Mexican Pizza

I saw several post that showed a recipe for Mexican Pizza. There were all kinds of recipes for it. I chose what works the best for my taste and developed my own recipe for Mexican Pizza. When I made it the first time, it was very delish! It tasted just like Taco Bell's mexican pizza meal. You will definitely enjoy this meal to the fullest. Here are the recipe...

RECIPE: serves 8 - pizzas

16- 6 in. tortilla shells
1 - 16 oz. refried bean
1 lb ground beef
2 pkg taco seasoning
1/8 cup taco sauce
1 tomato
16 Tbsp. thick 'n' chunky salsa
3/4 c. shredded cheese
3 Tbsp. olive oil

TOPPINGS:
chopped lettuce (optional)
tomatoes (optional)
guacamole (optional)
sliced black olives (optional)
sour cream (optional)
taco sauce (optional)

1. First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Brown the beef in a skillet. I like to add about 1/8 cup of minced onions to the beef for enhanced flavor, so this is only optional.

3. In a small pan, add refried bean, 1 package of taco seasoning, and 1/8 cup of taco sauce (you can substitute taco sauce for enchilada sauce). Mix well and stir until smooth and hot.

4. Once the beef is browned and drained, add taco seasoning to the beef per package's instruction. Then set aside both beef and bean.

5. Heat the oil in a skillet and let it get hot first. Then put one tortilla shell in a skillet and let it fry for about 15 seconds per sides then quickly remove it from heat. Use paper towels to absorb the oil from the shell. Repeat the process for the remaining tortilla shells.

6. Once that process is done, it is time to make the pizza. Use a large cookie sheet and then arrange 8 tortilla shells onto the sheet. (If all 8 shells does not fit in a sheet, then you can use multiple sheets to hold the rest of them.) Layer the beans on the shells then beef over it. Place another shell over the beef. Use 2 Tbsp. of salsa and spread it over the second shell on top. Lastly use 1/8 cup of cheese over the salsa.

7. Bake for about 15 minutes. Now you can add all kinds of toppings over the pizza to your preference. I added sliced black olive, tomatoes, black olives, sour cream, and taco sauce on my pizza. The dinner is served! (If you prefer to have some of your toppings cooked, just add your toppings where you want it and then pop it in the oven.

This pizza is great for a main dish or served as appetizers if it's cut into 4 pizza slices.

Chicken Madeira

My husband and I celebrated our birthdays together by going to Cheesecake Factory (Our birthdays are only 3 days apart). I ordered a Chicken Madeira, and by golly it was sooooooooo delicious! I mean it! I was like, I have got to have a recipe of this. Few months later, my husband and I got tired of eating same type of recipes for chicken and wanted to try something new. I thought of Chicken Madeira and suggested it to my husband. He said that he would love to try it. I went on a research spree to find out exactly what was in it and found a website and I copied the ingredients and tweaked it a bit to our liking. It turned out fantastic and I guarantee you that you will NOT regret trying this recipe. It actually very cheap and easy to make this entree, even better than I thought.

RECIPE:  serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breast
12 asparagus spears
4 sliced mozzarella cheese (shredded works fine, but bit messier)
3 cups Madeira wine
2 cups beef broth
1 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cornstarch
Mushrooms - Optional

1. Pound the chicken breast to 1/4 inch thick then place the chicken in a large frying pan coated with olive oil. Season them with salt and pepper to your taste. (I used peppers only).

2. Saute the chicken until it's barely done then take it out and set it aside. Remove oil.

3. Preheat the oven to a broil setting.

4. Add wine, beef broth, cornstarch, butter, and peppers to the frying pan. (Make sure you blended cornstarch with beef broth first before adding to the pan to avoid clumps) Bring to a boil then reduce heat.
5. Put chickens back in the sauce and let it simmer for 20 minutes or until the sauce is thick. (If the sauce is still not thick, you can add a little more cornstarch.) The sauce is supposed to shrink in half than it originally was.

5. When the sauce is almost ready, add the asparagus into the sauce with the chickens until the end. (Optional: add mushroom to the sauce.)

6. Once done cooking, place the chicken on a baking pan or dish, arrange three asparagus on top of each chicken then put mozzarella cheese over it. Bake it until cheese melts then serve hot!

This entree goes great with mashed potato. You can pour remaining sauce over mashed potato and chicken. It is even more delicious to be able to enjoy this gourmet taste.

