Yummiest, Easiest Pizza Dough EVER!

Alright, y'all. I had to share this! I made pizza for my family tonight. And let me tell you about this dough. I made a small pizza for each of us. Each pizza's dough was 1 cup of plain, fat free Greek yogurt and 1 cup of self-rising flour. I just put it in my Kitchen Aid with the bread hook and let it do the work for me. When I saw this I thought it sounded weird, possibly gross, and way too simple to be true. I have noticed something, though. Things this weird tend to be the best. And it's true. This was absolutely delicious. And with the Greek yogurt, it contains more protein than pizza normally would! This would great for vegetarians who want the protein but not the meat! Definitely a keeper in my house! Enjoy it!

Philly Cheese Steak Stuffed Green Peppers

You know those nights when you want something yummy but are short on time or energy? Well boy do I have the solution for you. I was perusing Pinterest (shocked aren't you?) and saw a post for Philly Cheese Steak Stuffed Green Peppers. Hmmm... interesting... and delicious looking... but the link didn't give a recipe, only a picture, but I thought, "Well shoot, I can do that." So I did. And they were soooo yummy. My family dubbed it "a keeper." Enjoy!

Philly Cheese Steak Stuffed Green Peppers

3 green peppers
12 slices provolone cheese
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 pkg sliced mushrooms, broken into smaller pieces
1 pkg thin sliced roast beef (we used Hillshire Farm)
2-4 TBS butter
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Fill a 9x13 with water about 1 in deep. Cut the peppers in half, de-stem, and seed. Place cut side down in water. Cook until desired softness is achieved  We like ours a little on the crunchy side so I only cooked them 20 mins. While they are cooking, melt butter in a pan and saute onion and mushrooms until both are well cooked and soft. Chop the beef into strips and add to the pan after the veggies are done. Season to taste with salt ad pepper and cook a while longer.

 Remove the peppers from the oven and drain. Flipping them cut side up, put one slice of cheese inside each one. Fill with meat and veggie mixture and top with an additional slice of cheese. Return to the oven and bake until the cheese is well melted.

Enjoy! :-D

Greek Quinoa Salad

If you've been on Pinterest recently, chances are you have seen about a zillion quinoa recipes (pronounced keen-wah). I'd never heard of the stuff before but people are raving about it. Well, I found this once recipe from With Style and Grace. It was absolutely delicious! I think the next time I make it I would double everything but the quinoa. Also, my family doesn't like olives so I used an extra 1/4c tomatoes instead. It was so yummy, but it would be better with more goody! Here's the original recipe.

Greek Quinoa Salad

1 1/2 c quinoa
2 c water or chicken broth (I didn't have any broth on hand so I used water)
salt
1 heaping cup of chopped cucumber
1/2 c cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 c Kalamata olives, sliced
1/4 c red onion, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 lemon juiced
3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
2 TBS white or red wine vinegar (I used red)
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper
crumbled feta cheese

In a medium pot, bring 2 c of water and quinoa to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cover. Cook 16-18 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff with fork.

In a large bowl combine cucumber, tomatoes, olives, red onion, and green onion. Mix in quinoa.

To make the dressing, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper. Drizzle over salad a little at a time. Chill then serve topped with cheese.

Baked Zucchini Fries

I got this recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything and it was DELICIOUS! Mine didn't look quite like this and we didn't eat them with marinara sauce, though, just straight. Yum.

Baked Zucchini Fries

3 med zucchini sliced into 3" x 1/2" sticks
1 lg egg white
1/3 c seasoned bread crumbs
2 TBS grated Romano cheese
cooking spray
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt
pepper

Heat to 425.

Beat egg whites in a bowl. In a ziploc bag mix bread crumbs, cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Spray cooking sheet and set aside.

Dip zucchini in egg. Place in bag, a handful at a time, and shake well. Place in a single layer on the cooking sheet. Spray more cooking spray on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with marinara.

Smokey Sweet Potato Burgers with Roasted Garlic Cream and Avocado

For someone who has such a Pinterest addiction, I don't make a ton of new recipes from it. Well today we were trying to come up with dinner ideas. Hm.... 

