Garden Chicken Pizza

This recipe came from Brooke's ward cookbook.

Garden Chicken Pizza

Pizza dough (I made mine in my breadmaker and it was wonderful. Recipe below. I do not recommend the Pillsbury refrigerated dough unless you don’t mind it tasting like crescent rolls.)
2 chicken breasts, cut in strips
4 slices bacon, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
½ tsp dried oregano
½ cup chopped green onions
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup Alfredo sauce, or more if you like (I used Bertolli)
½ red bell pepper

Grease a 12 in pizza pan. Press dough onto pan and bake at 400 for 8 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring continually, until the bacon is crisp, about 2 minutes. Drain the bacon, set aside. Add the chicken and garlic to the skillet. Saute the mixture, stirring continually, until the chicken is cooked through, about 3 minutes. Stir in the oregano. Sprinkle 1 cup cheese on top of baked pizza crust. Arrange bacon, green onions, bell pepper, chicken mixture and alfredo sauce on top of the cheese. Top with remaining cheese. Bake until the cheese is meted and crust is golden brown, 8-10 minutes.

*And this is how I changed it a little. I used cornmeal instead of greasing the pan. But I also used a baking stone so I don't know if it would work as well on another pan. I hate cutting up raw chicken and I hate cooking bacon when it’s chopped because it sticks to each other. So I cooked the bacon whole and then cut it up. And I just cooked 4 chicken tenders and added the garlic at the end. Then I chopped them bite size and sprinkled some oregano on them. I just cut up green onions and red pepper strips until it looked like what I wanted. My dough was really thick (and delicious, seriously Kylee at all her crust) so I used a little extra cheese and sauce.

Basic Pizza Dough

These exact instructions are at http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/article/46/17753. You can also see his instructions on rolling out the dough at http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/article/46/.

3 1/2 cups flour

1 cup warm water

2 tablespoons yeast

2 tablespoons honey

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

To Mix Dough in a Bread Machine:

Throw all the ingredients in, set to dough only setting, push start and walk away. That's it! No work, no hassle. If you don't work for something is it really worth having? In this case, you bet!

This dough can also be made in advance and refrigerated for a day or so, or even frozen. Be sure to let the dough come to room temperature before using.

To Mix Dough by Hand:

Pour warm water into a bowl. The water should be about 85 to 115° F. Test it with your hand. It should feel very warm, but comfortable. Add the honey and salt. Mix by and hand (or any other method) until well blended. Add the yeast and mix some more. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of flour and the olive oil and mix until well blended. Add the rest of the flour (and any other additions) and mix well. The dough should turn into a ball. If the dough does not ball up because it's too dry, add water one tablespoon at a time until it does. If your mixture is more like a batter, add flour one tablespoon at a time. Adding water or flour as needed to get the right consistency will assure you always get a perfect dough. Just remember to do it in small amounts.

Once the dough is balled up, place the ball on a floured board and knead for about a minute. This builds the gluten which helps the dough to rise and become fluffy when cooked. Place the dough in a plastic grocery bag or a covered bowl and store in a warm, dry area to rise.

After about 45 minutes the dough should have about doubled in size. Show it who's boss and punch it down. That's right, give it a good smack so it deflates. Let it rise for another hour to an hour and a half. The dough is now ready to be rolled out. You can punch the dough down one more time if you want and wait another hour or two before rolling out. The choice is yours.

Enchilada Pie

I got this recipe from Brooke. Thanks, Brooke!

Enchilada Pie

1lb Ground beef
½ tsp salt
½ medium onion, chopped
1 sm can green chilies
½ can tomato soup
1 10 oz can enchilada sauce
½ C water
6 flour tortillas
1 C cheddar cheese, shredded
1 C mozzarella cheese, shredded

Brown beef with salt and onion. Add chilies, soup, enchilada sauce and water. Simmer for 5 minutes.
In a pie pan, layer:
Meat
2 tortillas
meat
cheese
2 tortillas
meat
cheese
2 tortillas
meat
cheese

Bake at 350 for 30-45 min. Slice like a pie and top with sour cream, olives, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, etc.

Chicken Puffs

This recipe is from my neighbor. It is a family favorite of theirs.

