Chicken, Spinach and Artichoke Pizza

I've been away for away.  Completely wrapped up in my job, you know that thing that pays the bills but I'm trying to break free and not forget so much of me whilel I am knee deep in doing things for them.  Oh well, enough of the pity party!

Last night we made these wonderful pizzas that were inspired by a lunch that I had at Buffalo Wild Wings.  It was amazing.  After everyone was finished eating, I wanted to go make another one.  Come on...we had the stuff for one more and they were so good.  What does it matter if I was already stuffed???

So, so simple to make...

Chicken, Spinach and Artichoke Pizza

1 cup Cooked Chicken, cut into cubes
1 package of Creamed Spinach - we used HEB brand - love it so good and steams in bag
1 can Artichoke Hearts
2 Tablespoons Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp (or so) Garlic Powder
Mozzarella Cheese to your liking
Olive Oil
Flatbreads - we used Kangaroo Traditional White (found at HEB)

I used a pizza stone in my oven and heated it to 450.

Drizzle a bit of olive oil onto the flatbread and sprinkle with garlic powder.
Throw them onto the pizza stone to crisp.

Cook spinach according to package direction.
When spinach is done, empty into bowl and add artichoke hearts and Parmesan cheese.
Mix well.

Remove flatbreads from oven.
Spoon and spread spinach mixture onto flatbreads.
Add chicken.
Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
Return to oven until cheese is melted and brown, about 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Live, Laugh Love!
Karen and Charlie

Baked Potato Soup

A long, long time ago I had a recipe for the absolute best baked potato soup.  It was written on a piece of notebook paper.  Along the years and several moves that piece of paper, along with others I'm sure has disappeared.  One reason why I love the Internet.  I store everything on the net, I can't lose that!

Back to the soup.  The only thing I remember is that it had baked potatoes, Campbell's cheddar cheese soup and some other can of Campbell's soup.  I searched the Internet and couldn't find anything that I though was close, darn it the search goes on.

Yesterday, I wasn't feeling my best.  It's a bitch getting older but it's better than the alternative.  So I went into the kitchen and made up my own recipe for the soup I've been craving.  Now mind you, I'm great at following recipes.  I can copy any craft or decorating idea.  I'm a great apprentice.  So this time, I step up and do it myself.

Thank goodness I had a stocked pantry and fridge. Potatoes, Velveeta, a little shredded cheddar cheese, milk, green onions, sour cream, bacon, flour and butter. 

I was guessing so your amounts might vary from mine.  I guess I need to get better a writing things down as I go along.  But don't look for that to happen anytime soon, I'm not that organized.  Any volunteers to be my note taker?  Anyone? Anyone?

Bake the potatoes and cube.  I used 3 russets.  Make a rue with the butter and flour.  Equal parts of fat and flour. Melt the butter then slowly add the flour.  Don't leave it, keep stirring.  I used 1/4 cup of each.

Add the milk (3 cups for me).  Simmer until it starts to thicken.  Add Velveeta and cheddar cheese until melted.  Stir in sour cream, cubed potatoes and crumbled bacon. Season with salt and pepper.

Garnish with green onions or scallions, your choice of what you call them.  Just use them and use them often.

This is so good.  It warmed me to the bottom of my soul.  And satisfied my love of potatoes and cheese.  I'm so glad I tried this on my own.

More tailgate food.  More Cheese!!

I had some mozzarella that I planned on using on pizza but fried cheese called to me.  And think I must have eaten 4 or 5 of them.

Dipped in jarred marina sauce, this snack was to die for.  Just dip in egg wash and a mix of panko and regular bread crumbs.  Yum, yum.

Live, Laugh, Love,
Karen and Charlie

It's Wednesday Already?

How can it be Wednesday.  I swear that yesterday was the weekend.  Time gets the best of me.  Other than the fact that my football teams didn't win, it was a great weekend.  We cooked, we enjoyed good food, we watched some really good games.  Hey, we even managed to get a school project completed with James.

This is what pays the bills.  I work for an equipment company.  They call me a Product Support Rep, that's a fancy name for 'I sell the company and make sure the customers are happy'.  Sometimes it's a great job, other times it is the most stressful place to be.

Our kitchen on the other hand, is my de-stressser.  Saturday morning I decided that we would cook a bunch of tailgate food then we could enjoy the games more.  So we turned the music up loud, laughed a lot and made a ton food.  Here's a look.

