Pizza Club Bites

Here is an awesome way to use up those leftover bits after making homemade pizza.

I have to confess that this is NOT a GEM creation, this is a Mr. Gem creation, he came up with it years ago and it is great for an appetizer or after school snack for the kids.

All you need are some Club crackers, leftover pizza (or spaghetti) sauce, shredded mozzarella, and pizza toppings.

Lay your club crackers out single file on a baking sheet.  Spoon a small amount of pizza/marinara sauce on each cracker.

Add a sprinkling of shredded mozzarella to each cracker

Pile your leftover toppings on to each cracker (I only had pepperoni this time)

And stick them under the broiler (toaster oven FTW!!) for 8-10 minutes.

All done!

Make sure to spray your pan with cooking spray or you might end up with a pan looking like this (after I forgot the spray!!)

If you are in the South then you already KNOW to serve this with Ranch dipping sauce; if you aren't from the South; try it!! I promise, your life will be better!!  Ranch goes with everything!!!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

My birthday was a few days ago and I got a craving for these.

I came up with this recipe a few years ago.  I'll warn you, it's hard to stop eating and you WILL want to lick the pan clean!!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

1 pound chicken breast

1 medium sweet onion

1 bell pepper

2 cloves garlic

3 Tb olive oil

2 Tb butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup sour cream

1-4 oz can green chilies

1 cup shredded Colby jack

8 flour tortillas

Heat up olive oil in a skillet and add chicken. Mince garlic over chicken. As chicken is cooking, chop up onion and bell pepper and add to the oil. Stirring and tossing until cooked. Remove chicken and chop or shred then return to pan and remove from heat.

In a small saucepan, melt butter and stir in flour (making a roux). Add chicken broth and stir constantly until it is boiling, boil for one minute and remove from heat. Stir in sour cream and green chilies.

Now time to assemble! Preheat oven to 350°F

Spray a 9x13 dish with cooking spray. Take a flour tortilla, add some chicken mixture and shredded cheese and roll up. Place seam down in pan. When they are all rolled, pour your sour cream sauce over the top and sprinkle any remaining shredded cheese over it.

Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes.

Stick to your ribs delicious!!!

Happy Fall Ya'll!!!

Yes, I was born and raised in Texas, no, I do not ever talk like that.
I used it as my title because temps have dropped and we finally have fall weather here so I decorated today, including hanging up this towel my mother made for me.

The last time I decorated for fall was in 2012.  We started our remodel in 2013 and I haven't decorated since then.  One thing we did in our remodel was to paint all the oak trim and mantle a glossy white.
Here is my newly painted mantle, decorated for fall.

I am getting a new dining set so I don't have my table decorated yet because I don't have my table!

After decorating, it was time to make some soup.

This is a recipe I came up with a few years ago and it is quite hearty.

First, you need to carmelize an onion or two.  I had small onions so I used two.

Heat up a skillet on medium low and add butter and oil.

While that is melting, take your onion/s and coarsely chop them.

When your oil/butter mixture starts foaming like this

Add your onions.

If you see immediate browning like this

Your heat is too high.

Turn it down and stir/toss the onions until they are separated and each piece is fully coated in the mixture.

Keep the onions at this temp, stirring occasionally.  Much like brisket, the key to carmelized onions is low and slow.

While they are cooking, go ahead and get out some russet potatoes and peel them.

Cut them up into small chunks and put them in a large stock pot.

Let's go check on those onions shall we?

It's been about 20 minutes and they have a nice color going, but the best way to check carmelized onions is by tasting them.

Feel free to grab a small piece and put it aside to cool for a minute before tasting.

Hmm, not bad, but I think they need a little more time.  Six minutes later...

Ahhh, perfect!!!  They are ready to use!  You weren't thinking of scooping them out were you?  No, of course not, because you KNOW you should always deglaze the pan and get all the tasty browned bits right?

Since we are using these onions in a soup which will need thickening, we are going to first make a roux.  Add a bit of flour to your onions...

Stir and toss until your onions and the pan are coated in a thick floury paste.

NOW we are going to deglaze the pan.  I used about a half cup of beef broth here.

Now we are going to take this tasty mixture from heaven and add it to our waiting potatoes.  Add chicken broth...

And your seasonings and cook over medium heat until your potatoes are soft.

Remove about half of your potatoes and mash them.

Return them to the pan.  Add half and half and stir over low heat until heated through.

Dish out and enjoy!!

