Pizza Twists

So, we like to make pizza in our house.  Yes... we make a lot of pizza.  This last Friday I decided to do something a little bit different.  We had a regular pizza, but I doubled the dough recipe and took half of that for the pizza, and the other half for these!

 

MMMMMM

These will be perfect for my little Grade 1 girl for school!  Popped them all in the freezer for something different for lunches.  I'm sure she will enjoy them!

They are super easy! 

Take your favorite pizza dough recipe.  Make it.  Take your favorite pizza sauce recipe.  Make that.  Roll your dough out as thin as you think you can possibly make it.  Spread on the sauce, and sprinkle the cheese on half of it.  Fold the 'no cheese' half over the 'cheesy' half.  Then cut into strips.  Twirl each strip twice before placing it on a parchment paper lined baking pan, then bake as you would your regular pizza!  Ta-da!

Dumplings

I cannot find the specific site I used to make the dumplings, but I didn't use any one recipe anyway as I sort of made my own. They don't look great, but if you look up dumplings on google, and search out tips on how to fold them and make your own, you'll get there! It will take me a while to get better I'm sure.



Dough
1 cup flour plus 1/4 cup water (plus extra if you need, and extra flour for work surface).

Mix the flour and the water. Add a little water if needed. The dough should stick together and pull away from the bowl slightly. I read it is better if the dough is too wet rather than too dry, but it should be workable. Knead 20 times, then roll into a ball and place under a damp cloth for 15 minutes.

Roll into a log, and cut into 'rounds' (this amount should make 20, but I only cut enough for 12, so my dough was thicker, but that's ok). Roll into a circle shape using your rolling pin, place filling in center (about 1 Tbsp) and press filling until not loose. Grab the dough, fold over the filling, and pinch in the center. Then you can make folds all along one side of the pinch until you have a teardrop shape at the end, pinch that together, and do the same for the other side of the center. You should only see folds on one side of your dumpling, the other side would be 'flat'. Really, look this up. I don't thing it really matters how you close them for eatibility sake, but it looks kinda cool. I think this site may have some tips (it isn't the one I used, but I can't find that one now.) Boil until they float, and you are done! Serve with soya sauce for dipping.

Filling - What I used (not an actual recipe... haha)
1/3-1/2 cup (approximate) sausage (I used already cooked leftovers)
1 cooked chicken breast
1/2 Tbsp soya sauce
1/2 cup chopped cabbage (was already steamed and in the freezer...)
1 minced garlic clove
2 minced green onions
1 tsp rice vineger
minced fresh ginger... I'm guessing about 1 tsp? I just added a few dashes of the powdered/dry stuff.

Mix all the ingredients... make sure everything is minced really fine, and store in the fridge until ready to use. I had lots leftover after making only 12 dumplings, so I assume this would fill 30 or more. I am thinking I could use the rest in soup!

Tea Marbled Eggs

I found this recipe over at Steamy Kitchen. It looked awesome, so I had to try it for myself.



Ingredients
6 eggs
3/4 cup soy sauce
2 star anise
2 tablespoons black tea (or 2 tea bags)
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon sugar

I halved the recipe... and I think that may be why my marbling wasn't very dark. It still looked cool, though! I also used different tea, since I don't buy black, which may have been another reason for the lack of dark marbling.

Boil the eggs. I steamed mine until they were done. Tap the shell all over with a spoon (lightly) to crack it, but do not break the shell off (she has some awesome tips and pics on her site... go check them out if you need). Place all the other ingredients in the water used to boil the eggs... as it should still be hot. Place eggs in the mixture, bring to a boil, and then lower heat and simmer for 40 minutes (this mixture smells oh so good!). Remove from heat and let sit overnight (she did 5 hours... mine sat for 13, haha, as I forgot about them). Peel and enjoy!

Deep-Fried Breaded Shrimp

So, since we are not having any red meat on Wednesdays or Fridays for Lent, we wanted to still have something fun for our Friday night in, and pizza is always just the way for us. So, we had Margerita pizza, and wanted to have something else with it... but not chicken... something... fish. I thought, why not breaded shrimp!? Boo Yah!

Deep-Fried Breaded Shrimp

I'm not going to list ingredients here, mainly because it's super easy and didn't require a recipe in the first place. So, the meal here is a frozen margarita pizza from Costco, salad, and the shrimp.

To bread the shrimp, crush some crackers (or use bread crumbs) and add some spices to it, whatever you want (we used oregano, pepper, salt,). Put in a bowl. In a seperate bowl, put in some flour. In a third bowl, beat an egg till blended. Take the tail off the shrimp, dab dry, coat in flour, then egg, then the crackers. Deep fry until done! Now they're ready to eat. Make some of your favorite dips for it.

