Chicken alfredo pizza

So the inspiration for today's pizza comes from Pizza Hut.


I decided I would make the dough from scratch, as I didn't feel like running to the store.  I also made the alfredo sauce from scratch.  I also thought up (with a friends help) a rub for the chicken that was on the pizza.  It was time intensive, but o so worth it.  Had my neighbor over for dinner since all her food is packed up (she's moving) and she said it was "delish".


Recipes are posted separately from each other under the pictures.  :D

Put your yeast in warm water, mix.  Add 2 cups of flour until mixed well, then add 1.5-2 cups more flour until too stiff to stir with a spoon.












Flour the counter, or a surface that you'll work on, and turn the dough out on it.  Start working it over and knead for 10 or so minutes, or until its elasticy, and not sticky.  Add flour as needed.










Put it in a bowl with oil (virgin or veggie) and flip the dough over enough to cover it in oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm place.  I put the oven on at 200*F and set it up on the stove. 


I waited for it to double.  While waiting I made up the chicken. And the alfredo sauce.




Make your spice rub - bacon salt, garlic powder, oregano, and
basil. Mix in a small container.












Thaw chicken and put on grill.  I was using a george foreman.  I poured some of the rub onto the chicken and patted it in there with my finger.  When I flipped the chicken I patted in the rub with a fork, as the chicken was HOT.  Try not to eat it.  When done, let cool and cut up into bite size pieces.  Try a piece or two, but DON'T EAT IT ALL. If you eat it all now you won't have any for your pizza.  And thats just sad.




Making the Alfredo Sauce:
Melt butter in a sauce pan.  Add 3 cloves of garlic and cook it till soft, about 2 minutes.

Add softened and cubed cream cheese into the mixture, whisk until smooth (or approx close to the picture).
Add milk and whisk until smooth.
Add parm cheese until mixed; add salt and pepper as desired.

Keep stirring until the sauce reaches desired consistency.  It will thicken quickly.

Meanwhile, my dough has double in size.  Remove the plastic wrap, flour the counter (again!) and punch it down, to get rid of bubbles.  separate dough into two piles and let rest for a few minutes.  Add more flour to the counter if needed.  Also preheat the oven to 500*F and spray your pizza sheets with oil or spread out cornmeal if you have it.

Start spreading out your dough into a rough circle shape. Lay it on your pizza sheet.  Do the same with your second ball of dough.



Here's my second.  It looks a little odd, I know.  It tasted fine tho :D











Now we're going to assemble the pizza!


Start by spreading your alfredo sauce on the spread out dough.  










Layer cheese, some of the cut up chicken, tomato, and bacon.  On one pizza I did mozzerella cheese, on the second pizza I did both mozzerella and colby jack.  Its what I had thawed.  :D










Two finished pizza's.  Ready to go in the oven when its preheated properly (500*F).














Put them in the oven for 15-20 minutes.  Mine were in there for 20 minutes and the crust was a bit hard.  Make sure, though, that your crust is done properly. 



 


 A finished pie.  SO GOOD.  Only one of my pies had bacon, as I ran out.  Time to make a run to sam's club soon for more!







 Pizza Directions:


Alfredo sauce
crust
chicken, cut up
1 tomato diced
cheese (your choice on what types)
Bacon bits


To make the chicken:


Take 6 chicken tenders, thawed.  Pull out your grill (I use a George foreman, much easier.).  Mix 1 tsp basil, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp garlic powder, and 1/2 tsp bacon salt into a bowl. Put the chicken on the grill, and spread the rub on the chicken. Press it down with your finger or a fork.  Flip the chicken when needed, and add more rub to the other side, and press it down with a fork (its hot, don't use your fingers).  When done, put on a plate, cut into bite size chunks, and let cool in the fridge.


To make the alfredo sauce: 

3 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 package cream cheese, softened and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup milk
1/2 to 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese
ground black pepper, to taste
salt, to taste

Melt butter in a saucepan. Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes. Add the cream cheese, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add milk, a little at a time, whisking until smooth. Stir in Parmesan cheese and pepper.  Season with kosher salt, if needed. Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency.   Sauce will thicken quickly.


