Roasted Garlic, Chicken Herb White Pizza

Whenever the weekend rolls around... I start thinking FOOD.  A lot of the time, our weekend's highlight is having a good meal out or trying a new recipe, or typically both.  This weekend was no different.  

My Saturday mornings usually start off with a big cup of coffee, toast or some waffles and immersing myself into a good session of the Food Network.  Starting off with Paula's Best Dishes, then Pioneer Woman, Trisha's Southern Cooking and Giada.  I SO look forward to my Saturday morning Food Network time!  I've been rethinking the whole Accountant thing, I really want my own cooking show, HA.  Although I'm not too serious, I mean balance sheets and income statements is really more my 'thing' but how fun would that be?!

Friday night I made a scrumptious roasted garlic, chicken herb white pizza, in which I'm about to enlighten you with.  And Saturday night entailed dinner out to Django with 2 other couples.  I LOVE Django not only for their food but because you can bring your own bottle(s) of wine to the restaurant with NO corkage fee.  The restaurant has a charming/romantic atmosphere and offers wonderful french cuisine.  We've been there multiple times and I highly recommend it!

On to the recipe portion of this post...

I love alfredo pizza but it's ridiculously high in calories!  This pizza is a bit healthier and still has a rich flavorful white sauce as it's base and super duper easy to whip up.  I decided to not tell Aaron that I wasn't going to make the pizza this time with just an olive oil base and let him figure out there was a white sauce on this pizza and he knew in the first bite there was something gloriously divine on that crust!  MM MMM!  It most definitely was yummers in our tummers!

The garlicy cheese sauce

Spreads over the pizza crust in a heavenly gooziness 

Top with chicken, cheese and herbs and it's a scrumptious bite!

Ingredients

• 1 pound pizza dough
• 1 Tbls butter
• 8 cloves roasted garlic, minced
• 2 Tbls all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ cup skim milk
• ¼ cup half and half
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
• 1½ cup boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded
• ¼ cup red onion, diced
• ¾ cup Mozzarella cheese
• 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• 1 Tbls fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with a siplat liner, or grease and sprinkle with cornmeal.
2. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Saute roasted garlic for 1 minute.
3. Add flour, and mix until well blended. Cook for 1 minute.
4. Slowly whisk in the milk and half and half. Mix in the pepper.
5. Cook for about 3 minutes, or until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat, and stir in Parmesan cheese.
6. Spread dough into roughly a 12 inch circle on prepared baking sheet. Spread white cause over the dough. Top with chicken, red onions and cheese.
7. Bake for 17 minutes, or until the crust is golden, and the cheese is melted.
8. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with herbs. Cut and serve immediately.

Source: http://dinnersdishesanddesserts.com/roasted-garlic-chicken-herb-white-pizza-sundaysupper/

A Waterproof Necessity!

Got a new toy this past weekend!

A new waterproof/shockproof camera, the Canon Powershot D20.  Pretty excited to have a new toy for our upcoming vacation to Cancun and trying to learn all the features the camera has and it's a lot to absorb.  I own another Canon Powershot (not waterproof) so at least most of the functions are the same so I am somewhat familiar with a lot of the settings.   I actually don't like my non-waterproof camera and have been considering getting a new one but after reading the manual, my problem might be lack of user knowledge.  :)

Why waterproof?  A few years ago I scored a free Kodak EasyShare Waterproof camera at Old Navy during a Black Friday deal.  I never felt the necessity of having a waterproof camera but after owning the Kodak, I used it ALL the time.  And I was impressed with this little camera.  But had a little problem... it's sitting somewhere in the bottom of the Des Moines River :(  LOST last year during 4th of July tubing.  Major bummer.  I was really hoping that Old Navy would do the same promotion again this past Black Friday because I'm the queen at getting every Black Friday deal but was not so lucky.

If you are looking for a very basic camera, the Kodak Easyshare was great.  Since I needed to buy one this go around, I decided to get one with a few more bells and whistles since I do use it a lot.  I researched this one on Consumer Reports and it was an overall highly rated camera, ranked 3rd.

People's reactions crack me up.  Quite a few people come up to me in the pool and see my camera hanging off my wrist bobbing in the water and people will grab my camera and say "Your camera was in the water!"  I calm them down saying it's okay... it's waterproof.  The reaction is comical.

All I need now is the accessory to add onto the camera to make it float so we don't have another sinking to the bottom of the river issue again, grrr.  I rarely lose anything so losing that original camera still bums me out but onto a newer/better version!  Lesson learned, there are floating accessories to prevent this, simple solution.

Can't wait to take it to the beach soon, let it sit in the sand, take it into the ocean or the pool, sit it next to our drinks, and be worry free about it getting ruined.  Hoping to share some great beach shots with it soon!

Big & Buttery Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been having a mad craving for a big, soft, rich chocolate chip cookie.  So what's a girl to do but whip up a batch!

I've been eyeing this recipe for some time now... trying not to give in to my inner fat girl screaming at me to make them.  But I caved.  How could I not?!?  Look at what I was seeing on paper!  I had to put it in a laminate sleeve just so I wouldn't drool on it.

So away I went, I was practically skipping to the kitchen in delight to make them.

And before they were even baked, I knew these were going to be GLORIOUS.

As I turned on the oven light and saw them rising to perfection, I did one of these moves:  

AND I PROUDLY PULLED THEM OUT OF THE OVEN AND ADMIRED MY WORK...

Now that is what I call a COOKIE!  The chocolate wasn't even cooled yet, warm and delectable!

BIG SOFT RICH CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES.  I'm not quite sure how many I ate, but it's safe to say I had my fair share.

Big & Buttery Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs  
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted

Directions

• In a large bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.
• Shape quarter cupfuls of dough into balls. Place in an airtight container, separating layers with waxed or parchment paper; cover and refrigerate overnight.
• To bake, place dough balls 3 in. apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Press a shallow indentation in the center of each with your thumb, reshaping sides to smooth any cracks. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Bake at 400° for 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks; cool. Yield: 2 dozen.