Chicken Club Basil Alfredo Pizza

There are so many great kinds of pizza out there. But you know me I can’t just make anything basic on the first try! So instead of playing it safe and just going for the standard pepperoni, we went big and went for the chicken club basil alfredo! Mostly because I freaking love alfredo and partly because I am terrified of trying to make a red sauce from scratch.

Making homemade pizza can definitely be a little scary! But don’t be intimidated it is relatively simple.

Of course all pizza has to start with a delicious crust!

Click here for the Pizza Crust Recipe

Or you can use any store brand pizza crust.

 

Ingredients:

• 2  Cooked Chicken Brest- Shredded or sliced
• 6 Pieces of Bacon- cooked and chopped
• 2 Tbsp Butter
• 1 Garlic Clove- minced
• 1/8 tsp Onion powder
• 1 Tbsp Flour
• 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
• 1/2 Cup 2% Milk
• 2 Chopped Fresh Basil Leaves
• 1/2 Shredded Parmesan Cheese
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1-2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese- depending on how you like it 😉

In a medium saucepan over a medium heat melt the butter and add the garlic and onion powder. Whisk in the flour and basil and cook for about a minute to create your roux. Slowly pour in the milk and cream while quickly whisking. Let the mixture gently boil and stir occasionally until it starts to thicken. This can take a minute or two.

Remove from heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper. Keep on low heat, stirring occasionally until you are ready to use it.

Now it’s time to build your pie! We did sauce, chicken, 1/2 bacon, cheese, 1/2 bacon and basil. But go nuts! Layer it however your little heart pleases.

 

If you did the homemade crust then bake at 425 for 7-10 minutes until the crust is golden brown. If you are doing a store bought crust then follow the directions on the package.

 

Look at all that pizza golden brown, cheesy goodness!

It’s so beautiful that I can’t stop taking pictures!

 

 

Homemade Pizza Crust

 

If you are thinking “homemade pizza…..ew” I totally understand! I have never really had a completely satisfying homemade pizza experience. The foundation of a truly delicious pizza is the crust! The next most important ingredient is the sauce. For our first attempt we did a white sauce because red sauce scares the hell out of me and I may just use spaghetti sauce for the rest of my life.

But back to the pizza foundation. Everyone has a special preference on pizza crust. I like it to be bready almost like a french bread and big and light and fluffy. And of course you have to baste it with tons of garlic butter! So here is the recipe to a wonderful homemade pizza crust.

Update: I make this almost once a week!!! We love fresh pizza! And it is so much cheaper than ordering out and you can get a thick fluffy crust! Or a thin crispy one. However you like it!

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 Cups Flour
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Sugar
• 1 Packet Fleischmann’s Pizza Crust Yeast
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Granulated Garlic
• 1 Cup Hot Water (110-115 degrees)
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp melted butter
• 1 Tbsp Corn Meal

In a large bowl combine 1 cup flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Mix well. Add oil. Slowly add the water. Mix for about 2-3 minutes. Slowly add 2 more cups of flour. Keep the mixer going until the dough starts to pull away from the bowl.

Transfer the dough to a floured surface. The dough will be crazy sticky so you will want to keep your hands floured while you knead it. Knead in about 1/2 more cup of flour. As you add the flour and knead the dough it will become less sticky. Try and spend at least 5 minutes kneading the dough. Place the dough on a plate or in a bowl and cover it. Let it rise in a warm spot for about 30 minutes

 

 

How beautiful is that? So once the dough has risen place it back on a floured surface and start to roll it out with a rolling pin. I tried to be fancy and give it a little whirl in the air, but the shape kept going oval.

So this recipe makes a pretty thick 13 inch pizza crust. If you don’t like a really thick crust you can make a bigger pie or use about half the dough.

Sprinkle the corn meal on your pan and lay the crust over it. Brush the whole thing with some butter and pop it in the oven at 450 for about 5-7 minutes until the crust is lightly browned.

