Philly Cheese Steak Pizza

I was in the mood for homemade pizza last night and had found a few different recipes for cheese steak pizza so I decided to give it a try. (Just google Philly cheese steak pizza and there are a TON of options!)  I pulled a little bit from a bunch of different recipes to create ours and it was fantastic! 

Shopping List:

1 pizza crust (homemade/store bought/etc...)

1/2 cup tomato sauce (we used 6 cheese from a jar)

2 oz. cream cheese

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups Italian cheese (any kind)

1/2 lb. roast beef (from the deli)

1 medium onion

1 green pepper

2 Tbsp. butter

Dash Worcestershire

Parmesan cheese

Oregano

Directions:

-Prepare crust, if needed and heat oven to directed temperature for crust (ours was 450 for a pre-made crust). 

-Saute chopped onion and pepper in a pan with the butter until caramelized, about 10-15 minutes.  Add a dash of Worcestershire at the end.

-In a small saucepan, heat the tomato sauce, cream cheese, and garlic until melted and combined. Spread thinly over crust.

-Top pizza with 1/2 of the cheese, chopped roast beef, peppers/onions, the rest of the cheese, Parmesan, and a sprinkle of oregano.

-Follow directions on crust to determine baking time. Ours was about 10-12 minutes.

The 'sauced' crust

The finished pizza, fresh out of the oven

Ready to eat!

This was a quick and simple pizza that was MUCH cheaper than ordering in!  Now I'm ready to start thinking of new ideas for pizza. Does anyone out there have any 'out of the norm' ideas? Let me know!

Happy Eating!

Just as Good

Have you ever been to one of the 9 million Mexican restaurants in every town/city/area of this world? Not the national chains of fake food, but the wonderfulness of places like Mi Pueblito, El Corral, El Matador, El Caporal... If you have, then you know the salsa there is great! If not, I suggest you drop what you are doing and go NOW!.

I actually found a recipe that rivals the restaurant salsa. Thanks to the Pioneer Woman's Blog (check it out if you haven't), I have a new favorite snack.

The Ingredients

Shopping List:
28 oz. can whole tomatoes, drained
2 cans Rotel tomatoes and chilies, undrained (we got mild)
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
The juice of 1/2 a lime (or a few splashes out of a bottle)
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cumin

Directions:
-Basically throw everything in a blender or food processor and go! Naturally I added the cilantro, onion, and pepper in first to get them good and chopped up, but whatever you prefer will work.
-Chill in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.
-Yield: A TON OF SALSA, probably 3-4 cups worth?

The Salsa

This recipe was super simple and can be made year round. Again, feel free to play with the ingredients and make it just your own.

Happy Eating

Avocado Addiction

We had a quiet day around the house yesterday so I decided to make some salsa (recipe to come soon) and guacamole! Both turned out great!

Ingredients

Shopping List:
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cumin
2 avocados, chopped
1 medium tomato, seeded and diced

Directions:
-In a blender or food processor, pulse the onion, jalapeno, garlic, cilantro, lime, salt, and cumin until well blended (depending on your taste).
-Add the avocados to the onion/pepper mix and blend again until desired consistency is achieved.
-Remove mix from blender/processor into a small bowl. Add in tomato and stir.
-Store in fridge until ready to eat. Makes 1-2 cups.

The finished GUACAMOLE

Don't be afraid of guacamole. I hear so many people ask for it to be removed at restaurants, but I'm sure they've never even tried it. It is so creamy and good for you.

Feel free to change this recipe according to your tastes. We don't really like extremely spicy things so only used 1 jalapeno. You can use 2 or even 3 if you want. This is definitely a recipe to taste as you are making it so it comes out just right.

Also, it may seem a little odd, but did you know that guacamole tastes great on a turkey dog? Seriously... Awesome. Give it a try.

Happy Eating.

Southern Style

In honor of Mardi Gras, I recently made some Jambalaya. This is normally the husband's job each year, but I had found a new recipe and wanted to give it a shot!

Ingredients:

Shopping List:
1 green pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1 can condensed French Onion soup
1 can beef broth
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
2 tsp. Creole seasoning (Cajun)
1 1/2 tsp. hot sauce
1 lb. uncooked shrimp, chopped
1/2 lb. Andouille sausage, chopped
2 cups uncooked long grain rice

Directions:
-In a large pan, saute the onion and pepper in butter until tender (the original recipe didn't call for this step but we like our veggies good and done!). Add soup, broth, tomato sauce, seasoning, and hot sauce. Stir and bring to a boil.
-Remove from heat and stir in shrimp, sausage, and rice.
-Transfer to a greased 9x13 inch pan. Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove foil, stir, and bake 10-15 minutes longer, or until rice is tender.

Jambalaya (sorry for the terrible photo, I was hungry)

A few notes on this recipe.

-The flavor was AWESOME, not really spicy (add more hot sauce to your liking).
-We needed some more liquid because the rice seemed to absorb too much. We thought about adding a can of undrained chopped tomatoes next time.
-The recipe called for a full pound of shrimp and my bag was only about 2/3 of that. It still worked out just fine.
-I couldn't find any Andouille sausage at the grocery store so I just picked up plain smoked sausage. The husband informed me later that Cajun/Spicy brautwurst would have also done the trick.

Happy Eating!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup is a new recipe at our house! We just love the taste of this when we are out to eat, so I decided to create my own version at home. The best part about this recipe? Most of the ingredients are from a can so it is mainly a open, pour, and stir meal!

Please let me know if and when you try this in your own home!

Ingredients

The canned and packaged items

The fresh items

Shopping List

1 medium onion, diced
1 orange sweet pepper, diced

2 Tbsp. butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of potato soup

1 can chicken broth

1 can Rotel tomatoes and chillies, with juice

1 can corn, drained

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded

1/2 packet taco seasoning

1/2 packet chili seasoning

1 cup 2% milk

1/2 cup sour cream

Tortilla Chips

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Directions

-Saute onion, pepper, garlic, and butter in a large pan until tender.

-Add soups and broth to onion mixture. Stir well.

-Add Rotel, corn, beans, and chicken; stir and let heat through

-Add taco and chili seasoning with 1 cup of milk. More or less milk can be used according to desired thickness. Add sour cream and heat through; stirring often.

-Spoon into individual bowls and top with crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheese.

We ate our soup with a tasty grilled cheese (with turkey). Please be warned, this recipe make enough to feed an army (about 8 large bowls). We like to freeze the leftover soup in separate containers so we have a few quick meals at our fingertips later on!

I also did a little calculating because I really wanted to know how good (or bad) this soup is for you. With all of its cheesy, creamy, rich goodness I must admit I was a little afraid. However, with a serving size of 2 large ladles it only worked out to be 475 calories! I may have done a small happy dance at that revelation.

So there you have it. The first recipe of what I hope is many to come.

Happy Eating!