This pizza bake caught my attention because I thought it would be easy and I already had all the ingredients.  It was on my monthly menu for tonight’s dinner but I did not leave work until 5:45.  I already had the meat ready from my once a month cooking marathon so I was a little ahead as I had, surprisingly, remembered to take the package of cooked Italian style ground beef out of the freezer before I left for work.  I started the pizza dough at 6:15 and we were eating at 7:10.  Not bad and soooo good.  My family actually said they can’t wait for leftovers.

First: Pizza Dough

• 3 Cups all purpose flour
• 1 pkg instant yeast, or 1 tbls yeast
• 1 cup very warm water
• 2 tbls oil
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt

Add yeast and sugar to the water.  Let sit for about 5 minutes until the yeast grows.  Add salt and oil.  If using a bread machine to knead (which I recommend) pour all liquid into bread machine pan and add flour, stirring after each cup added.  Knead until smooth about 5 in the bread machine, about 10 minutes if by hand.  Place dough ball in a greased bowl lightly covered and let rise for 10-15 minutes.  While bread is rising-

Second:  Pizza Stuffing

• 1 lb. cooked and drained ground beef cooked with 1 small diced onion
• 1 tbls Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp ground oregano
• 1/2 tsp of thyme
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp minced or powdered garlic
• 1 tsp sweet basil
• 1 tbls garlic salt
• 1-2 tsp pepper
• 16 oz tomato sauce
• 3 tbls flour
• 1 cup or more of mozzarella cheese
• pepperonis
• small amount of milk to brush on top and sesame seed to sprinkle over the top

Cook the beef and all the above ingredients EXCEPT the cheese and pepperonis.  Let cool.  Can do this fast by putting in a large baking dish and putting in the freezer.  Not that I did this, not me, I have all the time in the world.

Third:  Roll out the pizza dough into a 14x11 inch rectangle.  Lay dough on a greased cookie sheet.  Place meat mixture down the center third of the dough, leaving 2 inches on each end and cover with the cheese and pepperonis. 

Cut the sides of the pizza dough diagonally 2 inches apart.  I used my kitchen shears which I really hope were clean.

Fold the ends up and then fold the sides over.

Brush with milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Place in a preheated 425 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Yum!!  Just like the picture except that I used homemade pizza dough instead of pre-packaged pizza dough and so mine was HUGE.  I though that it might spread out over the pan while it was cooking. 

Good thing everyone wants leftovers because this could feed an army.

I think this might be good with some sort of chicken bake.  I have all sorts of ideas.  My husband loved how light the crust was and not heavy at all. 

This is the second time I have made this whole wheat bread. It turned out so perfect the first time I was actually nervous I wouldn't be able to get the same results when I made it again. I was wrong, it turned out just as good. I found the recipe in an old recipe book called Multi-Grains. Tony's mom had it in her collection of old cookbooks that he got after she passed away.

The Ingredients:

• 1 Tbl brown sugar
• 1 1/2 pks of Instant Dry Yeast, or 1 and 1/2 Tbl of Instant Yeast
• 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup Reg White flour, All-Purpose or Bread flour (I use high gluten white flour)
• 1/3 cup of packed brown sugar
• 1 Tbl salt
• 1/3 cup powdered milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg slightly beaten

In a small bowl, mix 1/2 c. warm water, 1 tbl brown sugar, and the yeast. This will double in size by the time you add it to the dough.

In a small pan mix 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 cups of water and place on the stove on medium to low heat. Stir constantly. This mixture will be lumpy at first and will stick to the pan but keep stirring.

The snow was suppose to fall during the wee hours of the morning, like 2am, but it actually didn't start until 9am. It hasn't stopped and it is amazing. The kids want to play in it but because it is 38 degrees outside it is more like white flaky rain than true snow. So we are all inside for the day until the 50 degree weather returns tomorrow.

I have been reading the Tightwad Gazette book and made her version of homemade yogurt last weekend. It turned out perfect, much better than my previous attempt. It wasn't tart, it wasn't runny, and it needed nothing to make it sweet. It turned out perfect and creamy. Since I have plenty of time today I am going to make another batch and will show you step by step how easy it is.

