As for dinner, I made some good eats this week but the highlight was definitely the four cheese pizza last night. As a Catholic, I try not to eat meat on Fridays during Lent (I don’t know how Cait goes 40 days without it!)

Four Cheese White Pizza

Turn the oven on lowest setting, probably about 250°F

Dissolve one packet of yeast in 1 cup warm water. Stir until dissolved

Add 1 1/2 cups flour and 2T of oil. Stir.

Add another 1 1/2 cups of flour – you’ll have to knead it in the end. Sprinkle flour on counter and knead the dough until soft. Turn oven off but keep door closed to keep warm.

Put in a bowl with a little oil in the bottom of the bowl, turn the dough over so that it’s covered in the oil.  Put in a warm oven with a cloth over the bowl until it rises – about 30 minutes.

Prepare toppings while dough rises, combine 1 TB olive oil with 3 cloves minced garlic and let marinate while dough rises. After dough rises, set the oven to 500°F.  flour surface again, flour a rolling pin and your hands. Knead the dough a few times then roll it out, fold it in half and place on pizza pan or baking sheet with a light coating of cooking spray. Pre-bake crust at 500°F for 8 minutes. Remove and top with light coating of garlic oil spread, cheeses, and tomatoes.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided in half
• One packet yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 TB vegetable oil
• 1 TB olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ¾ cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
• ¾  cup provolone cheese, shredded
• ¼ cup romano cheese, grated
• Sprinkling of Parmesan cheese on top of pizza and crust
• 1 tomato, thinly sliced

I’ve made pizza dough before but the first time I did it on my own, I was definitely really nervous! Surprisingly, the first time I made dough came out better than this time but a whole lot little flour goes a long way to making sticky, gummy dough into a workable pizza crust. Be patient and don’t freak if it takes longer than expected!

Wondering what else I whipped up in the kitchen this week? Here’s a little photo montage of some recipes I threw together. Nothing special besides the chicken curry (recipe to come) I did in my slow-cooker, but still yummy! Anyone else notice the salmon was extra good this week? Must be the warm weather..?

Salmon with roasted tomatoes, side salad, and root vegetables

Beef Stew in the slow-cooker with a pot roast, green beans, carrots, and potatoes. The base is beef broth, dry red wine, and various spices. Full recipe also to come!

I’m off to watch Dexter and indulge in another glass of wine, ever try Los Caballos from Stew Leonards? $10 for a huge bottle of Chardonnary, not bad!

Scrounge the Kitchen and the Fridge Salad

• One packet of Italian style chicken tenderloins (pre-cooked)
• 1 can of black beans
• 1/2 bag of frozen veggies (broccoli and green beans)
• handful of shredded cheese
• Romaine lettuce, croutons, dressing of choice

Heat the chicken in a skillet on medium heat, add the veggies and beans and cook for about 5 minutes until veggies are tender.

Toss some shredded cheese on top and let it melt a little. Top lettuce with chicken and veggie mixture, top that with croutons and enjoy! Dinner in a REAL ten minutes! (not one of those fake ten minutes that so many cooking magazines lead us to believe)

Followed by a handful of these:

Which were leftover from making the white chocolate macadamia cookies:

As promised, here’s the recipe:

Turn the bag over and follow the recipe from Nestle Toll House! Just add a 1/2 cup of chopped macadamia nuts!

Last time you had one of those “what’s in the fridge” moments, what did you end up making? I’d love to do breakfast for dinner one night but the fiance isn’t a huge fan of that!

Do you like white chocolate? I just started getting into it, mostly just in cookies!

I also went to my parents house and my Mom and I started writing and stuffing invitations, which was really fun and very productive! There is a lot of planning that goes into it, a lot more than we realized! Putting the guest list in alphabetical order, numbering response cards, putting stamps on the reply envelopes, writing the addresses correctly, googling “how to properly address invites” followed by another google of “how to properly stuff invitations” It was fun!