 To make the dough:

1 1/4 c. warm water
1 tsp. salt
vegetable oils or olive oil
3 1/2 to 4 c. sifted flour
2 packages dry yeasts (5 tsp if using it in a jar)

Add yeast and warm water into a medium bowl, and stir until yeast dissolves.
Add 2 cups of flour to the bowl and stir till combined.  Add another 1.5 to 2 cups of flour and blend until you can't stir it easily with a spoon.  Dump dough out onto a floured counter and knead for 10-15 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic.  PLace dough into another bowl that has oil in it.  Flip the dough around till its covered in oil.  Place in a warm spot for about 45 minutes, or until dough doubles in size.
Once doubled in size, dump the dough back onto the floured surface and punch it down, getting rid of any bubbles. Divide the dough in half and let it rest a few minutes.
Roll out each half of dough into a rough circle, or if you're like me and don't have a rolling pin, work it out with your hands.
Put your crusts on the oiled pizza pans. Load on your toppings.  If you wish you can brush the crusts with olive oil, but seeing as how I don't have a pastry brush, I could not do this.  Pop it in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Chicken Pot Pie

I've made this once before (over here) but I changed it up this time.  I never like to do things the same, theres always something to be experimented with.

I also took pictures this time too.  It smelled wonderful while it was cooking; too bad you can't transport smells via the internet.

First preheat your oven to 400*F.  And put 1/2 stick of butter in a pot (stock pot or skillet with sides) to melt.

Chop finely 1/2 an onion, carrot, celery and green (or other color, I had green on hand) pepper.







Add to melted butter and let cook for a few minutes.  It will start to smell good right now.








Add cooked chicken and flour, stir to combine.  Continue cooking (and stirring) for 3-5 minutes.

Add 2 cups of chicken broth (I used 2 cups of the stuff I made cooking the chicken right before making dinner.  Fresh!)







Bring to a slow boil; Add in scant 1/3 c small pasta (I used Alphabet pasta) and let cook a bit till the sauce is thick. Also add in salt pepper and fresh/dried thyme.  I don't have fresh herbs (they cost too much money) so I use dried. Taste it to make sure you have proper amounts of seaonings.




Pour mixture into a cassarole or pie dish.  I used a 8 or 9 inch cake tin, cuz my pie plates aren't deep enough.

Place the crust on top of the pan, crimp edges.  Slit top of pie crust so it can breath.







Place in the oven for 30 minutes or until browned and bubbly.  Let stand for 4-5 minutes, serve, eat.

Its really really yummy.  I liked the addition of green pepper and pasta.  Wonder what I'll add next time.

I used a premade (store-bought) pie crust, although you could certainly make your own.  If you do that, however, make sure its 1 inch larger on all sides than your pie dish.



1 pie crust
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup finely diced carrot
1/2 cup finely diced celery
1/2 cup finely diced bell pepper (any color!)
2 cups cooked chicken
1/4 cup flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken
scant 1/3 c small pasta (I used alphabet pasta)
dried thyme
dried rosemary
salt and pepper to taste


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Melt butter in a skillet or dutch oven. Add onion, carrots, pepper, and celery, and cook until translucent.  Add chicken and stir. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir. Cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Pour in chicken broth, stirring constantly. Add pasta if desired.

Bring to a slow boil and allow mixture to cook and thicken for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, and dried thyme and rosemary to taste. Do one final taste at the end and add what it needs.

Pour mixture into a casserole dish or deep pie pan. Roll out crust so that it’s about 1 inch larger than the pan you’re using. Place the crust on top of the pot pie mixture, and press crust into the sides of the dish. Cut vents in the top of the crust.

Bake for 30 minutes or until very golden and bubbly.

Allow to cool for a little bit before serving.

HAITI!

