Pizza in a Cast Iron Pan

It does not seem possible that pizza is a meal that makes everybody is afraid to make at home. I used to work at a California Pizza Kitchen restaurant, so making pizza is not a fear of mine at all. However, when I viewed through many YouTube videos using the following process of making pizza, I decided to give it a try. This recipe is based on the "no-knead bread" recipe to create a pizza dough. The pizza topping possibilities are endless and are very much a personal choice. I like the BBQ chicken pizza on the California Pizza Kitchen menu. This recipe is nearly a mirror image of it, but I created this recipe for busy women who want to make pizza for their loved ones. All the ingredients are store-bought. The pizza dough used is no-knead pizza dough, which is easily made and only requires the time necessary for the dough to rise.

Ingredients:
Pizza dough ingredients:
1 ½ cups of bread flour or all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 cup tap water
Topping ingredients:
1/2 cup BBQ sauce, homemade or store-bought
1 cup roasted chicken or leftover chicken, cut into cubes
1/4 cup sliced red onions
1/2 cup sliced button mushrooms
1 cup 5 cheese

Green onions for garnish

Directions:
To make the pizza dough:
Combine all the pizza dough ingredients in a bowl. Stir well. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit on the countertop for 12 to 18 hours (you can prepare the dough the night before and it will be ready at dinner time). It does not matter how long it sits after rising.
This is how the dough should look after 18 hours.

Use 3 tbs of olive oil to grease well the cast iron pan. Flour the spatula and your hands to handle the dough because the dough is very soft and sticky. Transfer the dough into the greased cast iron pan. Use your hands to stretch dough to cover the bottom of the pan. Do not worry if the dough does not cover the bottom of the pan because it will fit the bottom of the pan later. Cover pan with plastic wrap for another hour.

Before proceeding to the placement steps below, use two tbs of the BBQ sauce and add to the chicken cubes to marinade in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Steps for placement of toppings onto the dough:
Have all the topping ready and preheat the oven to 450° for at least 20 minutes.
Spread the remaining BBQ sauce all over the pizza dough

Half of the cheese

Chicken, mushrooms, and red onions (or other toppings of your choice)

Top with the other half of cheese

Just before placing the pizza pan into the oven, heat the pizza pan on the stove top for 2 to 3 minutes just to warm up the cast iron pan. Then place the pizza pan into the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with green onions just before removing from oven. Serve.

Easy Healthier Apple Pie

This recipe should earn its title for an easy and healthier pie. For the pie dough, use coconut oil instead of butter or vegetable shortening. To make it faster, buy the ready-made, low fat pie dough and then the rest of the process will be easy. Located outside my home community is an apple orchard. I shop there quite often during the apple harvesting season. I have yet to see the owner of the farm. Alongside the roadway by the farm there is just this cute little farm stand with all different kinds of apples that are natively grown in Washington State. The farm stand is self service where the customers are expected to use the honor system to deposit their money into a collection box located beside an old scale used to calculate the poundage of the apples purchased. Hopefully, the customers are honest and understand basic mathematics because the price per pound differs depending on the varieties chosen. Many recipes for apple pie use only Granny Smith apples, but I can get different, similar tasting, crispy nice apples from this farm at a fraction of the cost of apples sold in supermarkets. I love to support a small farm like this one, so look at my blog for additional easy recipes to come soon using nice organic apples.

Ingredients:
Store-bought double pie dough*
Apple filling ingredients:
2 ½ pounds total of different kinds of apples, such as Granny Smith, gala, red delicious, honey crisp, etc.
1 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbs vanilla
1/4 cup tapioca starch
Milk or egg wash to brush the top of pie

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°
Prepare the pie pan with a layer of store-bought dough.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon. Mix well.

Peel and core the apples.

Cut apples into ½ inch cubes (should be about 8 cups of apples).

Add apples to the sugar mixture. Add vanilla. Mix well.

Pour apples onto the pie dough covered pie pan. Cover the apples with the other pie dough. Cut a few slit on the top to vent the apples when it bakes. Brush the top with milk or egg wash.

Bake in the preheated oven for 55 minutes to 1 hour. Let pie cool completely before slicing and serving.

* I promise to have a good pie dough recipe soon.

Guilt-Free Spiced Mixed Nuts

I used to prepare spiced nuts by baking them in the oven. Lately, I use a Crock Pot to make this treat. Use a variety of nuts to prepare this recipe to suit your taste. The spices in this recipe can be adjusted to one's liking. Believe me, this recipe is a winner for snacking without worrying about your waistline.

Ingredients:
2 egg whites
1 tbs vanilla
4 cups total combination of almonds, pecans, walnuts, peanuts, and cashews
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
Spices ingredients:
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne

Directions:
Grease the interior of Crock Pot with coconut or vegetable oil. Add all the nuts to the Crockpot

In a large bowl, whisk egg white and vanilla until almost frosting.

