I promised you I’d share with you my favorite pizza crust recipe.

This comes from Cook’s Country magazine – the September 2010 issue – which is chock-full of some of my favorite recipes. I love that magazine (and not just the Sept 2010 issue!)

This grilled pizza crust is so good. Slightly sweet, a little crispy, and oh, so, yummy with a light dusting of your favorite toppings. I think the part that makes it so good is the parmesan that is baked into the crust. Oh.my.goodness.

I make a batch and it is more than enough to make four small (personal) sized pizzas for the family.  Which the girls love because they each get to fix their pizza the way they prefer.

For the sauce, I usually use leftovers from my homemade sauce, but I have been known to either open a jarred marinara or even just open some canned crushed tomatoes and season those to use.  Depends on how lazy I am and how stocked (or not) our pantry is!

And I’m sure you can use this not on the grill but I’ve just always grilled it. I bet it would work just fine in your oven on a pizza stone or baking sheet.

Here’s the basic recipe:

Grilled Pizza Dough

• 1 cup water (heated to 110 degrees ~ hot)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil (plus extra for brushing dough & grill)
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp) yeast
• 2 3/4 cups flour (plus more for dusting rolling surface)
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp salt (I use kosher)

For the top:

• 2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
• ~ 3 cups marinara or homemade spaghetti sauce
• toppings of your choice

To prepare dough:

1. Whisk water, 1 tbsp oil, sugar & yeast in large measuring cup. Let sit 5 minutes.
2. In food processor, pulse flour, parmesan, & salt until combined.
3. While machine is running, slowly pour oil mixture down spout until dough pulls away from sides of bowl and forms a ball (this takes about a minute)
4. If dough seems too sticky, you may need to add 1-2 Tbsp flour.
5. Turn dough out on floured surface and knead 3-4 times.
6. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces.
7. Working with one piece at a time, press into a small circle and use a rolling pin to stretch dough to form a 9-inch circle. (mine always turn out oblong!)
8. Transfer each finished circle to baking sheet lined with parchment paper *and dusted with flour* (you can stack them with floured parchment paper between)
9. Meanwhile, heat your grill on high for about 15 minutes (while you are making the dough)
10. Leave your primary burner on high and turn all other burners to low/medium-low. Scrape cooking grate and grease with an oiled paper towel.
11. Brush tops of 2 of your dough circles with olive oil. Peel off of parchment and place OIL SIDE DOWN on the COOL SIDE of your grill.
12. Now, don’t touch them for 3-5 minutes (until the tops are bubbly and undersides are browning)
13. Brush the tops with olive oil, and using tongs, flip the circle.
14. On this freshly-browned top, add your sauce, cheeses and toppings.
15. Cook pizza for 3-5 minutes on cool side of grill and slide to hot side to crisp for 1-2 minutes if desired.
16. Repeat with remaining dough rounds & serve.
17. Finished pizzas can be kept warm in a preheated 200 degree oven if you want to serve them all at one time.

I promise, once you try this, you won’t want the pizza delivery man to bring you his overcharged, under-flavored pizza ever again!

I told you last Tuesday it was “experiment day” in my kitchen.

This is one of the recipes I was working on.

I woke up on Monday wanting to bake a cake for the family to nibble on during the week.  The only thing was I wanted something different.  I wanted something rich like a pound cake, but light and fluffy like the Brown Sugar cake I make.  Something with the caramelly flavor that cake has, but with more. I just wasn’t sure what the more was…

So, I kept thinking about it through the night and decided on Tuesday to go for broke and just make something up as I went along. The worst that could happen was that it turned out awful and I tossed it.

So this is what I made:

Big Girl had the first bite and declared it should be named “Yummy Cake” and bugged me all afternoon to have more slices, so I think it can be considered a success.

Amaretto Cake

1 yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1 cup water
1/4 cup amaretto
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/3 cup butter softened
1/2 cup All Natural Almond Accents
1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
   Grease Bundt pan or tube pan.
   Finely chop almonds.
   Mix all ingredients.
   Pour cake batter into pan.
   Bake one hour or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

• You can substitute 1/4 cup (4Tbs) of Amaretto flavored coffee syrup for the amaretto (that’s what I did)
• Use 1/2 cup brown sugar if you are not using the Splenda Blend

You could probably make a glaze with some amaretto and powdered sugar, if you like.