So we're going to haiti for dinner tonight...thanks to Dixie, orphanage director at GLA, for the recipe...she gave it to my mom, and i got it from mom :D


Rice and Red beans (haitian rice and beans)

12 oz can cooked kidney beans
3 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed/minced1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cups long grain rice
2 whole cloves
1 green scotch bonnet pepper (opt)
1 thyme sprig
1 parsley sprig (opt)

Wash beans and drain.

Heat oil in a cast iron pot on med heat. Stir in garlic, onion, scallion, 2 tsp salt and black pepper for 2 minutes. Add and stir the cooked or canned beans and fry for 5 minutes until the beans are crisp. Add 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add the rice and cloves, stir, and boil until water evaporates. Lower heat, stir rice, and place the whole scotch bonnet pepper, thyme and parsley on top of rice. Cover and let cook for 20 minutes. Remove hot pepper, thyme, and parsley. Stir before serving.

Theres a red sauce for it, that i didn't make, but i will include the recipe in case you want to try it :)

red sauce

4 pieces of chicken
6 cups water
1 LARGE Tbsp mayo
2 cubes chicken boillion
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 leek

Sauce:
1 cup broth from chix
green pepper, chopped small
onion, cut into rings
2 heaping TBSP tomato paste

cut 1 large green pepper or chop it into small pieces
slice one large onion and separate the rings.
boil 4 pieces of chicken in 6 cups of water to which you have added 1 Large TBSP mayo, 2 cubes of bouillion, 4 cloves of garlic crushed with 1 leek.

Remove chicken and cut it in bite size pieces. Save broth for the sauce.

In large pan over medium heat, add 1 cup broth, add the sliced green pepper.
Let this simmer until green pepper is starting to get soft. Then add about 2 heaping TBL spoons of tomato paste. Simmer over low to medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the broth and bring to a boil. Add onions and boil for 30 seconds and remove the pan from the burner. Onions will continue
to cook. Salt and pepper to taste.

sometimes i add cumin and sometimes i add a hot pepper to boil with the sauce and then remove when its finished.


I did not use a scotch bonnet pepper because i don't like the heat and there were no funds for one. I also added chicken after the rice and water boiled while it was simmering for 20 minutes.
I used long grain rice, none of this "Minute" stuff...had the "real deal" and it had to be used up.

Cloves smell wonderful, and remind me of christmas, by the way.

I use extra virgin olive oil, just to make it a tad healthier (or try...its the thought that counts, right?)

Also, i don't have a cast iron pot, so i used a stock pot and it works wonderfully :D

moving

well, i'm moving to a new city, same state soon...it'll be just TJ, max (dog) and i...


i made pot pie the other night, trying to use up some veggies so i don't have to move as much refrigerated stuff

1 pie crust (1/2 of Perfect Pie Crust recipe)
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup finely diced carrot
1/2 cup finely diced celery
2 cups leftover turkey, light and dark, diced or shredded (or both!)
1/4 cup flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken or turkey broth
splash of white wine (optional)
1 cup heavy cream
Frozen peas (optional)
Fresh thyme, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Melt butter in a skillet or dutch oven. Add onion, carrots, and celery, and cook until translucent (a couple of minutes.)
Add turkey and stir. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir. Cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.
Pour in chicken or turkey broth, stirring constantly. Splash in wine (you can leave this out if you’d like.) Pour in cream. (May add frozen peas at this point if you’d like.)
Bring to a slow boil and allow mixture to cook and thicken for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste (do not underseason), and fresh or dried thyme to taste. Do one final taste at the end and add what it needs.
Pour mixture into a casserole dish or deep pie pan.
Roll out crust so that it’s about 1 inch larger than the pan you’re using.
Place the crust on top of the pot pie mixture, and press crust into the sides of the dish. Cut vents in the top of the crust.
Bake for 30 minutes or until very golden and bubbly.
Allow to cool for a little bit before serving.

Serve with a large spoon.

