Happy Hump Day

I love my husband dearly, but sometimes he just not helpful when it comes to deciding what's for dinner.  He is not a picky eater, which I am very thankful for, but all he ever tells me is to make something yummy.  Not helpful!  So tonight we get home and I ask him if he would like to have leftovers or if he wants me to make something for supper.  Of course he wanted me to make something.  Luckily, I found a quick and easy recipe, which brings us to today's recipe, Barbecue Chicken Pizza.  This is our favorite kind of pizza because I usually always have the ingredients needed in the house.  This is a new recipe and I think it's going to replace my previous one because it's just that delicious and it's healthy too!
Here are the ingredients and directions:
1 (12 oz.) refrigerated pizza dough
3/4 C. BBQ sauce
1 1/2 C. shredded smoked gouda
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 C. sliced mushrooms
1 C. cooked chicken
Fresh cilantro leaves

1. Preheat oven to 500 degress F.
2. Spread pizza dough on cookie sheet.  Cover with BBQ sauce.
3. Spread the chicken, mushrooms and onions, evenly over the BBQ sauce.
4. Cover the toppings with shredded cheese.
5. Bake until crispy and edges are golden brown.
6. Top with fresh cilantro.

This pizza makes 4 servings.  Each serving is only 380 calories.

By the way, gouda instead of mozzarella is amazing on pizza!  I hope you all had a wonderful Wednesday!

National Pretzel Day

I have now found some new inspiration for my blog.  Every day of the year is designated as some sort of special day and some of these days are devoted to food.  So I will try to pick some recipes based on these different days.

Today is National Pretzel Day.  I was going to make homemade soft pretzels tonight, but decided I wasn't in the mood to play with dough tonight.  I found a fun snack recipe using store bought pretzels.  I'm sure everyone has had a version of these at some point in time, but they are delicious and addictive.

Spicy Party Pretzels
1 C. vegetable oil
1 (1 oz.) pkg dry ranch salad dressing mix
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. chili powder
1 (15 oz.) pkg mini twist pretzels

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
2. Mix together vegetable oil, ranch mix, garlic salt and chili powder.
3. Place pretzels on cookie sheet.  Coat with the oil mixture.
4. Bake pretzels for 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until toasted and crispy.

This is a really quick and easy recipe.  It makes a lot so it's good to serve at parties.  Hope you enjoy it and happy pretzel day!

World Penguin Day

I love penguins just about as much as I love cooking.  One of friends informed that today is recognized as World Penguin Day.  Adelie penguins of Ross Island begin a northward migration on or around April 25.  So in honor of my favorite little creatures, tonights menu will be seafood inspired.  Tonight I made Crab and Seafood Stuffed Shells.  This is the menu as I found it:
1 (12 oz.) box jumbo pasta shells
1 (6 oz.) can crabmeat, drained
1 (6.5 oz.) can small shrimp, drained
3 tsp. minced celery
1 T. minced onion
1 C. creamy salad dressing
1 C. shredded Swiss cheese

1. Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil.  Once the water is boiling, stir in the pasta shells.  Cook until al dente.  Drain and rinse pasta with cold water.
2. While the pasta is cooking, mix together the remaining ingredients.
3. Stuff each shell with some of the seafood mixture, and place into a serving dish.  Keep refrigerated until read to serve.

Following this recipe the shells would be served cold.  I decided I wanted to serve these warm, so I tweaked the recipe.  This is something I do a lot to make a recipe fit the ingredients I have and so it also contains ingredients I like.  The following is the recipe as I made it:

1 (12 oz.) box jumbo pasta shells
4 oz. imitation crabmeat, chopped
1 (6.5 oz.) can small shrimp, drained
1 T. dried chives
1 T. minced onion
1/2 C. mayonaise
1/2 C. cream cheese
1 1/2 C. shredded Swiss cheese, divided
pepper to taste

1. Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil.  Once the water is boiling, stir in the pasta shells.  Cook until al dente.  Drain and rinse pasta with cold water.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
3. While the pasta is cooking, mix together the remaining ingredients.
4. Stuff each shell with some of the seafood mixture, and place into a casserole dish.
5. Sprinkle the shells with remaining Swiss cheese. 
6. Cover bottom of dish with a little bit of water to prevent the shells from burning.
7. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20 mintues.  Make sure cheese is melted, sprinkle with dried or fresh parsley and serve.

This is a really simple recipe and it gives you a chance to get the dishes done while the shells bake!  Happy Penguin Day!!