Pantry Pizzas 🍕

What is a pantry pizza you ask?  Well, the best definition I have is...anything you want it to be!  Pizza is so versatile that you can almost make it out of anything!  It doesn't have to be on a pizza crust and it doesn't even have to be round!  A lot of times I make English Muffin Pizzas for the kids and sometimes even bagel pizzas.  This time, I wanted to use up some fresh Ingredients I had on hand as well as some sandwich wraps my husband brought home one day.  Pantry Pizza.  Use your pantry and fridge to come up with toppings!  I had some fresh mushrooms and tomatoes as well as some mozzarella string cheese I needed to use up.  I've had a can of black olives in my cubbord for months and some opened pepperoni in the fridge.  For the sauce I just used some Great Value jarred pizza sauce from Walmart.  I did sprinkle each pizza with some basil, oregano, garlic powder, and parmesan cheese.  I only wish I had some fresh spinach on hand to give it some green color and a healthy crunch.  

Pantry Pizza is easy for anyone to create their own!  Kids making their own pizzas means they are more likely to eat it all! 

Family Fun Suggestion:

Pantry Pizza Toppings Tray:

Prepare some toppings you have or even make a list (with input from the family) of toppings to get.  Then set them out on a tray and let little chefs make their own!  Such a fun family activity that ends with a tasty lunch or dinner!  

Recipe? There is no recipe!  Just find a flat bread or type of vehicle for your pizza sauce and toppings.  Assemble.  Bake.  Eat.  Enjoy!  

Topping Suggestions:

Pepperoni

Sliced string cheese

Black olives

Sliced mushrooms

Diced peppers

Diced tomatoes

Garlic

Onions

Diced cooked chicken or ham

Pineapple (yes, pineapple!) 

Almond Chicken Stir Fry 🌿

One of my favorite things to do is create recipes of my own. I'll see something that sparks my brain and then I just start tossing around the ideas in my head.  I created this Almond Chicken Stir Fry on my own after a visit to my local farmer's market yesterday. (Of course I practiced social distancing, but I needed fresh produce). I picked up some chicken, almonds, zucchini, yellow squash and green onions.  Once I got home I thought about how I wanted to make this new dish for my blog.  I knew I already had mushrooms, coconut milk, and coconut ready rice.  And so the ideas started flowing.  I knew I wanted to make something light and not loaded with the normal dark stir fry sauce or teriyaki sauce.  I wanted something creamy.  So tonight I started piecing together my dish and let me just say...this is one of my favorite things I've made in a long time!  Somehow the flavors of the toasted almonds with the coconut milk gave this dish an extra boost of goodness.  It was everything I wanted it to be and I'm so happy that I got lucky enough for it to turn out.  Now, for the recipe!  And as always, let me know if you make it and how you liked it!  

Almond Chicken Stir Fry 🌿

Ingredients:

1lb boneless chicken, cut up into cubes

1 zucchini, halved and sliced thin

1 yellow squash, halved and sliced thin

Sliced mushrooms

2 green onions, sliced

Olive oil for frying

1/2 can coconut milk (or 1 cup plus more to taste)

2 packs of Uncle Ben's coconut-jasmine ready rice

1 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Optional spices:. Salt, pepper, all purpose seasoning, Trader Joe's 21 season salute

(Play around with spices that would go well with a sweet and savory dish) 

What to do:

1) In a large frying pan or wok, add some olive oil to the pan and stir fry the zucchini, squash, green onion, and mushrooms.  In another skillet, fry the chicken until done and no longer pink inside. 

2) Add some coconut milk to the veggies and stir together.  To the chicken, add salt, pepper, and seasonings.  When chicken is done, add it to the veggies.  Use the pan you cooked the chicken in to toast the almonds! Just add a tiny bit of olive oil, the almonds and toast for 3-5 mins, tossing regularly.  When they are done and toasty, add to the stir fry!  

