinly sliced steak, seasoned as desired and cooked

sauteed onions, and bell peppers(optional)

grated Monterrey Jack cheese

grated Provolone cheese

A1 sauce or your favorite steak sauce

Directions:  Roll our pizza dough to desired shape and thickness.  Spread steak sauce on dough.  Top with steak, onions, bell peppers and half Monterrey Jack cheese/half Provolone cheese.  Bake until cheese is melted and bubbly.  I bake mine on my pizza stone at 425 degrees for 14-16 minutes.

Pizza Rolls

Another recipe to use up some leftover bread dough. My sister told me about these. She said that she had a friend that would use Rhodes rolls, make pizza rolls, freeze them and then she would have a quick and easy snack for later. I thought that sounded like a great idea! I got these made and was going to freeze them, but didn't have anything else planned for dinner...so we ate them for dinner instead. They were a huge hit. I served them with some homemade marinara. MMM!!

Pizza Rolls

Ingredients:

• leftover bread dough
• string cheese
• pepperoni (optional)
• dipping sauce

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Wrap a piece of bread dough around a piece of string cheese(cut into half or thirds) and pepperoni. Pinch closed. Place on greased baking sheet. I brushed mine with an egg wash(egg white + 1 teaspoon water) and then sprinkled with garlic sauce. Bake at 350 until lightly brown. Eat, or cool then freeze.

15-minute pizza dough and pizza dough seasoning

We LOVE pizza at our house. We especially love BBQ chicken pizza. I found this recipe for pizza dough and pizza dough seasoning at Little Birdie Secrets. This makes the best pizza dough. MMMM!!

I couldn't get a very good picture of the pizza crust. I LOVE to cook my pizza in my spring-form pans, so there really isn't a crust around the edges. When I made my BBQ chicken pizza this time, I used half provolone and half mozzarella cheese. I also cooked my chicken in my cast iron skillet(grilled would be super yummy) and chopped the chicken instead of shredding it. So yummy!!

Pizza Dough Seasoning

8 Tablespoons of cheddar cheese powder (you can use either white or yellow)

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

1 Tablespoon onion powder

1 heaping Tablespoon of Italian seasoning

Mix it all together in a bowl and then store in a small jar or zip-top bag. Just add a Tablespoon or so to your pizza dough recipe for an extra tasty crust.

15-minute pizza dough

2 1/2 c. flour

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 cup hot water (120-130°, use a candy thermometer for accuracy if you're not sure)

1 Tbsp. Rapid Rise or Bread Machine yeast

2 Tbsp. olive oil

Preheat oven to 500°. Mix dry ingredients together. Add hot water and olive oil. Mix for five minutes (I use my Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook, but you could do this by hand, too). Let rest 10 minutes. Press dough on pizza pan, pizza stone, or jelly-roll pan. Bake at 500° for 3 minutes. Take out of the oven and cover with toppings. Return to the oven and bake 8-10 minutes more. Makes one large pizza (16-18 inches).

French Bread Pizza and some sad news

Okay...sad news first. My oven is having a problem!! The range is LESS than 3 years old and I 'think' the baking element has gone out. I am going to be taking the thing apart in a minute to see. I am hoping it is the baking element! I have found a place to order the part, if that is the problem. The oven will still broil, just not bake:( Unfortunately, I had 5 loaves(4 mini and one regular size) of ooey, gooey cinnamon bread half-baked when I realized that the oven had quit baking. I was SO sad!! When I get the oven fixed, I will be baking that bread again so that I can share it here! Another sad thing, I got to smell that wonderful half-baked cinnamon bread all night:(

Anyway, since the oven was not baking, I had to broil my BBQ Chicken French Bread Pizza. I got a coupon from my local Basha's grocery store for a free loaf of French Bread if I spent $10. Honestly, I don't know if I EVER go to the grocery store and spend less than $10. My family LOVES BBQ Chicken Pizza, so I decided to make it on French Bread. Quick and easy!!

Notice all of the silk on the corn...oops! I thought my little helpers and I did a better job than that:)

Really, this is just like the BBQ Chicken Pizza that I make...only on French Bread instead of regular pizza crust. First, took a zip-Lock bag out of my freezer with two chicken breasts in it. I let it thaw and then poured some Italian Dressing into the bag and let it marinate overnight(MMM...I LOVE to marinade chicken in Italian Dressing and eat it right off the grill). The next day, I grilled it, shred it and mixed it with BBQ sauce. Then it was ready for the pizza. Of course you don't need to marinade it or grill it, just cook up some chicken any way you like, shred it and mix it with BBQ sauce.

I cut the bottom 1/2-1 inch off of the French Bread and then the top 1/2-1 inch off the top to make two pizzas. I let the kids fight over the middle yummy, soft bread to snack on while they were waiting.

Place the French Bread on a baking sheet. We like to smear ours with Alfredo sauce(if you haven't tried BBQ chicken pizza with Alfredo sauce....you should), then add the BBQ and top with lots of mozzarella cheese or Italian blend cheese. Normally I would bake mine at 400 degrees until hot and bubbly, but this time....I had to broil it. When it is hot and bubbly, slice and ENJOY.
For the Corn: My little helpers shucked(is that a word) the corn husks into the compost bin and scrubbed the corn. We brushed softened butter on the corn. Sprinkled on some salt and fresh ground pepper. Wrapped the corn in foil and grilled over medium heat for 25-30 minutes...rotating approx. every 5 minutes. It was FABULOUS!!

BBQ Chicken Pizza with Alfredo Sauce

This pizza is SO yummy!! This is super easy, unless you want to make each ingredient from scratch. My family LOVES this!! I made mine with a homemade pizza dough, but I have also made it with pizza dough that I have purchased from the bakery at my grocery store. I have made it with homemade Alfredo sauce, and I have made it with store bought sauce.

BBQ Chicken Pizza with Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 12" round pizza crust
• 1 cup Alfredo sauce
• 1 cup shredded chicken in BBQ sauce
• 1-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions: Roll out pizza crust. Put oil on pizza pan and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place pizza crust on pan. Top with Alfredo sauce, BBQ chicken and cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for approx. 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and starts to brown. All ingredients are depending on taste, add more or less, whatever you like.