Adventures In Pizza, Take 3

My apologies for being such a slacker-blogger. Nursing school is in full swing lately and that along with family takes up most of my time! Therefore cooking in general has been placed on the back burner and with the exception of my toaster-oven-lunch-food-creations, I haven't had much to share!

This post is comprised of a White Bean and Spinach Pizza I made a couple of months ago. Since the kitchen has been closed most days, when I do cook I have been trying to focus on healthy options. This recipe was found on the site eatingbetteramerica. They send out e-newsletters and this recipe caught my eye! I LOVE pizza - and if it is sans the red sauce, I am more than willing to try it!

I start out with the food processor (next to the spatula - it's my favorite kitchen tool). I mix together white kidney beans, garlic and fresh ground black pepper. I also added some water to help with the dryness factor.

I spread the white bean and garlic mixture on a prebaked pizza crust (Boboli). Next comes a sprinkle of dried oregano.

I then top the pizza with fresh baby spinach and some sliced sun dried tomatoes.



And finally the cheese goes on top!

The pizza goes in the oven and comes out beautifully! My only complaint is that it was a bit on the dry side. The beans were the culprit. I'm not sure what could be done to remedy this problem besides using less bean mix on the pizza. I also thought some type of dipping sauce could fix the problem. But the type of sauce is beyond me at the moment. Maybe just a simple marinara?

I am off school this week so I am hoping to post some more food-fun! Last night we made mini black bean nacho pizzas (very VERY tasty) and I also whipped up a batch of vegetarian tortilla soup for lunches this week. Later this week I'll be making Italian quesadillas, vegetarian melts, and Matt and I are going to try and recreate Myra's Dionysus's Spicy Black Beans and Rice (we all dig black beans in my family). We'll see if I can get one or more posts up this week!

HAPPY COOKING!

Stuffed Then Baked Bread! aka - CALZONES!!!

So... obviously it's been forever, but I have a good excuse! My school keeps me busier than ever. Plain and simple! But, I'm back... for now... Next term is going to be super-crazy! Hopefully it will go by both quickly and successfully (just like the first one)!

This calzone recipe was actually made back in January (YEAH - that's how life has been!) Being on break this week, I finally got around to editing and uploading the pictures on blogger! The calzones turned out really tasty! Probably because they HAD to! It has a 4.5/5 from 442 reviews! It better be good! LOL! So - first things first I make the dough - yeast, water, sugar, salt and flower. I knead it once it's been mixed, and then let it rise for about 45 minutes.

About 30 minutes into the rise, I get the fillings ready. Yeah - that's pepperoni. But that's why calzones are soooo good! Everyone can have their choice of filling! Besides the pepperoni, I also had on hand spinach, mushrooms, onions, and jalapenos! That's another reason why calzones are great: just fill them with any and all leftovers around the kitchen!

I changed up the cheese just a little bit from the original recipe. I used part skim ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning in place of the basil. I also didn't mix all the veggies (and meat for Ronnie and Matt) with the cheese. Next time I will though! That would have been better than my layering technique.

Once the dough has risen, I flatten it out...

And separate it into four "equal" pieces. (Equal is not easy! LOL!)

Next, I roll the dough into "circles". (HAHA - that's not easy either! You can tell I'm not a baker.)

And then my favorite part of any calzone - the fillings! Like I said, I will mix the cheese and veggies together next time. It was more of a logistical reason this first time. (I didn't want pepperoni in mine!) But I think the final product would have been even better if I had gone for a mix! So I'll just make that happen next time.

I close the the calzone and push the edges with a fork to make a seal. Finally I brush the top with some olive oil.

And there they are! Ready to go in the oven! I marked the vegetarian ones with jalapenos - super easy and super smart!

While the calzones are baking I heat up some marinara sauce for dipping! YUM! This is also the time that everyone at the Luckey-Meyer house is getting anxious to eat the calzones that make the kitchen smell yummy! (Ronnie LOVED these - they're great for the entire family!)

30 minutes have passed, we made some salads to go along with our calzones, and dinner is served!