This started out as a pizza.  I didn't flour the counter enough though and the dough stuck.  Solution...Flip over the torn dough and make a calzone.  it is stuffed with italian sausage, mushroom and onions.  The dough is made with 1 1/2 cups of warm water, 2 packages of yeast, 2 Tablespoons of sugar, 1/3 cup olive oil and 4 cups of flour.  Just bloom the yeast in the water, whisk in the sugar and oil then ad the flour.  Let it rise for an hour and you are ready.  That amount makes two pizzas.  Or a calzone and a base for James' school project.  More on that later.

I remember my Mom doing this with leftover biscuits.  She would put butter, cinnamon and sugar on a halved biscuit and put them back in the oven.  They would get hard on the outside and soft on the inside and I loved them.  I did the same thing but used flour tortillas instead.  And notice the game day activity of color sugar for the teams I was backing.  Let see, green for the Eagles, yea right, they are gone.  Blue for the Colts, Peyton and the boys let me down.  Yellow for the Saints.  Who would have ever guessed they would be out after the first round.  And purple (well, purple-ish) for the Ravens.  At least that defense pulled them through.

These little goodies were delish.. Cream Cheese, a slice of jalapeno and chicken all wrapped in bacon.  I put them in oven to cook the chicken, then broiled to get the bacon crisp.  Ree at the Pioneer Woman (don't you love her recipes?) had this posted.  I usually do this with shrimp but went with what we had.



I've rambled enough and now must run to see customers.  I think today is going to be one of the good days at work except that the wind chill is 22 degrees in Houston.  Yikes!

Live, Laugh, Love,

Karen and Charlie

Deviled Egg Dip

I saw this in The Foodnetwork Insert 50 Tailgate dips and since I love to snack and deviled eggs are one of my all time favorites, I had to try it.

Here's my version - it's just a bit different.

Takes about 10 minutes - good the next day too.

Ingredients:
8 hard boiled eggs
1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon mustard

Dash of hot sauce, paprika, salt and pepper

1/4 cup pickle relish (Wickles)

pickle relish juice

chives

I think the amounts are personal preference.  Some people like it creamier and some a little drier.  Do it your way, I know it will turn out great.  (Now I have the Burger King song in my head)

Here's what you do:
Put everything in the food processor.  Push the button.  Wait till it's smooth.
Taste for seasoning.
Put in bowl.
Service with toast wedges, pretzel crackers, potato chips.

The picture on Foodnetwork is much better.  I should have put it in a bowl.  Funny thing is though, it disappeared pretty fast even though it looks weird.

One other note, I use Wickles spicy pickle relish.  It gives things just a little bit more of a kick.  The relish and the pickles are both out of this world.  (Wickles doesn't know me from anyone one else.  I just like to pass along a good thing when I find it.)

B L T Dip

How can something so simple to make taste so good?

It has mayonnaise, sour cream and bacon.  Oh my gosh, I'm in heaven.

Here's what you need:
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
shredded iceberg lettuce
2 large chopped tomatoes
1 pound bacon, cooked crisp and chopped

Combine the mayonnaise and sour cream, spread on serving dish.
Top with shredded lettuce, then tomato then bacon.

Serve with chips.  Tip - don't use plain chips. They break too easily, the rippled kind work best.

If you aren't serving right away or if you are taking this somewhere, mix the mayonnaise and sour cream in a container and store in the fridge until ready to assembly.

This was originally a Paula Deen recipe but I got it elsewhere.  You can find it on Foodnetwork.com.
Enjoy!

Corn and Black Bean Salsa

Difficulty - easy
Prep Time - 15 minutes
Cook Time - 20 minutes

What you need:

24 won ton wrappers
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon chili powder
salt and pepper
4 1/2 cups whole kernel corn - fresh or canned
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes, well drained
1 (16 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 medium red onion, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon, chopped garlic
spray for the muffin tin

Here's what you do:
Spray the mini muffin tin with vegetable oil spray to prevent sticking
Line each tin with a wrapper, curving them to fit
Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until the edges are brown

While they are baking,
Heat oil in pan.
Combine corn, chili powder, salt and pepper to taste.
When oil is hot add corn mixture.  You want to hear a sizzle. 
Cook until heated through so corn will absorb the chili powder flavor.

Combine all other ingredients in a large bowl.
Mix well.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Add corn mixture.
Stir again.

Scoop into won ton cups.

You can serve this as an appetizer or as a topping to fish or chicken.

It's good hot or cold.