Stromboli

So I thought if I can make a calzone from scratch why can't I make a stromboli from scratch too?

Ingredients:

Quick Pizza Dough
1 cup low fat mozzarella cheese
1 cup pepperoni slices (or enough to cover the area of your rectangle)
EVOO for coating the top and bottom of the crust (once folded in half)
cornmeal

Directions:

Make my Quick Pizza Dough according to the directions

Once Dough is ready roll out into a rectangle shape, be careful not to make it too thin though

Evenly spread out about 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese, being sure to leave a slight border

Coat the mozzarella layer with the pepperoni and then add the rest of the mozzarella to the top of the pepperoni

Brush the border with water

Fold the dough in half, very carefully

Tuck under the excess dough to create a seal

Brush the top and bottom side with EVOO and lightly sprinkle the cornmeal on both sides

Bake in oven at 450 degrees for 15-18 minutes

Serve with a side of marinara sauce & enjoy

To Do List

Ok so I have been slacking off a little bit...but I have still been cooking :)

Last Friday I made Tim homemade crabcakes, Sunday night I made a yummy calzone and Monday night I made some really tasty meatloaves with pureed veggies mixed in.

I will be posting recipes and pics...I promise!

Not So Chicken...Chicken Soup

So the husband has food poisoning and I gave him chicken broth for dinner...I was suddenly inspired to concoct my own chicken soup...only thing is that I don't have any chicken!

Ingredients:

2 tbsp EVOO
1/2 yellow onion
2 carrots
1/2 green and 1/2 yellow zucchini
1 c mushrooms
4 leaves of swiss chard
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 cube chicken bullion
4 c chicken broth
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Roughly cut up all vegetables and then add (except the swiss chard) to a med/high heat pot filled with EVOO

Cook til carrots are almost done and then add the swiss chard

Once swiss chard has cooked down add all seasonings and bullion

Lastly add chicken broth and cook to almost a boil

**You could add some pre-cooked pasta or cooked rice for some starch or just have a nice chunk of bread along side**

Enjoy!

Easy Cinnamon Roll Muffins

Who doesn't love a cinnamon roll? I will post pictures later today :]

This recipe is adapted from Joy the Baker

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 tsp active dry or rapid rise yeast
2/3 cup warm milk (100-110F; low fat is fine) ** I warmed up the milk in the microwave for 30 seconds **
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg

Filling/Topping
2 tbsp butter, room temperature
2/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground cardamom

Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp milk or cream (you may need to add more)
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Dissolve the yeast in a measuring cup filled with the warmed milk, then stir milk mixture, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and egg into the flour mixture. Mix well, until very smooth. Pour into prepared pan and let rest for 1 hour.
While the dough rests, mix together butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom in a small bowl using a fork until all the butter has been incorporated into the sugar and mixture is crumbly.  Divide the batter between 12 greased muffin cups ( I used cupcake liners). ** Be sure to only fill 1/2 the cup with the batter because if you fill it higher you'll have a mess for sure, according to Jelli Bean Journals.**  Sprinkle evenly on top of rested dough and press the mixture down into the dough with your fingertips (or swirl in with a spatula.)
Place pan into a cold oven, then set the oven temperature to 350F.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until bread is lightly browned at the edges and the center of the bread springs back when lightly pressed. Some of the sugar mixture on top may still be bubbling.
Cool for at least 30 minutes before whisking the powdered sugar and milk together to form an icing and drizzling it onto the bread.

Swiss Chard and Sweet Pea Stuffed Shells

I was watching Giada last week and saw her make this wonderful recipe! I could not wait to make it myself...it came out wonderful and was so filling :]

Ingredients

• Butter, for greasing the pan
• 1 box stuffed shells
• Filling
• 1 head (about 12 ounces) red or white Swiss chard
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese
  
• 3/4 cup frozen petite peas, thawed
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella (4 ounces)
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan (2 ounces)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  
• 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• Fontina Fonduta Sauce
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 cups (6 ounces) fontina cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) mozzarella, shredded

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish liberally with butter.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 6 to 8 minutes. Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water. **It is helpful if you place the shells on a plate, they will be so much easier to fill that way**

For the Filling:

Using a knife, remove the leaves from the stems of the chard. Discard the stems. Chop the leaves into 1-inch pieces. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer. Add the chard and cook, stirring constantly, until wilted, about 2 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool slightly. Place the ricotta cheese, peas, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, basil, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Add the cooled chard mixture and blend until smooth. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pastry bag and fill each stuffed shell with the filling. Place the stuffed shell's in the prepared baking dish.

For the Fontina Fonduta Sauce:

In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring milk and cream to a simmer, over medium heat. Reduce heat to low. Add the fontina cheese and cook, stirring constantly, until the cheese is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and basil.

Pour the sauce over the stuffed manicotti and sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the top is golden. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Quick Pizza Dough

Food-Processor Pizza Dough
Yields 2 12-inch pizza crusts

1 c warm water
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
3 c all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil

Stir together water, yeast and sugar until dissolved. Set aside.

In food processor, place flour and salt and blend. Stir 2 tbsp oil into yeast mixture.

With the motor running add yeast mixture through the feed tube. You may need add a little extra water to get the dough to stick real well. Allow the dough to go around the bowl until the dough clings together, about 20 to 30 times.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and kneed until dough is smooth and elastic, 5 to 6 times.

Cut dough into 2 equal pieces. Form each piece into a round disk and let rest for 10 minutes. Or you can opt for 1 large pizza.

With a floured rolling pin, roll out the disk into a 12 inch circle.

Then place pizza dough onto pizza pan and add sauce and toppings.

Cook @ 450 degrees for about 10 min or until cheese melts and crust is golden.

Oven Fried Coconut Chicken

I adore coconut and chicken of course so this is a perfect match made in chicken heaven!

Ingredients:

3 lb. chicken pieces, skinned or unskinned
1 1/2 c. flaked coconut, loosely packed
1 c. seasoned bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
4 tbsp. butter, melted

Directions:

Mix together coconut and bread crumbs.

Pour butter in bottom of baking dish.

Dip chicken, one piece at a time, in eggs and roll in coconut mixture.

Arrange skin side down in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Turn chicken pieces and continue baking 25 minutes more.