It's Thursday night. On Thursday nights I get free time (after 7pm, that is). Mark is meeting with the guys at a coffee shop and I'm at home by myself. I just spent the last hour or so perusing food blogs. It reminded me that it has been a while since I've shared any recipes. Okay, I realize that the majority of you check the blog to see cute pictures of James' little face, but I think one or two of you have mentioned recipes I've posted before. So here are a few 'keepers' that I've tried recently. 
I've found a pizza dough recipe that is so easy and quick. You don't have to wait for this one to rise at all. Just mix all the ingredients in your mixer and press onto a pan, top with toppings and bake! Woo hoo! I substitute whole wheat flour for 1/2c to 1c of the flour. Oh, and here's a really delicious pizza sauce. I know, it's so much easier to buy it, but I ended up buying about 15 cans of tomato sauce (I use it instead of the tomato paste the recipe calls for) on sale....so I've been making my own sauce. It's really good and has a little zing to it. (I omit the anchovy paste....sorry, Grandma!)
Kung Pao Chicken....you can actually make this stuff at home? Yes, you can! I was pretty surprised at how delicious this was. And Mark is pretty crazy about it, too. You do have to hunt down sesame oil and rice wine vinegar (not ingredients I had on hand, anyway) but it is worth it! Once you have the ingredients chopped up, this comes together pretty quickly, too! Just make sure to have sticky rice made in advance...This recipe was immediately added to our 'list' of go-to recipes.
These were called "Super Power Muffins" by the person who posted them on a blog. I call them Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins. I can't even bring myself to admit how many I've eaten in the past four days. There's something about peanut butter in a muffin that is really genius, if you ask me. They also contain whole wheat (healthy), applesauce (healthy), and brown sugar (hmmm...delicious). I've heard they freeze well, too. Here's the recipe. You have to scroll a third of the way down the page to find them in the comment section.
Let's see. These are pulled pork sandwiches on homemade hamburger buns. The pork...well, it's a long story. In short, I got a huge cut of pork on sale (of course) and made pork tacos and then had a few pounds of shredded pork leftover. So I heated it up with BBQ sauce. The buns--it was a cold blustery day (just a few weeks ago) and I was avoiding a trip to the grocery store, so I decided to make hamburger buns. I wasn't sure if that was a lazy move or not. I'm so glad I tried them. They are outstanding! I'll make them again! They 'stand up' to the meat, too. You know, they don't wobble around and get mushy and soggy. And they freeze great! Here's the recipe.
Oh, and the mac and cheese recipe was new, too, but I wasn't terribly impressed. Good, but not a 'keeper'.
Okay, this one is definitely a keeper, too. :) This picture is for anybody that was disappointed that I was posting recipes again and hoped to see James.
I've found a pizza dough recipe that is so easy and quick. You don't have to wait for this one to rise at all. Just mix all the ingredients in your mixer and press onto a pan, top with toppings and bake! Woo hoo! I substitute whole wheat flour for 1/2c to 1c of the flour. Oh, and here's a really delicious pizza sauce. I know, it's so much easier to buy it, but I ended up buying about 15 cans of tomato sauce (I use it instead of the tomato paste the recipe calls for) on sale....so I've been making my own sauce. It's really good and has a little zing to it. (I omit the anchovy paste....sorry, Grandma!)
Kung Pao Chicken....you can actually make this stuff at home? Yes, you can! I was pretty surprised at how delicious this was. And Mark is pretty crazy about it, too. You do have to hunt down sesame oil and rice wine vinegar (not ingredients I had on hand, anyway) but it is worth it! Once you have the ingredients chopped up, this comes together pretty quickly, too! Just make sure to have sticky rice made in advance...This recipe was immediately added to our 'list' of go-to recipes.
These were called "Super Power Muffins" by the person who posted them on a blog. I call them Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins. I can't even bring myself to admit how many I've eaten in the past four days. There's something about peanut butter in a muffin that is really genius, if you ask me. They also contain whole wheat (healthy), applesauce (healthy), and brown sugar (hmmm...delicious). I've heard they freeze well, too. Here's the recipe. You have to scroll a third of the way down the page to find them in the comment section. 
Let's see. These are pulled pork sandwiches on homemade hamburger buns. The pork...well, it's a long story. In short, I got a huge cut of pork on sale (of course) and made pork tacos and then had a few pounds of shredded pork leftover. So I heated it up with BBQ sauce. The buns--it was a cold blustery day (just a few weeks ago) and I was avoiding a trip to the grocery store, so I decided to make hamburger buns. I wasn't sure if that was a lazy move or not. I'm so glad I tried them. They are outstanding! I'll make them again! They 'stand up' to the meat, too. You know, they don't wobble around and get mushy and soggy. And they freeze great! Here's the recipe.
Oh, and the mac and cheese recipe was new, too, but I wasn't terribly impressed. Good, but not a 'keeper'.
Okay, this one is definitely a keeper, too. :) This picture is for anybody that was disappointed that I was posting recipes again and hoped to see James.