3) Make the ready rice as directed in the microwave and then add to the skillet with the chicken and veggies.  Add some more coconut milk to get a creamy texture that you like!  

4) Serve in bowls with an egg roll on the side.  

I hope you and your family enjoy this just as much as we did!  I can't wait to eat leftovers for lunch tomorrow!  Yummm!! 

Smoked Easter Ham 🍖

Since things were a little different for Easter this year, we decided to try something different and throw a ham on our Treager smoker.   I'll have to say that I will probably never make ham any other way from now on.  Smoking it gave it such great flavor and it really took little to no effort.   I definitely recommend trying this recipe out if you own a smoker. Are you ready for the super simple recipe?

Smoked Easter Ham 🍖

1 bone-in spiral cut ham with the glaze packet

1 cans pineapple rings, drained, juice reserved

Skewers or toothpicks

Aluminum pan 

1) Heat the smoker to 245°.  While the grill is coming up to temp, place your ham in aluminum pan. Drain the pineapple juice from the cans over the ham and into the pan.  Use skewers to arrange pineapple rings around the ham.  

2) Once smoker is up to temp, place pan on the grills.  Smoke for an hour and a half and then check it.  Pour the glaze over the ham and smoke for 30 more minutes.  

🌿 5 Ingredient Chicken Stir Fry 🌿

🌿Would you believe me if I told you, you could make a one pot chicken stir fry with only 5 ingredients?  I promise you it can be done!  My kids love the combination of chicken and fried rice and I have had a bag of Vegetable Fried Rice from Trader Joe's in my freezer just waiting to be added to something special.  I hate having tons of pans to wash after prepping a great dinner!  This one let's me have minimal clean up.  Let's get right to it!

🌿What you'll need:

1 lb boneless chicken breast, sliced into strips and seasoned with salt and pepper 

1 bag of frozen (steamable) Vegetable Fried Rice

1 bag frozen broccoli

1-1/2 cups Stir Fry Sauce

Half of an orange

(Slice the other half of the orange into quarters for garnish)

What you need to do:

1) Heat some olive oil in a  large skillet over med-high heat.  Add the cut up chicken and season with some salt and pepper. 

2) While your chicken is cooking, steam the broccoli in the microwave.   When your chicken is done all the way through, add the steamed broccoli to your pan with the chicken.   Give it a good stir and let the broccoli saute for a few minutes. 

3) Next, steam your bag of rice in the microwave as directed.   While that's happening, add the stir fry sauce to the chicken and broccoli. (you can use more or less depending on your taste). Let that summer until the rice is done.  

4) Next, add the rice to your pan and stir to combine with the sauce and chicken mixture.  Finally, squeeze the juice from your fresh orange over the top of your stir fry!  Serve in bowls with an orange wedge for extra flavor! Enjoy! 

🌿I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during these scary times.  I do believe that together we will prevail from this evil virus as a unit!  It's hard to not worry about the unknown, but it makes it easier to spend time getting back to the basics of life and enjoying the little things!  Like cooking!  

🌿Also, thank you to our Doctors, nurses, medical teams, first responders, truck drivers, grocery store workers and everyone who is selflessly putting their lives on the line every day to save others from this horrible pandemic.  Love and prayers to all! 

Easy Ravioli Bake 🇮🇹

Who doesn't love a good Italian dish? 

I know I do!  I know it's the one thing my husband and kids will eat with no issues.  I love making this ravioli dish a lot.   Sometimes I change it up and play around with ingredients, but this time I kept it simple.  As you will see in the pics below, this dish goes great paired with simple steamed broccoli and garlic toast.  

I promise if you add this to your meal plans, it will surely become a family favorite! Enough chatter...let's get right to the point! ...the recipe!

Easy Ravioli Bake

1 lb ground Italian sausage, browned

1T minced garlic

1t Oregano

1t garlic powder

Salt and pepper

1 jar pasta sauce

1/2 of large bag or 1 whole small bag of frozen ravioli

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375°

2. Add the seasonings to the Italian sausage while you're cooking it.  

3. Spread a little sauce in the bottom of an oiled casserole dish. Then add the rest to the Italian sausage and combine.  Then layer some ravioli, cheese, and sauce.  Repeat layer once more ending with the sauce.  

