BBQ Chicken Cheddar Braid

 This was another recipe that was pretty quick and easy to make. I can't remember where I got the recipe from, but it's not original! I also used pre-cooked chicken.

BBQ Chicken Cheddar Braid
1 recipe for pizza dough
2 cups chopped chicken
1/2 cup bbq sauce
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
water
garlic salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spread dough out into a rectangle. Along the middle of the dough spread your bbq sauce, chicken, and cheese. Cut remaining side of the dough into strips and alternate them back and forth to form a braid over the mixture. Brush with water and sprinkle on garlic salt. Bake for 15-20 mins until golden brown.

**This was almost to pretty to eat! But it was delicious!

Deep Dish Pizza

I've never made deep dish pizza before, but my friend Tara posted her recipe and I wanted to try it out.

Deep Dish Pizza-shared from Tara G.
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 tsp yeast
2 1/2-3 cups flour
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt

Place water in bowl and add in yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes. Add in salt and oil. Stir in flour until dough forms.(This will form a dough after adding 2 cups, I'd add at least 2.5 cups if not all of the 3 cups). Let rise for about an hour.

Divide dough in half and place in 2 greased 8-9 inch cake pans. Roll dough out and up the sides. Let rise for another hour.

Topping:
1 14 oz can italian diced tomatoes
8 oz mozzerella cheese, shredded

any other toppings of your choice(I did cheese, onions, peppers, and spinach)

Place tomatoes on dough, followed by a layer of cheese and other toppings. Top with a little bit more cheese. Bake at 450 for 15-20 mins.

**I doubled the dough and made 2 9x13 inch pizzas.The dough will rise quite a bit once in the pan but try not to poke it back down, just leave it be. I used one can of reg. diced tomatoes on one pizza and italian on the other, the italian one tasted JUST LIKE UNO'S! We had friends over and we could not believe how good this pizza was!! We all loved and devoured it! I wish we had more leftovers, this will be on our table again very soon! YUM!!

Sloppy Joe Biscuit Pizza

I love my homemade sloppy joe recipe and when I stumbled upon this I thought this would be a nice change!

Sloppy Joe Biscuit Pizza-adapted from Cooking During Stolen Moments
1 recipe for sloppy joe(minus the water)
3 cups flour(2 ww, 1 ap)
1 stick butter, cold, cut into pieces
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2-1 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles crumbs. Slowly add in milk until a dough forms. (I had to add extra milk due to using whole wheat flour, so only add enough to get the dough) Kneed for one minute. Place in greased cookie sheet or 9x13 inch pan. Spread out and up the side a little bit.

Bake for 8-10 mins.

Remove from oven and top with sloppy joe mix and cheese. Bake for another 12-18 mins until crust is golden brown.

**This was really tasty and different! The biscuit dough was flaky and soft and it added a nice texture to the pizza!

Thai Chicken Pizza

I love Thai food so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it to have something new on the menu and who doesn't like pizza! I used leftover turkey on my pizza. This pizza also is supposed to have like a "slaw" topping, but I forgot to buy it, so it went without, but if you are looking for more veggies you can definitely add it.

Thai Chicken Pizza-shared from Creatively Domestic
No Rise Pizza Crust(this makes 2 thin crusts or one thick large crust)
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp terriyaki sauce
2 tbsp water
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes(I only used a pinch)
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp white sugar
1-2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp minced onion(omitted)
1 tsp minced ginger
Topping:
1.5 cups chopped chicken/turkey
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1-2 cups mozzarella cheese

Place sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Heat in microwave for 30-60 secs until pb melts slightly and you can mix it together. Take some of the sauce and pour it over the chicken and let marinate.(When i did this it made the chicken paste like)

Spread crust out, and bake at 400 degrees for 8 mins. Remove from the oven and top with remaining sauce. You may have a little left over. Top with cheese, chicken, and sprinkle with peanuts. Return to the oven and bake for another 8-10 mins until cheese is melted(watch that the nuts don't burn!)

**This pizza surprised me with how good it was! K I think was pleasantly surprised as well and he then asked me what it was.He loved it though and went back for seconds! I wasn't sure at first how the italian cheese I used would blend with thai flavors, but the sauce was so flavorful that it took right over the subtle cheese flavor and worked well!

