cauliflower pizza crust…take 1

July 13, 2015 2 Comments

morning, friends! 

Recently I’ve send a lot of fun recipes using cauliflower. this recipe for cauliflower pizza crust came across my Facebook news feed and I was intrigued.  So I tried it out just for fun. 

( FYI… While I have friends who do have special dietary needs, I do not.  I simply wanted to deconstruct and try something new ) 

In her recipe she says to bake the mixture on parchment paper.  I didn’t have any so I used aluminum foil.  

  

Big.

Mistake. 

Even with though I brushed olive oil on the foil, it still stuck. ( parchment paper is now on my grocery list )  

I tried a second batch on a silpat liner, adding 1/4 cup of freshly shredded Parmesan cheese ( knowing how parm melts and the hardens when cool). It was perfect! 

  

Cauliflower pizza crust ( Original recipe here courtesy of Detoxinista)

2 cups cauliflower, riced ( cooked cauliflower pulsed in a food processor until it looks like grains of rice) 

1egg, beaten 

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 

1/4 cup soft goat cheese

Pinch oregano

Sea salt and pepper 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees 

Once cauliflower is riced, place in fine mesh strainer and using a soft spatula, press as much fluid out as possible. ( that’s the key to the crisp crust ) 

Then take the cauliflower mixture and roll in paper towels until it’s super- dry 

Mix all ingredients together. 

Using your hands, spread the mixture on parchment paper ( don’t skip this part 😁) 

Bake at 400 for 25-45 minutes, depending on thickness of crust. ( I like mine thin, it was done in 25 minutes… She made a thicker crust, so I’m sure that was closer to 45 minutes. 

Remove from over and top with toppings 

  

  

I used a fresh tomato, diced , seasoned with salt and pepper ( salt  draws out extra liquid) for 5 minutes, then squeeze out extra liquid 

 Shredded mozzarella

A few pieces of fresh mozzarella 

Back in the oven under the broiler until cheeses melt 

Top with crumbled procuitto di Parma, shredded basil, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar   

Now, my crust was a little bit to dark around the edges but I’m pretty sure that had to do with the foil.  Does this taste like a traditional pizza crust? No.  Is this tasty? YES!  It’s really really good! And it feels pizza like since you can pick it up and eat it. 

The crust itself is fantastic, you could eat it like a cracker with hummus perhaps?  But adding the pizza topping s made it over the top. 

Ciao bellas!

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a perfect week night meal

November 15, 2012 5 Comments

hi friends.

how have you been?  tough week for me, but I’m rallying thanks to some awesome family & friends 🙂

 

Ya wants a recipe? cool beans… I have one for you 😉

 

A few weeks ago I posted THIS quiche recipe. And truly, it’s awesome. It’s decadent. It’s worthy of my Easter table.

 

Let’s face it .. ANYTHING with pie crust is worthy. Yes? yes.

Which is why the recipe that I have to share with you tonight ( although still worthy of my Easter table) is just a little bit  easier to fit into a week night dinner line-up…  there is no crust 😉 Really? Really.

 

this recipe is thanks to my mother-in- law. She shared this with me when we were first married, and 10,000 years later, I still make it.

 

MANY years ago( like 165) when Scott and I were first married we had almost no money. He was in school still and I was a hairdresser and I picked up a shift or two waitressing when I could. Our grocery money was whatever I had earned in tips that week.. good or bad.. It’s what we lived with. Most weeks our budget ( for the 3 of us) was in the $30 range.

 

Ramen was good…. Boxed Mac & cheese was good. store brand spaghetti and jarred sauce were our friends.

I remember once, we bought a huge jug of peach wine. That just lasted us almost a year… ( who WERE we?) oh yeah… young and poor 😉

 

Funny thing is, the jug of wine came in a box  and I still havet that box… Scott’s Dungeons and Dragons stuff is still in there.

 

You think I’m kidding?

I could make this up if I tried.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:6]

 

 

I did not use pepperoni in this quiche… I used broccoli & red pepper… and garlic gold in place of garlic salt

 

 

a sprinkle of salt and pepper 🙂

 

 

 

 

pour mixture, then top with a bit of extra cheese

 

cheese is good. I called it.

 

 

I. KNOW!  RIGHT???  yum!!!!

 

so there ya have it folks…. inexpensive, quick and easy….

