Cooking Up A Snow Storm

Old South Pulled Pork Sandwiches

2011-08-26T10:43:00.000-07:00

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 cup tomato-based chili sauce (I like the Homade brand)

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

¼ cup cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

1 boneless pork roast (about 3 lbs.)

Large sturdy buns (Kaiser or Onion buns or hard rolls)

In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions; cook until soft. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin and pepper; cook stirring for one minute. Add chili sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and liquid smoke. Stir to combine; bring to a boil.

Place pork in a slow cooker; pour sauce over the pork. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours or on high for 6 hours, until pork is falling apart.

Transfer the pork to a cutting board; pull the meat apart in shred, using two forks. Return the meat to the sauce and keep warm. When ready to serve, spoon shredded pork and sauce over warm buns.

Note:

You can prepare the sauce in advance and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, proceed as directed.

Too Many Mangoes!

2011-07-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

I usually avoid buying the BIG box of Mangoes when I shop at Costco. Last week I just couldn't resist. They were bursting with golden-rosy ripeness. I just had to have them. I was careful to buy a box that appeared to have mangoes in various stages of ripeness. Nine huge mangoes per box. Now, how to deal with the large quantity and not get tired of eating mangoes and not letting the loot go bad. When I arrived home I set out to find a mango frozen yogurt recipe online. I found a recipe that didn't require an ice cream machine. The recipe looked reasonable and easy to prepare with just a few ingredients. The recipe called for full fat yogurt and whole milk. It also called for sugar and honey. I wanted a fat-free, sugar-free recipe, so I made a few adjustments. I used Fage non-fat Greek yogurt and substituted Splenda for the sugar and agave nectar for the honey. I also used non-fat milk. In my online search I noticed one recipe that added coconut. That sounded good so I made one batch with just mangoes and another mango-coconut. I just added about a cup of the regular coconut...the kind in the bag from the baking isle at the grocery store. Nothing fancy.
Two batches of frozen yogurt with two large mangoes per batch. That takes care of four of the beauties.
I already have a real good mango salsa recipe. I made a double batch of that. I used that on some Creole seasoned salmon for dinner and on a chicken salad for the next day. I also seasoned the chicken with the Creole dust. That used up two more mangoes.
I stashed the remaining three less ripe mangoes in the refrigerator to slow down the ripening process. I gave one away this morning to my friend. The remaining two will probably turn into banana-mango smoothies. Yum!

Mango Frozen Yogurt

1 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup non-fat milk
5 Tablespoons Splenda
2 mangoes, peeled and diced
3 Tablespoons agave nectar

Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. About two minutes.
Place the mango yogurt in a freezer-safe bowl. (I used a stainless steel mixing bowl.) Cover the bowl and place the mixture in the freezer and set your timer for 45 minutes. When the 45 minutes is up remove the bowl from the freezer and whisk the yogurt mixture vigorously for about one minute. Be sure to use a whisk and not a fork. Return the covered bowl to the freezer and freeze for another 30 minutes. Repeat the whisking and return the covered bowl to the freezer. Set the timer for another 30 minutes and whisk again. Pour the mixture into an airtight container and allow the yogurt to freeze through. Now it's ready to serve.
*This was my first time making this. It turned out a little hard to scoop. I think that I will invest in an ice cream machine and see if that makes it softer. If that's not it then, maybe it really does need a little fat.
I just took the container out of the freezer and "nuked" it in the microwave for about 20 seconds on high to make it soft enough to scoop. It does taste real good. I might even try making mango-pineapple or mango-lime. YUM!

Vickie's Mango Salsa

2 ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted and diced
1/2 of a green bell pepper, finely diced
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
Juice and zest of one lime
3-4 Tablespoons finely diced red onion, or more to taste.
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or more to taste

Put all of the ingredients in a bowl. Toss gently. Serve on chicken, fish or pork.