Pizza Rolls

I needed an appetizer to bring to a cookie swap so I decided to give this recipe a try. It is fairly easy and simple, but next time I will divide the dough in half to make 2 rolls.

Pizza Rolls-shared from Hoosier Homemade
Pizza Dough:
2 1/2 cups flour(ap and ww)
2 tsp vital wheat gluten
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp yeast
7/8 cup warm water
3/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp italian seasoning
Pizza/pasta sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
pepperoni slices

Place dough ingredients in bread maker according to manufacturer's directions. Start on dough cycle.

Once dough is done, take out and roll thin.*Like I mentioned before I would cut the dough in half and make them smaller. Once rolled out, top with your favorite sauce, sprinkle with cheese and layer on pepperoni. Starting with the long side of the dough, roll up jelly roll/cinnamon roll style and tuck in ends as needed. Slice into 1 inch slices and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 mins.

**By making the big roll it was very thick and very hard to cut. I got impatient so i just cooked it like a calzone, but I did cut a few slices into the rolls. The rolls were excellent and even the girls at the cookie swap loved the "calzone" rolls. The dough was soft and fluffy while the cheese got a little crispy.

Grilled Pizza

I had on my menu last week for Thai Pizza and I had planned on grilling it to try out my new grill. After looking at the recipe all it was was stir-fry sauce, chicken, and peanuts. For some reason this did NOT sound appetizing. I had to bake some potatoes for Saturday so I threw some extra in to try a red potato pizza recipe I had for a while. It seemed to work pretty well.

Grilled Pizza
1 recipe for no rise pizza crust
your choice of toppings(see below)

Prepare dough as directed. Preheat greased grill. Divide dough in half or in quarters. Roll dough out...(now the key is NOT to roll it to thin because when you go to move it, it will tear. I think I re-rolled the dough 2 or 3 times each time I tried to roll out the dough, I was going for size. I know know to go for thickness!) Let cook until side is browned and the top is bubbly(yes I learned this as i put the 4th pizza on!) Once you flip it go ahead and top your pizza. Cook until cheese is melted.*I had my grill on low and this seemed to take forever to cook so next time I'll try med heat. It is nice to have a grill that doesn't have hot spots!

Hawaiian Bbq Pizza topping
bbq sauce(Bull's Eye is high fructose corn syrup free!)
Pineapple,chunks or tidbits
diced ham
cheese

Spread dough with bbq sauce. Sprinkle pineapple, ham, and cheese over the top.

Red Potato Pizza topping
2-3 red potatoes, baked,sliced thin
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
fresh herbs,chopped(I used rosemary, basil, and oregnao)
diced chicken
diced partially cooked broccoli
cheese

Mix together cream cheese, herbs, and sour cream. Spread on dough. Top with potatoes, chicken, broccoli, and cheese. Cook until cheese is melted.

*this makes a lot of sauce, so if you aren't making a lot of pizza I'd cut it down.(I did used the extra in our eggs for the breakfast burritos) This also makes a pretty thick pizza. I enjoyed it!

Steak and Cheese Pizza

I had this planned for the end of the month, but I needed to use up some roast beef so its been put in for dinner tonight!


Cheese Steak Pizza
1 recipe for no rise pizza dough
1/2 lb roast beef, sliced thin, chopped
1/2 jar roasted red peppers, chopped(or 1-2 fresh peppers)
1 onion, sliced
1 block sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Spread dough into 2 circles. Cook for 5-8 mins in a 350 degree oven. Place cheese, roast beef, onions, and  peppers on dough. Place in oven for 10-15 mins until cheese is hot and bubbly.

You will notice in this picture that it looks like mini pizzas, these were not made on the homemade dough. I have found these pocketless pitas(or flatbreads) at the store marked down so I pick them up when I do. I tend to freeze them, but had them out for sandwiches and they needed to be used up. I did make 2 calzones(one cheese/onion and one Cheese steak) with the dough.

**These were very good. I was debating about a sauce, but decided not to put any on it. It was perfect and tasted just like cheese steak that I'm used too! Even K liked it!

Greek Pizza

After coming inside from playing outside, A informed me he wanted pizza for lunch. I responded with, will you eat it?, he said yes. I knew I had some feta to use up so I quickly whipped up a pizza(or 2) for him. It was quite tasty!

