Lately on the Homey-front

Oh hay!  I'm back from a blogging break longer than any one I've taken in the past.  The truth is, I didn't have much going on that's blog-worthy.  Here's what's new:

1) I've started watching The Bachelorette.  How I made it all the way through my twenties without watching any of the series is beyond me.  I started watching because Howard Stern wouldn't stop talking about it and my only regret is not starting sooner.

2) My garden is growing like crazy.  Our herb garden always does pretty well (installed this summer with the same setup as usual) but our veggie garden is doing well this year, too.  Peppers, eggplant, zucchini, cucumbers, and tomatoes galore.  We're getting to the point in the summer where we're about to be overwhelmed with delicious, fresh produce.

3) After years of regular-dress territory, I've decided that I can maybe pull off a maxi dress.  Perfect for looking fancy when I'm really not and for sitting on the ground when playing with Will.

4) ...and speaking of Will the Baby, we have a walker!  For the last few months he has been getting steadier and steadier on his feet and I feel like I spend most of every day chasing him around the house. He's an expert at de-childproofing (maybe we're just awful at childproofing?) and that's really what's been keeping me busy.

The picture above reminds me that I've wanted to paint our front door a bright, punchy color (and have for a while).  It also makes me realize that I probably won't be doing it for a while.  Naptimes, when most bloggers seem to complete their projects, are usually spent trying to control house chaos or take a nap myself.  How long does the "sleep while the baby sleeps" rule apply?  4th grade?  College acceptance?

I'm off to catch up on Andi's escapades (I missed last night) but I'll leave you with some pictures of our garden to pizza adventure from the other night...

...and the promise to be back soon with some more posts and photos!  Thanks for hanging in there (stay hungry!  stay homey!).

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Buffalo chicken pizza from the vegetarian?  I know.  But stick with me.  My parents were visiting a few weeks ago and I wanted to make something easy yet tasty, something that they probably hadn't tried before.  Usually I cook vegetarian when we have guests but every once in a while I try to make a meat dish and grow my cooking skills.  Enter: Buffalo Chicken Pizza (I made kale pizza for myself).

You need:

chicken (I tore up the breasts from a grocery store rotisserie chicken)

hot sauce (I used Frank's)

ranch dressing

crumbled blue cheese

mozzarella cheese

pizza dough

Shred up your chicken to your desired thickness...

In a bowl, add 1/4 cup of hot sauce...

...plus 1/4 cup ranch dressing and mix...

Roll out your pizza dough, sprinkle some shredded mozzarella onto the crust, then add your buffalo chicken mixture.  Finally, top with blue cheese and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, or until the crust is cooked through and the cheese is bubbly.

Let cool, slice up, and serve.  This got rave reviews from Jesse and my parents (and again when I served it at our Super Bowl party on Sunday).  Enjoy and stay hungry!

Pulled Pork Pizza

Ummmm yes. 

Pulled pork pizza.  Talk to me, baby. 

We had a massive amount of pulled pork cooked up and ready to go.  In addition to pulled pork nachos, one of my all time favs is pulled pork pizza.  

Sooooo....if you're my Mom or a freak of nature you buy fresh pizza dough on a regular basis and throw it around like it ain't no thang.  Not me.  Fresh pasta dough is up there with puff pastry - sometimes you want to make it and deal with it on your own...and, well, sometimes you don't.  This is a simple appetizer, so a store bought, pre-cooked flatbread worked just fine.  

Mom, I'm busy at work this week so don't call me until later for my lecture, ok?

The rest of the ingredients are pretty straight forward:

1 1/2 Cups of Pulled Pork

8 oz Freshly Grated Cheddar 

1/4 Cup of Finely Sliced Red Onions

1/2 Cup of Good BBQ Sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray's Chipotle BBQ)

2 Green Onions Chopped, both green and white parts

Spread the bottom of the flatbread with the BBQ Sauce.  Toss the pork with about 1-2 Tbs of BBQ sauce to moisten it up and then layer on top of the BBQ Sauce.  My Mom rubs olive oil around the outside of the crust and sprinkles garlic powder or garlic salt to give it a little extra oomph.  I totally recommend that. 

Next, sprinkle your cheese and red onions.  Pizza is the last thing from a perfect science so play with the ingredients and the amounts.  I will probably go dos queso next time. 

Cook to the packages directions.  We cooked it at 400 for 12 minutes directly on the rack until the crust was nice and crispy and the cheese had melted.  To finish it off and add a fresh savory crunch, sprinkle the pizza with the green onions. 

