Frozen Pizza Makeover

When the end of the month comes and we are stretching our budget we usually reach for something in the freezer. Last night we chose one of our frozen pizzas. We get them in bulk at Costco. Instead of cooking them as they are, we always add something to them to make them our own. We decide what we use depending on what we have in the fridge, but we always use garlic! Often we use goat cheese, but we were out of it this time.

1 frozen pizza- thin crust margherita pizza
2 cloves minced garlic
2 slices of prosciutto; chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Chop the garlic and prosciutto. Sprinkle on the top of the frozen pizza. Drizze with olive oil. Cook according to the directions on the box.

Frozen pizza before adding toppings

Frozen pizza after toppings

The cooked pizza



Chicken, Spaghetti, and Spinach

Last night, Kenny and I made a great meal. I had forgotten how much I love spinach... I am definitely making it again tonight! For this meal, we decided not to use a non-stick skillet. This way the great flavors from the chicken stick to the pan to flavor the onions, spinach, and garlic.

2 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/2 white onion; chopped
2 garlic cloves; minced
4-6 cups of raw spinach
1/3 a box of spaghetti
1 cup of tomato sauce
1/4 c of shredded parmesan
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

1. Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees F. Pat the chicken breasts off with a paper towel. Season each side with salt and pepper. Heat the skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. On another burner, heat the salted water for the spaghetti over high heat. When the olive oil is shimmering, add the chicken. Cook the chicken on each side for about 4-5 minutes.

2. While the chicken in cooking, peel the onion and chop it.

3. Mince 2 cloves of garlic for the spinach.

4. When each side of the chicken has been cooked, transfer to an oven safe dish. Place the chicken in the warm oven. This way the chicken can continue to cook in the oven and have great crispy edges from the skillet.

5. Add the chopped onions and a little olive oil to the skillet the chicken was cooked in. Reduce heat to medium-low; stir occasionally. Cook for about 3 minutes. Add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook for 7 minutes. Reduce the pan with the onions to low and continue to cook for about 5 minutes.  

6. Remove the onions from the pan and add to the dish with the chicken. Put back in the oven. Put the spinach in the pan and cook over high heat for about 3 minutes.

7. Drain the spinach in a collander. Add garlic, olive oil, and salt to the pan. Cook for about 1 minute. Add the spinach and cook for about 3 more minutes. I did not use enough spinach this time; spinach really cooks down so use a lot more than you think you'll need.

8. When the spaghetti is finished cooking, drain and return to the pot with a little olive oil. Stir in the tomato sauce. Remove the chicken and onions from the oven. When you plate the spaghetti top with parmesan cheese.

9. The finished plate

Chicken Noodle Soup

This was my first time attempting to make chicken noodle soup. It is one of our favorite soups and turned out to be much easier than I expected. It's a great meal to make on the weekend and will last through the week.

I forgot to buy 2 containers of chicken stock and improvised with 4 chicken bouillon cubes and 4 cups of water. It turned out great this way, but I would suggest just buying the right amount of chicken stock. I like to use Swanson's less sodium broth.

2 chicken breasts
8 cups of chicken stock
1/2 a bundle of kale leaves
2 carrots
2 celery ribs
1 onion
1 bay leaf
4-6 cups of egg noodles
Salt
Pepper
Italian Seasoning
Vegetable Oil

1. Prepare the vegetables; seperate the kale leaves and stems. Chop both. Add the chopped stems to a bowl. You will add the leaves to the soup later on.

2. Chop the celery and carrots into 1/2 inch pieces. Add to the bowl with the chopped kale stems.

3. Slice the onion in half. Slice the onion into thin strips. Add  to the bowl with the chopped carrots, celery, and kale stems.

4. Heat the oil in a big pot over medium heat. While the pot is heating up combine the veggies in the bowl. Use your hands to make sure that all the onions are seperated and all the veggies are incorperated in the bowl.

5. Add the veggies, Italian seasoning, and kale leaf to the pot. Stir to combine. Let the veggies cook for about 7 minutes, until the soften a bit. Stir often so the veggies do not stick to the bottom of the pot.

