Quick Pizza Crust

This is a very quick pizza crust that does not involve a lot of kneading or rising time. It is not as good as some other crusts I have had, but it does get nice and crispy.

Quick Pizza Crust

Servings: 2 large pizzas or 6 personal pizzas

Prep Time: 20 mins
Inactive Time: 2 hours
Active Time: 20-30 mins

Ingredients
4.5 cups  all-purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
1 3/4 cups cold water
1/4 cups olive oil
3 T herbs and pepper (optional)

Directions
In a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the flour, salt, yeast and herbs/pepper. Add the water and olive oil and mix until just combined. Switch to the dough hook attachement and mix on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes. The dough should not stick to the sides, but should stick to the bottom. If the dough looks wet, add more flour. Remove the dough from the bowl onto a floured surface. Divide the dough into portions that you will use it in, from 2 to 6 depending on the size of the pizzas you want to make. Let sit for up to 2 hours covered by a damp cloth. At this point you can refrigerate the dough for up to 3 days as long as it is tightly sealed. If you do refrigerate it, make sure to remove it 2 hours before you use it.
Heat the oven to 500F. Stretch/roll the dough out with some flour. Place on a greased sheet pan and place in the middle of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes. If you are cooking multiple pizzas at once make sure to rotate them halfway through so that the bottoms and tops are evenly brown.

Lemon Bars

I was visiting my sister in Utah and we decided to make lemon bars since they are her favorite as well as her roommate's. She suggested doing it out of the box, but I insisted on doing them from scratch since we had nothing better to do that day.

Lemon Bars

Servings: 20-30

Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 55 mins

For the crust:
2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 tsp salt

For the filling:
6 extra large or 7 large eggs
1 cup lemon juice (5-6 lemons)
2 T lemon zest
2 cups sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour

For serving:
powdered sugar for garnish

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Using a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar for the crust. Add the flour and salt and mix until the flour is just combined. Dump the dough on to a floured board and gather into a ball. The dough will form a solid ball, but should stick together when pressed. Press into a 9 by 13 pan and poke with a fork. Place in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until it is lightly browned.
While the dough bakes, switch the attachment on the mixer to a whisk. Add all of the filling ingredients and mix until combined. Pour over the crust and cook for 30-35 minutes or until filling is set. Let cool for several hours.
Cut and dust with powdered sugar.

Fajitas

My friend Andrew came over and we made some awesome Mexican food. We made steak fajitas with a bunch of onions, peppers and guac. If you have an outdoor grill, you can do this on that, but I used a grill pan on my stovetop. If you are doing it on the stove you can cut the veggies and meat into strips and cook it that way, but if you are cooking on an outdoor grill I would leave everything in large pieces and cut them after they are cooked.

Fajitas

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 30 mins

Ingredients
2 bell peppers
1 onion
1 jalapeno
1-1.5 lbs chicken or steak
5 cloves of garlic
1.5 T cumin
3 T olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup cilantro
juice of one lime
For Serving:
tortillas
salsa
guacamole

Directions
Preheat the grill pan on medium-high heat. Cut bell peppers, onions and meat into strips. Thinly slice the jalapeno. Toss veggies with garlic, 2 T of oil, 1.5 T cumin and salt and pepper to taste. Place veggies on the grill. While those start cooking, toss the meat with the remaining oil and spices. Place the meat on the grill and cook until done, about 10 minutes. When the meat and veggies are at desired doneness sprinkle with cilantro and lime juice. Server with tortillas, salsa and guacamole.

Smokey Sausage and Sweet Potatoes

I had a leftover sweet potato and I found some delicious looking chicken andouille sausage, so I decided to make a smokey potato and sausage dish. I top it with spinach to add some more veggies. Roasting sweet potatoes with onions is one of the best ways to eat them, in my opinion, since they get caramelized and sweet. The sausage adds more smokiness and a nice kick. I originally thought there was too much spinach because I did not throughly wilt it, but after having the leftovers for lunch today I say: bring on the spinach! I generally don't like the texture of cooked spinach, but in this dish I didn't even notice it. I would recommend throughly wilting the spinach. If you are serving all of this right out of the oven, throw the spinach on the pan and stick in the oven for another few minutes. If you are planning on eating leftovers of this then I would add fresh spinach right before you microwave it, which is what I did for lunch and it was great!