• 4 cups of milk and I used 2%
• 1/3 cup of dry milk, I spent way too much for this NON-instant, $6.46, and next time I am going to just use regular instant dry milk.
• 2 tablespoons of starter. Last week I used plain Greek yogurt but this week I am using some of my own yogurt.

This marinade is perfect for many meats and I have used it to marinate a ham the night before we smoked it. It was the marinade for the already smoked ham we had on Christmas Eve that was Thee Bestestess Ham I have ever had. I like ham, I guess, it just is a little salty and not really my thing.

At Tony's previous employer, for the holidays, he was able to choose a turkey, a ham, or what he thought was a Boston Butt. However, when we unpacked the quote-unquote, Boston Butt, we were looking at a bone-in, already smoked ham. It smelled like ham and there went my idea of a pulled pork dinner extravaganza for Christmas Eve. But not to be discouraged, we marinated it overnight anyway, cooked it on low for four hours, and then mixed a brown-sugar rub commonly found on a spiral cut honey baked ham. It was delicious! I wanted to eat it for every meal, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack. I bought brown and serve rolls and we finished off all the leftovers as mini-sandwiches.

Annnyyyywaaay, I went and bought an actual Boston Butt pork roast, which is not part of the pig's butt, but actually part of the shoulder area. And did you know that a Boston Butt is cheap? When we did our Sam's Aldi comparison we bought a large piece at Sams and cut it up into smaller pieces. Okay, the marinade already. I used the marinade I wrote down while watching Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. My friend, Sherry, told me that you can look up some of triple Ds recipes on the website but I haven't done that yet. So I have no idea what the exact measurements are. I just use equal parts for most of the ingredients.

1 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1 T. Celery Salt
1 T. Garlic Powder
1 T. Dried Mustard
1 T. Ground Ginger
1 T. Black Pepper
1 T. Rosemary
1 1/2 tsp. Liquid Smoke
1/4 cup Worcestershire
3/4 cup Cider Vinegar
1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil

Whisk all together.

Place the Boston Butt in a large ziploc bag and fill with the marinade. Place in the fridge overnight.

In the morning place in the crockpot on low for 8 hours. Add the marinade sprinkle with garlic salt and a large sliced onion. Serve as sandwiches, over a baked potato, or all by itself. Like I said I have no idea what the exact measurements for the marinade is suppose to be, but I have used it several times as directed above and it was perfect.

No school, no work, no driving about town but we still need to eat. These mini meatloaves are super easy and very good, even for people that are not particularly fond of meatloaf, me. They take only three ingredients: 2lbs ground beef, 1 bag/box chicken stuffing, and 1 egg.

Mix all three, count 'em three, ingredients together and spoon into a muffin tin.

Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Time varies due to your comfort with the 'doneness', is that even a word? of hamburger meat.

Freeze the leftovers as individual portions in sandwich bags put in a large freezer bag. Perfect kid meal and just the right portion. Plus each person can doctor their meatloaf as they wish with BBQ sauce, ketchup, or just plain. The chicken stuffing mixed with ground beef is so good even I can eat this without doctoring it up. Condiments are my reason for eating.

Oh my gosh! This was so good and so easy. I think the hardest part was looking for the Golden Mushroom Soup. Seriously. I found this recipe and it had almost 5 stars out of over 1250 reviews. How could that many people love beef stroganoff was my first thought and then I saw the small list of ingredients and was very surprised. How strange something that this many people thought was good was made without a large mixture of spice and flavors. I made it, but as is my compulsion I added to it.

Oh, and I doubled it the second time I made it. It is so good as leftovers and you might think this is sick, but I put some of the gravy/sauce on mashed potatoes, oh wow!