Creole Dust
2 Tablespoons Onion Powder
2 Tablespoons Garlic Powder (not garlic salt!)
2 Tablespoons dried Oregano
2 Tablespoons dried Basil
1 Tablespoon dried Thyme
1 Tablespoon Black Pepper
1 Tablespoon White Pepper
1 Tablespoon Cayenne Pepper
1 Tablespoon Celery Seed
5 Tablespoon Paprika

Combine all of the ingredients in an airtight jar with a lid. Shake well to combine. Store in the same jar. Use to season chicken, fish and pork. I put it on thick.

One of our favorite meals. Creole Grilled Salmon, Grilled Asparagus and Baked Sweet Potatoes. We love to top it off with either tomato salsa or mango salsa and always with a couple of lime wedges to squeeze over it all. I even like lime on my sweet potato!

Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread

2010-07-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

One of my online art friends Kate made Jalapeño Cornbread this week and made a post about it on facebook.. It looked so yummy, I decided to look up a recipe for it. I couldn't find one I liked which was totally from scratch. All of the recipes I found started with a packaged mix. I love to cook from scratch and I have a cornbread recipe I really like. So, I took the best parts of the recipes I found online and blended it with my own tried and true favorite "Easy Cornbread" recipe. What I came up with was a keeper, for sure.

Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread
1 1/4 cup all purpose unbleached flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
7 ounces canned cream style corn (1/2 can)
One jalapeño pepper, finely diced
2 green onions, finely diced
1 cup Extra Sharp White Cheddar cheese, grated
Preheat the oven to 400° F. Spray an 8-inch by 8-inch by 2-inch Pyrex baking pan with nonstick, butter flavor cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl combine all of the dry ingredients. Stir them together with a wire whisk. Using a pastry blender, cut in the cold butter to the dry ingredients. Add the grated cheese, jalapeño pepper, and green onion to the dry ingredients and stir. In a separate bowl mix together the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together just until all of the dry ingredients are moistened. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 400° F. for 25 to 30 minutes. It should be lightly browned on top and be firm and not jiggly when touched with a finger lightly on top.
I hope you enjoy this yummy recipe.

Spaghetti & Meatballs

2010-04-08T13:47:00.000-07:00

My spaghetti illustration. Prismacolor pencil on vellum Bristol board.

I was chatting with my sister online yesterday at about dinner time. She was wondering what to make for dinner. I suggested spaghetti. She said that her kids liked the noodles with butter and cheese but they didn't really care for the tomato and meat part. I thought they might eat the sauce and meatballs if they helped cook. The meatballs are fun to make when you use a small ice cream scoop to make them and because they are baked they don't fall apart like when you brown them in a frying pan.
I don't know. It might get them to eat the good part.

Spaghetti & Meatballs

Tomato Sauce:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

2-4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 T. Italian Seasoning

3-4 cans (14.5 oz.) Italian diced tomatoes (3-4 cans depends on how much sauce you want.)

1/2 cup red or purple grape juice, or red wine

1/2 tsp. Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 2-3 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and saute' for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and grape juice. Cover and cook for 30 minutes on low heat. Add the meatballs to cook through, about 15 minutes. Serve the sauce and meatballs over whole grain spaghetti. Top with Parmesan cheese.

This sauce freezes well. I have substituted cranberry-raspberry juice for the grape juice and that works too.

Meatballs:

2 lbs. lean ground turkey

2 T. Balsamic vinegar

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp. Frank's Red Hot sauce

1 large egg

1 T. minced garlic

1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes

1 T. parsley flakes or 1/4 cup chopped, fresh Italian parsley

1/4 cup Parmesan cheeses (The kind in the plastic bottle is OK. Make sure it 100% real cheese.)

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

2 slices of whole wheat bread made into crumbs

1/2 tsp. Kosher salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

1 tsp. fennel seed, crushed

Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl.* Form the meat mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls.** Place the meatballs in a lightly greased 9x13-inch baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees F. for 15-20 minutes, or until they start to brown. They will not be cooked through at this point. Place the meatballs in the prepared sauce and cook on low heat for 30 more minutes. Serve as directed above.
note: The meatballs freeze well with or without the sauce. They need to be cooked thoroughly before freezing.