"Hey how about ___________?" 

"Nope."

"Well what about ___________?" 

"Eh, nah." 

"Okay, well ______?" 

"I don't think so." 

Okay.... Let's break out Pinterest. I saw this recipe from How Sweet It Is and decided it looked amazing. Now, it's probably surprising if you know my family. We are very much carnivorous. :-D But we ate an entirely vegetarian meal. And it was DELICIOUS! This recipe says it makes 4, but I think it could easily make 6 burgers. 

Smokey Sweet Potato Burgers with Roasted Garlic Cream and Avocado

2 c coarsely mashed sweet potatoes

1 c cannellini beans (drained and rinsed if canned)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/3 c panko bread crumbs (could be substituted for something else if needing gluten free - oatmeal?)

1/3 c oat or whole wheat flour

1 large egg, beaten

1 1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp cumin

2-3 TBS olive oil

1 avocado, sliced

2 bulbs roast garlic (Jessica, at How Sweet It Is, has a great tutorial here.)

2/3 c plain greek yogurt or sour cream

1 tsp syrup

extra salt and pepper for seasoning cream

whole wheat buns

Pierce potatoes all over with a fork and place on a paper towel. Microwave for 10 minutes. Scoop out potato. In a large bowl, mash beans then add sweet potato. Add spices, salt and pepper, minced garlic, egg, panko, and flour. Mix together until combined, then refrigerate for 15-20 minutes. 

While mixture is chilling, combine yogurt/cream with 2 bulbs (squeezed out) garlic, syrup, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Remove mixture from fridge and form into patties. Place on the skillet once hot. DO NOT MOVE until they are fully cooked and golden on one side. This takes about 5-6 minutes. Add more oil if needed when you flip them. Flip them gently. 

Toast buns, if desired, and assemble by topping burgers with roasted garlic cream and avocado slices.

Pumpkin Tapioca Pudding

It's Fall! Hooray! And that means yummy food! Hooray again! One of my favorite things in the Fall is soup. Last Fall I invented a yummy, yummy soup. I decided that I wanted to make some of that today. I walked out to the garden and got a butternut squash and made my soup. But this soup, as with most recipes, doesn't require the entire squash. So what do you do with the rest of the squash? You don't want to let it go bad. You may or may not be aware of this, but butternut squash is a good substitute for pumpkin. I make a pie using butternut squash and it is, in my opinion, better than pumpkin. It has an amazing flavor and lighter texture. On a whim I looked up recipes for pumpkin tapioca. The only one I could find involved coconut  milk, which I am allergic to. And it was missing a few things so I ended up completely redoing it and basically making up my own recipe. It made a nice Fall twist on a traditional food. Also, as you may have concluded, there's no pumpkin in this (though you could use pumpkin). Pumpkin Tapioca is just easier to say and sounds more appetizing than Butternut Squash Tapioca. So here you go.

Pumpkin (Butternut Squash) Tapioca Pudding

• 3 c milk
• 1/3 c sugar
• 1/3 c tapioca
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 med butternut squash, peeled, cubed, boiled, and mashed
• ground cinnamon

Heat milk, sugar, tapioca, and egg to rolling boil. Add vanilla. Mix in mashed pumpkin/squash and a little cinnamon. Allow to cool and serve topped with cinnamon.

An Apple a Day, Day 1, part 2

Ok, so what else to do with apples? APPLE BUTTER! Yum!

My friend, Ann Marie, gave me her recipe for crock pot apple butter. My house smells amazing right now. It is very easy to do!

Ann Marie's Apple Butter

5 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

2 TBS lemon juice

1/2 c sugar - little less if sweet apples (I used 1/4 c because I had Stayman apples which are very sweet)

1/2 c brown sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp ground cloves

Toss apples with lemon juice. Combine all ingredients in crock pot. Cook on high, covered for 2 hours. Uncover and cook on low until it is easily mashed. Mash with potato masher (for slightly chunky) or blend with immersion blender (for smooth). Makes about 1quart. 

I doubled this and canned it in jelly jars. Enjoy!