2 pounds cubed stew meat
2 cans Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup
1 largish onion diced
2-3-4 tabls of Worcestershire (this stuff is so awesome I always add more)
1/2 water
8 oz of cream cheese (the first time I made this with just 1lb of meat I still added 8 oz's, sshh don't tell my lactose intolerant hubbie)
couple of dashes of Garlic Salt (1 tsp?)
couple dashes of Hot Paprika (see I just can't believe this would be good without some sort of kick)

In the slow cooker stir in all the ingredients, except the meat AND the Cream Cheese, together. Once combined add the meat and mix together.

Cook on Low for 8 hours. Cut up the cream cheese into cubes just before serving and turn crockpot on high. Stir the cream cheese in until all combined. You might have to put the lid back on and leave for 10 minutes.

Serve over egg noodles. Or mashed potatoes, I won't tell anyone but I would really like to not be alone in this.

When I read Stephanie's post on making yogurt in her crockpot I wanted to try it right away. But I was at work and my cubicle was not where I wanted to spend the 13 and a 1/2 hours needed to make this. So I put it off, talking about the idea of it repeatedly to my husband, who told me he made yogurt in a Lab at OSU. He hated it, he said it was way too sour and gross, but I was not to going to be swayed. I wanted to try it and the only thing standing in my way was procrastination.

The other weekend I finally did it. Oh man is this awesome! My batch made 12 little jars of yogurt.

I asked the kids what flavors they liked best and ended up buying frozen bags of cherries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and peaches. This is what I learned:

1. Do not buy FIVE different fruits. In fact, do not let anyone know they actually have a choice in flavors.
2. Use jelly, preserves, or jam instead.
3. When putting the yogurt in the fridge to cool add the flavoring then and leave overnight. Just adding the fruit to the plain and then eating does not please the picky palates in my household, mine included.
4. Even a packet of gelatin added when I added the Greek yogurt does not make the yogurt thick. Still more of a milkshake.
5. Do not have expectations of praise for making homemade yogurt from 10, 9, and 5 year olds.

Overall, I really liked the yogurt and the flavor is even better on the second day. I am going to try adding powdered milk next time to see if I can get it a little thicker. Plus the cost savings are huge!

Using the frozen berries was a pain. I put a portion of berries from each bag into separate containers and sprinkled sugar over them. (I never said I was making this for healthy organic reasons but more for cost and curiosity) After they had thawed, I took my stick blender and pureed each berry container, rinsing the blender between each batch. Grrrrr. Then I added about 2 tablespoons to each jar and labeled. I did make some yogurt jars with combo flavors that I thought were very good.

I will definitely try this again. I could this weekend since I will be in my kitchen making Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls, Joyful Abode's Snickerdoodles, and Cheaper Than Therapy's Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls for teacher gifts, daycare gifts, neighbor gifts, and work gifts. Maybe Tony will join me in the kitchen making his own homemade specialty, beer.

Too bad he procrastinated and we won't have his brew ready for New Years, but maybe by Martin Luther King's Birthday.

Oh yes I did. I know this is weird, but I wish they made a candle that captured the smell of this soup as it was cooking. And since this blog was originally started to share my favorite Crockpot recipes and not, amazingly, to educate on the dangers of staph infections, I thought I would post a Crockpot recipe. Shocking!

But seriously, I made a version of this last weekend and again yesterday for our small group dinner. It is so good, and for a total white girl, a little exotic. I mean how many plain old white cook their main dishes with cinnamon? There are some people who think eating Indian Fry Bread or Guy-Rows at the state fair is full on exposure to ethnic food Because come on everyone knows that cinnamon is for breakfast! And now that Starbucks is on every corner cinnamon has expanded its usefulness to lattes. That being said do not be afraid of this recipe, it will not freak your Mac-n-Cheese loving kids out. Buy some Pita Bread or a nice crusty bread slap some Oleo on it and go to town.

(I made lentil soup before and without the garam masala would be super good for the less adventurous)

I pretty much stuck to the recipe I found on allrecipes.com but since I am completely unable to stick to a recipe I changed it up a bit. For example, it no longer has lamb because I am not a fan of lamb. It does not have the pasta, the eggs, or lemon either. I mid-westerned this Moroccan Lentil Soup recipe up and then made it exotic by making it vegetarian**.