French Potato Soup

1 large sweet onion

1 Tb butter

1 Tb vegetable oil

2 Tb flour

1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1/2 cup beef broth

4 cups chicken broth

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1.5 tsp paprika

1.5 tsp garlic powder

1 cup half & half

Carmelize onion.  Add flour to onions and toss until well coated.  Use beef broth to deglaze pan.  Add onions to large stockpot with cubed potatoes.  Add chicken broth and spices and cook over medium heat until potatoes are done.  Remove half of potatoes and mash them.  Return to pot and stir in half and half.

Serve alone or with cheddar cheese, sour cream and French fried onions as garnish.

Doesn't that look delicious?

I should note that I never actually measure my ingredients when cooking, all measurements given are an approximate.  

Experiment!!  Enjoy cooking!!  Cook with your nose!!  Does it smell like something you want to eat?  If it doesn't, add other things or take away things you don't like!  Make it YOUR recipe!

Pizza Hut breadsticks

I've scoured the internet and I've come across many copy cat recipes for Pizza Hut bread sticks and cheese sticks and while many have been close, none that I've read have actually been accurate.
The biggest mistake they make is putting the seasoning on before baking.

Since I used to work for Pizza Hut, I actually know the proper order in which things are done.

First, you need the dough recipe I previously talked about here.

This recipe will make 2 9x13 pans of bread sticks.

Follow the recipe to make the dough, divide into two equal parts and use a rolling pin to roll into rectangular shapes.  Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray, put one rectangle in that pan and freeze.  Freezing will retard the rising stage of the dough so you can use it at a later point.

Pour enough oil in the other pan to generously coat the bottom.  Put your dough in and place in the cold oven to proof using the previous instructions.
After proofing for an hour, use a pizza cutter or a knife to score the dough.
Bake at 475°F for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

If you want cheesesticks, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella before placing in the oven.

Remove from oven, brush breadsticks with melted butter and sprinkle with seasoning.  For cheesesticks, just sprinkle the seasoning.

If you follow this recipe, you will get breadsticks and cheese sticks that look like this

Look at that crunchy, totally not healthy for you crust!

It's OK, I know your mouth is watering right now; so is mine!

Cheesy goodness!!

Oh, the seasoning on top?!?  You are wondering what it is?!?

Well, here you go my friend.  Mix this up in a shaker to sprinkle on top of your cheesesticks or freshly buttered breadsticks.  It also tastes great on pasta!!

Pizza Hut seasoning mix

2 tbs dry parmesan cheese
1/2 tbs garlic powder
1/2 tbs garlic salt
1 tbs onion powder
1 tbs oregano
1/2 tbs basil

I keep this mixture in a shaker in the fridge.  It really is quite perfect!

If you are freezing dough for later usage, just spray the pan as noted above.  When you want to use it, remove your still frozen dough from the pan, add the oil, replace the dough and proof normally.

Bonus shot with marinara dipping sauce!

Looks tasty doesn't it?

School starting

Tomorrow is the first day of school.  Quickly fading are the long lazy days of summer and swimming every day, and fast approaching are crisp days, warm rich tones and delicious smells.

Monkey will be starting 3rd grade, which also means this will be the first year she will have standardized tests, currently called STAAR.

Monster will be starting 1st grade and she is very apprehensive.  She was last year as well but adjusted easily and I have no doubt she will adjust again.

Today I asked them what they would like for breakfast in the morning.  Monster requested biscuits with country gravy but Monkey doesn't like gravy so she wanted a breakfast sandwich.

To save time, I went ahead and made the biscuits tonight.

Cheddar and Chive on the left, regular on the right

These biscuits are so simple and delicious, they have become one of my default recipes.  And look!! It even says it in the recipe name, they are quick!

Quick Drop Biscuits

2 cups of flour
1 Tb of baking powder
2 tsp of sugar
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 cup of butter melted
1 cup of milk

Preheat oven to 450°F.
Mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together.  Dump in milk and melted butter and stir just until mixed.  Do NOT overmix.
Spray your baking sheet with cooking spray and drop batter by the spoonful onto sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

The great thing about this recipe is how versatile it is.  You can add herbs and cheese to make savory biscuits, or add fruit to make them sweet.  I made 2 batches tonight.  One regular, and one cheddar and chive.  I added about a cup of shredded cheddar cheese and about 1 Tb of chives to the dry ingredients before adding the wet.

In the morning, I will make country gravy for the regular biscuits and eggs and sausage to go on the cheddar chive biscuits.

I may not look forward to school starting but I am looking forward to breakfast!!