Chocolate Brownie Trifle

At my wedding, my husband ate my aunt's trifle and he loved it. I had tasted it and it was wonderful. Many months had passed and my husband's grandparents and aunt/uncle were invited to our house for a dinner party.  I asked my husband what he would like me to make for dessert. He said "something chocolatey with whipped cream that you made." I was having difficulty trying to remember what he was trying to tell me. Then I  flashed back to our wedding menus and asked if the trifle was the one he was talking about. He got so excited and said "YES!" I warned him that I had never made something like that before; so, I told him that I will try to make it for the dinner party. It was a last minute dinner party and I doubted I had a lot of time on my plate to be making a bunch of food and have it ready in time, but I pulled it off! Yay me! I did tons of researches on trifles and how to make it. Boy, do I have to be amazed that most of them must be chilled in the fridge for at least 8 hours! I did not have that time but I kept looking and found the perfect ingredients that only required the trifle to be chilled for an hour or two before serving. I was being creative and it turned out delicious!! This is great for a party.

RECIPE  serves approximately 16 people (1/2 cup each)

1 large box of instant chocolate pudding
1/4 cup sugar
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 package of brownie mix
6 bars of Hershey chocolate candy

1. First, put the chocolate bars in the freezer.

2. Prepare the brownie as directed on the box.

3. When the brownie is already baked, make sure it is cooled first. Then cut the brownie into 1 inch squares and set aside.

4. Second, make the chocolate pudding as directed on the box and then put them in the fridge to help chill it quickly.

5. Third, pour a pint of heavy whipping cream in a medium to large chilled bowl (I put the metal bowl in the freezer to help chill the bowl quickly) and use an electric mixer to whisk it for about 2 minutes then slowly add 1/4 cup of sugar and then continue to whisk until it is at its stiff peak then set aside.

6. Take the candies out of the freezer and hammer it to crush it into pieces. (I left it in the freezer wrapped and then smashed it with a hammer before opening the wrapper for a quicker process).

7. It is now time to make a layer. Use an appropriate large serving bowl or a trifle bowl and layer them in the following order: brownie, chocolate pudding, candies, and whipped cream. Save a portion of candies to decorate on top of whipped cream after layering it. Put it in the fridge and let it chill for 1 to 2 hours before serving. Enjoy!

You can substitute the brownie with any type of cake mix and candies with any other type of candies OR fruits, preferably berries. You can also substitute chocolate flavor pudding with different pudding flavor like vanilla! What I would not change is the whipped cream. It tastes great and does not tastes too sweet than necessary. A drizzle of syrup will also work great! You be the judge on how you want the trifle made.

 BE CREATIVE!

How To Separate An Egg Yolk from White

With no special egg separator tool on hand, so trying to separate an egg using the old fashioned egg shell swishing back and forth is taking too much of my time and it can get messy. It also increases the chance of breaking the yolk then all efforts is lost! Onto the next egg. Buying an expensive gadget that separates the yolk from the white makes me grimace at the sight of the prices.  I came across a video on youtube that was fascinating, easy, and priceless to separate the egg yolk. Why didn't I think of it before!? This is a total blessing for making my job so much easier separating the egg yolk from the white without worrying on breaking. Attach is a youtube video link to this blog if you want to watch a video on how it works. All it takes is an empty water bottle. YES, you heard me, an empty water bottle. It does the trick!

First you need to buy a water bottle or any other types of bottle. Wash it first before use. Break an egg into a bowl. Unscrew the cap from the bottle. Squeeze the bottle first and then touch the yolk lightly with the tip of the bottle and loosen your grip on the bottle slowly and carefully until it sucks the yolk into the bottle. YAY! It's that simple. To get the yolk out of the bottle. Just squeeze the bottle gently to push it out of the bottle into a different bowl. You can wash the bottle again and store it for later uses time and time again. You can squeeze in and out many yolks in a bottle. It's designed to hold more than 1 yolk.

LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4E_9iAU3RI (note: this is not me and it is not my video. You can also find many other videos that explains how to do this)

Cheesy Ziti Casserole

I remembered when I attended Indiana University in Bloomington,  IN that I ordered a cheesy ziti Casserole from the cafeteria and loved it! I thought of my time when I went there and ate that delicious food that I got in the mood to try and make it. This is my original recipe. I came up with it on my own. I hope you will enjoy this delish meal!