 

as the kids got older, I found myself throughout the week chopping up extra veggies each night ans saving them so that whatever night I made the quiche, I would pull out all of the veggies & they could ‘ make their own’ pie.

 

 

one last note.. since I brought up the D& D stuff I have to share that he actually took me on a date once to play D&D.

 

who was  I??

 

much love, friends…

 

oh one last thing.. if you follow me on Fb then you already know that Celia is the winner of the dryer balls.   I’m loving rafflecopter.  IT keeps track of all entries and is completely auto mated when it picks a winner….  That will make it easier for me to give ya’ll more stuff 🙂

 

 

xoxooxox

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field trip friday

November 4, 2012 3 Comments

back in THIS POST I explained how I shop at many different stores for different things.  These day , most of us have options, and to make the most of your money by utilizing these options just makes plain ol’ sense.   One of my favorite stores is none other than 

none other than Trader Joe’s..   Now some of you may be thinking… really a post about Trader Joe’s?

 

yes.

 

because I happen to know that some of you who read this have the luxury of living not to far from one and still have not yet been.

 

in contrast, I know many of you who do not live near one and would give anything to be able to go.

so yes, folks…  On Friday I went to Trader Joe’s… and this is my story ❤

~it all started one dreary Friday morning…  Lol.. jut kidding * giggle*

 

Tj’s is not your typical grocery store. In fact it is hard to describe. For those of you who think it is a high-end store, such as Whole Foods, you would be wrong. Tj’s is not a big store, but what is packed into each location is soe wonderful things.

They have tons of cheeses…  a food near and dear to my heart. I actually decided this past halloween that trick or treating would be MUCH more fun if it were trick or cheesing.

 

I’m serious. a different cheese at every house? how brilliant would that be?

but really.. it’s true.  they have a whole wall of cheese and it is the best price that you will find around… They have cheeses for all over the world! and often times some seasonal specials…see what I mean?  If you are lucky then you will go on a day that the cheese lady is making the rounds.. ( what a great job that must be 😉  This was a lucky day for me 🙂 cheese snack while shopping?

 

yes. please.

 

Next is the NUTS..  you will not find a better price on nuts anywhere.  And next to the nuts are the dried fruits.  if you are into making your own GRANOLA then tis is your haven….

 

and again…  you wont beat the prices.

 

They have a little counter where an employee is always cooking something to sample.. and a coffe urn for coffe samples. ( the free food samples is a great way to entice kids to go with you 😉

 

the frozen fruits and veggies are also a great deal here ( no pic… I’m sorry)  You wont find any name brands in here.. it is all their own brand … but trust me, the quality is second to none.  On the shelves above the frozen items are all sorts of snacks…  from mini sugar cookies shaped like cats to Ryan’s favorite, chocolate covered orange candies, seasonal crackers, etc….

 

you will find all sorts of canned items at fabulous prices… and lots of ‘meal starters’

 

you will find the friendliest of employees here. .. They truly love their job… love to talk food and recipes.  If you bring your own recyclable bag ( which y’all should be..) then you can enter a ticket into a drawing for a weekly Tj’s Gc!

let’s see.. have I forgotten anything….. probably… I’ll think of it at 3am…

 

so here’s my haul from Friday

 

* please forgive the carpy pics.. I’m currently having camera issues.. hopefully it will be fixed soon…*

 

I wont go over everything… but will talk a bit about what I bought..  The tube of tomato paste? 99 cents.  In the regular grocery store it is around 4 bucks. I bought parsnips… beacause Ry and i had parsnip puree somewhere and it was soo good! I need to work on a solid recipe so that when he comes home for Christmas, we can have it again:)

 

The chocolate bar… to die for!

Dark coconut caramel! yum!  and only 1 points plus per square for those who may be following weight watchers…

 

I bought 2 bags of the inner peas..  and I’m so glad that I did… they are a great snack!

Tjs almond butter is the best. I love this stuff.  Banana and almond butter on toast? yuminess.

 

and B12.. just because 🙂

 

 

the rosemary raisin crisps are one of my favorite things here! so. dang. good.  I think they are only available this time of year.. but I could be wrong.

pomegranate Kefir? yes. please.

 

the cheeses? both brie rounds and goat cheese rounds… each 2 pp and perfectly portioned.  Cute little mushrooms to stuff…  snow peas to steam right in the bag..

