Fresh Mozzarella, Prosciutto, Arugula Pizzettas

FRESH MOZZARELLA, PROSCIUTTO, AND ARUGULA PIZZETTAS

With grilling seasoning nearing its end, I decided to back away from my traditional pepperoni and cheese grilled pizzas. Lettuce on a pizza may not sound extremely appealing, but  arugula adds a peppery flavor, a fresh taste, and crunchy texture to a pizza. Any topping can be used, but if you want a unique pizza for a special dinner, this is a great option.

Fresh Mozzarella, Prosciutto, and Arugula Pizzettas

Rhodes frozen roll dough balls, thawed

Olive oil

Tomato-based sauce (we use Traditional Sweet Basil from Classico, but any pizza or pasta sauce should work)

Mozzarella, sliced thin or shredded

Fresh Basil, chopped, optional

Tomato, sliced thin

Prosciutto 

Arugula 

Directions: 

1. Preheat grill, then lower to medium heat. Preheat oven to 450 F.

2. Thaw rhodes rolls according to directions (or any homemade or store-bought pizza dough). Stretch and flatten each dough ball to approximately 4-5 inches diameter. 

3. Lightly coat both sides of the dough with olive oil to add flavor and keep the dough from sticking to the grill. 

4. Place flattened dough onto grill. Check every minute to see if the dough if the down-facing side is cooked well enough. Then, turn and grill the other side.

5. Pull cooked pizza rounds off the grill and place on an oven-proof baking sheet.

6. Place toppings on the pizza, except arugula. We did it in this order: sauce (small amount), tomato slice, mozzarella, fresh basil, prosciutto.

7. Bake in the oven until the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes (baking times may vary).

8. Serve immediately with a small handful of arugula on top.

Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers

This one is from Our Best Bite's recipe book. They are delicious! If you don't like coconut, I think you'll still like this recipe because there's not a strong coconut flavor or texture.

Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers
from Our Best Bites
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon table salt
3/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
Boneless, skinless chicken breast (this will make about 1-1/2 large chicken breast halves) in small pieces, or use about 12 chicken tenders

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
2. Chop coconut so it's roughly the same size as the bread crumbs.
3. Combine the coconut, bread crumbs, and spices in a shallow dish. Stir well to make sure everything is evenly distributed.
4. Place the flour in a shallow dish and the eggs in another shallow dish. Whisk the eggs.
5. Working with one chicken piece at a time, dredge the chicken in flour, shaking off any excess. Then dip in the egg, again shaking off any excess. Roll in the bread crumb/coconut mixture, gently pressing the mixture onto the chicken. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken tenders. To add a little extra crunch, you can drizzle each one with a tiny bit of olive oil (I like to do this).
6. Bake for about 20 minutes or until juices run clear, being careful not to overcook them. Cooking time may be less or more depending on the size of the chicken pieces. The coconut and bread crumbs will be lightly golden brown and crispy.

We really like dipping these in honey mustard. I've used both Litehouse and Ken's honey mustards and they are both delicious.

While an easy meal to make, it is not that quick as breading the chicken takes forever. Once I had Adrian and the kids take care of that part and it went really fast, but usually it's just me so it goes really slow.

Three Packet Slow Cooker Roast

I got this recipe from my old boss who said it makes the best roast ever. It is certainly wonderful and very easy too! The gravy I made with the leftover juice is yummy.

Three Packet Roast
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/three-packet-slow-cooker-roast/

1 cup water
1 (.7 ounce) packet dry Italian dressing mix
1 (1 ounce) packet ranch dressing mix
1 (.75 ounce) packet dry brown gravy mix
3 pound boneless beef chuck roast
Whisk together the water, Italian dressing mix, ranch dressing mix, and brown gravy mix in a bowl until smooth. Place the beef roast into a slow cooker, and pour the sauce over top.

Cook on low until the roast is easily pierced by a fork, 6 to 8 hours.

Gravy
1/4 cup fat drippings (use butter to make a total of 1/4 cup of fat if there aren't enough drippings)
1/4 cup flour
2 cups drippings (use boiled water and beef base to make a total of 2 cups if there aren't enough drippings)

Make a roux. Melt fat from meat and butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add flour and mix with a whisk. Cook until it becomes bubbly and thick.

You need two cups of the remaining drippings. If you're short, use boiling water and beef base (1 cup water to 1 teaspoon beef base) to make up the difference. Add your drippings and water/beef base mixture to the roux if needed. Cook on medium heat until thick, stirring often. If you're not serving immediately, turn on low heat and stir occasionally. I strained the gravy before putting in the gravy boat to remove any lumps.

Makes 2 cups

Creamed Eggs on Toast

This is something I remember Grandma Cleo making when I would visit during college. Since then I've learned to make it and I love it! It's a pretty quick meal to prepare (probably about 30 minutes including the egg boiling.

I would say that these quantities would feed 2-4 people, depending on their appetites. I'm satisfied with about a third of this so I'd go 2 eggs, 1 T butter, 1 T flour and probably about 1/2 cup of milk.

Look at that yumminess!

And that homemade whole wheat bread underneath?

Delectable! :)

Creamed Eggs on Toast
6 hard boiled eggs
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Toasted bread

Boil your eggs. I've found that it's easier to peel them if they're still warm so I prefer to cook them right before I'm making this. Peel the eggs and chop up into big chunks. You'll want to complete this step before starting the next step, unless you take the next step super slow.

Make a roux by melting butter in a saucepan on medium heat then adding flour (I included some amounts here but if you want to make more or less, it's equal parts butter and flour). Once the mixture starts to bubble and thicken, add milk. Continue to stir; the sauce will begin to thicken. Add the eggs. If they're cold, you'll want to let them cook long enough to warm up. Add salt and pepper to taste.

A note about the roux...I'm always afraid of using too high heat, but I've found that using a medium-low heat takes forever. I put it on medium and just watch it closely. Don't be afraid to be a little aggressive with the heat.

Toast your bread then spoon the egg mixture on top.

While my homemade whole wheat bread is really good with this, I find that my homemade French bread makes it extra delicious. I'll post those recipes one of these days.

Brown Sugar Muffins

I've made these muffins for years ever since a roommate in college gave me the recipe. They are the only muffin recipe I use. You can use all-purpose flour, but recently I discovered King Arthur white whole wheat flour. It's an easy way to make anything whole-grain, and works really well in this recipe. Sometimes I add oatmeal. Lately, I've been mixing together 2-3 apples, peeled and chopped, 3T sugar and 1T cinnamon and folding it into the batter. This will add a few minutes to your cooking time but you'll yield twice as many muffins

350F

2 cups flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup melted butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix just until combined. Fold in apple mixture (optional) Bake in lined muffin pans for 15-20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins or 24 apple muffins

Ham and Pasta Skillet

Otherwise known as THE BEST use for leftover ham. I don't know about you, but leftover ham after a holiday always left me stumped. The only idea I could ever come up with was some kind of chowder that nobody really ate. This recipe comes from MelsKitchenCafe.com and makes a seriously tasty dinner. The key is good ham, like the leftovers of a spiral cut ham. Make the ham for Sunday dinner and have this later in the week. If you get yourself a red pepper and some fresh parsley, you probably have the rest of the ingredients in your pantry waiting to make this.

Here's the link:

ham-and-pasta-skillet-dinner

Am I too lazy to type it out myself, since I didn't make any changes? Yes. Yes I am.