Strawberries with honey and lime

This is SUPER simple and SO yummy!!  Last week fresh strawberries were on sale for $1 per pound, $1.50 this week.  My kids LOVE strawberries anyway you slice them, but they really like this.

Strawberries with honey and lime

Ingredients:

2 lbs strawberries...washed, stems removes and diced

juice of 1/2 lime

2-3 T honey

Directions:  Combine strawberries and lime juice.  Drizzle with honey to taste and stir.

Homemade Root Beer

This is the perfect recipe for Halloween, or anytime really.  But really...if you have a big witch's cauldron, isn't this the perfect Halloween beverage?

I remember my parents making homemade root beer growing up, but have never made it myself....and it has been a long time since I have had it.  One of our sons had a couple friends over the other night and we decided pizza and homemade root beer sounded good....and the root beer is fun.  You need a 5 gallon insulated drink cooler to make this...or if you don't have one(like me), you can split the ingredients into two smaller ones.

Of course, being the terrible photographer that I am, I forgot to get a picture of the finished product.  I only got this picture at the beginning.  I almost didn't post because of that, but decided to share and next time we make it I will get some better pictures and update :)

Homemade Root Beer

Ingredients:

4 lbs. sugar

3.5 gallons of water

1-2 2oz bottle of root beer concentrate (found in grocery stores by the vanilla), I added one bottle and ~1T.

4.5-5 lbs of dry ice

5 gallon insulated drink cooler

Directions:  Combine sugar with one gallon of hot water and stir until the sugar has all dissolved.  Add your root beer concentrate, start with the 2 ounce bottle....after you add all of your water, taste it and add a little extra concentrate...if you like a little stronger root beer taste.  NOW, you want your root beer mixture to be as cold as possible before you add your dry ice, BUT you don't want to add the water then extra ice or you will water down your root beer.  SO I put ice into the container that I was using to measure my water(2 qt pitcher), then filled it to the amount and added it to the warm sugar/root beer water.  Add 2.5 gallons of water, so that you have the total of 3.5 gallons.  If your root beer is cold when you add your dry ice, the dry ice will carbonate your root beer more...does that make sense?  Add your dry ice and give everything a good stir.  Put your lid on the container, loosely.  If you put it on tight, the pressure will make it all explode.  If you leave the lid completely off, your root beer will be flat.  Brew your root beer for approx an hour.  As it sits longer it will become slushy...yummy!!  We left some overnight in our cooler and it was still slushy the next day.

Make sure that you handle the dry ice carefully and with gloves.  If you touch it to bear skin, it will burn you.  If you eat the slush, make sure that it is slush not the actual dry ice.

Also, I would recommend making this outside.

I hope this makes sense.  If you have any questions, leave a comment and I'll try to answer.

I'm still here....

WOW!!  I can't believe that it has been almost 6 months since I have posted anything!

I have NO good excuses either.

We have had a busy and FUN time during these 6 months and I have just been lazy about posting.

SO....this post will have too many pictures and no recipes, BUT....I do have a recipe to share soon.

We have had birthdays....with birthday cakes

ahh...a teenager in the house :)

My 'attempt' at a pinata cake

This is supposed to be a figure 8 race track for an 8th birthday

We were able to go to Utah to visit family for a few weeks....

I am the WORST about taking pictures while on vacation.  I snapped these on our last day.  I actually made the kids get out of the car to snap some pics with the cousins.  Too bad one of my other sisters and her cutie had just left and we were missing 6 other cousins too....see...SLACKER!!

 While in Utah I ran my 3rd half marathon - not me above :) I ran the American Fork half for the second year in a row.  It was AWESOME!!  And I got a PR by 6 minutes, 11 minutes faster than last year running this race.  Jake(above) and my niece ran the 5k.  I'd add a picture of us all together, but they are on my husband's cell phone.

The boys started school...

  

 If you know my boys...don't tell them I posted this one - k - :)

So, school started almost 2 months ago....since then we have been doing homework and playing soccer.

We've had a fun 6 months and now I am back to post more regularly...I hope.  If you are still reading, THANKS :)

So, tell me....what have you been up to the past 6 months?

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)

Apple Pie Fruit Leather

Several months ago, I was talking to a friend about APPLES.  I had a few boxes of apples that I needed to take care of.  I told her that I would be making applesauce or freezing them(more on that later).  I told her I wasn't going to make anymore apple pie filling to bottle, because I still has so many bottles from the last time I had a lot of apples.  I just don't make more than one or two apple pies per year.

She told me that another friend of ours makes apple pie fruit leather, by using the bottle apple pie filling.  SO, I talked to our friend and she said that she bottles her apples w/out the pie seasonings and then just adds them when she makes the fruit leather.  Since I already has 'pie filling' that I had bottled, I'll tell you how I made the leather :)

Apple Pie Fruit Leather

Ingredients:

32 oz apple pie filling (I'm sure any fruit pie filling would be equally delicious)

 

Directions:  Puree pie filling in blender or food processor until smooth.  Spread an even layer of puree onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper(to make it easier to remove when finished).  Place in oven at 150-170 degrees(170 is the lowest my oven will go).  Bake for 6-8 hours, or until it fills sticky, but not wet.  Mine took a few hours longer to cook, because I had two pans in the oven.  Cooking time will also vary depending on the amount of liquid in the pie filling, or how 'wet' it is...make sense?  Let cool completely.  Roll up and cut into strips.

Crispy Southwest Wraps

I found this recipe at Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  Mel used chicken in her wraps, but I had some bottled beef in the pantry that I used.  These wraps are SO good.  If you have some canned or bottled chicken or beef they are very simple and FAST to put together.  We really LOVED these!!

Crispy Southwest Wraps

Ingredients: 

1 cup cooked rice, warm or at room temperature

1 cup cooked, shredded chicken (or other leftover meat, like shredded pork or beef)

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 green onion, finely sliced (white and green parts)

1/2 red or green pepper, diced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

juice of 1 lime

1/2 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

2 cups shredded cheese

Sour cream (optional)

6 burrito-sized flour tortillas

Directions:  Mix rice together with chili powder, cumin and garlic salt. Add remaining ingredients except for cheese and sour cream. Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges, then arrange chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla.  Optional: I like to spread a little sour cream over the tortilla before I sprinkle with cheese and  before arranging the chicken and rice mixture down the center – it makes the wraps delightfully creamy.) Roll stuffed tortillas, leaving edges open and slightly flatten the wraps with the palm of your hand. Spray seam-side of the wrap lightly with cooking spray.

Heat a large non-stick skillet (or griddle) over medium heat for 1 minute(I used my cast iron skillet). Arrange wraps, seam-side down, in pan or griddle and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2-3 minutes per side. Cooking them seam-side down first helps seal the long edge so they don’t fall apart. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining wraps. Serve warm.