I’m still feeling a bit under the weather so we’re having a chill night of comfort food and movies.

Here’s a great chicken parmesan recipe that I found in my favorite magazine, Cooking Light, but altered a bit to make it to my liking!

Sunday Comfort Food: Chicken Parmesan

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup panko or Italian breadcrumbs (I used Italian, gotta go for the original)
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breasts, halved
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 cup marinara sauce
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 (liberal) cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450°.
2. Combine first 3 ingredients in a shallow dish; place egg whites in a bowl. Place breadcrumbs in a shallow dish. Dredge 1 breast half in flour mixture. Dip in egg whites; dredge in breadcrumbs. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken, flour mixture, egg whites, and breadcrumbs.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 2 minutes. Turn chicken over; cook 2 minutes. Spoon marinara sauce over bottom of oven proof baking dish and place chicken in dish. Top with mozzarella then parmesan.
4.  Bake at 450° for 12 minutes or until chicken is done and cheese is browning.

Eaten with some whole grain bread which I grabbed at Shop Rite right off the cart coming from the bakery. Yes I burnt my hand and yes I may have cut off an old woman to get the bread hot and fresh.

On my lazy Saturday I decided to whip up a batch of biscotti, I cut the recipe in half and used dark chocolate. We still have white chocolate macadamia cookies lying around but biscotti freeze well so good to have in case I can’t spend some time in the baking department in the next few weeks.

What’s your favorite comfort food?

If you’re married, did you write out your own invitations?

One night this week, after another crazy day at work, I was texting my Mom about how I had not even planned a dinner for tonight. I thought it was the end of the world, but my Mom wisely suggested I make some pasta. I remembered seeing a recipe for a pasta bake in Cooking Light this month, so I decided to throw it together with what I had on hand (no meat, frozen veggies). It was quick and easy and warmed us up on a chilly night!

Vegetable Baked Ziti

• ½ box uncooked ziti or mostaccioli
• 1 bag frozen veggies (I used broccoli, pepper, and corn mix)
• Cooking spray
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup low-sodium fat free chicken broth
• 2.5 cups marinara sauce
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 6 ounces part-skim mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
• 2 ounces grated Provolone cheese (about  1/2  cup)
• Parmesan to sprinkle on top

Preparation

1. 1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. 2. Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt; drain and set aside.
3. Coat skillet with cooking spray, add garlic; sauté 4 minutes. Add vegetables; sauté for 5 minutes or until veggies are tender. Add chicken broth, cook for 4 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Stir in pasta, vegetable mixture, marinara sauce, and basil. Spoon mixture into a 13 x 9–inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with Mozzarella and Provolone. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until bubbly and cheese melts and begins to brown. Remove from oven; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

The whole meal probably took 10 minutes to prep and another 20 minutes to bake. If you’re used to eating late like us then this really isn’t a big deal and you can prep lunch while it’s baking away:

The strawberries were on steroids this week! I think it’s probably the warm weather, but these berries were at least three times the normal size. So I chopped them up and added them a lunch salad with turkey, sunflower seeds, croutons and provolone cheese. A little of summer at the end of a not-so cold winter!

And finished lunch with a few White chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies (recipe tomorrow!)

Now we’re off to look at more wedding bands and then enjoy a very lazy weekend!

What do you make for dinner when you’re all out of fresh ideas?

Another great meal after a long day is straight from the freezer, Trader Joe’s Turkey burgers and Alexia sweet potato waffle fries <– these babies are AHHH-mazing! Even Richie liked them and he is a devoted REGULAR potato fan so that says alot!

 Easy and healthy and simple enough for your significant other to do! Try ‘em and you will not be disappointed.

I did get a little creative this morning with my crock pot and this lovely beef stew is waiting for us to devour:

Have you tried the Trader Joe’s frozen turkey, veggie, or Kobe burgers?