Ingredients:
2 tbls Canola Oil
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (I actually have no idea the exact measurement I just lightly sprinkled this in)
3 tbls butter cut into three pats
1 cup of sliced celery (I didn't really measure this either maybe 5-6 stalks sliced in half moons)
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 (29 oz) can whole tomatoes with juice, Cento brand (I use my potato masher to chop up and I take out the basil leaf but diced tomatoes would work)
4 cups vegetable broth
4 cups water
1lb lentils (2 cups)

In a large saucepan sauté onions and celery with the canola oil. Once veggies are sweating add turmeric, salt, pepper, cinnamon, cayenne, butter, and cilantro. Cook on medium heat stirring frequently until veggies are soft and turmeric has started to make the mixture a little sticky, 5-10 minutes.

Dump the veggies in Crockpot. In the sauté pan dump tomatoes juice and all and mash with potato masher. If using diced tomatoes then skip this step. Pour tomatoes into Crockpot and add broth, water, and lentils. Give it a good stir and cook on high for 6 hours or low 8-10 hours. This makes a lot so it is perfect to freeze part of it for a wintry day. Adding cooked diced chicken would be good too.
Printable recipe here

My daughter absolutely loves this soup. She liked my other one too, but she likes this version better.

**I am totally kidding about the whole white bred/bread midwestern thing. I know plenty of caucasians that eat ethnic food :)

Last night I hooked up Anna to her IV and then started cooking dinner, Parmesan Garlic Chicken, a favorite in our house. I also made Vesuvio Potatoes, another favorite, but they didn't turn out so great because I was interrupted and then had a slight freak out. (if you just want the recipe click here)

My husband had gone to the store to get some ingredients for the cupcakes I am making for my stepson's birthday party. Before he left he and I had gone through the tedious steps to make sure there was no air in the IV line, not a simple job for lay person. The IV pump is super sensitive and even though you think all the air is out it will not turn on until you have touched your nose three times while turning in a half circle and holding your right foot up in the air. Somehow the pump knows this has been completed because mysteriously after being turned on and off and just after paging the home health nurse it turns on.

Anyway, Anna was hooked up and she was watching TV with her stepsister. I was prepping and cooking. (Onions cooking in bacon grease before throwing in canned green beans smells awesome!) Suddenly I hear my name being yelled. Anna has decided she must immediately go to the bathroom and they had gotten the IV cord tangled up in a plant that fell over onto them as they were pushing the pump to the bathroom. I righted the plant let out a huge sigh and told Anna that I better not have to get air out of the line.

Next thing I know the pump is beeping and I start toward the bathroom with massive attitude and exasperation. That quickly changed into panic. Anna had gotten tangled up in the power cord and blood was flowing from her chest into the IV tube and up toward the bag. I FREAKED! I started yelling what the hell?! asking her why she left the power cord on top of her IV line?! Couldn't she feel it pull on her chest?!

Shaking I called my husband who was on his way home and told me to clamp her line and unhook her. He came in as I was flushing her central line and trying not to throw up. I realize that it was probably nothing and that back flush in an IV is normal but there is just something about seeing your kids blood flowing out of their body that will make you lose your shit,or maybe that is just me.

She got a stern lecture on the seriousness of her central line and how we are no longer in the hospital where someone can come quickly to save the day. I was crying, she was crying, my stepdaughter was crying, and my husband is taking control of the situation. I ended up apologizing and telling them both that moms are suppose to not freak out like that but that I loved them so much and that I was really scared. I think Anna now gets that her central line and IV is not to be treated like a purse. Something to sling around and play with.

Back to the kitchen. My potato wedges had been boiling to long and some of them would have made great mashed potatoes. I drained them anyway and drizzled olive oil and seasoning over all then put them into the oven to crisp.

The chicken turned out great and how could green beans cooked and simmered in garlic salt, pepper, two tablespoons of bacon grease with lightly browned onions be bad?