REALLY GOOD. i used premade crusts...and it worked out well :)

Hawai'ian BBQ Chicken

This is for dinner tonight :)

it smells amazing. the pineapple is amazing...the BBQ sauce is amazing...and chicken is always good...

ingredients:

• 3 pounds Boneless Chicken Breast, Thighs Or A Combo Of The Two
• 1 whole Onion (large), Sliced Into Chunks
• 1 can (20 Oz. Size) Pineapple, I Recommend Nibblits Or Crushed, Drained But Reserve The Juice If Using (See Note Below)
• 1 bottle (18 To 20 Oz. Size) BBQ Sauce Of Your Choice (Our Favorites Are Sweet Baby Ray's Or Open Pit If We Want To Give It A Little More Of A Kick)
• Hamburger Buns Or Kaiser Rolls

(i used chunk pineapple...i didn't have the other stuff available. i also used a small onion, cuz its either that or EXTRA large...and my housemates are fond of onion)

prep:

If you use frozen chicken, make sure it is completely defrosted. If you cook it frozen, it will indeed cook but it will make a very “wet” sauce. Place your chicken in the bottom of the crock pot. Top with onions, then pineapple. Pour the entire bottle of BBQ sauce over the whole thing.

Note: If you want a sweeter BBQ, add up to half a cup of the pineapple juice you drained, depending on how sweet you want it. This is optional.

Turn your crock pot on LOW and cook for 8–10 hours (or on HIGH for 4–6).

An hour or two before it is finished cooking, carefully remove the chicken from the crock pot and shred it using two forks. Watch out, it will be hot! Place chicken back in the crock pot and stir well to combine. Finish cooking an additional hour or two so the chicken can absorb most of the sauce. Serve on hamburger buns and top with coleslaw if desired.

my chicken was slightly frozen still...but it was VERY tender, pulled apart VERY easily :)

making up food pt 2

so i had some grilled chicken tenders that were left overs...

TJ and i saute'd some onion and green and red pepper and garlic and added the chicken and some cheese and rolled it up in tortilla's and YUM!!!!

Crispy yogurt chicken

So tonight i made dinner for my parents and 3/5ths of my siblings...the other two are still off at college. I made ThePioneerWoman's Crispy Yogurt Chicken, but i didn't have any myself...i stayed in the basement working on sorting moms scrapbooking papers and "stuff".

However! Mom doesn't buy plain yogurt, and forgot while grocery shopping, so i used sour cream instead (lite) and it worked well! i'm sure it tasted fine too.

• 2 cups Plain, Unflavored Yogurt
• 2 cloves (to 3 Cloves) Garlic
• Parsley, To Taste
• 1 whole (juice Of) Lemon (which is ~2TBSP)
  
• Chicken Legs (or Thighs, Etc.) (i used chicken breasts)
  
• Salt To Taste
• 2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs (please use panko...its about 2.00 at the grocery store, so not that bad...they're yummy.)
  
• Butter (1 Pat For Each Piece Of Chicken)

Preparation Instructions

Pour yogurt into a mixing bowl. Peel and mince garlic; add garlic to the yogurt. Chop up a small amount of fresh parsley and add it to the yogurt. Add lemon juice. Mix together to combine.

Rinse chicken and pat it dry. Sprinkle with (kosher) salt.

In another bowl, place the bread crumbs. Sprinkle with salt and stir lightly. (i also put some parsley in the panko :D)

Butter a baking dish. With a pair of tongs, place the chicken, one piece at a time into the yogurt mixture. Turn it over thoroughly to coat. Then roll the chicken in the Panko bread crumbs. Cover each piece thoroughly with bread crumbs and place in the baking dish.

Place a slice of butter over the large part of each chicken piece. Cover with foil and bake in a 350º oven for 1 to 1 ¼ hours, removing the foil for the last 15 minutes of cooking. When the chicken is nice and golden, remove from the oven and enjoy!