4. Bake uncovered for 25 mins.  Top with remaining mozzarella cheese and a few shakes of parmesan cheese.  Bake an additional 10 mins or until cheese is melted.  

5. Let sit while you bake your garlic bread and steam your frozen broccoli in the microwave.  

(Serving suggestion below)

☘️St. Patty's Day Parfaits ☘️

☘️How can something so simple taste so good?

Layered pistachio pudding and cool whip and topped with sprinkles?  Yup!  That's it!  SO easy and yet so prim and proper looking.  

I had made Irish Beef Stew in the Crock-Pot and needed a light and fluffy, fun dessert for the boys to enjoy.  I wasn't in the mood to bake anything and Jell-O takes way too long to set.  So...then the idea of a parfait was born.  I've had these adorable stemless wine glasses in my bar cabinet for a while and have only used them a few times. I thought they would definitely fit the part.  

Here's what I used:

2 am boxes of pistachio pudding mix

4c Milk

1 container of cool whip

Sprinkles for garnish 

Here's what I did:

1. I mixed the pudding and the milk in a bowl and put it in the fridge for 30 mins to set.  

2. When ready, I layered the pudding and the cool whip alternately in the wine glasses.  

3. I topped them off with a dash of rainbow sprinkles and there you have it!  A simple, beautiful, delicious looking little dessert!  

Of course, this idea can be used for any occasion and altered to fit any holiday or flavors you'd like.  Simple enough, right?  What a hit this was with my boys who thought they were extra special for being allowed to eat layered pudding out of the forbidden wine glasses.  I hope everyone enjoyed their St Patrick's Day! ☘️

Crock-pot Fajita Chicken/Chicken Tostadas

Yum!!!   That is all I can say about this amazing crockpot chicken.  

Since I was running low on groceries and was ready to use up a package of boneless chicken thighs, I decided to cook them in the Crock-Pot.   But what was I going to do with them?  I didn't want to make anything creamy and didn't want anything plain.   Looking through my pantry and freezer I came up with the ingredients for my fajita chicken!  

I had a bag of frozen bell pepper strips from Trader Joe's I've been meaning to use.   In my pantry, I had a package of fajita seasoning.  And in my fridge I still had half a jar of Salsa Verde ( green salsa) that I had used for enchiladas last week. 

That's when this dish came to life!  I seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, and all purpose seasoning.  Then I arranged them in the slow cooker. (I used my 6qt for this). Next I sprinkled the chicken with the packet of fajita seasoning and topped that with Salsa Verde.  Yummm!  On top of all of that, I poured in the bag of peppers!  I turned the Crock-Pot on high and slow cooked it for 4 hours!

When it was time, I shredded the chicken and stirred it around in the sauce and juices from the cooking process.  Soooo good!  

I decided to toast some tostada shells in the oven and make crunchy chicken tostadas as our dinner.  This chicken is a great way to make quesidilas, fajitas, chicken tacos, or like me, tostadas.  

Recipe for:

Crock-Pot Fajita Chicken 

8 boneless chicken thighs

Salt & Pepper

1 packet Fajita seasoning

1 1/2 cup Salsa Verde (mild green salsa)

1 bag frozen sliced bell peppers

1. Season chicken and arrange in crock-pot. Season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle packet of fajita seasoning on top.   

2. Next pour the salsa over the chicken. Top with the sliced peppers!

3. Cook on hight for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.

*6qt crockpot is best for this recipe

Recipe for:

Chicken Fajita Tostadas

Chicken from the Crock-Pot

Tostada shells ( toasted as directed)

toppings:

Lettuce, shredded cheese, tomatoes, ranch dressing, salsa, sour cream.