Add your toppings and brush the outer crust with more butter. Bake for 7-10 minutes at 450 and you should have a lovely golden brown crust!

Yummy!!! Enjoy 🙂

Here is another amazingly mouthwatering pizza pic! 

Blueberry Muffin Smoothie

This is like comfort food in the form of a smoothie! Super filling and the perfect boost when you are feeling down.

I have been super super sick for the last week. Some mutant form of a cold I guess. I hate being sick, and I was super stressed out because I was supposed to be starting a 3 week trip for work. Well thankfully the trip was postponed and I was given the weekend to rest and get myself back to 100%.  Well I am not quite 100% yet, but I am most certainly feeling better!

So if you’re feeling blue then this Blueberry Muffin Smoothie might just be the pick me up you are craving!

Makes 2 smoothies:

• 1/2 Cup Quick Oats
• 1 1/2 Cup Frozen Blueberries
• 1 Cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 Cup Milk
• 1 Tbsp Honey
• 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 -1/2 Tsp Cinnamon based on taste preferences
• 16 oz Ice

Put your oats in the blender first and grind them very fine. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Blend for 2-3 minutes. Pour and enjoy!!

 

 

Aphrodite Brownies

So this is like a double red velvet  chocolatey dream!! The texture is divine and the taste really packs a chocolate punch with a kiss of cream cheese.

Not sure how long Oreo will be selling the Red Velvet Oreo’s but you should definitely give them a try while they are still around! They are TASTY!!

Here is our final Valentine’s Day dessert, we actually made this one together on the big day. It was a great way to finish off the culinary triumph of our first homemade pizza!!

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine’s Day!

Ingredients:

• 1 Box Red Velvet Cake Mix
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Package Instant Pudding- White Chocolate
• 1/2 Cup Melted Butter
• 6 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 1 Package Red Velvet Oreos (Or the regular ones if Red Velvet isn’t available)
• 8 oz Cream Cheese- Room Temperature
• 1 1/2 Cup Milk Chocolate Chips
• 1 Tbsp Butter
• Mini Chocolate Chips to garnish

 

Preheat oven to 350. In a stand mixer combine the cake mix, melted butter, eggs, oil and pudding. This mix will be very thick. Spread this in a 13×9 nonstick pan and bake it for 20-25 minutes until you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean. Let this cool while you make the oreo and chocolate layer.

Grind up the oreos in a food processor or Ninja blender. Or you can use ziploc bag and a meat mallet or rolling pin.

 

 

Mix in the cream cheese with the cookie crumbs. Spread this over the brownie and throw it back in the oven for about 5 minutes.

In a double boiler melt the 1 tbsp butter and the milk chocolate. Use a spatula to spread over the oreo layer.

Then sprinkle on the mini chips.

Cool in the fridge for at least an hour.

 

 

They are kinda rich so you don’t need to cut super big pieces. That means more love to go around!

Let me know in the comments how yours turn out! Hope you love them as much as we do!

Check out all our wonderful creations on the Sweet Treats page!

Red Velvet New York Cheesecake

Here we are Valentine’s Day post 2 of 3! We are just waiting for the release of the new Red Velvet Oreos to make the final dessert. You can expect that post by next week!

As you well may know already my love affair with cheesecake has been a long and abiding obsession. There are cheesecakes for every occasion. Candy flavors, fruit flavors and now holiday flavors! I would love to post more recipes, but if I made as many cheesecakes as I wanted then Levi and I wouldn’t be able to fit out the front door! Levi’s favorite dessert is Red Velvet cake! Or Red Velvet anything…..we went a little Red Velvet crazy on our last shopping trip.

So to my Logan friends if you ever want me to make one for you let me know! All you have to do is pay for the ingredients and I’ll create a masterpiece for you 🙂

Since this cheesecake is for a very special holiday I decided to learn a very special skill. Frosting roses. Not too shabby for my first attempt. If you are like me and new to the whole decorative frosting world then I would suggest practicing your technique on a sheet of wax paper, I did this a few times and just reused the frosting until I figured out the angles and the movement that gave me the desired result.

