Cheese Crusted Pizza-- 4.5/5 Stars of Cheesy!

May I say yum! I found this on a low carb site, so the crust is made entirely of cheese! I may of messed up a few things because of my not reading directions habit, but it tasted awesome! I put on green peppers, sausage, and extra cheese, and oh my goodness, I was so stuffed after eating it.  Definitely a repeater!

This comes http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/thinandcrispy_pizza.html . I shrunk the recipe into a fourth. 

Cheese Crusted Pizza

2 2/3 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (2/3 cup)

1.33 ounce cheddar cheese, shredded (1/3 cup)

1 egg

1/3 tsp garlic powder

1/3 tsp basil

1/8 cup pizza sauce

peppers

cheese

whatever other toppings

Mix the cheeses, eggs, garlic powder and basil well. Line a 16-inch pizza pan with parchment paper or nonstick foil. Evenly spread the cheese mixture in the pan, almost to the edge, making it as thin as possible. Bake at 450º 15-20 minutes until golden brown. I suggest checking it after about 10 minutes. If it's getting very dark on the edges and top, turn the oven down to 400º and continue baking until brown all over and no longer pale on the bottom. Pat off any excess grease then add your toppings. Keeping the oven rack in the center position, put the pizza under the broiler until the toppings are hot and any cheese you added is melted and bubbly, about 4-5 minutes.

Makes 1 large serving (1 pizza the size of a large plate)

Can be frozen

·      You may want to sauté your mushrooms, peppers and other vegetable toppings before using because the pizza will only be baked briefly with the toppings on. I also recommend pre-warming any meat toppings as well. I put all of my toppings, except the sauce and cheese, in a big skillet and heated them up together.

Strawberry Banana Muffins-- 4/5 Yummy Stars

Loving bread and carbs as much as I do, I had to find a delicious muffin recipe. And this one is only 90 calories and low fat. For once, most of the cooking went smoothly without any problems of not reading directions! The only problem I encountered was the cooking time. I tried to cook it in a microwave oven, but it had some issues. It didn't cook as fast, but whatever! They still tasted great! 

Find the Recipe for the Strawberry Banana Muffins at:

http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2012/04/01/strawberry-banana-muffins/

Strawberry Summer Salad-- 4/5 (assuming the dressing tastes alright with the right ingredients) fresh, summery stars!

As part of my summer list of things to do, I've been checking out cooking books from the library, and I found this great recipe! It did not show the serving size, so I just cut the recipe in half for myself, figuring I was hungry enough to eat a bear anyway.

So after getting the lettuce, strawberries, and walnuts ready, I went searching for the ingredients for the dressing-- and ruh roh-- no balsamic vinegar. I had apple cider vinegar and red wine vinegar. Figuring red wine vinegar was the best substitute, I whisked the dressing. Just as I was about to pour it on my beautiful salad, a thought came to me, "Should I try the dressing on a little piece of lettuce first?". The answer: Yes! I tried it and the response was a big ol' "bleh!". Then came on the shaking of the head and   scrunched up facial expression from the bitterness of it. Now, let me say, I am sort of a picky eater. So when I came upon this gross, gross taste, I asked my mom to taste it-- let's just say she had the same response. It may have been the substitute that made it so icky, so don't be afraid to try it at home if you actually have balsamic vinegar. But for me, I stuck with my Olive Garden Italian dressing to top the salad.

If anything, this salad was definitely a taste of summer. Yummy, filling, fresh, and delightful, the salad was overall pretty good! :)

Strawberry Summer Salad
-- from A Teen Guide to Creative Delightful Dinners by Dana Meachen Rau

Ingredients
6 cups loosely packed salad greens
8 to 10 strawberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
2/5 ounces goat cheese, crumbled-- didn't have this around so I didn't use any cheese

I also added these for a little extra flavor:
1/4 cup raisins
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds


Instructions
1) Wash the salad green, dry, and place in a large salad bowl.
2) Cut each strawberry into quarters. Add to the greens.
3) Add the walnuts.
4) In a separate small bowl, beat the oil, vinegar, and sugar with the whisk until the liquids are no longer transparent.
5) Pour over the greens. Toss until well coated with dressing.
6) Sprinkle goat cheese on each serving. -- obviously I skipped this step

My Decadent Strawberry Baked Oatmeal-- 4.5/5 Stars of Delight

My goodness, we have a winner!!! This is delicious!!! It was easy to make, and my taste buds were leaping for joy just smelling it! The aroma of cinnamon, sugar, and fruit cooking almost made me die waiting-- and that would be why my picture has some missing... :) It was so soft, gooey, warm, sweet, melty, fresh... I could continue. I am not even joking right now-- there is a hip-hoppin' party going on in my tummy right now; I can only wish for you the same party!

The only thing that if you have issues with mushy food, I don't think you could handle it.

But anywho...

Due to my current food coma, I don't think I can even write anymore. All I'm going to say is mmm.... :)

Strawberry Baked Oatmeal Recipe

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

45 mins

Equipment you’ll need. You will need a 10-1/2 by 7-inch or 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish, a baking sheet, a chef’s knife, 2 large bowls and a whisk.