1.  Scoop chicken into tostada shell.  Top with whatever toppings you like!  Serve away!  

Copycat KFC Mashed Potato Bowls

Every once in a while I will get the urge to make some kind of comfort food.  Who doesn't like comfort food?  I know that most of the time comfort food isn't considered healthy, and this dish is absolutely not the healthiest, but...if you are in need of that feel good food, than this is for you!  

Whenever we eat out somewhere I always think about how I can recreate things at home!  This KFC bowl is one of my favorite things to get whenever we eat there.  Like I said, I know it's not healthy and full of starch (as my mom would say) but hey...sometimes you just gotta eat something that will make you feel good! 

Now let's get to the dish!  This recipe is so easy to make and most likely you have all of the ingredients on hand!  Popcorn chicken might have been better for the chicken part, but I only had chicken nuggets.  Also, the only gravy I had was turkey gravy that I had bought around Thanksgiving but never used!  I definitely took advantage of "shelf cooking" tonight!  

What is "shelf cooking" you ask?  It's where you use what you already have on hand to create a meal instead of having to run out for milk.  Trust me...follow Jordan Page on Instagram and you will get some great advice!  Okay, on to the recipe....

Copycat KFC Mashed Potato Bowls

Frozen chicken nuggets (baked as directed)

2 cans of corn

2 cans of turkey gravy

Instant Mashed Potatoes (made as directed)

1) While my chicken nuggets were in the oven, I cooked my corn and gravy on the stove and threw my mashed potatoes in the microwave.  

2) When my nuggets were done, I assembled the bowls.  Mashed Potatoes, then corn, chicken nuggets, and topped with gravy!

3) That's literally it!  You could also add some shredded cheese on top...I didn't think about that until just now.  

Throwing together easy meals like this makes me feel like I have my life together.  Also, the more simple the dish, the happier my picky kids.  Don't be afraid to try a copycat recipe!  Chances are you will make something that puts the original dish to shame! 

Easy Sauteed Chicken and Vegetables

Tonight's dinner was inspired by the fact that I had some "use it or lose it" vegetables in my fridge!  I wanted to make a low carb meal and this was the perfect candidate!  Keep in mind that any kind of dish like this can be altered to fit your tastes and to what you have on hand. The salad was made out of veggies that were fading fast and had to be consumed in the next couple of days!  I used lettuce, spinach, shredded carrots, grated radishes, chopped green onion, and dressing. 

As for the chicken-veggie skillet, I didn't measure anything.  I just used what I had on hand!  So the recipe for this dish is short and sweet.

Chopped veggies ( I used zucchini, green onion, mushrooms)

Chopped chicken

Olive oil, salt, pepper, all purpose seasoning

*Saute everything together in a pan. 

*Serve with side salad for a complete low carb dinner 💚

Coconut Chia Pudding 🖤 (Copycat Carnival Cruise Line's Tropical Chia Pudding)

Back in August my hubby and I were on a cruise to Bermuda!  At the Sunday brunch that they had on the ship, they offered chia pudding as a menu option.  I absolutely loved it!  It was so creamy and topped with the best berries and bananas!  I have tried to recreate it a few times but nothing compared. After some tweaking, I have finally figured it out!  It really is good for you and a great low carb option!  This pudding is also diabetic friendly because I used Splenda instead of sugar!  The recipe is for two half containers full. (I leave room on top for fruit!) 

Coconut Chia Pudding

3/4 c Coconut Milk

2T Chia Seeds

2T Splenda (I used 3 packets)

1T sugar free maple syrup

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup bananas, blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries

Whisk everything (except for fruit) together in a bowl. Pour into containers and let sit in fridge to let it thicken. When you're ready to eat or serve, top with fruit.

*You could also add some coconut flakes 

This is the closest I have come to copying that recipe!  I hope you try it and let me know how you like it if you do!  