Honey Dill Dip
Mix together some mayo, honey, and dill. Voila!

Milkshake
Mix some icecream and milk in a blender. For various variations (wow... that's some fun with english), try the following...
Berry berry - add strawberries, blueberries, and yogurt of berry flavors
Vanilla - add some vanilla! To taste
Chocolate - chocolate sauce in there... awesome
Chocolate peanutbutter - add some chocolate sauce, and some melted peanutbutter... SOOOO good.

Versatile Biscuit Dough

So, today for supper I decided to make some pigs in a blanket... using biscuit dough. Along for the ride came these quick little cinnamon rolls. So, you get an appetizer and dessert (or tomorrows breakfast) all in one little handy dandy recipe. Want to try? (biscuit dough recipe from my mom)

Versatile Biscuits



Ingrediants

• 3 cups flour (I used 2 whole wheat and 1 white)
• 2 Tbsp baking powder
• dash salt
• 2 Tbsp lard
• 1 1/4 cup milk

Mix all dry ingrediants. Cut in lard until small 'crumbs' appear. Add milk, stir. Knead on floured surface (or in the bowl, whatever works for you) 10-20 times or until even consistancy. Roll out 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Cut into 1 1/2" squares. Bake 10-12 minutes at 425F until lightly browned on top.

Pigs in a Blanket
Cut weiners/sausages (if sausage, cook a little first) in half, roll into dough (thinner dough is better... I did mine a bit thick). Basically, 1"x2" pieces. Bake 10-15 minutes (or until browned on top).

Cinnamon Rolls
If doing all dough as cinnamon rolls, roll in a 16" x 10" square. Mix 1/4 cup softened butter, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, and 2 tsp cinnamon together. Spread on dough leaving 1" along the long side. Roll from the empty side to the other (if you wish to add raisins, do so before rolling). Cut roll into 20-24 pieces. Place together in a parchment covered pan, or put in muffin tins. Bake until browned in center (10-12 minutes).  Alternately, you can wrap the roll in cling wrap and refrigerate overnight before baking the next morning.

Wraps
Make them like you would the cinnamon rolls, only instead of making the cinnamon mixture, place mayonnaise on the biscuit, and then add shredded cheese, thin sliced ham, and spinach/lettuce before rolling.  Slice into 1/2 inch sections, lay on a parchment covered cookie sheet, and bake 10-12 minutes.

Sweets and Snacks

Here are the sweet recipes, as well as good party snack foods.

Cookies
Carrot Coconut Cookies
Cream Cheese Cookies
Reese's Cookies
Spritz Cookies
Unbaked Cookies

Muffins and Cakes
Banana Blueberry Muffins
Banana Macadamia Nut Bread
Bran Muffins
Butter Sponge Cake
Carrot Ginger Cake
Cocoa Fudge Cake
Easy Mix Cakes
Never Fail Chocolate Cake
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Zucchini Bread/cake

Fondant/pics of cakes with fondant

Squares / Desserts
Apple Crisp
Granola Bars
Easy Chocolate Brownies (top recipe in link)

Other Snacks and appetizers
Chocolate Truffles
Deep Fried Popcorn Shrimp (plus various other appetizers)
Spinach Dip (bottom recipe in link)

Recipes Part IX: Everyday Easy Brownies and Spinach Artichoke Dip (Jan 10, 2008)

Yup, I finally decided to add recipes again. It's been awhile. These are two of the recipes I made for my Tupperware party! I love them!

Everyday Easy Brownies

1. Partially melt 4 squares of chopped bakers unsweetened baking chocolate with 3/4 cup butter in the microwave on MED for 3 minutes. Stir until completely melted
2. Add 3 eggs and stir till well blended. Stir in 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 cup flour, and 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
3. Spread in a greased 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.

I added peanut butter and chocolate chips on the top after baking, letting them melt, then swirled them together. You can do similar with creamcheese (mix 1 pkg with 1/4 cup sugar, 1 egg, and some jam) but put this on the top of the unbaked brownies before putting them in the oven (swirl/cut in with a knife). Or you can make them rocky road with chocolate chips and mini marshmallows, putting back in the oven for about 5 minutes.

Baked Triple Veggie Dip

1 1/2 cups parmesan grated cheese

2 cans asparagus spears, drained and chopped (I omitted this as they are expensive)

1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1 container herb and garlic cream cheese spread

1/2 cup mayo

Preheat oven to 375 F. Reserve 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Mix remaining ingrediants till blended

Spoon into 2L baking dish, sprinkle with reserved parmesan

Bake 35 minutes or till lightly browned. Serve with corn chips, crackers, or veggies!

Makes 4 1/2 cups