These were a bit time consuming but super easy to make! I made them on a Sunday, so I had plenty of time for dinner. I think the next time you need something to please everyone on a weekend - these calzones are the way to go!

Eggs and Pancakes in the Late Evening

Remember that last post when I said I always make Steve's Famous Garlic Home Fries when I make breakfast? Well... I... kind of lied. Though that statement really is about 99% true, I amuse myself right now because this next post consists of breakfast... minus the home fries (oops!) Any-hoo, this breakfast was a battle between good and evil. Good because I made a fairly healthy breakfast sandwich and our pancakes had apples in them, bad because we top the pancakes with butter and powdered sugar. Meh - Ronnie would have never ate the sandwich (I can get him to eat over-easy eggs, but he won't eat scrambles or omelets - how weird is that), and he has been begging for Matt to make apple pancakes for weeks now!

Just like the black bean burritos, these apple pancakes are a Matt original. He starts by skinning, coring and slicing 2-3 medium sized apples. He them sprinkles the apples with nutmeg and cinnamon.

Matt then mixes the apples in a pancake mixture. We always just buy the box-stuff that can make pancakes or biscuits. You just throw in some milk and an egg and you are good to go!

All while Matt is working on the pancakes, I am on the other side of the kitchen working on the sandwiches. Cooking Light's Smoked Mozzarella, Spinach and Pepper Omelet Sandwiches to be exact! I start by sauteing finely chopped red bell pepper and onion with just a little bit of olive oil.

After the veggies are tender, I then dump in a mixture of 3 whole eggs, 2 egg whites, about 10 shakes of hot sauce, salt and pepper. This is *supposed* to be an omelet, so taking a spatula to the sides while tilting the pan is the way I prepared the eggs.

I then start to prepare the bread which consists of english muffins and some expensive smoked mozzarella cheese. These will go under the broiler for a few minutes. (Note - after dinner Matt mentioned that he would rather have the muffins toasted so they would be crispy all around. I didn't mind the broiler effect - but everyone's different!) Also I covered my egg pan handle with foil and stuck the eggs under the broiler too - it helped cook the top wet part of the eggs!



Matt on the other side of the kitchen was working my awesome new griddle that Ronnie gave me for my birthday! Griddles are absolutely THE BEST at cooking things like pancakes and over-easy eggs!



Matt has this great talent of frying bread... Grilled cheese sandwiches, pancakes... He always seems to know the perfect time to flip them! That's why he is in charge of this stuff! I always burn them or they are not done enough when I flip foods like this on a pan or griddle.


My omelet and muffins come out of the oven looking lovely! And now it is time to assemble the sandwich!

First layer is the muffin and the now warm and gooey smoked mozzarella cheese!

Next I top the cheese with the omelet. This actually made way more than would fit on the muffin, so we had some extra on the side and it was quite tasty!

To add some greenery I top the omelet with fresh baby spinach. (As I have mentioned before - I LOVE spinach!)

Finally, the top half of the muffin and broiled smoked mozzarella complete the sandwich! This ended up being a pleasant surprise. Matt thinks I should have seasoned the eggs more, but I really enjoyed the simplicity of the eggs. It really lets the smoked mozzarella be the center of attention. I feel like if the eggs had been seasoned more, they would have been competing with the cheese making it a bit too much!

Then there's Ronnie favorite part of the meal! Matt's simple yet delicious apple pancakes! As I said before, no syrup for these bad boys! A little bit of butter and powdered sugar is all these need and they won't last long! Promise!

Next post is a special Cool Kids Grill Out post! My friends and I are having an end-of-the-summer BBQ and I thought it would be fun to ask them about their dishes and take some pictures! I am really excited about it and I hope it goes well. Not all the dishes will be vegetarian (because there are only 2 veggies in my network of close friends, myself included) but most should be veg-head friendly!

The First & The Last

My parents came over to pick Ronnie up last Wednesday, and they stayed for dinner too! The funny thing, this was both the first and probably the last time I will make dinner for them in this particular kitchen since the big move to the new house is less than 3 weeks away!