So I have to admit, fresh pizza dough is better, but this took literally 15 minutes to throw together and cook.  So, if you have the time, use fresh pasta dough but if you want to whip together a quick dinner or a fun appetizer - this is the way to go.

Mommy likey.  Mommy want porky. 

Ok peeps...first pulled pork nachos and now pizza...what other ways can I use one of my favorite proteins?!  Stay hungry!

Homemade Pesto Pizza

We aren't a big vegetarian household. In fact, it takes quite a bit of effort for me to think outside of the carnivorousness box.  For my Mom, however, it's as easy as 1, 2...CHEESE.  

My homey girl Caitlin was visiting while we were in Maine and my Mom made some of her famous pesto pizza complete with pine nuts and amazingness.

This is what you'll need:

Fresh Pizza Dough 

Garlic Powder

Pesto

Mozzarella Cheese 

Toasted Pine Nuts 

You'll have forgive these photos.  My mother cooks at the speed of lightening.

Ok. Anyway.  Let the dough set on the counter top until it begins to puff up (about 30-45 minutes).   It will be much, much easier to manipulate.  Once you've been able to stretch it out a bit, drop the dough in the middle of the pan and stretch it out gently to the sides.  The dough will adhere to the pan, so use this to your advantage.

I don't have a picture for this because I blinked a couple of times, but to ensure the dough doesn't stick to the pan, my Mom sprays cooking spray UNDER the dough at this point.  So basically she lifts the dough, sprays, and places it back down.  You could also use cornmeal as well.

Next, sprinkle the dough with garlic powder.  Try to get at least some of it on the dough...

Next, spread a healthy serving of pesto on the dough...

Oh snap...

Once the dough is properly loved with pesto, add your shredded mozz.

I could eat it like this.  TRUST ME.  I'm a weirdo and have a thing for raw pizza dough.

Place it in a hot, 475 degree oven on the top rack until the dough begins to puff up and the cheese begins to melt.  Then, move it to a lower rack so the crust can get nice and crispy on the bottom. 

Yum to the tum....did someone say rum?

We toasted some pine nuts on the stove and then sprinkled them on top of the pizza once it came out of the oven.  Doesn't this look amazing?  I think so too.  Stay hungry! 

Piece Pizza Chicago, IL

Hey it's me. Jaisa's pizza craving again. I think I'm the only person in the world that likes this combination. The great thing is my husband won't touch it!! Allllll minnnnne. White pizza with spinach, bacon and CLAMS. Yes. So good. Stay hungry!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Punch Pizza

One of the best things about being in Minnesota? The best food chains ever! Check out this shot from Punch Pizza. It's like we were back in Italy. I ordered my pizza D.O.C. style. Buffalo mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes and EVOO. From Punch: A branch of the Italian government committed to preserving the exquisite quality and authenticity of certain regional foods and wines. As a signature food of Naples, Neapolitan pizza was recently given the distinction of D.O.C. Holla back and stay hungry!





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

OMGourd

I'll usually leave the cooking stuff to Jaisa, but what I'm making for dinner tonight is so seasonally appropriate that I had to share. Plus, I spent $200 at Whole Foods today so I feel like I need to go above and beyond with dinner.

(Apparently, to me, going "above and beyond with dinner" means making a pizza.)

Here's how I made Butternut Squash Pizza...

I grabbed my ingredients - 1 butternut squash, ricotta cheese (used liberally), mozzarella cheese (again, use to taste.  I like a lot.), rosemary, olive oil, pizza dough*, and salt & pepper.


After prepping the squash, I coated the butternut squash pizza with a bit of olive oil and salt & pepper and roasted in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes. While doing this, I spread out the pizza dough on a greased cookie sheet (Note: my parents usually have make-your-own-pizza night when I come home. We've learned, through a lot of trial and error, that spreading the pizza dough out on a square cookie sheet is the simplest way for us to make a pizza.)

Once the squash is roasted, toss it on top of the pizza dough and smear some ricotta cheese around there, too. Turn the oven up to 450. Sprinkle the top of the pizza with mozarella, rosemary, salt & pepper, and put it back in the oven for 25 minutes or so. 

You'll know when it's ready... so golden and melty.

Then eat it. It's delicious.  I'm not usually the one who says this, but stay hungry!

*On pizza dough - if you're the type who makes your own, awesome. I made it once in college (that's about as experimental as I got) and it took forever. The dough from the pizza tonight is whole wheat and from Whole Foods, but usually I just go to my local pizzeria and ask for a ball of dough. Cheap and delicious and so convenient.