I made Chicken Tortilla soup for lunch on Monday. It was a cold, rainy, Winnie-the-Pooh kind of blustery day.  SuperMan was rained out for work and I was freezing cold all day. Seemed like a good time to make soup to me.

I made a modified version of a recipe I received from a friend.  It was super-yummy.

And one of the things I was proud of was the fact that I didn’t over-cook. For once, I don’t have a vat of soup to eat through.  It was just enough for us to have lunch, dinner, and one lunch leftover container. Perfect.

That is rare for me, but I managed it this time. 🙂

Anyway, thought I’d share the recipe with you.

I have another tortilla soup recipe already on the recipe list, but one can never have too many recipes to try, right?

This one is super-easy and mixes up quickly.

Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 lb chicken breast
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 c frozen corn kernels
1/2 c frozen diced onion(or fresh)
1/2 c frozen diced bell pepper (or fresh)
~ 1 c Velveeta
1 box chicken broth (~32 oz)
1 packet taco seasoning
1 packet ranch dressing seasoning (dry mix)
olive oil

1. Sauté chicken in large stock pot in olive oil. Season with House Seasoning.
2. While chicken is cooking, put broth and Velveeta (cut into cubes) in a large bowl and microwave in 2 minute intervals, stirring in between, until cheese is melted and incorporated into broth.
3. Remove chicken from pot and cut in bite-sized pieces.
4. Sauté onion & bell pepper, adding a little more olive oil if needed.
5. Add chicken back to pot.
6. Pour in broth mixture.
7. Add corn, beans, seasoning packets.
8. Bring to a boil & then reduce heat & simmer for about 20 minutes.

Springtime makes most of us instinctively want to clear things out – out with the old, in with the new. Out with the clutter, out with the dark tones of winter, out with the heavier foods and in with the light. Lighter colors, lighter clothes, lighter foods.

This is one of my favorite things to make in the springtime.

Mom stumbled across this recipe years ago. It’s been one of our standbys ever since. It is so easy and quick to make, yet it is from scratch and feels wholesome to prepare. 

I love the light texture of the cake – it’s technically a pound cake, but it is in no way heavy like some pound cakes are. This cake bakes up light and airy.

The flavor is light as well – it sings of springtime, with its hints of orange, lemon, and apricot.

There is a glaze in the recipe, although I never make it. My kids are anti-glaze, anti-icing, and prefer their cakes and cookies au naturel.

Works for me. Less sugar to consume.

Anyway, I hope you will give this a try.  The first time I made it, I thought, “Apricot? Really? Huh.”

But, I am so glad I tried it. It is one of the family favorites – and one that is requested often by our friends as well.

I would imagine you could substitute the apricot juice with some orange juice or even lemon juice, but I love it just as it is and have never felt the need to swap it out. I buy the six pack of the little bitty apricot juice cans in the grocery store, so I always have one on hand for the cake.  It takes about half of one of those cans in the cake and I use the rest in the glaze if I make the cake for friends.

Sunshine Cake

3 cups sugar (I use 1 1/2 cups splenda sugar blend)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup apricot juice/nectar (or you can use apricot brandy)
1 cup sour cream (do not use low fat sour cream, it won’t work here)
1 cup butter, softened
6 eggs
1 tsp orange extract
1 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze:
1 1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 c (apprx) apricot nectar

*if you have them on hand, you can zest a lemon and/or orange into the batter and glaze. It just amps up the flavor.

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Grease and flour Bundt pan or tube pan.
3. In large mixing bowl, cream butter & sugar.
4. Add in the apricot juice.
5. Add the sour cream, extracts and eggs, making sure they are incorporated thoroughly.
6. Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt)
7. Pour into baking pan.
8. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
9. Cool for 20 minutes before inverting onto cake plate.
10. Continue to cool for approx. 30 minutes more or until cake is completely cool.
11. Drizzle with glaze, if desired.

I made the most awesome salsa the other day.

