Pizza Dough and Cheeseless Pizza

     My sister and I were home alone for dinner.  She and I were both in the mood for pizza so I started googling.  I found a promising dough recipe even though it would take a while and looked like a bit of work.  We both were not hungry so I got it started at about 5.  This was my first experience making pizza from scratch so it took me until 9 to make it though I should have finished about 8.  Thankfully, it was worth the wait!

     The pizza recipe below can be done with any dough, but I made my own.  Here is the recipe for the dough I made from About.com.

http://americanfood.about.com/od/pizzainsideandout/r/nypd.htm

(The dough just out of the bowl before kneading)

     After the dough is fully done, heat the oven to 425.  Divide the dough into two balls.  If making only one pizza, coat the second ball of dough in a little olive oil and place in a plastic bag for another time.  If not, repeat these steps for both dough balls.

Homemade Cheeseless Pizza

Pizza dough

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 clove crushed or diced garlic

1/4 tsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp pesto paste

1/2 tsp balsamic glaze

Leftover meat of choice

1/4 tsp fresh chopped or dried basil

     Stretch the dough ball to the desired size for the pizza stone or pizza pan.  Put olive oil in a small bowl with garlic.  Brush the entire pie with the oil and garlic leaving a little of the mixture behind.  Place in the oven for 8 minutes.

     While the crust is in the oven, open and drain the diced tomatoes.  In a small bowl, mix maple syrup, pesto paste, and balsamic glaze.  Dice enough leftover meat to coat the pizza to your liking (I used pork tenderloin cooked with barbecue sauce).

     Once the 8 minutes is up for the crust, remove it from the oven.  Spread the drained diced tomatoes onto the crust and put the meat on top of that.  Brush the outer crust with the remaining oil and garlic.  Use the brush to dab the pizza with the with all the balsamic sauce evenly.  Sprinkle the basal on top and place back in the oven for another 7 minutes.  Remove from oven, cut and enjoy!

Dairy Free Skinny Iced Hot Chocolate

     I was looking for a dairy free frosty recipe when my mom posted one on my facebook wall. It looked just like a real frosty so I got my hopes up!  You might have seen this as well.

     Doesn't it look just like the creamy goodness we all love?  It was made with almond milk, ice, coco powder, vanilla and frozen banana.  I had everything on hand (including the frozen banana from previous milkshakes) so I decided to try it.

     This was the result of the amounts they used in the recipe.  It was not a thick shake but it was a thin and runny chocolate drink with slushy ice in it.  In fact, it was like frozen hot chocolate!  Thankfully, I love frozen hot chocolate so this was a plus for me.  If you were expecting a frosty, you would be disappointed.  Anyways, here is the recipe for frozen hot chocolate! :)

Frozen Hot Chocolate

3/4 cup Almond Milk
about 15 ice cubes
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1-2 Tbsp unsweetened Cocoa powder
1/3 of a Banana
Blend.

Onion and Bacon Pasta Improv

In looking through the fridge I concluded there were no leftovers for a full meal.  The only thing I could eat was some roast beef.  Then, I eyeballed the bacon.

(Photo credit http://bacon.wikia.com/wiki/Bacon)

I have a confession to make, I have an obsession with bacon.  If you are not also obsessed with bacon I believe you cannot be a human. ;)

(Photo credit http://baconnation.net/?tag=art)

While bacon was not the main ingredient in the dish I threw together, it definitely made it great!  My one suggestion would be to replace the roast beef with chicken.  I would have used chicken but as I said before, we only had roast beef.

Onion and Bacon Pasta

1 bag Ronzoni penne pasta portions
Olive oil
1/4 small onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced or crushed
Diced pepper (I diced 3 strips)
1 1/2 tsp tomato paste
A few shakes of the following dry ingredients
     Dried oregano
     Dried basil
     Dried parsley
     Salt
     Peper
Diced leftover meat of choice (I would use chicken next time)
2 strips precooked bacon, cut into small pieces
Drizzle of balsamic glaze

Put water on to boil for pasta.
In a small pan or skillet coated in olive oil, sauté onions, garlic and diced peppers until softened.  Add more oil, tomato paste, dry ingredients and simmer until the pasta goes into the water.  When the pasta is cooking, add the rest on the ingredients.  Drain pasta and put into skillet.  Heat for a few minutes and then enjoy!

Gnocchi Improv

      When I was shopping yesterday I found a package of gnocchi.  I had it a few years ago and I remembered liking it.  I had no idea what I would serve it with but I got it anyways.  My parents were going out for dinner so I was in charge of cooking.  I asked my siblings ( aged 23, 12, and 10) if they would like to try gnocchi and they said they would.  Thankfully, I do not have picky eaters in my family so I went to work.

      I did a look around the fridge, pantry and spice cabinet to see what we had.  Took out a few things and put it together.  The only thing I would change is putting the sun dried tomatoes in towards the end since they got a little too dark for my tastes.  Here is the recipe for what I came up with including the change for the sun dried tomatoes.  I'm using guesstimations for the amounts because I didn't use measuring cups or spoons.