I did try out a new recipe this past week when I just could not figure out what to make for dinner. I normally plan our meals Sunday through Thursday, leaving take-out or going out as an option for Friday and Saturday. But this week I totally forgot about Thursday so I threw this little idea around and then just went with it!

Healthy Chicken Fried Rice

Ingredients:
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 4 large egg whites or 2 eggs
- half an onion, chopped
- 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 tsp ginger
– bunch of asparagus, cut into 3-4 inch spears
- 1 cup cooked brown rice, regular or instant, kept hot
- 1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
- 3 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

Directions:
Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set pan over medium-high heat. Add eggs and cook, until scrambled, stirring frequently, about 3 to 5 minutes; remove from pan and set aside. Keep warm
Offheat, recoat skillet with cooking spray and place back over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add chicken, asparagus, and any other veggies, add ginger; saute until chicken is golden brown and cooked through, about 7 minutes.
Stir in reserved cooked eggs, cooked brown rice, and soy sauce; cook until heated through, stirring once or twice, about 1 minute. Makes 2 servings.

This was a great spin on the classic fried rice take-out and fairly easy to throw together. Next time I’d definitely do more chicken because it wasn’t exactly the most filling dinner, but that’s what awesome Valentine’s presents are for

I’m off to put together some more recipes that I have failed to post, have a great Saturday everyone!

Do you like fried rice? Ever make it yourself?

Here’s a quick and easy recipe for a Meatless Monday Main Dish (adapted from Cooking Light): Shrimp Cesar Salad and the best part is everything was either in the freezer, fridge, or pantry. All I had to do was cook, the easy part!

Shrimp Caesar Salad

Ingredients

Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons light mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Sriracha, I used Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp Extra Virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

Salad:

• 3/4 cup fat-free seasoned croutons
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, cooked and peeled
• 1 red pepper, sliced into 1/2 in thick strips, sauteed
• Romaine lettuce

Preparation

1. To prepare dressing, combine mayonnaise and next 9 ingredients (through mustard), stirring with a whisk. Refrigerate for a few hours to marinate the flavors, if possible (I did it for 2).
2. If shrimp is raw & frozen, thaw under running water for about 10 minutes then cook in a skillet over medium-high heat, sprinkle with salt, and pepper, and paprika, cook til pink.
3. To prepare salad, combine croutons, 2 tablespoons cheese, shrimp, and lettuce in a large bowl. Add dressing; toss well to coat. Serve immediately.

The roasted red peppers add great flavor to the salad and the color brighten it up a bit too! The homemade pita chips added a good crunch to the salad, just slice some tortillas up and bake them at 350 for 6 minutes on each side.

Hope you enjoy this quick meatless meal, we ate it with homemade pita chips but a fresh crusty bread would also be great with it. It would also be really nice to chow down on this salad out on our balcony, but the warm winter weather hasn’t been THAT warm. The dinner is on the light side, so ice cream sundaes might have followed…

What’s your go-to Monday night meal?

We started off the weekend at Gigino Trattoria in downtown NYC with my family. The place was packed and we had to wait 20 minutes (for our reserved table) but it was worth it in the end. Complimentary pizza bread, eggplant rollatini, fried calamari, and fresh mozzarella filled our table in less than ten minutes. The food was to die for! I ordered the veal osso buco for my meal and the rest of the table ordered an assortment of fresh pastas. The meat in my dish was succulent and fell off the bone exactly like it should.

Of course, Providence was also full of good eats but coupled with much more beers and casual food. Grilled cheese from RiRa’s, thin crust pizza from Cafe 412, bagels from Bagel Gourmet…all classic staples for a Providence College girl!

Irish sausages and rashers on sourdough, had to balance the lad’s meat sandwich out with some berries!

Now to some recipes I snuck in to my busy, slightly chaotic, week. This week is going to be a mix of leftovers and new recipes so I was glad to try out some new ones last week.