This cheesecake is more of a New York Style Cheesecake. Which means that it is both crumbly and creamy.  I don’t even know how that is possible. You can adjust the recipe to be more like my others with just 3 simple adjustments. 1. 16 oz cream cheese. 2 16 oz sour cream. 3. 2 eggs.

I also used a 9 inch springform pan and my cheesecake was popping over the top, so you may want to use a 10 inch.

Ingredients:

• 2 Sleeves of Chocolate Graham Crackers
• 12 Tbsp Butter- Softened
• 1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 12 oz Semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips.
• 1/2 Cup butter
• 4- 8 oz packages of Cream Cheese- Room temperature, this helps give you the right consistency.
• 1/3 Cup White Granulated Sugar
• 8 oz Sour Cream
• 1/3 Cup Buttermilk
• 1 oz Red Food Coloring
• 4 Whole Eggs and 2 Egg Yolks.

Crust:

In a food processor grind the graham crackers down to fine crumbs. Mix in the powdered sugar and 12 Tbsp butter. Press the mixture into a 10 or 9 inch springform pan. Bake on 350 for 10 minutes. Cool completely.

Filling:

Use a double boiler or the microwave to melt the chocolate chips and 1/2 cup butter. Make sure to stir it occasionally to incorporate the butter into the chocolate and make a smooth chocolate sauce. Once the chocolate is all melted remove from heat. You don’t want the chocolate to seize up and become a crumbly unusable mess. Trust me. Been there done that 😦 Cool this sauce completely.

In a stand mixer beat the cream cheese until it’s smooth. Add sugar and sour cream and buttermilk. Mix until it’s nice and saucy, make sure you are constantly scraping down the sides of the bowl to avoid having any lumps in your batter. Add the chocolate sauce and mix until you have a light brown batter. Slowly add in your red food coloring until you reach your desired color. I went all in with 1 oz. Now add the eggs one at a time. Don’t over mix….apparently this is what causes some of the cracking on the top of the cheesecake.
Pour the batter over the crust. Bake at 350 for 60 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in for another 60 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan. Transfer to the fridge for 3-4 hours.

I made little cream cheese frosting from 8oz cream cheese, 2 cups powdered sugar and 1 tbsp vanilla. Whip it till you have a creamy frosting that you can either pipe or spread on top.  It’s definitely not a red velvet treat without cream cheese frosting!

It’s so decadent!! Don’t forget to sign up for email alerts so that you don’t miss another tasty morsel!

 

So beautiful that I just couldn’t resist a little photo editing! Lol. Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Check out the Sweet Treats page to find links to all the yummy desserts we have created!

 

Bacon Wrapped Beef Roast

More stuff wrapped in bacon! YAY!! Hahaha. We are always up for a great roast! This roast is very tender and has some great flavor! It is really easy to make too! You can marinade the same day or marinade in advance. We used the new Foodsaver to vacuum seal the marinade and the meat. It worked out wonderfully.

Ingredients:

• 3 lb Beef Roast
• 2 Tbsp Onion Powder
• 1 Tbsp Garlic Salt
• 1 Cup Lawry’s Steak & Chop Marinade
• 6 Pieces of Bacon
• 1/2 Cup Beef Broth

Rub the onion powder and garlic salt into the roast. Marinate in the sauce for at least 1-2 hours. Or several days. I won’t tell you how to live your life.

 

Preheat oven to 325. Remove roast from the marinade. Wrap the bacon tightly in a criss cross pattern over the roast.

Place in a deep cooking dish with the beef broth. Bake for about 2 1/2 hours. Meat should have an internal temperature of 145. When it’s done remove the roast from the baking dish and let it rest for 3 minutes.

Slice it up and serve with your favorite sides!