Tomato Gnocchi

Serves 3-4

1 package gnocchi

1 medium sized sweet onion

2 cloves garlic

Olive oil

1/8 tsp dried cilantro

A few shakes of dried oregano

1/8 tsp dried basil

2 tbs tomato paste

2 tbs vegan pesto paste

1 8oz can of tomato sauce

Sun dried tomatoes (put in enough for your tastes)

1 8oz package grilled chicken strips

     Put on water to boil in a medium size pot for gnocchi.  Slice onion and put in a large skillet with the bottom coated in olive oil and add garlic on medium-high heat.  Once onions begin to soften, put in cilantro, oregano, basil, tomato paste, and pesto paste with a little more oil.  Let that simmer on low heat until the gnocchi goes in the pot to boil.  Cook gnocchi for the allotted time on the package (mine was 3 minutes).  While gnocchi is cooking, put remaining ingredients in the skillet on medium heat.  Drain gnocchi when the time is up and stir it in the skillet.  Make sure everything is fully heated up by cooking for a few more minutes.  Serve with a salad or your favorite vegetable.

Reese's Peanut Butter Bars

     Looking for something delicious and easy to make?  Look no further then these Reese's Peanut Butter Bars!  They do not require baking but they do need a stove or microwave to melt some things.  They also need an hour to refrigerate.  If you make your own gram cracker crumbs I would suggest using something other than a mini food processor.  It takes WAY too long to make 2 cups worth with a mini one which I unfortunately know from experience. :P

     I got this recipe third hand from Pinterest.  I believe the original source is this one from Let's Dish.  I switched butter with butter flavored Crisco and I used dairy free chocolate chips.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients
1 cup butter flavored Crisco plus 2 tablespoons water melted
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (use the boxed kind, or grind them in a food processor. Tiny granules.)
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup + 4 tablespoons peanut butter
1 1/2 cups semisweet dairy free chocolate chips

Directions
In a medium bowl, mix together the melted crisco and water, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners’ sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13 inch pan. In a metal bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave, melt the chocolate chips with the 4 tablespoons peanut butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Spread over the peanut butter layer. Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares.

My family loved my dairy free version of these delicious bars, even my dad!

Update- 8pm 2/23/13

I took some bars, cut them in half and brought a container of them to work.  My coworkers ate all of them up very quickly and they couldn't believe were dairy free!

Pesto Almost Fiasco

     Last night my mom asked me to cook what she had planned for dinner.  She was going to head straight to church after my little sisters ballet lesson so I had to cook for the family.  She said it was an easy recipe so I told my mom I would take care of it.  She told me the recipe would be fine for me to eat so I didn't have to modify it and off she went to ballet with my sister.
     I never use pesto so I did not know one of the base ingredients is cheese.  I went through the recipe for Penne Pesto with Chicken and just before I was about to add the pesto I checked the label out of habit.  It was a good thing I did!  Since the pesto was the last step, I took some of the pasta, chicken, and broccoli rabe from the large skillet and put it in a small one.  I then added the pesto to the large skillet and some leftover regular tomato sauce from the fridge to the small one.  Thankfully, the food was delicious anyways and thankfully, dairy free for me! :)

Here is the recipe for the Penne Pesto (or Sauce) with Chicken

• 1 large bunch broccoli rabe, trimmed slightly and cut into 1 1/2" pieces
• 1 box (16oz) penne pasta
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• My family doubles the garlic in almost every recipe so I used 4
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 pkg (9oz) fully cooked grilled chicken strips cut into bite sized pieces.
• 1 container (7oz) basil pesto
• You can sub the pesto for a tomato sauce.  I'm not sure of the amount since I did just for my portion.  Add sauce until the pasta is lightly coated or more if you prefer more sauce and add a little extra olive oil.  Or you could make your own pesto.  I have found many recipes online.

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.  Add broccoli rabe and cook 3 minutes.  
2. Scoop broccoli rabe into a colander with a slotted spoon to drain. 
3. Add pasta to the now empty pot of boiling water and cook for the time on the box of the pasta.
4. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook 2 minutes. Stir in braccoli rabe and cook for 3 more minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.
5. Drain pasta.  Stir chicken, pasta and pesto (or tomato sauce) into skillet.  Cook 2 minutes to heat through.  Serve warm.

Update- I recently found many pesto pastes are vegan.  They work well, but they are a little pricey.  We used two 2.8oz tubes of Amore Pesto Paste for this recipe and it was delicious!

Dairy Free Mint Chocolate Milkshakes

     Creamy milkshakes that have no milk, can it be too good to be true?  Nope!  Thankfully, I found a milkshake recipe that is not only delicious, but it is better for you than a traditional milkshake.  I was searching online the other day to find some new dairy free recipes and I was very happy to find this gem.

     The site I found it on is Chocolate-Covered Katie, a good blog for healthy deserts.  It is so easy to make but I modified it a little to fit my tastes.  Here is the link to the original post on Katie's blog http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/02/24/raw-mint-chocolate-chip-milkshake/.  I wanted to make it last night but I found out we were out of peppermint extract.  Sadly, I had to wait until today, but it was worth the wait!

Just happened to have one of these glasses
so I could't resist taking a photo :)

• 1 Frozen, under-ripe banana
• A small handful of chocolate chips
• I use Ghiradelli semisweet chocolate chips
• A dribble of pure peppermint extract
• 2/3 cup milk of choice
• I use organic original soy milk or a chocolate peppermint one if I REALLY want some flavor
• 1/8 tsp of coco powder
• Optional green food coloring
• I opted out

     To freeze the banana, I peeled and sliced it, then put it in a bowl in the freezer.  After it was frozen, I transferred it into a sandwich bag until I was ready to make the shake.

     For easier mixing, first put the banana in the blender and blend for a few seconds.  Then add the other ingredients and blend until desired consistency is reached.  If you like larger chocolate chunks like I do, put half the chips in when you first start blending, then add the rest when it is the right consistency and blend for a few more seconds.  Pour into a medium large glass, top with a dairy free whipped topping or chocolate shavings and enjoy!