An Easy Tasty Dinner

When we order pizza, Shaun often asks for BBQ Chicken Pizza while I normally want pepperoni.  And when we do BBQ Chicken, many times I don't really care for the sauce.  So one night I decided to surprise him and make BBQ Chicken at home.  Doing  it at home means I get to use a BBQ sauce that I really like.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 chicken breast (approx 8 oz) cooked
2 cups of shredded cheese (I like a mix of 1 cup cheddar, 1 cup mozzarella)
4-6 oz BBQ sauce
1 refrigerator pizza crust  (the type in the can with the canned biscuits)
sliced red onions (optional)
crumbled bacon (optional)

Following the directions on the pizza can, preheat the oven and roll out the dough.  Spread sauce and cheese.  Slice the chicken breast into 1/8-1/4" slices and place on pizza.  Add bacon and red onion for more flavor. Bake and enjoy!

Tip #1:  When I cook the chicken, I normally microwave it until its almost cooked.  It will continue to cook on the pizza, so it's okay if it's a little pink still when you put it on.  If you cook it completely before putting it on the pizza, then it comes out of the oven over cooked and tough.  If you have a meat thermometer, I usually cook it to about 145 degrees.

Tip #2:  Resist the urge to add more sauce, thinking more is better.  Too much sauce makes a very sloppy pizza.

My favorite BBQ sauce for pizza.

Not So Healthy

I was trying to make a recipe that I have made several times in the past, but this time I decided to use fat-free cream cheese.  The finished product had an odd consistency that it had never had before.  I could feel something "weird" in my mouth.  Since the recipe only called for 4 oz of cream cheese, I had the remainder in the refrigerator.  I put a small amount in my mouth and wanted to throw up.  It was the most disgusting thing ever.  The texture wasn't smooth like full fat cream cheese, it was kind of grainy.  It was quite clearly the "thing" that changed my recipe.  Trying to be just a little healthier, I ruined my dinner.

Now for those wondering what I was making, I was making pizza spirals.  It's laughable, I know.  Why try to make pizza more healthy when the reason I like it is that it's quick, easy, and tasty :)  Some times my experiments in cooking fail so horribly.  This was the second major cooking fail in less than two weeks.  Makes me sad, but I'm happy to know what the problem was and how not to make it again. 

Red Footed Tortoise Cake

This is one of the photos I used as a reference for this cake.  Some have yellow on the head and others have red like this one.

This is the finished cake.  (This is not a sea turtle, but the birthday boy's favorite color is blue, so that's why the tortoise is on a a blue base.)








For a step-by-step look at what it takes to put this type of cake together, scroll down.

2-6" round stacked on top of 2-8" rounds.  Cut to more oval shape.

Covered in ganache.

Top view.

Rice crispy treats shaped for legs and head.  Base color gray fondant for the body.

Legs and head covered in fondant and attached.  Toothpicks for the legs and a skewer through the body and head.  (Better pictures of head later)

Tortoise place on fondant covered board and shell added.  Lines drawn on shell with sculpting tool.  Rolled paper towel is supporting the head while it dries so that it doesn't fall off.

Petal dust added for shading on shell and on the yellow parts of the head to make it look more real.  I really liked it like this.

Grooves panted with black food coloring.

Black and brown food coloring used for painting.

Red fondant pieces added to legs.

Maui Onion Pretzels

Target has a great bag of Maui Onion Pretzels.  I could eat the whole bag by myself in a day.  But I don't get to target very often, so I decided to make them at home.  The recipe is easy and I always have the ingredients in the pantry.  The sugar gives a subtle, but a nice contrast to the salty flavor.  I'm a little obsessed with flavored pretzels right now.  Fun and crunchy!  Buy the cheap store brand pretzels.

Maui Onion Pretzels

1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp garlic salt
2 Tbsp onion powder
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 lb pretzel twists

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Mix the dry ingredients in a 1 gallon Ziploc bag.  Add oil and mix well.  Add the pretzels and shake well to coat evenly.  Pour into large dish or onto cookie sheet.  Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.  Let cool and enjoy!

