Taco Pizza

Make dough by using bread machine, make it yourself, or use a store bought pizza dough.

Pizza Sauce for two pizzas

14.5 ounce can fire roasted stewed tomatoes

12 ounce can tomato paste

1 teaspoon olive oil

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 small yellow onion, chopped

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon coriander

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 cup water

In a medium size sauce pan, saute the onion and garlic in olive oil for about five minutes. Add all other ingredients stir, cover and cook on low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once done, set aside. You will have some sauce left over when making only one pizza. Tomato sauce will freeze very well for another day.

Pizza Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1.5 lbs hamburger

1 package taco seasoning

1 16 ounce can no-fat refried beans, heated in microwave for about one minute

1 medium to large tomato, chopped.

3 ounce chopped black olives

1 small red onion, chopped

2-3 cups shredded Mexican cheese

1/2 head iceberg lettuce, chopped

About 4-5 handfuls of corn chips, crushed

Sour cream (optional)

Salsa (optional)

Directions

While dough is rising and sauce is cooking, cook beef with taco seasoning, set aside. Chop all other ingredients and set aside. Heat refried beans and set aside. Once all ingredients are ready, roll pizza dough out to fit the size of your pan. I make a large batch of pizza dough, roll it out to about 1/3 of an inch and then place my pan over the dough and cut around the edge to make an evenly round pie that fits my pan exactly. Brush entire dough surface with olive oil. The rest of the dough can be made into another pizza or kneaded into a ball and set aside to allow another rise (more on this at the end of this recipe.) Once dough is on pan, spread an even amount of sauce over dough (you will have sauce left over for another pizza if only making one pizza.) Spread the warmed refried beans over sauce. Sprinkle an even amount of cheese over entire surface of pizza, sprinkle top with seasoned hamburger, onions, olives, and chopped tomatoes. Bake pie at 400 degrees for approximately 25-30 minutes. Check it after 15-20 to see if the crust is browning and the ingredients in the middle are cooking (just keep in mind what a pizza looks like in a restaurant to judge doneness.) The crust edges should be a golden brown and the middle of the pizza should be very hot. When pizza is done cooking, remove from oven and immediately slide pizza onto a cutting board. Cut pizza slices to desired size. Sprinkle top of pizza with several handfuls of crushed corn chips or Doritos. The chips are a judgment call on your part. Sprinkle the lettuce and serve with optional sour cream and salsa.

Optional Left-Over dough: cut three shallow cuts into top, brush entire top with olive oil, lightly sprinkle with garlic powder and italian seasoning. Bake for approximately 30 minutes at 400 degrees or until bread sounds hollow when tapped and is a golden brown.

Simple Crock Pot Roast

Any type of roast will work, even the cheap pieces of meat. I like pepper, so the rub may be too peppery for some people. Just reduce the amount of pepper used if you are not a pepper fan. The rub amount in this recipe is for a small to medium roast. If you have a large roast, just double the spice ingredients.


Ingredients


1 Roast - any size that will fit in your crock-pot
1 1/2 cups beef broth (use two cups broth for larger roast)
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon crushed rosemary
1 teaspoon sage


Directions
Trim excess fat from roast. Place roast and broth in crock-pot. In a small bowl, combine all spice ingredients. Rub top and sides of roast with rub. Follow cooking temperatures below. Once roast is done cooking, the broth can be poured into a sauce pan to make delicious gravy.


You can also add whole medium size potatoes that have been washed and stabbed with a forked into the broth. Do not cut into small pieces or the potatoes will be mushy after 8 hour of cooking.


Crock-pot settings:


1. If starting crock pot early a.m., (before work for instance) turn crock-pot on medium heat and allow roast to cook a minimum of 8.5 hours or more.


2. If starting roast mid-morning, turn crock-pot on high for one hour then reduce heat to medium and cook for 8.5 hours or more.

Pasta & Chicken (or Kielbasa)

This is a quick and easy recipe for those busy days.

Ingredients

1/2 package to 3/4 package Penne Pasta

2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped into bite-size pieces (or left over cooked chicken about 2 cups chopped)

1 Kielbasa can be substituted for the chicken.

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon minced onion

Optional items can be added:

1 medium tomato, cut into bite size pieces

4 medium mushrooms, chopped into slices

1/4 cup yellow zucchini, chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons crushed basil or Italian herbs, or herbs de province.

