Mini Pizzas

So everyone loves pizza right? Whether its covered in veggies or loaded with chicken or ham, I am always a huge fan of pizza.  Ben and I are always making homemade pizzas.  However I don't always love taking a big piece of pizza to school.  I like to make sure my lunches are pretty compact so I can pack them in my bag.  So when I saw the idea for mini pizzas, I immediately knew I needed to make them.

Homemade Potato Chips

What you'll need:

• 4 russet potatoes
• Baking spray
• Salt

A week of firsts

So, as the actual beginning of student teaching draws closer, my Pinterest boards have been filling up with sandwichless lunch ideas.  Since I'm working all this week through lunch time, I figured it would be a great time to test out some new lunch recipes.  My next few blog posts are going to be centered around my new lunch recipes and whether or not I think they would actually be good for taking to school!

I decided I would start off with some easy snack ideas.  My first recipe to conquer was baked apple chips.

Ingredients:
4 fresh apples, sliced to about a 1/4 inch thick
Parchment paper
A mixture of sugar and cinnamon

Directions:
So, first things first, you need to slice the apples pretty thin.  If you have a mandoline, this is the perfect time to break it out! While you're slicing, let your oven preheat to 225.

How cute is my new paring knife???

Lay out your parchment paper on a a few baking sheets - I used three total.  Lay the apple slices down.  Do not let them overlap!

Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of each slice.

Bake in the oven for one hour.  Take the slices out, and flip them over.  Again sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on them.  They should be starting to curl at the edges.  Bake for one more hour.

Last step is to let them cool, and then dig in!

My rating:
I would give these apple chips a 4/5.  They are super delicious, but I wish they took a little bit less time and got a bit crispier.  I think next time, I may turn the heat up just a little bit, to see if that might make them crispier.  I really enjoy the flavor and the fact that they're pretty healthy for you.  These are definitely a snack I would take to school, and we have plans to make some every week.

My next adventure is with homemade potato chips!


What snacks do you take to school or work?

- Lizzie

Today, we are...

1. Eating delicious peach cobbler.  Recipe here. Definitely try it, incredibly yummy!

2. Cuddling with Blu Bird

3. Playing with Miles in the window and curtains

4. Making mini succulents!

Lots of fun packed into this Sunday.  Our plans for later are even more exciting, including making potato chips!  What kind of fun do you fit into your Sunday? 

- Lizzie

You can just call me Suzy Homemaker

Lately my work schedule has been 8-2 or 7-1, so today is a rare day that I'm scheduled to work 1- close.  And let me tell you I am taking full advantage of this relaxing time.  The gentleman is at work so it's just me and the kitten babies.  So far we've baked a loaf of bread, done the laundry (most of it anyways), and washed all of the leftover dishes.  I've been in a very "bakey" mood the past couple of days and it really makes me feel like I should have been born in the 50's!

The gentleman and I have been making smoothies every morning... the green monster actually! (It's good!) The recipe requires bananas, so we obviously stocked up on bananas, not realizing we were going to run out of yogurt and not be able to make smoothies for a few days.  Thus we had a massive pile of brown bananas yesterday.  Now, the only logical thing you can do with brown bananas is bake banana bread! To me, this is one of the easiest things to bake, other than box cakes of course! My sister gave me a recipe a few years ago and I've been a banana bread baking fiend since.

Ingredients:
3-4 smushed/mashed bananas

No chocolate or strawberries this time, but still oh so delicious!

1 1/2 C all purpose flour
1 C sugar
1 beaten egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 C melted butter
Pinch of salt

Directions:
1. Mix the butter into the bananas
2. Mix in sugar, egg, and vanilla
3. Sprinkle in baking soda and salt
4. Mix in flour
5. Put into a buttered pan and cook for one hour at 350

Sometimes I get a little bit crazy and add chocolate chips or strawberries, sometimes both!

I also always stock up on the easy muffin mixes, you know, the ones where all you have to add is milk or water.  We had a couple people over last night, so we also whipped up some mini blueberry muffins.

They're very yummy, and since they are so small, I don't feel quite so bad when I have two... or three!

My last baking adventure, was as I talked about earlier, my loaf of bread.  However now I'm not so sure you can really call it a loaf... perhaps more of a ball? I'll let you decide.

I got a fabulous recipe from Simply So Good for what she calls crusty bread.  It is also an incredibly easy bread to bake and only required four ingredients: flour, salt, water, and yeast! It's definitely my kind of recipe.  However if you are planning on making this bread, keep in mind that the dough has to rise for 12-18 hours!

We made the dough last night and set it aside until this morning when I got out our dutch oven and made a delicious loaf/ball of bread!

Very pleased with all of my baking adventures! I think my subconscious knew that starting next week I would have zero time for baking or anything exciting really.  Here's to hoping I can fit in a little bit more fun!


- Suzy Homemaker

Chicken and Vegetable Casserole... Lightened Up!

Tonight's dinner was such a success! We chose a recipe from my new favorite website SparkPeople. I love making casseroles, but they aren't always the healthiest, for example I highly doubt my chicken and broccoli casserole that requires two cans of cream of mushroom soup and tons and tons of cheese is really doing much for my weight loss.  We were able to find what looked like a really great recipe, so after our nightly run we headed off to Walmart to pick up a few supplies.  Let me tell you, this was one of our best dinners in a while... I'm talking Ben was licking the plate so good.  It wasn't the easiest to make, and I certainly don't suggest trying to make it on your own, but the end result was fabulous.
           
         What you need:

After baking

- About 2 chicken breasts cooked and cubed

- 2 Tbsp.  all purpose flour

- 2 Tbsp. butter

- 10 oz skim milk

- 1 tsp. italian seasoning

- 1 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese

- 7 oz whole wheat penne pasta

- 1 head of broccoli, chopped

- about 1/2 a bell pepper - diced

- about a 1/4 C white onion - diced

- 1 zucchini - chopped

- 1/3 C cheese of choice

- salt and pepper to taste 

How to make it:

We served ours with a spinach
salad and italian dressing!

Begin by cooking the chicken.  We lightly breaded it and pretty much let it sit in a frying pan for a good 15-20 minutes, but feel free to cook it to your liking.  Add butter into a pre-heated sauce pan.  Once the butter begins to foam add in the flour.  Stir continuously for about 1 minute.  Add in milk and heat to a boil, stirring often.  Once boiling, reduce heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.  While the sauce is simmering begin to cook the pasta.  When pasta is almost done add broccoli to the pot.  Strain both pasta and broccoli and set aside.  Returning back to your sauce, add in the parmesan, italian seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste.  Pre-heat you oven to 350 degrees and prepare for your kitchen to smell wonderful.
In a large bowl mix together the chicken, broccoli, and pasta.  Add in pre-chopped vegetables and mix again.  Cover with the white sauce. Lightly spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.  Place the mixture into the baking dish.  Top the dish with cheese.  Let bake for 20 minutes.