*I mix it all in my Kitchenaid mixer. It's a lot less work and less mess than doing it by hand.
**I form the meatballs with a small ice cream scoop.

Happy Easter

2010-04-02T22:26:00.000-07:00

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend.

Potato Salad of a Different Color

2010-03-11T13:04:00.001-08:00

All of the credit for this recipe goes to Mark Bittman of the New York Times.
I love his recipe. This has become THE classic potato salad at our home.
Here is a link to a VIDEO of Mark Bittman Making Sweet Potato Salad.

September 25, 2009

RECIPE

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad With Black Beans and Chili Dressing

Time: 45 minutes

4 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

1 large onion, preferably red, chopped

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 to 2 tablespoons minced fresh hot chili, like jalapeño

1 clove garlic, peeled

Juice of 2 limes

2 cups cooked black beans, drained (canned are fine)

1 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and finely diced

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro.

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Put sweet potatoes and onions on a large baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil, toss to coat and spread out in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast, turning occasionally, until potatoes begin to brown on corners and are just tender inside, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven; keep on pan until ready to mix with dressing.

2. Put chilies in a blender or mini food processor along with garlic, lime juice, remaining olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Process until blended.

3. Put warm vegetables in a large bowl with beans and bell pepper; toss with dressing and cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve warm or at room temperature, or refrigerate for up to a day.

Yield: 4 servings.

I’ve served this both warm and at room temperature, and it’s great both ways. And while I’ll grant you it isn’t a traditional potato salad, it may just become the one your family prefers.

Condiments

2009-04-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

Franks Red Hot Sauce is one of my favorite condiments. It's the base for great, authentic Buffalo wings. I love it on omelets. Fry Sauce is a Utah "thing". The story about it is on the back of the bottle or at http://somedudesfrysauce.com/store/ (and we don't really talk like that in Utah.)

Fake n' Bake

2009-04-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe a while back. I made the Fake n' Bake coating mix last week and cooked *chicken tenders with it yesterday for a quick snack after church. It was the first time I had used this. I think it was pretty tasty and quick to use. I also made some oven fries sprinkled with Monterey steak grill seasoning and a little kosher salt. I drizzle Yukon gold potatoes with a little olive oil and baked the fries for about 40 minutes at 400 degrees, turning them after 20 minutes of cooking to brown them evenly.
Fake n' Bake
1 cup finely crushed cornflakes
1 Tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon crushed parsley flakes
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon celery salt

Mix and store in an airtight container. Use to coat chicken and pork before baking.

*I dipped chicken breast tenders in an egg beaten with a little milk and vinegar before coating them with the mix. Spray a baking pan with PAM, arrange the chicken tenders with a little space between each. Spray the chicken tenders with PAM to help browning. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until cooked through and golden brown.

Yummy Italian Sandwich

2009-04-23T14:27:00.000-07:00

I just made this yummy grilled sandwich. I made it mostly with ingredients I buy at Costco. First I sprinkle some Aspen Mills whole wheat bread with some garlic powder and then drizzled extra virgin olive oil over that. Then I turn the bread over and slathered some sun dried tomato spread on the other side of each piece of bread. I sliced some green stuffed olives and put them on one side. I topped each slice of bread with a slice of Provolone cheese. I put a slice of deli turkey on one side and some spinach leaves on the other. Then I put the two sides together and grilled it on low heat. If you have a panini press that would probably be great to use. A couple of weeks ago I made a sandwich like this but used fresh mozzarella cheese and black olives. That was yummy. It's a pretty rich tasting sandwich. I can only eat half. I save the other half for lunch the next day or for a snack later in the day.

Easter Ham Left Overs

2009-04-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

This is a great recipe for that left over Easter Ham. Make sure you use the ham hock, it adds more flavor and richness to the soup. I usually make a smaller batch than this, and for convenience I use canned black beans. I also don't usually have bacon in the house so it's fine to leave it out. It is yummier with bacon, of course!