3 cups cooked diced chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 cups crushed cornflakes
1 stick butter; melted
1 container (4-8 oz) cream cheese, softened. Preferably garden vegetable flavor. Low fat variety tastes the same. If you use plain cream cheese, then add some herb flavors to it.
2 pkgs of pillsbury refrigerated crescent roll dough. Depending on the size of your family, this recipe can be cut in half.

Combine chicken and softened cream cheese in bowl. Put corn flakes in separate small bowl. Put butter in a separate bowl as well. Roll out crescent rolls with small rolling pin. Scoop about 1.5 Tbsp of chicken/cream cheese mixture into middle of crescent roll. Wrap crescent roll around chicken mixture, closing the seams. Dip top of your uncooked "puff" into melted butter, then into the corn flakes. Set on ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat until all of your ingredients are gone. Cook puffs for approx. 20-22 minutes at 350. Meanwhile, cook cream of chicken soup according to soup directions. Serve puffs with cream of chicken soup "sauce" poured over the puffs.

Creamy Chicken

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
4 oz cream cheese
1 envelope italian dressing mix (any brand, but Good Seasons is great)

Place the breasts on the bottom of your crockpot. Mix the soup, cheese and seasonings and pour over the chicken. Cook on low for 5-6 hours and serve over rice. Note: low fat varieties of soup and cream cheese work just as well.

Crockpot Lasagna

This is a friends recipe that I received awhile back ago. I make things, but I never remember to take a picture. So, if any of you make this and remember to take a picture, feel free to post pictures.

Layer ingredients until deisired amount
Layer 1 - dry lasagna noodles (broken to fit)
Layer 2 - spaghetti sauce with meat (1 lb. hamburger browned with onion, spaghetti seasoning, 3-4 cans tomato sauce, or a jar of spaghetti sauce)
Layer 3 - 2-3 cups cottage cheese, or ricotta mixed with 2 beaten eggs and 1 T. parsley flakes
Layer 4 - grated mozzarella, parmesan, and cheddar cheeses
Cook on high for 1 hour, turn down to low. Total time 4 hours. If you have a medium setting, cook on medium the total time.

Cafe Rio Follow Up

Here are some pictures of the Cafe Rio meal. Meat recipe below. Brooke says you can use pork or beef. Cafe Rio uses pork. I don't eat at Cafe Rio very often, but the sweet pork salad is very popular. This meat recipe works for the salad too and the ranch dressing recipe would be the salad dressing. FYI: This makes enough food to feed 8 people, I would say (but I had three people's share :)

Pork

Cilantro-Lime Ranch

I came across another blog that had a recipe for the full sweet pork sald. It is Favorite Family Recipes. She has a different recipe for the pork, which I might try next time just to see the difference. I used her recipe for the rice and beans.

Cilantro-Lime Rice


Beans (I used less tomato juice than the recipe calls for, but next time I might just add an extra can of beans and use all the juice)

And here was my taco, or I would call it a burrito, all finished and delicious.

There were so many flavor combinations, and they all went together really well. I would recommend the burrito sized tortillas, since there is so much to pack into it. It seems like a lot of work, but I spread it out throughout the day. I put the pork in the crockpot in the morning, and mixed the ranch a couple hours later. Then I just made the rice and beans right before we ate. It's amazingly wonderful!

Here is the salad I made with the leftovers.

Mountain Dew Dumplings

I googled "mountain dew recipes" one day and came across this one. It was only fitting for my family since my husband loves mountain dew so much. It is delicious!
Ingredients:
2 cans crescent rolls
2-3 firm apples, peeled & cored, cut into 6 or 8 slices each
1 1/2 C. sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 sticks butter (don't use margarine)
1 (12-oz )can Mountain Dew
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°
Place one apple slice in each triangle of dough.
Roll up large end to small.
Place all rolled apple slices in 9 x 13 pan.
Melt butter in small pan, add cinnamon & sugar.
Pour mixture over dumplings, and pour Mountain Dew around dumplings.
Bake 45 min.
Makes 18 dumplings
Serve with ice cream, and pour some of the leftover sauce over it.