Spaghetti with Mushroom Sauce

• whole wheat spaghetti
• 1 package mushrooms (I used baby bella), sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
• 1 16-oz can diced tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1 T flour
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper

Heat 1 tsp oil on medium high heat. Cook mushrooms and peppers on medium heat until tender, about 5 or 10 minutes. Add garlic, dry white or red wine, flour, oregano, basil, ¼ tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper, and 1 can of diced tomatoes. Stir until thickens. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 20 minutes.  Cook pasta and top with sauce, sprinkle with cheese, enjoy!

Top with Romano or Parmesan cheese and enjoy with the rest of that red wine! This meal only too about 20 minutes to put together and it was hearty and healthy, my two favorite things for a weeknight dinner.

I’m off to make dinner, pork tenderloin with red & yellow bell peppers and mashed potatoes, sounds fancy right?? I’ve made it before and it’s actually really easy, post to come later this week.

And to leave you with something sweet, my friend made these amazing dessert pops for Super Bowl Sunday. Chocolate covered cookie dough pops sitting in a jar of M&Ms and Peanut Butter M&Ms, very impressive and fun!

What did you do this weekend?

Do vegetarian pasta dishes fill you up enough for dinner?

Just another Monday night meal: Salmon with sweet potatoes and corn and broccoli veggie mix

I like to bake my salmon at 425 for about 20 minutes, throw some tomatoes on top to keep the salmon juicy.

Pierce the potatoes and microwave for 3 minutes on each side then throw them in the oven to bake away with the salmon. Walk all the way over to the fridge and take out a bag of frozen veggies to top off a delicious well-balanced, meatless Monday meal.

Tuesday: Shrimp Stir-Fry. Pretty much bound to be incorporated into our meal plan at least once every two weeks. It’s easy, yummy, healthy, and filling. Not much more I can ask for after 10 hours of craziness at work!

If you’re using frozen shrimp, thaw them under running water for about 10 minutes. Remove the tails then cook over medium heat, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and cayenne to give it some nice flavor. Cook for about 7 minutes then set aside in a covered bowl. In the same skillet, add the veggies (the oriental blend or sugar snap-pea stiry fry are great frozen choices). Cook on medium for about 5 minutes then simmer. Meanwhile, cook rice according to package directions

Add the shrimp back to the pan, add the sauce. Bring to a boil then let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Shlop over rice and ENJOY!

The water is boiling for our pasta dinner and a new episode of New Girl is on my horizon, happy almost Hump day!

What are you typical weeknight eats?

THEY WERE AMAZING. I AM AN OVERNIGHT OATS CONVERT!

The night before I put 1/3 cup oats, 1 cup water, and a sprinkle of cinnamon in a small saucepan, brought it a boil, turned the heat off, stir, cover. Let sit overnight.

The next morning, I stirred the oats and added 1/3 cup 1% milk and half a banana (chopped in pieces). Then, I brought it to a boil and let it simmer for about 10 minutes to thicken it up. I topped it with homemade mixed nut butter, natural peanut butter, and TJ’s frozen berries. YUM! The banana flavor was subtle but went perfectly with the peanut butters. Now I’m wondering how to do this for work? Put it in a Tupperware container and heat in the microwave? Any suggestions??

The weekend has been relaxing and fun, the PERFECT combination! We had a very chill Friday night, which if you’ve been following along for a while you can take a guess at what it involved: chips, cheese, pizza, drinks, and Dexter! We’ve been getting really into this via Netflix, I’d highly suggest it!

I decided to splurge on some fresh sourdough bread anda lovely piece of Brie to kick off the weekend right. It was so creamy, totally worth the $7!

On a side note, I have my slow-cooker chili simmering away for the big game tonight! I decided to turkey chili today in case anyone has an aversion to beef. I’ve had a few taste tests and it’s yummy. Our apartment smells amazing right about now! I hope everyone enjoys the game, GO GIANTS!!

What are you making for the Super Bowl?

GO Giants or  go Pats?