Friday night is Pizza Night!

And tonight it was homemade!  Homemade Made Simple!  Really it was that easy!  And low cost at that!!  I bet total time from opening the flour canister to putting the pizza in the oven was no more than 15 minutes!  Two pizzas - your choice of either a Slice of BBQ Chicken Pizza or traditional Pepperoni!
Teen had requested BBQ Chicken Pizza a week or so ago so this was her pizza.  Big Guy did not seem thrilled at the thought of BBQ Chicken Pizza so it was just as easy to make him (and the boys) a separate
 Pepperoni.

Let me start with the crust.  I discovered Fleischmanns Pizza Dough yeast the other week at the store. No need to allow the dough to rise, wait 2 hours, none of that!  Simply follow the directions - flour, dash of sugar, salt, and water.  One could simply buy pre-made pizza dough or even an already cooked pizza crust. 
For the BBQ Chicken Pizza, I did not have cilantro nor the molasses.  And the BBQ sauce I used (Sweet Baby Ray's) was already sweet so omitted the honey and brown sugar.
That left simply to cut onion slices.  I sauteed them prior to adding the chicken and BBQ sauce.  I had frozen cubed chicken leftover from the excess of the Roasted Chicken the other evening.   Heated thoroughly.  Added 3/4 cup of BBQ sauce.  Spread over the crust (I had not baked mine yet).  Top with 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese.  Bake for 15 min. 425 degrees.
I had never had BBQ Chicken Pizza.  Was not expecting tomato sauce, had already thought in my head, this will taste similar to BBQ Chicken from the crockpot with a roll.  And it did - but better.  Definitely a Grown up kind of pizza!
Pepperoni Pizza was the same pizza crust.  I made thin crust for both pizzas using only one batch of the dough recipe for the two pizzas.  Opened a can of Tomato Paste.  Emptied half of the can into a measuring cup adding about 1/4 cup of water to thin.  Several dashes of oregano, garlic salt, and basil.  Spread it over the thin crust.  Cut fresh basil from the deck.  Topped with mozzarella - Big Guy likes it cheesy.  Spread pepperoni over the cheese.  Baked  at 15 min as well.  425 degrees.
YUM!  was the initial comment out of Big Guy's mouth!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Autumn Foods Day 11

In honor of Big Guy bringing me a treat today from a luncheon at the Cheesecake Factory, I thought I would share with you one of the first cheesecake recipes ever made.  Please note how few bites are out of my piece of cheesecake from the fabulous Cheesecake Factory - I plan to savour it over the course of the next 24-36 hours.  I've only been able to nibble two tiny bites so far - what a shame!  And I'm not sharing!
This recipe really is not that difficult.  Lengthy yes, difficult no.  Just give yourself an hour in the kitchen and you will be very pleased with the results.  Also, just because it calls for Bourbon in the Pumpkin Bourbon Cheesecake, it can be omitted or substituted with Kahlua. 

This will be a HUGE hit at the Holidays, I promise!

Sorry to disappoint you

But tonight instead of what is planned on the menu, I will not be cooking!  *doing a happy dance*!!!  No, I'm not on strike.  My oven is not broken.  And it is not my birthday nor my anniversary!
We have a function for Big Guy's company to attend tonight, so I will have the pleasure of eating out!  Not even sure of what I will be served as it will be buffet style.
So what are you having tonight?

Potato Salad, Sweet Potato Style! Autumn Foods Day 10

Potato Salad brings thoughts of July 4th, Fried Chicken, HotDogs and Banana Pudding!  But what about a Roasted Sweet Potato Salad?  Add Black beans and a Chili Dressing and I am seeing a future winner!  Sassyradish brings us Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Black Beans and Chili Dressing adapted from Mark Bitten, New York Times.  Sweet Potatoes are in their prime right now, readily available at farmer stands.  Toss with black beans, cilantro, peppers and onion in a chili dressing!  Sounds perfect accompanying a steak on a Friday evening.  Enjoy!

Beef Barley Stew with Pumpkin Cornbread

This is a perfect meal for any weeknight!  Add to it that the temperatures have stayed in the 50's today!  What better to warm the heart and soul than a big bowl of stew and cornbread on the side!  The Beef Barley Stew cooked in the crockpot all day.  (Don't you just love a crockpot!)  The Pumpkin Cornbread made the house smell so yummy!  It was wonderful to walk in the door this evening to such pleasing aromas!
What a satisfying meal it was!  The stew was fabulous - not to mention full of vegetables.  I loved that my 2 year old ate TWO bowl fulls, all those good veggies making him stronger!  And the Pumpkin Cornbread was really good.  I was unsure how it was going to be - I typically think of Pumpkin as Pie.  But the cornbread had great texture, very much like a sweet Corn Muffin with a hint of Pumpkin taste to it.  Both dishes are a Winner!

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins Kid Style

This is a beloved recipe in my home.  Not only do the kids get huge grins on their faces when they see these muffins in the oven, so do their friends that sleep over.  And nothing makes me happier than happy children (well, technically the Big Guy being happy comes first but that's just too wordy!).
My children are monkeys.  Just without the tails.  They LOVE bananas. LOVE them.  They get excited when we BUY the bananas in the store.  And seeing them on the counter.  Just with the two boys, we easily inhale two large bunches of bananas weekly.  So we are constantly buying bananas.  This morning, I looked in our fruit bowl and on top were 2 very ripe bananas.  Perfect reason to make Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins!  And as we had the window installers working in bedrooms, replacing our windows with much warmer, nicer, super insulated, make life easier on me windows, I needed something to occupy the boys' time.  So they helped to prepare the batter.  The highlight was smashing the bananas.  I mean, they are little boys, the love to smash anything they can.  It's just better when Mom asks them to do so!

I used 3 1/2 bananas for this batch.  Lowered the sugar to 1/2 a cup.
Hope you bake them soon!

Like to Win?? Check these out!

Who doesn't like to win?  Especially when the prizes are super cool and great!  So go check out these sites for wonderful goodies and great blogging!  Hope you enjoy the sites as much as I do - Go ahead, bookmark them, check back often!

Free 2 Be Frugal: Review (and a Giveaway, Too!)  Panko Bread Crumbs with Chef Michael Chiarello's Cookbook  Hurry ends Nov 8!

This ends FRIDAY Nov 5 so speedy hurry!!
2 Aprons, 2 tea towels, and
MY KIND OF COOKING COOKBOOK

And for another great Cookbook giveaway, Check out Bo's Bowl: Lick it Clean! 
Great giveaway of Barefoot Contessa, How Easy is That?  Cookbook  ends Nov 14, winner announced on Facebook.

And one more, from Busy-at-home, King Arthur Floor Baking Prize Pack, ends Nov 7!!!  I practically drool over the King Arthur Catalog when it arrives!

Good luck!   If any of you win, let me know!!! I love a reason to celebrate!