Serves: 6-- I think it serves 9 better

Ingredients

•    2 cups old fashioned rolled oats—used quick oats instead

•    1/3 cup packed light brown sugar—can reduce

•    1 teaspoon baking powder

•    1 tablespoon grated orange zest-- I was too lazy to do this

•    1 teaspoon cinnamon

•    1/2 teaspoon salt

•    1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

•    1 cup sliced strawberries

•    1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

•    2 cups reduced-fat (2%) milk—used skim instead

•    1 large egg

•    3 tablespoons butter, melted

•    2 teaspoons vanilla extract

•    1 ripe banana, peeled, 1/2-inch slices

Cooking Instructions

1.  Heat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Generously spray the inside of a 10-1/2 by 7 inch baking dish (or 8-inch by 8-inch square baking dish) with cooking spray and place on a baking sheet.

2.  In a large bowl, mix together the oats, sugar, baking powder, orange zest, cinnamon, salt, half the walnuts, half the strawberries and half the chocolate. Add to prepared baking dish. Arrange the remaining strawberries, walnuts and chocolate on top of the oats. Then, scatter the banana slices.

3.  In another large bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, butter and vanilla extract. Then, pour over oats and fruit. Gently shimmy and shake the baking dish to help the milk mixture go throughout the oats.

You know it's summer when...

As you might of guessed (from the title of this blog), I love to paint my finger nails. Unfortunately, during the school year, I tend to have just a clean coat of polish with no design due to my overly busy schedule. But alas! It's summer! Therefore, my nails are going to party it up! I have all sorts of new stuff and I'm excited!

But not only is it my nails that alert the world that it is summer and that I'm free-- working definitely tells you it's summertime for a teenager. For me, that means babysitting like crazy. While sometimes it gets tiresome being all cheerful and responsible for their every action (especially when the kids are cranky!), I love to babysit and all the perks that come with it-- doing crafts. Coloring, sidewalk chalk, painting nails, swinging, taking walks, riding bikes, eating sweet fruit, and even those late nights of watching Scooby Doo or whatever is available while the children sleep-- it's all worth it. (Plus the obvious perk-- money which =shopping!)





Now on the opposite end of the happiness/glee spectrum...

You know it's summer when all the carnivals and fairs come with their noisy music and you can make out every word of the song from FIVE MILES AWAY AT 11:00. Really people? Are y'all deaf there yet? And don't be all like "boo hoo, 11:00 is late and annoying to you!?!" because, YES! It is! I enjoy sleeping and being a happy person during the daytime when I work and see friends. So :P. (<- And yes, that would be me sticking my tongue out to you over the internet.)

And now off my rant!


So pretty much I'm just wanted to remind you-- it's summer so live it up! (Well if it doesn't involve keeping me awake past 9:30!) :D

And remember guys-- if you like what you see, make sure to follow me and tell your friends. Also, don't be afraid to comment! Love y'all!

Breakfast Broccoli and Cheese Mini Egg Omelets-- 2/5 Stars of BORING

May I say, BORING! But don't worry, just keep reading.

This time I tried to make these Broccoli and Cheese Mini Egg Omelets. I made some adjustments to them to make it a little more interesting, but all in all pretty boring. If I was to ever make them again, I'd add a lot more flavoring and probably ham or some sort of meat. Plus, they seemed to only taste like I was only eating broccoli, so I would spread the broccoli out more to make more cups, or I would just reduce the broccoli to 2.5 cups and add other stuff. So all in all, two out of five stars, but I know if I changed it up a bit, it would probably get a four out of five.

 

Broccoli and Cheese Mini Egg Omelets

Skinnytaste.com

Servings: 4 1/2 • Size: 2 omelets • Old Points: 4 • Weight Watcher Points+: 4

Calories: 167 • Fat: 8.5 g • Carb: 5 g • Fiber: 2.5 g • Protein: 18 g • Sugar: 0 g

Sodium: 317 mg (without the salt) • Cholest: 170 mg 

Ingredients:

•   4 cups broccoli florets

•   4 whole large eggs

•   1 cup egg whites-- I used 2 whole eggs instead, but it probably could of used 3 or 4

•   1/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar (Sargento)-- I used a 1/2 cup

•   1/4 cup good grated cheese like pecorino romano-- I used a 1/2 cup

•   1 tsp olive oil

•   salt and fresh pepper

•   cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Steam broccoli with a little water for about 6-7 minutes.

When broccoli is cooked, crumble into smaller pieces and add olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Spray a standard size non-stick cupcake tin with cooking spray and spoon broccoli mixture evenly into 9 tins-- I put it in 10, but if you add a couple more eggs like I suggested (or add meat), it will be more.

In a medium bowl, beat egg whites, eggs, grated cheese, salt and pepper. Pour into the greased tins over broccoli until a little more than 3/4 full. Top with grated cheddar and bake in the oven until cooked, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately. Wrap any leftovers in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator to enjoy during the week.

Summer Desserts

The past two weekends I've been making these two desserts as a youth fundraiser at church. The first one is a fruit pie with stars and stripes for memorial day, and the second one is a watermelon carved with fruit in in it. I'll show you how to do them!

Flag Fruit Pie

-5 cups of mixed fruit

-box of tapioca mix

-1 tsp lemon juice

-2 cups sugar

-2-3 tbsp butter

-dough sheets

-pie crust pan

Mix the first 4 ingredients and let them set for 15 minutes. While waiting, take the dough sheets and cut them into the stripes and cut out the stars. After the 15 min, pour the fruit in and place the stripes and stars across. Put in oven and cook! (Sorry I don't remember the other info. Just look up how to cook regular pies.)

Watermelon Basket

-Watermelon

-Other fruits

Here's a good demonstration:

http://thehappyrawkitchen.blogspot.com/2010/06/watermelon-basket.html 

*I like to do the little ridges on the side after cutting the top parts off.