Easy Parmesan Garlic Chicken (from Good Seasonings ad for Italian Dressing Mix)
printable recipe

• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 envelope Italian Dressing Mix
  
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 cup of Miracle Whip (optional and not included in the original recipe but so good with it)
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 2 lbs)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix cheese, garlic powder, and dressing mix together.
Rinse and pat dry chicken and then lightly spread Miracle Whip overall.
Roll and coat in cheese mixture and place in a shallow baking dish.

This was an old recipe from Tony's mother's collection, and even though I am not a huge fan of hamburger meat dishes, I thought this seemed very good. Because it was so good and became an instant hit in my house, preserving its spot in our dinner rotation, I thought I would share. It only takes 10 minutes of prep and 20 minutes to bake. Perfect timing for a non-crockpot recipe and a home by 5:30pm mom. Plus I love crescent rolls, yum.

1 lb hamburger meat
1 small diced onion
1 can of crescent rolls (8 count)
1 8oz can of tomato paste
1 packet of taco seasoning
2 cups of shredded mozzerella
1/2 cup of shredded parmesean

Preheat oven to 400.
In a skillet, brown hamburger meat with the diced onion.
Pull apart the crescent rolls and place in a 9" pie pan. Flatten the triangles so that they join together to form a crust and leave about a half an inch hanging over the pie pan.
Once meat is thoroughly browned and the onions are stir in tomato paste and taco seasoning.
Sprinkle the crescent roll crust with parmesean cheese
Place half of the meat mixture in the pie pan and cover with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and then repeat one more time.
Take the excess crescent rolls and fold over the meat mixture to make a crust similar to a crostata.
Bake for 20 minutes.

I put some salsa and sour cream on mine but no one else did and they loved it. Anna wanted some for lunch until I asked if she was sure. She decided that leftover taco soup was a safer choice.

What a great dish! Sweet, spicy, and my daughter said, a little sour?? (I am sure she said that just because I said it was sweet. The sky is not really blue either, by the way) My husband said he would like to use the sauce as a marinade for brisket and I liked it because it was simple.

The last couple of weeks shook my routine up. I am not sure if it was the twice weekly soccer practice, the ragweed swirling in the air, or the incredibly cumbersome amount of homework and flashcards my second grader has. Whatever it was I found myself letting my husband and daughter fend for themselves for dinner or trying to make them forget that it is dinnertime, that actually worked once. In an effort to get back on a routine, I decided to go back to planning a weekly menu, this means Get Out the Cookbooks and Try Something New. Enter Israeli Orange Chicken from the 1983 Bishop Kelley cookbook, Calling All Cooks.

I switched some things up because I wanted to use my crockpot and frankly I just don't have time to bake, turn, and baste. Be sure to serve this over rice. We had noodles because I mistakenly mentioned I love rice so now my daughter thinks rice is gross and will make her sick. She ended up leaving the table, without finishing her dinner, anyway; for her own safety.

The Ingredients (printable copy here)

2-3 lbs boneless Chicken, I used thighs because I had some but breasts would be great too.
2 tsp Garlic Salt
2 tsp Paprika (I love to use the HOT Hungarian brand)
1 tsp Pepper
1 tsp Dried Tarragon
1/2 tsp Dried Thyme (mine is s powder)
1 1/4 cup Orange Marmalade
1/4 cup Lemon Juice
1/2 can of Orange Juice Concentrate
1/2 cup of Water

Place chicken in Crockpot and sprinkle all the seasonings over all. Spoon the orange marmalade and place on top of chicken in various places. Do the same with the orange juice concentrate. Add lemon juice and water. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 if chicken was frozen, but note that with all the sugars in the marmalade and concentrate there might be some carmelizing the longer this cooks. But is this a bad thing?

And don't try to make nice by serving with noodles use rice, it will soak up the juice so much better. If I had known this was going to be so good I would have taken pictures but a scratch and sniff webshot would be better. And yes, I do realize that I named myself Crockstar and yet I haven't posted a recipe in a couple of months, but that is because I am just recycling the same recipes. How many times should I post Chicken Burritos or Creamy Chicken and Noodles?

