Turtle Power!

We cooked some homemade pizza last night and watched TMNT II: Secret of the Ooze (brought back so many memories!). Here's the recipe we used (although we mostly just winged it!). I'm still looking for a good pizza crust recipe, so I just got a store-bought crust for last night. You can use any toppings you'd like, here's what ours consisted of:

Margherita Pizza

1 can Pillsbury Pizza Dough (Thick Crust style, found near the biscuits)
Olive Oil (3-4 Tbsp)
Shredded Mozzarella cheese (as much as you like, we used about 1-2ish cups)
2 Vine Tomatoes
Half a cup of mushrooms, sliced (more or less, depending on your preference)
1 Avocado, sliced
3-4 leaves fresh basil, chopped

Preheat oven to 425*. Pop open can of dough, and unroll -- it should be in a rectangular shape. If it keeps shrinking, let it set to room temperature -- that should reduce shrinkage. Spread Olive Oil from the center, all the way to the edges (it'll make the crust crisp). Scatter cheese (NOT to the edges). Slice tomatoes to desired thickness (ours were pretty thick) and arrange on pizza. Sprinkle with mushrooms, avocado and basil. Bake 20-25 minutes, until crust is golden brown. You may need to eat this with a fork and a knife, depending on how heavy your toppings are!

Brie en Croute

Here is an appetizer recipe that seems to be a hit. It's from a recipe that I found online and modified quite a bit. Enjoy!

(We haven't forgotten about housewarming pics...we've just been otherwise preoccupied! Stay tuned!)

Brie en Croute

1 small Brie Round
1 puff pastry sheet
1/2c Apricot Jelly
1/2c slivered or sliced Almonds
1 egg white

Preheat oven to 350*. Defrost pastry sheet and unfold until flat. Lay Brie round in center of sheet (rind can be left on cheese). Spread apricot jelly on Brie, top with almonds. Bring up edges of pastry sheet around Brie and seal together. Brush egg white on pastry. Bake 25-30 mins, or until pastry is golden brown. Let sit 15-20 mins. Serve with crackers.

Bagel Sandwiches

Well, it's been quite some time since we last posted! We were so busy trying to get the house ready for the housewarming (pictures to come soon!), the blog was put on the back burner. This post today is going to be a recipe for another breakfast item that is super easy and can be made in bulk for the week: Bagel Sandwiches.

Bagel Sandwiches
Serves 2 for one 5-day work week

10 bagels (we prefer plain or multigrain)
10 eggs
10 slices of your favorite cheese (Swiss for the McKinkys)
Mayo
10 rashers of bacon or sausage patties (optional)

Slice and toast bagel halves. Spread mayonnaise on each half. Cook eggs separately from each other, over-medium or over-hard style (the sandwiches aren't very appetizing if the yolk is runny several days later). Flip egg onto one half of the bagel, add bacon or sausage (or not), and slap some cheese on top. Put the other half of your bagel on top, and put each sandwich into individual baggies. As you are running late to work(inevitably), all you have to do is grab one and heat it up for ~30 seconds (until the cheese is melted). YUM.

Food Friday!

Fridays sound like a good day for a new recipe, huh? Some of these are old, some are newer, some we've never even tried out yet. I will try to post specific instructions for those of you that don't normally cook, or have trouble doing so. Odds are, I will probably never post recipes for a dessert, since it is my ultimate goal to open up a bakery (Fat Kid Bakery) -- and a good baker never shares her secrets! According to some people, I make some pretty good cakes and cookies -- feel free to request anything; I love to experiment. Maybe someday we'll create a website and link it up on this blog!

Anyways, the recipe I'm going to share today is something D & I have used for ages. It is for breakfast burritos, that are amazingly delicious. The recipe calls for a lot of ingredients, but for most of them, you use the whole item (for example, a whole onion is chopped as opposed to only half). We make tons of them and wrap them up for breakfast for the week, or freeze them for the future. This recipe yields approximately 20 burritos. Feel free to halve or quarter the recipe if this seems like too much!

Breakfast Burritos
-2 packages (22 1/2 oz. each) frozen hash brown patties
-15 eggs (large eggs)
-2 Tbsp garlic salt
-1 Tbsp chili powder
-1 Tbsp Cumin
-1/2 lb chicken (we love to get the already-cooked rotisserie chicken at Kroger, and just shred the meat from the bone. You can also use sausage, ham, turkey, or bacon if you prefer these)
-6 jalapenos, minced (cut into very very tiny pieces)
-1 large green pepper, diced (cut into very small pieces)
-1 large onion (white or yellow), diced
-1 bunch green onions, diced (remember, only cut the green part of this!)
-3 cups salsa
-1 pkg flour tortillas (medium size torts, not the super huge ones)
-4 cups cheese, shredded (my favorite combo is colby & monterey jack cheese)

Bake hash browns as instructed on package. Once finished, chop into crumbles. Keep warm. In a bowl, whisk the eggs (if you don't have a whisk, you can use a fork!), chili powder, garlic salt & cumin. In a large skillet, saute jalapenos, green pepper and onion (saute = fry up in a bit of butter until the edges are browned and ingredients are soft). Stir in chicken (or other meat). Add Egg Mixture. Cook until eggs are set, stirring constantly. Stir in salsa and hash browns. Over a burner, or on a pan, warm tortillas -- it makes them malleable for folding. Spoon some of the mixture onto the tort, and add the cheese. Roll up (fold bottom of circle up about an inch or two so that nothing falls out of the bottom when you eat it, fold left and right sides of circle over each other). Wrap these burritos individually in foil. To serve, unwrap and bake at 350* for 50-55 minutes, or heat up in the microwave (withOUT foil!) until warm.

I'll post a picture of these the next time we make them!