Valentine's Garden Pizza 💗🍅🍄🍕

First, Happy Valentine's Day!   I hope you had a great day celebrating, or not celebrating!  We kept it low key and the boys got some of their favorite candy and I made red velvet cake for dessert. 💗 For dinner, I had originally planned to make chicken parm sandwiches but I changed my mind at the last minute.   Instead, I decided to use up some vegetables, fresh mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni from the fridge and make some pizza!  I used Trader Joe's pizza dough for both pizzas!  

One pizza is for my picky eaters.  (This was so good!  Literally just pizza dough, pizza sauce, fresh mozzarella, and pepperoni!) (Pic at bottom)

 

The second pizza is my Garden Pizza!   It's for the more adventurous family members.  

Garden Pizza 🍅🍄

1lb pizza dough (spread out on round pizza pan)

1small jar pizza sauce (I used great value brand)

Fresh Mozzarella cheese

Mushrooms, sliced

Grape tomatoes, sliced

Fresh baby spinach, diced

*Pre heat oven to 375

*Spread out pizza dough.  Cover with pizza sauce. Place cheese on pizza. 

* Top with spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes.  

* Bake for 8-10 mins at 375°

Adventurous Garden Pizza

Picky Eaters Fave Pizza

Taco-Tater Tot Casserole

Tonight I decided to try something different.  I knew I wanted some kind of "comfort food" but I couldn't put my finger on it.  Then I was browsing Pinterest and found some ideas for tater tots casserole.  Then I started brainstorming ways to change it so my family will like it!  Long story short, I came up with a Mexican version!   I'm calling it Taco-Tater Tot Casserole!  This is one of my favorite dinners I've made in a long time.  It definitely has the comfort food factor.  I served mine with a store bought Southwestern Salad kit and some corn with a little chili-lime seasoning from Trader Joe's!  

Taco-Tater Tot Casserole

1-2lb ground beef

1Tbs Onion Powder

1Tbs Garlic Powder

Salt & Pepper

1 packet taco seasoning 

1 can red enchilada sauce

1 can diced tomatoes, drained

2cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 bag frozen tater tots

2cups pepperjack cheese

1. Preheat your oven to 375° and grease a 9x13 casserole dish.  Brown the beef on the stove, drain, and then add the onion powder, garlic powder, salt & pepper. Then add the diced tomatoes as well as the enchilada sauce and taco seasoning. 

2. Pour meat mix into prepared baking dish.  Top with the cheddar cheese.  Then layer the tater tots on top of cheese.  Bake, uncovered, for 30-45 mins.  Then top with the pepperjack cheese and bake for another 10 minutes. 

*Side note*

You can add corn or black beans to your meat mixture as it's cooking!

Hello, February! ❣️

Goodbye, January!  Helllloooo, February!  I consider January a "trial month".  You know, when you try to hype up your resolutions so that you actually keep them but then forget all about them.  Then nearing the end of what seams like a year long month, you remember that you didn't even touch your well thought out New Year's resolutions.  You start to feel guilty thinking your brand new year is already shot.  Well...have no fear!  That's what February is for!

Not only is February the month of love.  It's also a take #2 on of those goals you set for yourself!  It's a new month to get serious and remember that you can start today and work towards those untouched resolutions!  One of my resolutions is to read 39 books this year since I'm turning 39 in May.  I. Have. Not. Read. One. BUT...I can start today.  Who cares that I haven't started yet?  There's still plenty of weeks left to complete my goal!  Another resolution was to eat healthier and lose 50lbs.   I've only lost 1 pound so far!  BUT...I didn't GAIN a pound.  So, that's a win in my eyes!  

It's okay to consider February a fresh start and new beginning!  It's the month of love.  A reminder to show love to others and also yourself!  

❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️

Coming up this month on Let's Dish!:

*More dollar store dinners! (I had a huge positive response to my previous posts on this!)

*Three freezer meals 

*Sharing my favorite items from Trader Joe's

*2 Copycat recipies from two of my favorite restaurants

*Make two of your own spice blends with me