Buffalo Ranch Pretzels

I love flavored pretzels, but most of the time they come in small packages, cost the same as a bag of chips, and even though they say there's 9+ servings in the bag, I can polish them off in a day or two.  I'm not proud of it, but my inner fat kid has very little self control when it comes to tasty, crunchy snacks. I buy the cheapest pretzels I can find, normally the store brand.


Buffalo Ranch Pretzels

1 lb bag of mini pretzel twists
6 oz of Frank's Red Hot
2 Tbsp melted butter (optional)
1 pkg of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix

Preheat oven to 275.  Mix the Red Hot, butter and ranch powder in a 1 gallon ziplock bag (or a big bowl) until well combined.  Pour in the pretzels and shake well to coat.  Pour into a large roasting pan or large cookie sheet and spread them out evenly.  Bake 1 hr 15 min, stirring every 15 minutes.  Let cool in pan or spread on paper towels.  If they aren't crunchy enough when they are cool, put them back in the oven for another 15 minutes (every oven cooks a little different).

Frank's Red Hot and butter are used to make a traditional wing sauce, but you can leave the butter out of this recipe if you want to cut fat.

My favorite kitchen accessory

I, like many people, hate cutting onions.  My eyes will burn for hours after cutting an onion.  I searched online for ways to prevent the dreaded burn that always occurs.  I read that you can freeze the onions, refrigerate them, rinse them under water, rinse the knife under water, put a slice of bread in your mouth to catch the offensive fumes or even place a burning candle between the onion and yourself to burn off the fumes.  And if none of these work and your eyes start to burn anyway, stick your head in the freezer for a few minutes.  I've tried it all and nothing helps.  I go to bed hours later and my eyes are still watering like crazy.  I finally gave in and bought swim goggles.  Few have seen me in this lovely accessory, since I look like a dork, but several have asked for a picture.  So here goes nothing.  If not for these, I could never make my favorite onion soup without help.

  Please don't laugh too hard. I think it's totally worth it!

Garlic Onion Soup

French Onion soup used to be one of my favorites, but more and more often when I get it at a restaurant, it has little to no flavor.  I even had it once at a popular restaurant with a hair baked into my cheese.  Blech!  There used to be an Italian restaurant in Bloomington that had AMAZING garlic bread and a great onion soup.  Unfortunately, it closed :(  So I have been working on my own onion soup recipe ever since.  I have no idea what that soup tasted like anymore, but I think this recipe will keep me happy.  Can be eaten right away, but soup, like salsa, is always better the second day. Hope you enjoy!

Garlic Onion Soup
makes 5-6 cups

3 medium white onions, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1/4 cup unsalted butter or olive oil
3-4 garlic cloves finely minced or grated
32 oz Swanson beef broth
2 cups water
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2-1 tsp Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning


Garlic cheese bread (optional, but great for dipping)

Slice onions.  Melt butter or heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat.  Stir in onions, coating in butter or oil and put the lid on.  Cook until the onions are soft and clear, stirring occasionally to make sure they do not burn.  Add the garlic and stir, making sure that the garlic doesn't get to brown or it will taste burnt.  Pour in the beef broth and water.  Add in 2 bouillon cubes, Italian seasoning and Worcestershire sauce.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for 1 hour.  Add in 1/2 tsp of Tony Chachere's seasoning and taste.  Add additional if necessary.  I like it a little spicy, so I add a lot.  You can additional salt and pepper to taste.

I like to make a basic garlic cheese bread out of french bread, olive oil, garlic salt and mozzarella, baked in the oven until toasty and melty :)

To reduce the sodium, use 6 cups of low sodium broth instead of the 4 cups broth, water and bouillon. 

Also, Tony Chachere's makes a salt free version of their famous Creole seasoning.  I love their original Creole seasoning and use it frequently.  It's like a spicy seasoning salt and it is fairly cheep.