Directions

Sauté onion and bell peppers until onion is just translucent. Add minced garlic, salt, pepper, and minced onion and cook 3 minutes more (the mushrooms, and yellow zucchini can be added at this point.)  Add cooked chicken (or Kielbasa) and cook until warm (approximately 3-5 minutes.) The optional chopped tomatoes should be added during the last 2 minutes of cooking. Meanwhile Cook pasta according to package directions and drain water.

Combine the 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbs. Stir until combined.

In a large bowl, combine pasta, chicken mixture and olive oil mixture. Toss to coat and serve.

Pozole

A soup you can find in cans in the Hispanic section of the store. This recipe is very good, especially on a cold day.

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds pork loin

2 medium onions, chopped

8 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon oregano leaves, crushed

1/2 teaspoon pepper

3 quarts chicken broth

 1  7-oz can green chilies

2, 1-lb cans hominy or garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

Optional

Sour cream

Green onions

Directions

Remove all fat from pork loin and cut into bite size pieces. In a large stock pot, combine pork, onion, garlic, chili powder, oregano, pepper and 1 cup of the broth. Bring to boil, cover and simmer rapidly on medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover pan and stir often on medium high heat until broth is gone, meat is streaked with brown and drippings are richly brown. Add 1 cup broth and stir drippings from pan. Add remainder of broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for approximately 1 1/2 hours or until meat is tender. Add green chilies and hominy, cook for about 15 minutes.

Turkey Noodle Soup

Ingredients

32 ounces broth or 4 cups (made from boiling the turkey carcass or using canned broth)

2-3 cups water or whatever is needed to almost completely fill pot

1/2 a large onion, chopped

2 celery stocks, chopped

2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped

3 to 4 cups chopped cooked turkey or chicken

1or 2 teaspoons salt

2 or 3 teaspoons pepper

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon sage

1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning

1 cube butter

6 - 8 ounces extra wide egg noodles (or entire homemade egg noodle recipe)

Directions

In a large stockpot melt half a cube of butter. Sauté the onion and celery until onion is just translucent. Add the garlic and all of the spices and stir to coat. Add the broth and bring to boil. Let boil for 10 minutes. Add cooked turkey or chicken and cook for five minutes more. Add noodles and cook according to package directions. After noodles have cooked, remove pan from heat and add the other 1/2 stick of butter and stir until melted.

 

*The measurements on the spices is intentionally vague and should be added to your taste.

Egg Noodles

Ingredients

2 1/3 Cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 beaten eggs

1/3 cup water

1 teaspoon canola oil

Directions

In a large mixing bowl stir together 2 cups flour and the salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, water and oil. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well. If using a stand mixer, add ingredients as stated above and let mixer run until dough is combined and mostly smooth.

Sprinkle your kneading surface with the remaining flour and knead dough until smooth (about 10 minutes). This is where an electric stand mixer works well as it cuts the hand kneading down by about 8 minutes. Divide dough in quarters and let rest for 10-15 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough until about 1/2 inch thick. Cut as desired (I usually make mine like fettuccine noodles because I don't have a cool pasta machine to make other shapes.)

Hang noodles on a noodle hanger or place on drying racks and let sit overnight covered lightly with a clean dry cloth.

Cook pasta until done (about 10 minutes). To test doneness, press a spoon into noodle on side of pan. Noodles should be soft, but not mushy. 

Pasta can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for future use. 

Breakfast Pie

Ingredients

One pie crust (make your own or buy one from the store)

5-6 large eggs *

1/4 cup half-n-half *

1/2 tsp Pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp oregano flakes

3 tablespoons Onion, chopped

3-4 tablespoons Orange bell pepper, chopped

3-4 tablespoons yellow bell pepper, chopped

3-5 strips bacon

1/2 Mozzarella Cheese, grated

Salsa (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Prepare crust for one pie bottom and mold into pie pan. Cook bacon and crumble into bite size pieces, drain and set aside. Sauté bell peppers and onion until union is just translucent (do not over cook or cook until mushy). Whip together the eggs, half-n-half, pepper, salt, and oregano until slightly frothy.

In the pie crust, spread bacon on bottom. Spread onion mixture over bacon. Pour in the egg mixture. Sprinkle the cheese so it is evenly spread on top of the eggs. Place a strip of foil around the edges of the pie pan to cover the pie crust. This will keep the edges of the pie crust from over browning.

Bake uncovered for 45 minutes (check after 35 minutes for doneness) or until knife inserted in middle comes out clean. Remove foil and cook for 7 minutes more. Let stand to set-up for 15 minutes. Cut and serve with salsa.

*Egg substitute can be used instead of the eggs. Follow the package directions to find the substitute amount for each egg.