Black Bean Soup

2 quarts water
1 lb. black beans
½ lb. bacon
1 ½ cups diced onion
1 ½ cups diced carrots
1 ½ cups diced celery, with leaves
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon thyme
3 Tablespoons cumin
1 ½ teaspoons oregano
10 cups chicken broth
2 ham hocks (or 1-2 cups cooked ham)
½ teaspoons Cayenne pepper
6 Tablespoons lime juice
Salt and Pepper to taste
Garnish with Sour cream
Soak the beans in the 2 qt. water, overnight. Drain. Cook the bacon in a large soup pot. Remove from the pot and drain off most of the fat. Reserve a few tablespoons of the fat to cook the vegetables in. Cook the vegetables, except the garlic and beans, in the pot for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, bay leaf, thyme, 1 T. of the cumin and oregano; cook for 5minutes. Add broth, ham hocks and bacon. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook 2-2 1/2 hours or until the beans are tender. Remove the ham hocks and scrape the meat from the bones; return the meat to the soup. Add the Cayenne pepper, 2 T. cumin and the lime juice. Stir well. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream. Recipe by Joy Philbin

You Kids, Eat Your Vegetables!

2009-01-29T11:55:00.000-08:00

This is a yummy way to get those important vegetable servings in each day. If you're trying to be way healthy and cut down on the fat, you can substitute light mayonnaise and light sour cream, but the flavor takes a big nose dive when you do that. And really, don't use the non-fat and then blame me for how bad it tastes. I suggest you use regular sour cream and mayonnaise and just be a dainty dipper instead of a super scooper. It's also important to make this at least 4 hours before serving. It takes a while for those dried onions to soften up and for the flavors to blend. If your're having a party, it's one of those things that you can make a day or two ahead.

Vegetable Dip

1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon dried onion flakes
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dill weed
1 teaspoon McCormick Bon Appetit

Mix all of the ingredients together. Chill for at least 4 hours before serving before serving with your favorite fresh vegetables.

Greek Noodles

2008-12-22T11:05:00.000-08:00

This is a Snow family Christmas favorite. It is a great side dish with ham. I also prefer to serve petite peas as the vegetable with the meal because it's yummy to mix the peas with the noodles as you eat. I don't know why they are called Greek Noodles. I'm not convinced there is anything Greek about them. But that's what the Snow family calls them. It's also a very easy dish to put together during the busy holiday season. I have made them with low fat and non fat products and they are just O.K. If you want them to be real good you just have to use the richer stuff. We had a bunch (22 people) of the Snow family over here last night for an early Christmas dinner. I'm glad I doubled the recipe. The noodles were going fast.
Thanks to all of the family who came and to those who helped by bringing food assignments. Thanks to my family here at home who helped with dinner. It was great to spend time together.

Greek Noodles
1 can chicken noodle soup
1- 12 oz. Package, fine or medium egg noodles
3 finely chopped green onions
1 pint cottage cheese
1 pint sour cream
Cook the noodles according to the package directions (Cook the shortest length of time recommended) and drain well. Mix together the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add the cooked, drained noodles and mix well. Transfer the mixture to a 9x13x2-inch greased, glass or ceramic baking dish. Cover. Bake at 300 degrees for 35-45 minutes. This is a good side dish with ham.

The Weather is Chili

2008-11-05T12:27:00.000-08:00

It's snowing outside today. Yesterday was a dark, cold, rainy day. I was wondering what to make for dinner. As I was blogging and ran across a blog that had a photo of a cute blackboard with a dinner menu written on it. It said Chili & Cornbread. So, that's what I made. This is my good basic chili recipe. Last night I made it with some chicken I had previously roasted and then froze in a zip-lock bag. That made it even easier. You can make it just the way it is written, but often I will add more vegetables to it. Last night I added a shredded carrot, a rib of diced celery and some sofrito. Sofrito is a spicy mixture of chilis, onions, garlic and tomatoes, they cook with in Puerto Rico. I made sofrito last week for the first time last week and froze portions in small zip-lock bags. So I thought, "Why not throw some into chili." I don't know if it made a big difference, but it didn't hurt. Any way it's a good basic chili recipe. If you want to hide a few extra veggies in it for fun, go ahead and see what works for you.

