Easy Homemade Pizza Using Fresh Pizza Dough from the Grocery Store Bakery

I used a ball of fresh pizza dough from Publix and since I was making spaghetti, I used Ragu for pizza sauce and added cooked ground beef, cooked peppers and onions, a few slices of raw onion and an entire half pound bag of shredded mozzarella cheese. I accidently ripped the bag and cheese spilled out onto the counter so I decided to use all of it instead of taking the time to get a baggie.

The dough instructions said to let dough come to room temperature for an hour but I only had time to let it sit for maybe 10 minutes and it was fine.

I patted it out on a round pan coated with olive oil.

Top with sauce, hamburger, a little cheese, peppers and onions, fresh onion and the rest of the cheese.

Bake in a 450 degree oven until browned and let it sit for a couple of minutes for easier slicing.

Pan Toasted Pecans

Ingredients:
Pecans
Olive Oil
Butter
Sugar
Salt

Heat oil and butter over medium heat and add the nuts.
Stir often avoiding too much heat. If pan starts to smoke, remove it carefully and allowing time for the pecans to cool down while the pan cools down. Turn the heat down and return the nuts to the pan.
When they start getting darker, add a sprinkle of white sugar if desired. Keep stirring and when they are golden brown sprinkle with salt and remove from pan. Let cool before eating. Store in an air tight container.

Tips and Ideas:
Using fats help the nuts brown but using less fats or even no fat is possible, just watch the nuts closely for burning.
A sprinkle of coarsely ground Sea Salt is a nice touch.

Baked Tostitos Scoops with Weight Watchers Santa Fe Style Rice and Beans

I needed an appetizer today...it's one of those hungry days and this tasted great and doesn't add too many extra calories to my day.

I cooked the bean dish in the microwave and then filled ten scoops to the top with it and had a little avocado on the side and I was happy.

Even with ten full scoops I only used half of the rice and beans dish. We'll use the rest on the side and I may add some chicken to dress it up a little.

The baked Tostito scoops are 120 calories per 15 scoops and the Santa Fe Style Rice and Beans says it serves one for 310 calories and I had half so I had a nice afternoon snack for around 250 calories including the avocado.

Kids may like this for an anytime snack or an after school snack too.
It's filling, tasty, has many good nutrients and is low in sugar.

Tips and Ideas:

Add seasoned, cooked, cut up chicken to the dish.
Add extra rice, beans and/or cheese for a more substantial meal.

A Fun List of Some of My Favorite Easy Vegetable Dishes

1. Zucchini Bread with Nuts

2. Sweet Potato Pie

3. Sweet Potato Souffle' with Pecan Praline Topping

4. Pumpkin Pie

5. Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Each of these dishes has a vegetable and fiber serving and also the nuts add good oil, fiber and protein and cream cheese is a dairy product which adds protein too. Using less sugar to make these or sugar substitutes will make them even healthier.

Chicken Breasts in Onion Milk Gravy

A neat trick I've learned is to cook the flour in the pan drippings for a short while before adding the milk. It keeps it from tasting gummy or pasty.

This picture shows how much creamy gravy I made using only one tablespoon of all purpose white flour, very little fat and over a cup of low fat milk.

I added one half of a large sweet onion, salt and pepper.

Undercooking the chicken and then adding it to the gravy to finish cooking made the breasts extra tender.

The Pretty Purple Princess Popcorn Box

Like I said, the popcorn wasn't good but the box is pretty!

Princess Classics Disney On Ice Popcorn

I have a picture of the pretty, purple Princess Popcorn Box but it won't load correctly.

The worst $6.00 popcorn I've ever had but the show was definitely worth the cost of admission!

Candy apples, cotton candy, popcorn, snow cones in Princess and Mickey Mouse cups...it was great!

easy Chicken with Onions, Bacon,and Gravy

My husband asked me if this is hard to make because he wants me to make it often. I said it's a little involved but not hard.

What you will need:

One half pound bacon cut up into bite size pieces and cooked until crisp.
One or two pounds of chicken cut up browned in the bacon fat.
One large vidalia or other sweet onion sliced and added to the chicken about halfway through cooking.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Milk
All purpose flour

When the chicken and onions are almost done, remove them from the oil and add about a tablespoon of flour and whisk for about 15 seconds then add milk little by little while whisking.
Once the gravy is browned and thickened, add the chicken and onions and stir through and let simmer for a couple of minutes and then stir the bacon in and let simmer till hot, stirring occasionally.
Serve hot over rice.

I adapted this recipe from a show by Emeril on The Food Network. He was cooking quail in bacon fat.

easy Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

I made this cheesecake using sweetened condensed milk from a recipe found on the Eagle Brand website.
The milk gives it a creamier texture than I am used to but it was rich and tasty.

The homemade chocolate ganache topping I made with semi-sweet chocolate chips melted in hot half and half instead of the cream called for in the recipe. I heated the cream and chocolate chips in the microwave in small increments of time, stirring often until it becomes smooth and thickened.

I baked the homemade graham cracker crust for a few minutes to add more flavor and crunch to the crust.

It was so rich I had to chase it with some Dove chocolate candy.

easy Homemade Seafood and Fish Sauce

What you will need:

-Mayonnaise...I used light
-Tomato Ketchup
-Horseradish Sauce

Combine all three in a one to one ratio.
Or, in my own terms, a little bit of this and a little bit of that!
Taste as you go. The horseradish sauce adds a little kick so adjust accordingly.