It was inspired by some salsa I had YEARS ago (before Big Girl was born) that I absolutely loved.  There is this little  hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant in downtown Atlanta (I wonder if it is still there?) called Mama Ninfa’s. 

I used to go there two or three times a week if I could find someone at work that I could convince to go with me.  Some days, I’d go by myself and read my book while I pigged out on this salsa.  Some days, that was all I’d have for lunch. Chips & salsa.

THIS salsa.

Or something very close to it, anyway.

Since I quit working downtown, I haven’t found this salsa anywhere.

Until the other day.

We went out for lunch after church – another hole-in-the-wall Mexican place.  A Moe’s knock-off.  The food wasn’t that great… BUT… they had the salsa!

I was in heaven. Didn’t care if I got my protein or not or how many carbs I had. I was in heaven simply because I had my salsa.  It was like a walk down memory lane, remembering all those lunches I had with my friend Justin – all those days he’d put up with my pregnant self (I was pregnant with Little Bit) as I had crazy cravings for Mama Ninfa’s salsa and he’d walk down to the restaurant with me.

I asked the very nice girl who worked behind the counter (this new restaurant’s counter, that is) if they made the salsa themselves or bought it. I was secretly hoping they made it themselves. It would somehow take the charm out of the experience to find it was mass-produced and dropped off in vats from Sysco, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, she said they made it in-house and told me the basic ingredients and process.

I came home and started looking for similar recipes online. I couldn’t find any.

SO…

You know what I did?

Yep. I made it up on my own.

And boy, is it good.

Especially with those new whole-grain chips that are out. They really seem to compliment the flavors well.

And I don’t even LIKE avocado!  But I LOVE this salsa.

I whipped up a big batch this weekend so I could share with some friends.  We were having a taco/nacho night and I thought it would be a good accompaniment to the other foods we made.

Give it a try if you have a little time one day. You won’t be sorry you did.

Hey, have I steered you wrong yet?

Lois’ Totally-Awesome Tomatillo-Avocado Salsa

8-10 small-medium tomatillos
1 medium onion, quartered
1 avocado
1 jalapeño (more if you like it spicy) (seeded, ribs removed)
1/4 – 1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 bunch of cilantro (fresh)
~1 tsp kosher salt

1. In a stock pot, boil the tomatillos (husks removed) for about 5-10 minutes.
2. Remove from water & let cool.
3. In your food processor, combine all ingredients(see note in #5 about the sour cream)
4. Process on low until all ingredients are combined and the salsa is well mixed.
5. I usually add the sour cream last, using it to get the salsa to the consistency I want (which is a thick, slightly chunky consistency)
6. Store refrigerated until serving.
7. Makes about 1 quart.

I promised this recipe on Monday, so here you go.

It’s my version of a Southern Living Magazine recipe from an ancient issue.

I’ve made it my own with variations and adjustments to suit my family.

We love it.  

Most recently, I made it in the crock pot – everything was frozen, except for the beans and tomatoes, so I just dropped it all in and hit the start button and set the timer for 8 hours. 

When it was dinnertime, I chopped some fresh cilantro and baked some crescent rolls (recipe also below) with a little Southwestern flair.

Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 cans (32 oz) chicken broth (or one big box of broth)
1 can kidney beans (rinsed & drained)
1 can black beans (rinsed & drained)
1 can Fire Roasted Tomatoes
1 can Tomatoes with Chiles
3-4 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1. Sauté onion & bell pepper in oil in a small skillet.
2. In crock pot (or large stock pot), add onions, peppers, and remaining ingredients (except cilantro).
3. If you are using crock pot, set to “Low” and cook for 5-6 hours.
   If you are cooking on the stove, bring to a boil and then simmer for 30-40 minutes.
4. When serving, top each bowl with fresh cilantro.

And here is the bread recipe.

Southwestern Knots

2 1/2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1 can refrigerated crescent rolls or breadsticks

1. Mix butter, chili powder & cumin.
2. Unroll breadsticks & place on cookie sheet.
3. Brush with butter blend
4. Bake @ 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

*You can make these “Italian” for other soups/stews by substituting the chili/cumin with Italian seasoning & parmesan cheese.