For dinner with my parents, I went with a new recipe I found on the Whole Foods website. The main ingredients include lasagna noodles, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, spinach, pasta sauce, and low-fat ricotta cheese! Sounds like a great start to me!

The basic ideas of these "Cheesy Spinach Rolls" is to roll the noodles instead of layering them like a lasagna. So... First things first, I boil the noodles.

Next, after the noodles are done, I lay some wax paper on the counter and place all the noodles next to each other. The first layer of the rolled noodles is the low-fat ricotta cheese. I also topped it with some garlic powder and Italian seasoning.

I then spread the noodles with the pasta sauce.

Our next ingredient - the spinach! I love spinach!



Lastly, I top the rolls with a little bit of leftover mozzarella cheese I had in the fridge. I figured - why not?


Now the fun part - rolling the stuffed noodles. Just a simple roll is all it takes. Seriously, this couldn't get any easier!


After each individual noodle has been rolled, I place them in a 9x13 pan. You want a bit of a tight fit so they don't come apart while they are baking.


Then before I place them in the oven, I top the rolls with my remaining pasta sauce.


These rolls are a great alternative to a regular lasagna. Next time I think I'll have Ronnie help me, because this truly is an easy, kid-friendly prepping recipe!



I am not exactly sure what is up for the next recipe! If I have my say, I will be making BBQ Portabello Quesadillas with grilled corn on the cob!

Settlers Night - Spinach Jack Bread Pudding and Company Cauliflower

Most Thursday nights you will find Matt and I, and at least Beth and Kyle playing Settlers of Catan at our place. This past Thursday was no exception. For dinner I tried out my newly found Spinach and Jack Bread Pudding recipe. I have never made a bread pudding, but I figured I like quiche a lot, so I wanted to try it. I also wanted to make cauliflower because I know it's one of Beth's favorite vegetables. Because I didn't know exactly how the bread pudding was going to turn out, I wanted at least one thing to go right, so I opted for a simple cauliflower recipe that always pleases everyone, Company Cauliflower.

First things first, I steam the chopped cauliflower.

Tonight Ronnie is my helper. I find whenever Ronnie is in the mood to help, just about everything he helps make he is eager and willing to eat too. It's a great way to get him to eat foods that a lot of picky five year old's would rather not eat, like spinach! So for the Spinach and Jack Bread Pudding Ronnie starts out mixing the eggs, milk, and various ingredients like salt, pepper, thyme, and nutmeg.

After the egg mixture is completely mixed, Ronnie adds the chopped spinach. This particular recipe actually called for frozen spinach, but I always use fresh. I have always loved spinach, and whatever I don't use for recipes I use to make salads.

Next, Ronnie adds the Monterrey Jack cheese. After the spinach and cheese is mixed well, 8 slices of bread that have been cubed are added to the mix. Once everything is all together, we transfer the mixture to a lightly greased 9x13 pan and put it in the oven to bake for about 25-30 minutes.

After the cauliflower is done steaming we put it into a large bowl and mix together some light sour cream, 2% cheddar cheese, garlic and onion powder, and Dijon mustard. Once this mixture is well together, we transfer it to an 8x8 lightly greased pan. I then top the cauliflower with some bread crumbs I browned in a skillet with a little bit of butter. It's then ready for the oven for about 15-20 minutes.

When everything comes out, we let it sit for a minute, which allows the eggs to cool down and settle a bit. Let me tell you - I was wowed by this recipe. Who knew a savory bread pudding could be so good and easy to make! And of course, even the Ron-man devoured it. This will definitely stick around as a staple in the Luckey-Meyer home.

As usually, the cauliflower turned out lovely. We had an extra guest that night, Steven, and would you know it, he had never had cauliflower before! EVER! But, I think I turned him on because he finished up his share in no time.

That next day, Friday, I tried my hand at some zucchini cakes and boy am I glad I did! Zucchini is so inexpensive, but until now, I could never get Matt to eat it. Well, I have found his weakness, just fry it and stuff it with cheese and he loves it. We served them with marinara sauce and I wanted more when they were all gone!