Sante Fe Turkey Stuffed Peppers

I found this recipe on Skinny Taste.  It turned out well - even if ours were a little less healthy (more cheese, full fat sour cream).  They were still healthy for our standards and I think I will start using turkey for more recipes.  It was really tasty in this dish. 

Veggie Pizza with Homemade Crust

I have made Pioneer Woman's pizza crust before and I love it.  This time, it was even better because I now have a pizza stone which perfectly bakes it. 

CRUSTIngredients:

FOR THE CRUST (MAKES TWO CRUSTS):
1 teaspoon Active Dry Or Instant Yeast
4 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

TO MAKE THE CRUST:

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water.
In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined.

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until you need it. ***It's best to make the dough at least 24 hours in advance, and 3 or 4 days is even better.

 

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I made the crust over the weekend and put it in the freezer until I needed it.  I pulled it out in the morning before work and it was ready to be baked when I got home. 

 

Then, I started with a base recipe from PW as well... her "Favorite Pizza".  I switched it up a little though.

 

ON THE PIZZA:

Half of a large zucchini, cut into slices and then into fourths

1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 2 cloves)

1/2 cup jarred artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (in oil and seasoned)

Fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced thin (buy it from Costco and it's already sliced perfectly)

1 tablespoon pine nuts

 

First:

Preheat the broiler.  Toss chopped zucchini in a little bit of salt and a little bit of olive oil.  Mix together well and then put under the broiler for about 4 minutes.  Then add the halved tomatoes, mixed with the minced garlic.  Broil them for another 4 minutes.

 

Second:

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees

Spread out your pizza dough on your pizza stone until it's very thin, then cover with a little bit of olive oil and a little salt.

Cover in mozzarella slices

Top with the roasted veggies, pine nuts and chopped artichoke hearts

 

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

 

This was seriously, seriously good.  Like, the best pizza I've ever made and better than a lot of restaurant/fast food pizzas I've had.  YUM! 

 

Barbeque Chicken Pineapple Quesadillas

I made these quesadillas based on Pioneer Woman's version, but used a couple different things that I already had at home.  They were good, fast and easy. 

BBQ Chicken Pineapple Quesadillas

• Shredded barbeque chicken (as much per quesadilla as you want) - I had made shredded bbq chicken for something else last week and had a lot leftover to use in this recipe
• 1 Jalapeno pepper - sliced and seeds taken out
• White cheddar cheese (as much per quesadilla as you want)
• Sliced pineapple (I used canned but canned pineapples suck and I wish I had been able to find fresh pineapple at the store)
• Corn tortillas

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat with a little bit of olive oil or cooking spray.  Throw in a corn tortilla and quickly top with chicken, jalapeno slices, cheese and pineapple.  Cover with another corn tortilla and let cook for a couple of minutes.   Flip the quesadilla and let the other tortilla cook for a couple of minutes until slightly brown.

My only regret is the pineapple, but the store really didn't have any fresh.  It was still good though and I loved the bite from the jalapeno.

Mediterranean Wraps

I've been wanting to make something at the beginning of each week that I can have for lunch at work that isn't the same old boring thing.  I made these Mediterranean Wraps Sunday and had my first one for lunch today with a spinach tortilla.  It was really good and healthy.  I think I'll try to do something like this each week to keep things exciting.  The only difference I made was I baked the chicken and cut it up into small pieces and mixed it in - I didn't do mine on the stovetop.  Worked out just fine but you might like the original way better for a little more flavor, perhaps.  Here is the original recipe.

Pioneer Woman's Corn Chowder with Chiles

Soup season has begun.  I bought a bunch of ears of corn and then immediately worried I wouldn't use them all.  So I decided to use 5 of them at once and make this Corn Chowder.  I used three peppers and it had quite a kick to it.  I must say it was super delicious and everyone in my family loved it.  I will definitely make it again sometime.  The corn tortillas on the side were a nice addition, but cornbread would have been killer with it too.  Yum!  Here is the recipe.

Pumpkin Snicker Doodles

I've made these before, but with a different recipe.  I really love the texture of these cookies but I think they are lacking a little on flavor.  I would put more spices in the dough next time and smother the outsides with more too.  Seriously can't beat the texture in my book, though.  This recipe also makes a good 40 cookies, which is awesome.  What a fun fall treat!

HERE is the recipe!

BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad

 

I have never cooked with quinoa but tried it in Peru and really liked it.  I bought a bag and sought some recipes that call for it.  I found one on Pinterest that sounded right up our alley.  I made this BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad last night and it is delicious!  I made the BBQ chicken in the crock pot all day and then the rest was easy to throw together after work.  I definitely recommend this as a pretty healthy dish to make - but don't plan on it feeding more than 2 of you. 

Caprese Chicken with Balsamic Reduction

I love caprese-anything and we have a lot of tomatoes and basil in our garden still to use.  So I made this caprese chicken with a balsamic reduction.  It was really yummy.  I served it with a crusty French bread.  This is a  great worknight recipe. 

 

P.S. I love you, fresh mozzarella.

Pumpkin Cake w/Cream Cheese Frosting - Reminder!

I made this a couple of times last year and posted on this site.  I made this cake again for a friend's birthday and it did not, could not, will not disappoint.  The best.  I love you, fall! 

P.S. I don't need to be told that I have no cake decorating skills.  I am well aware.

Chai Pumpkin Spice Cookies

I saw these on Pinterest and knew I had to make them.  They sound like the perfect "welcome fall" treat.  I immediately headed over to Target to secure my bag of the illusive pumpkin spice kisses.  These cookies were easy to throw together and pretty hard to screw up.  They are delicious and taste just like fall would if it were a flavor - along with fresh apples, pie crust and warm cider.  Make them today, I don't think you'll be disappointed.  Here is the simple recipe!

Dorito Casserole

 

THIS dish is anything but healthy.  I probably shouldn't have made it for that reason, but it was oh-so-good!  It was flavorful, spicy-ish, easy, creamy, crunchy, cheesy.  I love Doritos but I never let myself buy/eat them.  This was a nice little treat for myself.  Definitely a good comforting meal.  Yum-o!

Pioneer Woman's Spicy Dr. Pepper Pork

I made THIS in the crock pot instead of in a pot in the oven.  Pretty sure it doesn't make much of a difference except crock pot seems easier to me.  I served it on rolls with garden tomatoes alongside mac and cheese.  It's pretty good, but not my absolute favorite.  I like the flavor of some other crock pot meat dishes better, I think.  It was yummy - just not on my favorites list.  It's spicy but not overpoweringly so. 

Pioneer Woman's Mac & Cheese

Delicious. Homemade. Baked. Cheesy. Easy.  Definitely make this sometime.  So much tastier than the boxed version.

PIONEER WOMAN'S MAC & CHEESE.

I served it with her Spicy Dr. Pepper Pork on rolls.