Vickie's Chili

1 pound extra lean ground beef,
or cooked, shredded chicken
1 large chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 Tablespoon Worchestershire Sauce
1 can (15 oz.) Western style chili beans
1 can (14.5 oz.) Italian style diced tomatoes
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
2-3 teaspoons chili powder
½ tsp. cumin
½ tsp. oregano
½ tsp. dry mustard
1 bay leaf
¼ cup ketchup
¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper
Brown the ground beef and the onion. Add the garlic and cook for one minute. Add the remaining ingredients and cook on medium low heat until heated through, about 30 minutes.

2008-10-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

I had a request from my niece, Lindsay, for my barbeque sopping sauce. My son, Adam is going to make barbeque chicken for his roomates tomorrow night and I guess he told Lindsay about it. It is a real yummy sauce. It's good on pork too. I usually use the Homade Brand chili sauce for it. It has a nice texture and the flavor is just right. If you can't find this brand, other brands work just fine. My Easy Corn Bread recipe is great with it. The cornbread recipe is easy to double. Make plenty because everyone always wants seconds.

Barbeque Sopping Sauce
1 ½ cup Homade Brand Chili Sauce or your favorite brand
½ cup cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon horseradish
½ cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
1 stick unsalted butter
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons liquid smoke
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Cook all of the ingredients in a 3 qt. saucepan. Heat through to melt the butter and dissolve the sugar. Keep warm.
Serve on grilled chicken or pork. Cook the meat on the grill until done. Brush the sauce onto the meat a few minutes before removing it from the grill, just to warm it up. Serve the meat with more warm sauce on the side.

Easy Cornbread

1 ¼ cups flour

¾ cup yellow cornmeal

½ tsp. Salt
¼ cup sugar

2 tsp. Baking powder

1 cup milk
¼ cup vegetable oil

2 eggs
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray an 8”x8”x2” pan with PAM. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix together until just moist. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm with butter and honey. It's also fabulous with grape jelly.

I like this recipe because I can measure everything using only a 1/4 cup measure and a set of measuring spoons. When I double it I use my 1/2 cup measuring cup to measure most of the ingredients and then bake it in a 9"x13"x2" pan. Quick and easy cleanup.

There you go Lindsay. Thanks for the request :)

Best Banana Bread

2008-10-12T12:02:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite banana nut bread recipe. I can't remember where I got the recipe. I thought it was my Grandma Udy's, but I looked at the cook book my Aunt Doris made for our family reunion and Grandma's recipe was different. So, where I got it remains a mystery.

Adam wanted to make banana bread while he was a missionary in Korea. He asked me for the recipe. He made it for a branch party when he was in Onyang. (Sounds like onion with a "g" on the end.) It was a hit. He had request to bring it to other branch activities.

I had six real ugly brown bananas today so I put them to good use. I made three loaves of banana bread. Two with nuts and one without. Doug and I like nuts. Our sons don't care for nuts in baked goods.

Banana Bread

2 ½ cups flour
1 cup sugar
3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup milk
1 egg
3 Tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1 cup ripe, mashed bananas (about 2 large)
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Stir together the dry ingredients. Mix together the wet ingredients and add to the dry mixture. Mix to combine thoroughly. Pour into one or two well greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-65 minutes. Bake 55 for two loaves 65 for one. Poke a toothpick in the center to test if it is done. If it comes out clean it is done. If there is batter on the toothpick bake a little longer.