Want to see my Weekly Menu? (September and October)

Every Thursday Sandra at Diary of a Stay Home Mom has recipes for Slow Cookers from other readers. She calls it Slow Cooking Thursdays and you can find some really good recipes. She also just got back from visiting her family in South Africa where she is from. She hadn't been back in over ten years! The pictures of her trip were great.

I made this Tuesday night and our kids loved it! Great flavor, tender meat, and super easy. No one in our family is a fan of mushrooms so this recipe does not include any vegetables commonly found in Beef Burgundy. Plus, I used inexpensive meat and had wine with dinner since I didn't want the bottle to go to waste.

Ingredients

• 2lb package of cute up stew meat
  
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup


• 1 package of Dry Onion Soup Mix (I used the Golden Onion mix)


• 1/2 cup of dry red wine (I used Columbia Crest Merlot because I have no idea what is "dry" and what is "non-dry" but my husband who actually reads our subscription to the Wine Spectator told me it would work)


• Cooked Egg Noodles
  

That's all!

Lightly grease your crock pot and then mix the cream of mushroom soup together with the red wine and place the meat on top. Sprinkle the entire packet of dry soup mix over all. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4.

*Tip*
When I came home from work I gave this a good stir. I thought it seemed a little thin. In a 2 cup measuring cup I added a 1/2 cup of cold water and 2 spoonfuls of cornstarch and mixed it together to get out all the lumps. I poured this into the crockpot and stirred. I let it cook for another 1/2 hour. I thought the consistency was perfect.

On Wednesdays Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer hosts Works For Me Wednesday and I find some of the best ideas, like cleaning my shower while I am taking a shower-duh, but somehow I had never thought to try that. This Wednesday the theme is a 5 ingredient or less meal and I thought I had the perfect one for that. My recipe for chicken burritos is only FOUR ingredients including the tortilla and then you can add all the toppings you want. The chicken is so good sometimes only a little cheese is added. (I originally wrote this post on February 12th)

The kids absolutely love these burritos! The reviews were fantastic tonight. The four year old ate TWO!! The nine year old said, "I love these. This is the best night". The seven year old was overheard saying to her sister, "The chicken was the best tonight, the juicest, moistest, yummiest that we have had".

If only I could get this praise for the meals I actually work on. I made the chicken when I went home for lunch in less than FIVE minutes. Let me show you how.

Take 2-4 frozen boneless skinless chicken breast, Rotel, and Taco Seasoning. That is it!! Easy peasey.

Pour a can of Rotel over the chicken and generously sprinkle taco seasoning over all. Normally I use McCormick or Pace Taco Seasoning but we went to Sam's this weekend and I got this. I noticed no difference.

***If using more than 3 chicken breast add a 1/4 cup of water to keep moist.

Set your Crock Pot on Low to cook for 5 hours. Yes, most slow cookers will say 4 hours is high so I set mine to 8 or 10 hours so I get a low setting. You could also start this in the morning just put it on the lowest and longest setting. Today I only used 2 breasts because I didn't want leftovers.

After coming home from a long day put the kids to work. Get the table set and get out the next ingredients: Refried Beans, Tortilla (burrito size for adults, taco size for kids), sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa, lettuce, and any other condiment your family likes or you have on hand.

Refried Beans can be optional but our family likes them and I tend to think it makes the burritos/tacos more filling. I added Taco seasoning to the beans as the seven year old was cooking them.


If you do not own a comal then wrap your tortillas in foil and put in the oven at 300 degrees for 10 minutes to warm them up. (My friend Carol would call me a guera if I put tortillas in the microwave)

Shred the chicken, there should be just enough liquid to make it perfect. Take the tortillas out, put all the condiments out and call them to the table!!


Did I mention he ate TWO??!!

Their burrito folding skills do not stand in the way of devouring these chicken burritos!

Yes, the nine year old was right, this was a pretty perfect night.