Cafe Rio Tacos

Cafe Rio Meat
3 lbs roast
1 c dark brown sugar (I use light, I haven't been able to taste a difference)
1 c worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. powdered ginger (only if you have it)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. chili powder
2 T minced onions

Cook in a crock pot all day on low. 1 hour before serving shred meat and discard juice.
Add 1 c brown sugar
1 c red enchilada sauce (get a good brand, it makes a difference)

Dressing:
1 ranch dressing packet
1/2 c buttermilk
1/2 c sour cream
1 c mayo
2 tomatillos
1 japapeno, cut in half lengthwise and remove seeds
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lime
Mix in blender and refrigerate 1 hour
You can leave the dressing out if you don't feel like making it. The meat and other toppings itself make it just as good.

Flour tortillas
Top each tortilla with:
meat
lettuce
cilantro
fresh lime juice
green enchilada sauce
dressing
strips of chips
black beans
rice
Pick and choose what you feel like putting on your taco. Enjoy!
Thanks Joanie for motivating me to post this:)

Wild Rice and Tofu Soup

*First, I know this recipe may sound a little out there and weird (unless you are a tofu lover; I am not, but in this soup, or miso soup, I definitely am!), but it is actually really, really good! Its super healthy, very filling, loaded with nutrition, and definitely worth making. My husband is not a "soup" kind of guy, but he loves this soup! Its my favorite thing to make.

**One tip would be to plan ahead when you make this and soak your beans over night. I have been using the canned kind, which are fine, but your intestinal track may not agree with the mixture of beans, tofu, onions, etc., so soaking the beans helps a lot!

Wild Rice and Tofu Soup

Ingredients
1 cup Wehani rice or other wild rice variety

4 tbsp best quality olive oil

1 cup carrots, peeled and diced

1 cup parsnips, peeled and diced (*I don't always use these, but they are good if you do)

1 cup sweet Vidalia onion, diced (*or red onion (?), but I use any onion, white, yellow, or red)

6 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock (*I like mine thick, so I only use 3-4 cups)

3 cups low-fat, plain soy milk

1 garlic clove

1 cup white kidney beans

1 cup kidney beans

1 cup black beans

1 cup regular tofu

sea salt & black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Cook rice according to package directions (*TIP to speed up cooking time, add uncooked rice to the stock at the beginning. Or use planned leftovers)

2. Meanwhile, saute carrots, parsnips, and onion in olive oil.

3. In large pot place sauteed vegetables, poultry stock, soy milk. Add garlic, beans and tofu. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add cooked rice and stir until blended. Season with salt and pepper. Number of Servings: 4

Chicken Cacciatore Subs

I don't know if my pictures even look appetizing, but whatever. This is another Rachel Ray recipe. I usually use 4 or 5 chicken tenderloins and only 2-3 sub rolls for my family. But I still use all of the rest of the ingredients. I use chicken stock instead of wine, and lately I haven't been using mushrooms because they are kind of expensive and I don't love them so I just leave them out. But when I do use mushrooms, I only use one cap. I also never have provolone cheese so I just use whatever I have, either cheddar, mont jack, or mozzarella. I use a little dried parsley leaves, or just leave them out. If you don't toast your rolls first, they will get really soggy. It's a messy meal, but really good.

Chicken Cacciatore Subs

4 pieces boneless skinless chicken breast, 6 to 8 ounces each
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tablespoons
Grill seasoning blend, or salt and pepper
4 sub rolls, split
2 cloves garlic, cracked away from skins
1 teaspoon red crushed pepper flakes
2 large portobello mushroom caps, sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 large onion, white or brown skinned, sliced
1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/3 palm full
1/2 cup dry red wine or stock -- chicken or beef flavor
1 (14-ounce) can, crushed tomatoes
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/3 pound deli sliced provolone

Heat a grill pan or large skillet. Drizzle chicken with oil, to cover,and season with grill seasoning blend or salt and pepper. Grill or pan-fry 6 minutes on each side.

Heat broiler, lightly toast rolls on cookie sheet and remove.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, mushrooms, peppers, onions and oregano. Saute veggies and season with salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, then deglaze the pan with wine or stock. Pick up tasty bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon or heat safe spatula. Add tomatoes and parsley to the sauce. Slice chicken breasts on an angle and set into sauce. Pile chicken and veggies into sub rolls and cover with sliced provolone. Melt cheese under hot broiler. Serve.