Not Delivery Pizza

2008-10-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

My son Adam and his friend Brad came home to visit this past weekend. They served together in Korea as missionaries for our church. They are now attending Utah State University. Friday evening they went to their mission reunion in Provo and then came to stay with us the remainder of the weekend. This weekend was General Conference for The Ch urch of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. On Saturday evening all of the men went to Priesthood meeting for the conference. After the meeting all of the guys came home and we made pizza. I made the dough earlier in the day and put it in zip-lock bags. I sprayed inside the bags with vegetable oil cooking spray before putting the dough in them. I kept the dough in the refrigerator until about 2 hours before we needed to use it. By the time the guys were back the dough was ready to go. Adam is a pretty good cook and so I put him in charge of making the pizza. He was wondering why the dough suddenly became so hard to roll out. I told him about letting the dough rest. I told him to cover it with the plastic bag for about five minutes while he did something else and then come back to it. He was amazed to see how much easier it was to roll out. He asked why that happens. I explained it has to do with the gluten in the dough and how it gets tight if it's worked too vigorously. Just letting it rest helps the gluten in the dough relax. Brad helped slice the olives and Canadian Bacon and helped with other things. Doug and Brandon set the table and helped with other stuff. We had a fun time building and eating pizza. Everyone helped clean up.

We have only had pizza delivered to our home once in all these years. It was years ago when we were building our fence and we were just too darned tired to cook and too dirty to go out.

Vickie’s Pizza
Dough:
1 ¼ cups very warm water

1 package yeast (2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon sugar

3 ½ -4 cups flour*
½ tsp. salt

2 T. Vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil
In a large mixing bowl combine, 2 cups of the flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Stir. Add the very warm water and the oil. Stir. Add more flour a bit at a time until the dough forms a ball. Knead the dough on a floured surface, adding flour until the dough is moderately stiff. Knead until smooth. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning the dough once to grease both sides of the dough. (I do all of this in my Kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook.)
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm place. Let dough rise about 40 minutes. Punch down. Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a smooth ball. Let dough rest 5 minutes, covered. Roll out on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough back and forth one direction until it makes an oval the width of your pan. Turn the dough a quarter turn. Re-flour the surface. Roll back and forth the opposite direction. This will give you a near perfect circle. Roll the dough up onto the rolling pin and set it down on a pizza pan which has been sprayed with vegetable oil cooking spray.

Add pizza sauce and other toppings. Don’t preheat the oven. Place the pizza on the bottom rack of the oven and bake at 475 degrees F for 10- 15 minutes. It is done when the cheese bubbles and just starts to turn brown. The crust is golden brown.
Makes 2 pizzas.
Sauce:
26 oz. can Hunts (or your favorite brand) spaghetti sauce. Use about 1/3 of a can for each pizza. Spread it evenly on the pizza. Then sprinkle lightly with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, freshly ground pepper, 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional), and parmesan cheese. Sprinkle the parmesan a little heavier on the crust’s edge.
Toppings:
Shredded Mozzarella cheese or Italian cheese blend, sliced mushrooms. Low-fat turkey pepperoni, black olives, hot Italian sausage, bell peppers, Canadian bacon, ham, barbequed chicken, caramelized onions or pineapple. The list goes on as long as you can imagine. Adam and Brad said Koreans put potatoes, corn and kimchi on their pizza.

*You may use whole wheat flour for one of the cups of flour. It makes it a little more healthful.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

2008-09-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

Welcome, to my new cooking blog. I have shared recipes on my art blog before but, this seems to be a better venue for my cooking. From now on, if I mention a food event on my other blog, Snow Days Art, the recipes will probably show up on this blog. Also, if I have people over for dinner or take food to an event, I will just refer them to my blog to retrieve a recipe they may want. I intend to have either artwork or photos of each recipe I post.

This is a real fun recipe. I've made it when we've had big groups of family and friends over for breakfast. The little kids love them. It's a good way to get a vegetable down kids and they think they are eating cupcakes.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup plain canned pumpkin
1/2 cup melted butter
6 ounces chocolate chips
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease the muffin tins or line them with muffin papers.
3. Using a wire whisk, thoroughly mix flour, sugar, spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture.
4. Break the eggs into a medium sized bowl.
5. Add pumpkin and butter to eggs and whisk until well-blended.
6. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.
7. Pour the wet ingredients into the well of the dry ingredients and fold in just until moistened.
8. Scoop into tins and bake 20-25 minutes.

This recipe makes 12 Muffins