 

here is something else that you will find here…  great spice blends… with built in grinders…  all 2 bucks. beat that!

 

*do you see what I see?*

 

* the sugar, coffee bean and chocolate blend is amazing on hot chocolate! *

 

so there you have it… I hope that if you have not been to this store yet, you will find time in your future to do so. it really is like a little field trip;)

 

on lastly.. on my fb page ( like much of the free world) I have been posting what I am thankful for during this month of gratitude.  Today, I am thankful not only fo the extra hour of sleep this morning, but also that my pup, Fenway, is thankful for it as well..

happy Sunday friends 🙂

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simple addition

January 20, 2012 Leave a Comment

hiya!

4 things~

THIS

plus

THIS

plus

THIS

 

equals

 

happy birthday, Ali  I love you very much & am very proud of you!

Filed Under: dessert, family Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

cukoo for coconut

December 4, 2010 Leave a Comment

macaroons, that is! And as much as I love them, I can’t remember a time that I’ve actually made them.

until now 😉

I used Ina\’s recipe… which had 5-star reviews.

you will need:

14 ounce sweetened condensed milk

14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 extra large egg whites, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

(and because I wanted them festive)

1 small jar of maraschino cherries; drained.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Combine the coconut, milk& vanilla in a large bowl

*don’t combine those in you mixer bowl, because you need the mixer to beat the egg whites in the next step… or you can so what I did which was extra dishes because I didn’t read the recipe through before I started….. hey, I was excited.. remember.. I’m cuckoo!*

NEXT whip the egg whites & salt on high sped of your mixer until medium-firm peaks form. Carefully fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture.

Now.. mine didn’t fold very well……  I think the batter should look much lighter than this….

drop batter by 2 teaspoons on parchment -lined cookie sheets or a small cookie scoop.

I opted for the cookie scoop…. although it made fewer cookies, because they are much bigger than they need to be, i thought they would look more festive 😉 .. Plus we have a lot of cookies round these parts these days..

gently place 1 cherry in the center of each cookie.  bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Cool and enjoy!

ok.. of to get the Christmas tree (s)!!

ssshhhhhhh! Scott will find out when we get there 😉

xoxoox

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Happy Chanukah!

December 1, 2010 4 Comments

To my Jewish friends out there… and Happy December to my dear sweet friend spending time in Greece 🙂

Look what Farkle brought us!!!  He is too good to us!!

Ryan ( who really likes bubble wrap ) asked me if I could make him a bubble wrap Advent calendar.

Ok.. so it is a pathetic attempt, but I tried!

For today’s recipe I went waaaay back into my old recipe cards.

wasn’t my handwriting so innocent & sweet back in the early 90s?

I do not remember where I got the recipe from. Back then (way before I had the internet) I used to love Sunday mornings because PBS had cooking shows on all morning. I would curl up on the couch with my tea & a big yellow pad of paper that Scott would have snagged from work & copy down recipe after recipe.

*my* version of today’s Food Network

I remember not know what Mandelbrot was and since we didn’t have the internet, I never actually knew. I remember thinking that I was all trendy when I had actually heard of Biscotti a few years later.. It sounded like my Mandelbrot recipe!!

Well, when I dug it out today I discovered that it is actually a Jewish cookie! How appropriate & ironic that this is the cookie that I chose for today !

The Recipe:

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons Cocoa  powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rub a baking sheet with oil ( I use a silpat liner, but still rubbed it with oil).

In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, oil & vanilla for 2 mintues on low speed , stopping to scrape down the side of the bowl with a spatula.

SLowly add the flour, cocoa, baking soda & salt. Mix until incorporated. Mix in the nuts & chips just until the nuts slightly break up.

Spoon the dough onto the oil-lined cookie sheet & divide in half. Using your hands, mold each half into 2 flat logs 12×4.

Bake for 40 mintues.

Remove from oven & let cool for 5 mintues

Carefully transfer strips to a cutting board& using a serrated knife, cut the strips on a diagonal into 1/2 inch slices.

(when you cut them, you will have pieces crumble off, this is to be expected and welcomed)

WHY you ask?

so that you can collect it to sprinkle on ice cream or oatmeal 😉

Place slices cut side down on cookie sheet & bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove & cool.

Store in an airtight container.

 

or  dip & eat right away

~oxox

happy december!

 

 

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