Homemade Soft Pretzels (NOT Low Fat, but OH SO GOOD!!!) :-)

I started with the following recipes from www.allrecipes.com:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Buttery-Soft-Pretzels/Detail.aspx

I cut the recipe in half, and actually used less than half of the flour (I used 2 cups instead of 2.5 cups).

After baking the pretzels (I actually baked them for about 10 minutes, which is slightly longer than the recipe calls for), I completely dipped each pretzel in melted butter. I then coated three of the pretzels in a cinnamon sugar mixture, and sprinkled ground salt on the other three.

"Homemade" Veggie Calzones

Once in a while dinnertime is upon us, and I feel like my family hasn't met their veggie goal for the day. I usually throw together a salad to go with whatever we are eating, and load it up with peppers, cucumbers, carrots, and other veggies.

Tonight I decided to do something a little more fun. I had two balls of Trader Joe's pizza dough in my fridge, and thought veggie calzones were the way to go. I rummaged through the fridge/freezer and came up with a few things to toss in (I always have tomatoes and garlic on hand, and my cheese drawer is pretty consistently stocked).

I ended up making two calzones, one with peppers and mushrooms, and one with spinach, peppers, and crushed red pepper.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup flour (to flour your work surface)

Two balls of Trader Joe's pizza dough (fresh, delicious, and only $0.99 each!)

1 cup chopped sweet peppers (I used red, yellow, and orange)

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms

1/2 cup organic frozen chopped spinach

2 cups organic shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup grated parmesan

2 cans stewed tomatoes

8 fresh garlic cloves

1/4 cup olive oil

1 t crushed red pepper

I started by putting the garlic cloves and cans of stewed tomatoes in the food processor. I blended them for about 20 seconds. This sauce was used for the inside of the calzones, as well as a dipping sauce for the table.


The directions on the pizza dough say to let it stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before using.

After 20 minutes, flour your work surface, and roll out the first ball of dough. Use a spoon to spread the tomato sauce on the dough, then top with 1/2 the mozzarella cheese. Add the mushrooms and half the peppers, then fold the "pizza" in half, and pinch around the edges to form a calzone.

Do the same thing to the second one, but add the crushed red pepper to the sauce, top with cheese and the remaining veggies, and fold over and pinch into a calzone.

Brush the top of each calzone with olive oil, and top with the shredded parmesan. Place them both on an olive oil greased baking sheet and stick in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Check to make sure the dough is cooked all the way through. Serve with a side of tomato sauce and enjoy!

Extremely Simple Crockpot Chicken Tacos

We've been stuck in the house since last Friday, due to two lovely blizzards that decided to fall upon the DC area this week. I have gotten to the store once, and managed to stock up on enough ingredients that I have been able to whip up some quick, and not so quick, meals. This one is very quick, easy, and of course, tasty. :-)

Ingredients:

*3 frozen chicken breasts (you can use thawed ones as well, but there's something great about taking frozen meat out of the freezer and cooking with it right away!)

*2 cups salsa (I love Kirkland's organic salsa from Costco)

*1 can corn (frozen corn will work as well)

*1 can black beans (dried beans prepared ahead of time will work)

*1 T ground cumin

*1.5 t garlic powder

*few dashes of salt

*few grinds of black pepper

Simply place the chicken breasts in the crockpot, pour the corn and salsa over the chicken, put the lid on the crockpot, and set it on high for four hours (or low for 8 hours).

About 30 minutes before it is done cooking, add the can of black beans (if using prepared dried beans, add them in the beginning with everything else) and mix in the seasonings.

When it's done cooking, shred the chicken, and serve. We used the mixture on crunchy tacos for dinner last night (I topped mine with a little shredded cheddar and sour cream), and I served it over rice this afternoon for lunch.

Pulled Pork BBQ in the Crockpot

I found this recipe on www.allrecipes.com:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Southern-Pulled-Pork/Detail.aspx

I first made it last month and Dan and I both really enjoyed it. I followed the recipe pretty closely, but I did make one change. an hour before the pork was done cooking, I removed about a cup of the liquid, and added a bottle of Sticky Fingers BBQ sauce. I stirred it up and let it cook for the last hour. All I can say is YUM.

Some tips:

*Use whole wheat rolls if using it for sandwiches to make it slightly healthier

*Chop up your onion and garlic together in a food processor (I'll do anything to avoid chopping an onion)

*Use only Sticky Fingers sauce; I have yet to find one that even comes close

I decided to make it again today, and I doubled the recipe so we will have quite a bit leftover (don't double the water; I would add maybe an extra 2 cups). I plan to freeze half of it for a rainy (or snowy) day. :-)

(The last picture on the right is what it looks like in my crockpot right after I shred the meat, remove a little liquid, and right before I add the Sticky Fingers sauce).