6. Add two tablespoons of flour and stir. Let the pot sit for 1 minute.

7. Add the chicken broth to the pot and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken breasts and cook for about 20 minutes, until the chicken's internal temperature registers at 165 degrees F.

8. Remove the chicken breasts and bay leaf from the pot.

9. Add the noodles and cook for 7 minutes.

10. While the soup is cooking, shred the chicken with a knife and fork.

11. Check the soup to see if the noodles are soft. If they are, add the shredded chicken and chopped kale leaves to the pot. Cook for 5 minutes.

12. Remove from the heat and serve.

Egg Whites with Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

When I have a moment to make breakfast, this is one of my favorite meals. I am not a big fan of breakfast foods but this one works for me.

3 egg whites
8 cherry tomatoes cut into fourths
1/2 tablespoon goat cheese
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder

1. Put a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil. While the pan is heating up, seperate the egg yolks from the egg whites.

2. Add in the spices and whisk with a fork.

3. Chop the tomatoes into fourths.

4. Add the eggs to the hot pan. Stir with a nonstick spoon.

5. Continue to stir the egg for 2-3 minutes, until the egg is not runny. Then add the tomatoes. Stir and let cook for about 1 minute.

6. Turn of the burner. Add the goat cheese and stir.

7. Let the mixture warm up in the pan for about 30 more seconds, stirring occasionally.

Spinach and Chicken Sausage Pizza

Pizza is one of my favorite meals. Thankfully, Kenny has a lot of experience cooking pizzas. Although it can be tricky to learn, with a little practice it's worth it. Homemade pizza is a really inexpensive meal that you can thow almost anything from your fridge on. There are two tools you will need to make the pizza, a pizza peel and a pizza stone. These tools that are inexpensive investments and are worth it! We bought our pizza stone for $15 and our pizza peel for $10. You can also cook other things on your pizza stone, such as cookies. Ours came with suggestions of other ways to use it.

Homemade sauce:
1 can of whole, peeled tomatoes (about 4 tomatoes) drained with juice reserved
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp Italian seasoning
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
2 cups mozarella cheese
1 cup spinach
4 sausages cooked and cut into 1 inch slices (We found apple chardonnay sausages and garlic chicken sausages at Trader Joe's)
Pizza dough; we bought Trader Joe's premade dough for $0.99 (If you can't find the uncooked dough, buy a premade crust.)
Cornmeal or flour for dusting the surface

1. Turn on your oven to 450 degrees. Make sure your pizza stone is in the oven. Put the garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper in a bowl and use a hand mixer to combine. Blend until the garlic is chopped up.

2. Drain the tomato can and keep the juice. Add the tomatoes to the blend and combine with the hand mixer.

3. Add in 3 tablespoons of the reserved tomato juice. Put it aside.
4. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium/lo heat. Add one tablespoon of olive oil. Place 4 sausages in the pan. We cover ours with a splatter screen while they are cooking because it can get messy. Rotate the sausage while cooking, leave on each side for about 3 minutes.

5. When all sides are browned remove from the pan. Let them cool and cut into 1 inch slices.

6. Get all other toppings ready to assemble your pizza. Now you will get the crust ready. Remove the dough from the refridgerator. Put cormeal or flour on your pizza peel. A pizza peel looks like a wooden cutting board but has a long handle. This makes it possible to place your pizza on the pizza stone without burning your hands. Putting the cornmeal on it will make it slide off easier. Push out the dough into a circle, about 5 inches in diameter.

7. For this next step I took a video because it is the tricky part. I'm having trouble posting it and will try to post it again later! You basically stretch the dough between both of your hands and toss it in a circular motion to make it an even thickness.

8. Place the pizza dough back on a freshly dusted pizza peel. Add the sauce first; put it in the center and spread out with a spoon.

9. Add the spinach, then the cheese, then the sausage.

10. Slide your pizza onto the pizza stone in the oven. Cook for 10 minutes and spread butter over the crust. Let it cook for 4 for minutes. It should become fragrant when it is ready. Remove with the pizza peel. Last, add grated parmesan to the crust.