Smokey Sausage and Sweet Potatoes
Servings: 4

Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 35 mins
Total Time: 40 mins

Ingredients
1 large sweet potato
1/2 yellow onion
2 T olive oil
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/8 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper
4 chicken andouille sausages, cooked
4-6 oz fresh spinach

Directions
Preheat oven to 400F and wash sweet potato. Cut sweet potato and onion in uniform chucks. In a bowl toss sweet potato and onions with olive oil and spices. Spread on baking sheet and place in oven. Bake for about 20 minutes, flipping the potatoes half way through cooking. When potatoes are almost done, add sausage and cook for another 15 minutes or until the sausage is heated through and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and toss with spinach then stick back in the oven for a few minutes so the spinach gets slightly wilted.

Buffalo Burgers

Buffalo Burgers

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

Ingredients
1 lb ground buffalo
3 T barbecue sauce and more for assembly
1 poblano pepper, cut into 4 pieces
1/2 onion, sliced into 4 rounds
4 slices cheddar cheese
4 strips of bacon
4 buns
salt and pepper, to taste
olive oil

Directions
Heat up grill or grill pan on medium-high heat. Mix the buffalo with 3T of barbecue sauce and salt and pepper. Form 4 patties and place on the grill. Lightly brush onion and pepper with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on the grill. In a pan, cook the bacon on medium heat, about 5 mins. Flip the burgers after about 6 minutes and place the cheese on top. Toast the buns. Assemble the burgers with the buffalo, cheese, bacon, onions, pepper and more barbecue sauce, if desired.

Sweet Potato Fries

I was making some buffalo burgers so I decided to make sweet potato fries to go with them. These fries are very healthy and you still get the satisfaction of eating fries. I like them a little spicy so I added some cayenne pepper, but they would still be great without it.

Sweet Potato Fries


Servings: 4

Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 50 mins

Ingredients
2 medium sweet potatoes
3 T olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
fresh ground pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 375F. Wash the sweet potatoes and do not peel. Cut sweet potatoes in to spears so that they are all relatively uniform. Toss sweet potatoes with oil and spices in a medium bowl. Spread sweet potatoes out on a non-stick cookie sheet. Bake for 30-45 minutes, turning every 15 mins.

Granola Bars

I made granola awhile back and was saving it in the freezer since I was not eating it fast enough. I decided to make granola bars with it since I normally eat the granola with yogurt and strawberries, but I'm kind of burnt out on yogurt and the strawberries aren't great yet. I got a "trail mix" bar at the store the other day and the only ingredients were fruit, nuts, oats and honey, so I decided to try making my own with all that granola I had sitting around.
Growing up, my mom always had a specific type of honey that was semi-solid at room temperature, so I thought that would work really well in these. I debated using agave, but it is so fluid at room temperature that I thought the bars may not hold together very well. I grabbed the last tub of Sue Bee Clover Spun Honey and it is just the consistency I remember. In my opinion, horrible for trying to spread on bread for a peanut butter and honey sandwich, but great for these granola bars. You can use any nuts or dried fruit you want in this; I used peanuts, walnuts and cranberries since that is what I had. I added a little sprinkle of salt on the top to contrast the sweetness of the honey and I think they turned out great. These are not going to hold together as well as the ones you get at the store, but they also don't have chemicals and you get to customize the flavor. I will be trying other methods for making them hold together a little better, adding something else and baking them comes to mind.

Granola Bars: Attempt #1

Servings: 8-12 bars

Active Time: 15 mins
Inactive Time: 30 mins

Ingredients
2.5 cups homemade granola
1/3 cup flax seeds
2/3 nuts, chopped
2/3 cup dried fruit, chopped
1/3-1/2 cup honey*
cooking spray
sprinkle of salt

Directions
Line a 9x9 pan with foil or use a glass pan. Spray with cooking spray. Heat honey up for about 30 seconds in the microwave or until it is liquified. Mix honey with granola, nuts, flax seed and fruit. Do this quickly and get it into the pan. Spread evenly in pan and place in the fridge to set for about 30 mins or until they are set. Remove the bars from the pan and cut. Individually wrap in foil or plastic wrap and store in the fridge or freezer.