Greek Pizza
1 recipe for no rise pizza crust
8 oz can tomato sauce
1 pkg feta cheese(i used tomato basil flavor)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
oregano
chopped baby spinach
2-3 roasted red peppers, chopped

Make pizza crust and cook for 5-8 mins at 400 degrees. Top with tomato sauce, spinach, feta, cheese, sprinkle or two of oregano, and peppers. Cook for 8-10 mins until golden brown and cheese is melted.

**I hid the spinach and feta from A and K(sometimes I have to be sneaky with my husband too!) A loved the pizza and informed me that I could not eat all of his yummy pizza!

Sloppy Bbq Chicken Pizza

This is a recipe I came across, oh...3 weeks ago or longer. It has been on my menu plan for at least 2 weeks and I finally got to make it for dinner tonight with my brother in laws. We are headed there for dinner and I needed something that I could cook here and reheat there, so this won!

Sloppy Bbq Chicken Pizza- adapted from Vanderbilt Wife
Cornbread:
3/4 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup oil
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Mix together, place in oven safe skillet(or 9x13 would work), cook at 400 degrees for 20-25 mins until golden brown

Topping:
2 cups cooked, cubed chicken
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
2 tsp hot sauce
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1.5 tsp cumin
2 tsp minced garlic(or 2 cloves)
1-2 peppers(i used 1 red,1 green) chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cups shredded cheese

Drizzle pan with olive oil. Saute onion, peppers, and garlic until tender. Add in chicken, stir. Add in sauces, spices, and sugar. Mix until combined. Cook for 2-3 mins until sugar dissolves.

Once cornbread is done, take out and top with chicken mixture. Cover with cheese and place back in oven for 5 mins until cheese is melted.

**The topping itself is a bit spicy, but the spice was cut down when eaten with the cornbread. If you don't like spicy I'd cut down on the spices!

No Rise Wheat Pizza Crust

I have experimented a lot with pizza crusts. Some I've used with whole wheat flour, some with bread flour, others with a combination of the the two. Sometimes I used my kitchenaid mixer and other times the bread machine. Well after having this one again yesterday I think I've decided we will just stick with this one. Its quick, simple, and mighty tasty. Although, if I do find more I'm sure I am apt to try other recipes, but they are all pretty similar.

No Rise Wheat Pizza Crust-shared from Finding Joy In My Kitchen

1 tbsp yeast
1 cup really warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup flour

Mix together water, yeast, and sugar. Set aside while you measure the flour. Add in oil and salt, stir. Add wet ingredients to flour and mix until combined. Then need on a lightly floured surface until firm. Cover and let dough rest while you get the pizza toppings ready about 10 mins.

Then spread out into pizza form on cookie sheet or pizza stone(circle or square). I always pre-bake mine for 5-8 mins in 400 degree oven. Then I add the toppings and bake for another 10-15 mins until browned.

Carmelized Onion and Apple Pizza

So what happens when you need to feed 3 adults plus one toddler, but your dinner the night before was a "flop" and there isn't enough leftovers! The answer: pizza! It's quick, easy, tasty, and I ALWAYS have the ingredients on hand!  Except I had no meat thawed or veggies except onions...I know Caramelized onions and apples. I think my mom gave me a funny look as I was thinking this out loud...but hey you are a guest and you will eat what I have!

Caramelized Onion and Apple Pizza- created by me!

1 recipe for No Rise Wheat pizza dough
Bbq sauce
2 onions,halved and thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 apple, thinly sliced
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese

Place oil in pan, and heat until warm. Add in onions and cook until soft and brown, turning as needed. This does take a while, but the flavor is worth it. I didn't time it, but I'm guessing 20 mins.

Meanwhile you can make your dough!

Once dough is complete, spread into a circle on pizza stone or onto a cookie sheet (ok your pizza can also be square). Place in 400 degree oven for 5-8 mins.  Spread with bbq sauce...I didn't put a measurement on this because I didn't measure it. I just spread it out to our liking. Cover with cheese, onions, and thinly sliced apples. Cook for another 10 mins until golden brown and cheese is melted.

The verdict: It was delicious! Even my mom who didn't think it would be thought it was good! It was a different take that I really enjoyed and not heavy in the least bit!