Dad said its not something he'd put on his list of favorite food, but he did say it was good. :)

i didn't have any cuz i was busy, but i also thought it not to be something i should eat, missing a tooth...yes...the dentist stole a tooth on monday...it was decayed really far so it was either a root canal or an extraction, and i chose extraction.

so i've been on a semi-restricted diet...no soda for a bit, till it heals, which is sad :'(

chicken enchiladas

So, it looks like i'm gaining another (male) housemate. D said theres too much estrogen in this house, so it *obviously* wouldn't be a female :P his name is A and he's 26. :) he'll be the oldest, not me...yay!

so i made chicken enchiladas for dinner tonight, A stayed and enjoyed dinner, we went to go take pics of TJ's car cuz someone ran into him, and then wandered home depot w/ C :)

Chicken Enchiladas


16 flour tortillas
3 c chopped chix or turkey
2 c sour cram
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
SAUCE:
1 tb oil
1 med onion, chopped
1-2 tsp chili powder
29 oz tomato sauce
1/2 c water
salt to taste

Combine chicken, sour cream and 1.5 c cheese.
Fill tortillas with 1/4 c mixture and roll
Place in 9x13 pan and bake for 15 minutes at 350*F
Sauce: Saute onion in the oil. add lil garlic if
wanted. add rest of ingred and simmer till thickened.
pour sauce over tortillas and sprinkle w/ rest of
cheese. put back in oven for 2 min, til cheese
is melted.

1) i didn't use cheddar cheese, i used mozz, annd you cannot tell :)
2) i didn't have 2 cups of sour cream, only 1, and it could use more, but its not bad :)
3) i added garlic, about 3/4 tsp or so, i didn't really check :)
4) TJ cannot wait to come home from work and eat some, its one of his favorite meals that i've made so far. :)

It was good, not many people have had some, B (who spends a few days every month) eats only pizza (seriously! i've never seen him eat anything else, and i dated him for a month or so, year and a half ago :P), and wouldn't try some, and D and C weren't home. A had some tho, and enjoyed it.

pss: i have A, B, C, D, and TJ and me...alphabets!

Pi day

Taco pie went over VERY well :) D said it was as good as Bubble up Pizza...so i know what i can make more - both of those :)

I do want to do chicken enchiladas this week...means i need to go grocery shopping i think. I'm trying to put it off as LONG as i can...make do with what i have :)

cuz i have lots of food...TJ said that when he was trying to find space in our cupboard for his food - apparently it can't touch mine? i dunno. o well...it doesn't *really* bother me, just kinda/sorta.

My computer is in for repairs lately (to C, my housemate), he's installing new operating systems on it...Windows 7 Starter was too slow and i couldn't customize it as well as i wanted. right now i have vista, but theres ubuntu on the bedside table thats supposed to go on here if it works...dunno for now...i owe him...big time. he decided payment would be backrubs, cuz i'm amazing at them (so i am told...doesn't help me when my back is messed up :P) he spent over 12 hours on it yesterday, and more hours to be spent today...i'm spending that time away from the computer reading...i finished karen kingsbury's "unlocked" and started and finished "nightlight" (twilight parody) and "crossing oceans" which made me CRY!. i also started the dave ramsey book for financial peace. i honestly don't know what it'll feel like to be debt free...its scary thought, but when I get a job...i'll work on it!

wow...i rambled. anyway...i dunno whats for dinner yet, but it'll either be left over almost stuffed peppers or taco pie or something easy like a boxed meal :P

slow cooker chicken soup

So today i got up at noon, and put the ingredients in the crock pot :D i love this kind of food :D

got the recipe from here and then did stuff online, found out a friend had their baby so we went up to the hospital to see them; i got to hold the baby :D

• 1 can Chicken Broth (14 Oz)
• 2 cups Water
• 1 can Diced Tomatoes With Green Chilies (14.5oz)
• 1 cup Brown Rice
• 2 cups Frozen Corn
• 1 teaspoon Cumin
• 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
• 1 clove Garlic, Minced
• 1 pound Chicken Breast, Uncooked

Add all ingredients into slow cooker, placing the chicken on top. This will cook on low for 4 hours, then at that point remove the chicken, let it cool, and shred it. The chicken will be so tender it will simply fall apart making shredding very easy. Place shredded chicken back into the crock pot and continue cooking for 2 more hours.