Recipe  Serves 6 to 10

1 lb Ground beef
1/2 c. Onion, chopped
1 8oz. Cream cheese
1 jar (24oz) pasta sauce
2-3 cups  mozzarella cheese (depends on how cheesy you want)
1 box (16oz) of penne or ziti

1/8 tsp. Oregano

1/8 tsp. Parsley

1/8 tsp. Thyme

1/8 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/8 tsp. Basil

Dash of black peppers

First, preheat the oven to 350 degree for aluminum/metal based dish or 325 degrees for glass dish. Boil the pasta as directed on the box until soft. Brown the meat with onion seasoned with black peppers in a pan over low-medium.  Once browned, get the grease out by using a colander or paper towel. Cook pasta sauce and cream cheese in a large saucepan over medium. Add all of the herbs into the sauce. Cook until cream cheese is completely melted. This should have a result of orange cream sauce. If the sauce starts to boil, lower the temperature to avoid boiling.

Second, put the browned meat into the saucepan with the sauce and mix it up.  Put some pasta in a 9 x 13 baking dish and pour some of the sauce into the dish and mix well. Do this gradually until you completely mix the pasta with the sauce completely.  Top with mozzarella cheese.  

Thirdly, cover the dish with aluminum foil or a lid. Bake for about 30 minutes, covered. Remove the lid or aluminum foil and bake for another 5 minutes or until the cheese melted. Let it cool for a few minutes then serves hot!

Guacamole

I remembered when I was invited to a Christmas party with my families.  I couldn't think of anything to make for the party but I thought of making taco layers dip. This includes the guacamole in the layers, since i am unsure if the people may like the guacamole so I had it separated. I had to find recipe to make guacamole.   I'm quite picky at how guacamole should taste.  I decided to make it from scratch based on my research on how to make it. It turned out to be very successful and delicious. Most people loved it and wanted the recipe. 

Recipe. Serves 4-8

4 ripe avocados
1 8oz. Cream cheese
Dash of garlic powder
Dash of chili powder

Peel the avocado skin off then cut in half to remove the seed. Mash the avocado well. Add cream cheese and cream together. Add garlic powder and chili powder to the mixture to your suitable taste. Blend well then serve immediately.

This guacamole is not thick, chunky, and mixed with other vegetables.  It is very creamy, smooth, and pure guacamole without anything else other than four primary ingredients. I would not recommend making guacamole the day before because they have the tendency to turn brown fast and it's no good.  To avoid browning, lemon juice will help preserve the guacamole a little bit longer

Make sure the avocados are ripe. It is supposed to look like a dark green, not bright green or too dark that's almost brown. It also supposed to feel soft as you squeeze it. If you can't squeeze it, it's not ripe. If you squeeze it and it's too soft, pay attention to the color because if it is too dark then it is past their ripeness taste.

Mozzarella Zucchini Skillet with Sausage

I received a Campbell's recipe book as a Christmas gift and I looked through the book and found the one that looked very appealing to me so I decided to  make it and throw in something extra to the original recipe.  This is a GREAT dinner meal for people who are trying to watch their calorie intakes. This is also a GREAT dinner meal for people who are vegetarians.  Enjoy!

Recipe serves 7 people (about 1 cup each)

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
5 medium zucchini, sliced (about 7 1/2 c.)
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 c.)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder or 1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 c. Prego Traditional Italian Sauce
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese or cheddar cheese

Heat the oil in a 12-in skillet over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini, onion, and garlic powder and cook until the vegetables are tender-crisp. Stir the sauce in the skillet and heat it through. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and cook until cheese is melted.

These ingredients are the very basic foundation of adding multiple vegetables to the dish. The more varieties your skillet have, the more delicious it will taste. However, the more variety of other food  will make it too much to fit in a 12-in skillet so I would recommend cutting down on the amount of zucchini in the skillet and balance it with other food equaling to about 7 1/2 cups in total.  You can add sliced brats or italian sausage, green peppers, mushroom, artichokes, and tons other food to this skillet.  For meats, please brown them before cooking zucchini and remove the meat from the skillet to cook vegetables and return to the skillet right before adding pasta. For vegetables other than zucchini, mix with zucchini and cook together until they are tender-crisp. For mushrooms or artichoke, make sure they are drained completely and then add to the skillet right after the vegetables are tender-crisp and before the pasta sauce is added

This recipe is found in a recipe book and online so here is the link to the recipe at campbell's: http://www.campbellskitchen.com/recipes/mozzarella-zucchini-skillet-25403