 

 Stir in nuts until well coated.

Stir both sugar and spices ingredients well in a mixing bowl.

Add sugar-spices mixture into the nuts mixture. Mix well.

Transfer mixture to a Crock Pot. Cover and turn to high for 1 hour, stirring gently from time to time perhaps 10 to 15 minutes apart. Turn to low and cook for 1 and 1/2 more hour.

Cover a baking pan with parchment paper and spread out nuts. Let them cool. Store in an airtight container.

Simple Things to Keep Calm

1. Stay away from negative conversations and negative people.
2. Do not embrace hatred and anger. Learn how to forget and forgive.
3. Do not be jealous of others.
4. Accept what can not be changed.
5. Learn more patience and forgiveness and be more generous with people and events.
6. Do not look at things from only one side – consider other opinions and options.
7. Do not immerse in the past while ignoring the present because it does affect the future.
8. Learn to relax mentally, every day just use at least 10 minutes for yourself to look back to relax your mind between sources of hustle. Nobody can give you peace outside of yourself.

 Translated from the Internet

Rhubarb & Blackberries with Maple Syrup Coffee Cake

Fall is coming, and it is a little sad to see most of the vegetables starting to wilt. The rhubarb still looks good, but the stalks are thinner than at the beginning of spring. This year, I did not pick as many blackberries as last year. However, I have plenty of them in the freezer. This recipe came to me as a way of using what is left for me before we enter the fall season. It is a very easy recipe to make for a quick, sweet treat. I use the fresh rhubarb but with frozen blackberries. Butter gives the best flavor and texture, and oil will make the cake moist. I use oil because it is quicker without having to wait for butter to melt and cool. Also, coconut oil can be used for most recipes that call for oil. Each one has a different taste. For most of my baking, I like to use either oil or coconut oil as a healthier choice. Oil and butter are interchangeable, so use either one to satisfy your own choice.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbs baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup coconut oil or melted and then cooled butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup fresh rhubarb, thinly sliced
1 cup frozen blackberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Grease and flour a Bundt cake pan and set aside.

Combine sour cream and milk in a large cup. Mix well.
Sift flour, salt, and baking powder in bowl and set aside.

Beat eggs, sugar, and oil in a KitchenAid stand mixer for 5 minutes.

 Add vanilla.

Add flour alternately with the sour cream and the milk mixture, starting with the flour and ending with the flour.

Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the stand mixer bowl from time to time. Stir in the rhubarb and blackberries.

Pour the batter into the Bundt cake pan.

Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake completely before removing from pan and serving.

Stir-Fried Chicken with Vegetables

A comforting and easy recipe is the way for my style of cooking. I believe that everyone likes to have a home-cooked meal at the end of a busy day. Some recipes require a lot of ingredients to create a good meal. However, I try to use simple ingredients and a quick method for making stirfry dishes. With this method of cooking, most of us with very few skills in the kitchen can prepare a wonderful meal for our family. The variations are endless with vegetables or meats. Use any vegetables or meats that are available to suit your taste. Still, the stirfry sauce is the key to master making stirfry dishes.

Ingredients:
Stirfry sauce ingredients:
1 cup chicken broth
1 tbs sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tbs corn syrup
2 tbs mirin
Chicken marinade ingredients:
1/2 lb. of chicken breasts and thighs
1 tsp red pepper powder*
1 tbs Korean red pepper paste*
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp fresh minced ginger
1 tbs soy sauce
Vegetables:
1 cup sliced white cabbage
1 cup white onions, cut into 1/2 inch thick pieces
1/2 carrot, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
1/3 zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
3 button mushrooms, quartered
4 green onions (green part) cut into 3 inch lengths
Salt, pepper and soy sauce to taste

 Roasted sesame seeds for garnish

Directions:
Cut chicken into 1 inch lengths pieces and place in a container with all the marinade ingredients; Stir to mix well. Cover and marinate for 1 hour or overnight.

Combine the stirfry sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Have the vegetables prepared and ready to stirfry.

In a nonstick frying pan, add peanut oil or any vegetable oil that you prefer over high heat and add the marinated chicken to the hot pan. Cook chicken for 4 to 5 minutes.

 Add stirfry sauce and bring to boil.

Add all the vegetables, except the green onions, and stir well.

 Cook vegetables and chicken for 3 to 4 minutes or until the vegetables are tender (add the green onions just before the cooking is completed).

Transfer to serving plate and sprinkle roasted sesame seeds over the top. Enjoy.

* Add more or less spicy powder or spicy paste to suit your taste buds.