its good, but bland. so we added italian seasoning, garlic salt, and table salt, and that perked it up :D

whole chicken legs

are harmed in the making of today's recipe. I modified a recipe from The Pioneer Woman, I made her spicy roasted chicken legs. The original recipe can be found here. However, i modified it and i'll give you my modified recipe instead :)

12 whole Chicken Legs
1.5 sticks Butter
Your Favorite Seasonings (i did chopped garlic, chili powder, pepper, salt, and basil)
1/8 cups Lemon Juice (or To Taste)

Melt butter in a saucepan. Pour lemon juice (fresh or bottled). Now add your seasonings. Stir it together until combined. Taste test to make sure its good, add what its missing.

Rinse your chicken legs. With metal tongs, transfer them one by one into the butter mixture and place on a baking sheet. Once all of the chicken legs are coated and on the baking rack, take a pastry brush and give them one last coating of the butter mixture. Sprinkle them with some more of your seasonings.

Place them into a 400-degree oven for 30 minutes, or until the thermometer reads the right temp for chicken.

Yum!!!! I had to put mine in for about 50 minutes, cuz my oven isn't quite whole...its missing one of the panels so heat escapes pretty easily.

I put LOTS of chili powder on 4 of them, for TJ. TJ and C's lil sister S is over while their dad and C put insulation upstairs so that the upstairs can be finished and TJ can move up there :D Life around here'll be happier when TJ is upstairs - he'll be happy and then I can hang out with him more :) (if the girl aint happy, aint nobody happy...ya know?) Now all that needs to be done is painting (white) and carpeting and then MOVE IN DAY :D

mmm pizza and a movie

Didn't have time to make TJ food before he went to work for the 2nd shift of the day, so I stayed at my mom's house and had Jets BBQ Chicken pizza and watched "how to train a dragon". GOOD movie, I highly recommend it!

Tommorrow I'm making food using chicken drumsticks...we'll see how it ends up! I get to use the broiler for the first time too. scary!

so...

The thick-n-hearty chicken soup DIDN'T feed 6 people...it fed me and TJ. D was sick all day, he ate some soup I set out (chicken noodle) before I left for work - I put it out for him so he could find it...it was mine; didn't want him rummaging through my food supplies (hey...I like it organized). TJ asked for more "kick" in it next time, and a bit thinner. I must confess, I thought it wasn't thickening quick enough, so I added more flour :P oops. it (obviously) finally did thicken up.

Tonight I made food for just me...TJ ate leftover drip beef (see recipe from earlier this week) that we had at my folks' place on Sunday.

I made some quick rice and put butter, sugar and cinnamon on it...YUM!!!!! I'll have to go back for seconds :)

Still looking through crock-pot recipes, seeing what ingredients I have here to use, and what will have to wait till next month (the 12th) when I get to go food shopping again :D

TJ bought the meat (chicken legs) for tomorrow's dinner - he works at 5, so I have to have the food ready before then, so he can eat before work; he doesn't get off till like 2am, and doesn't have a chance to eat at work, so if I don't feed him, he gets hungry :(

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Now playing: Bon Jovi - Wanted Dead Or Alive
via FoxyTunes

chicken packets

So, I made chicken packets tonight. C and D said they looked like dough and asked if the dough was all the way cooked (i had a recipe I made in which the dough wasn't all the way cooked and it was nasty. This is yet another of my mothers recipes.

2 cups cooked chick,
3-4 oz cream cheese,
1 tbsp chopped chives,
2 tbsp milk,
2 pkg refrigerated crescent rolls,
1/2 c. crushed croutons,
1/4 c. melted margarine.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Unroll crescent rolls. Each tube will
contain 4 rectangles of dough. Press dough along diagonal
perforations so that the rectangle halves will not separate.
Place about 1/3 cup of the chicken into the center of one half
of the rectangle. Fold the other half over and seal edges tightly.

Brush each packet with melted butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs.
Place packets on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until
golden brown.

I don't have a brush, so I spooned on the butter instead of brushing it, it worked.