One of our Thanksgiving desserts was a Bourbon Pecan Pie, using Paula Deen’s recipe from Food Network. I’d never made a pecan pie before, which is surprising because it is one of my favorite sinful desserts. Want to make your own? Here’s the recipe we used. Skip the bourbon if you don’t have it on hand or don’t like the taste and you’ll still get a yummy pecan pie.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup dark corn syrup
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups pecan halves
• 2 tablespoons good-quality bourbon
• 1 (9-inch) deep-dish pie shell, unbaked

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Stir together melted butter and sugar in a medium bowl.
3. Add all other ingredients and stir until well mixed.
4. Pour mixture into unbaked pie shell.
5. Place on cookie sheet, and bake for 10 minutes.
6. Reduce oven temp to 350, and bake for 25 more minutes, or until set.
7. When set, remove from oven and cool on a wire rack until ready to serve.

When I made this bourbon pecan pie, only one of the two I made set. I had too many people in and out my kitchen, and I pulled it at 25 minutes… but it wasn’t set. It wasn’t a waste though! I was able to use it in ice cream to make milk shakes. The extra calories didn’t like my waistline, but my taste buds were dancing!

Instead of paying for delivery, why not make your own pizza from scratch starting with this homemade pizza dough? If your family is anything like mine, pizza is an absolute must-have! The hour and a half the dough takes to get ready gives you plenty of time to clean the kitchen and prep your veggies and toppings, and take care of other chores you may have to deal with before dinner. Once you try this dough, you’ll never go back to a canned or boxed crust again.This homemade pizza dough recipe makes enough for a single 14” pizza, or six to eight personal pizzas or calzones. If opting for personal pizzas or calzones, you will even have enough left over to make your own funnel cake for dessert! We’ll share that recipe, tomorrow, so keep an eye out for it. Dinner and dessert from one batch of dough makes our family nights much more enjoyable!

Homemade Pizza Dough

Ingredients

• 1 packet active dry yeast
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. honey
• ½ cup of warm water
• ¾ cup of warm milk
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 tbsp. oil (2 for dough and 1 for the bowl it rises in)
• 1 ½ cup of bread floor
• 1 ½ cup of unbleached whole wheat flour

Directions for Making the Homemade Pizza Dough

1. Proof the yeast. To do this you’ll combine the yeast, sugar, honey and water. I’ve added a splash of beer during this step before and it had amazing flavor. It made the yeast flavor less empowering. Stir and let stand 10 minutes. The mixture should become foamy and bubbly. This means your yeast is active and it’s OK to go ahead with the recipe.
2.  Add: milk, oil, salt, bread flour, and ½ cup of unbleached whole wheat flour. The dough will form and will be very loose.
3. Add ½ cup of unbleached whole wheat flour. Slowly incorporating the two different types of flour really makes a big textural difference. Stir until mixture is smooth.
4. Add in the last ½ of flour. This is when I normally start working the flour in with my hands until its mixed well. Turn onto a floured pastry mat (or wax paper if you don’t have a mat) and knead for 8-10 minutes, no cheating!!
5. Place dough in oiled bowl then turn over so the dough is evenly coated. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place for an hour.
6. During that hour your dough should have doubled in size. Turn dough onto floured mat again and knead for just a minute. If you are making one large pizza, just skip the next step and continue making your pizza!
7. Grab and break off handfuls of dough. I get 6-8. Shape them into balls and let those babies rise for another 30 minutes.

Using the Fresh Dough to Make Your Pizza

*Note: Do not use a rolling pin! Doing so will push out all of the air that is inside the dough and it will become hard and chewy.

1. Start by patting down the dough ball down then work it out, turning the dough over as you work. Press the dough out with your fingers. If you are making a stuffed crust pizza it’s easier to shape it into a square so that it fits easier and doesn’t tear the dough. Roll over and under the crust so it doesn’t separate or break through the crust. I use 2 pieces of string cheese, cut in half because it’s just too hard to fit a whole piece of string cheese on one side!
2. Use a homemade or store bought pizza, marinara, or spaghetti sauce of choice. Evenly spread on the bottom of the pizza, not getting any on the crust.
3. Top with half the cheese you’re planning on using then place pepperoni and other toppings, then the rest of your cheese. This prevents your toppings and crust from becoming soggy.
4. Brush the top of the crust with butter then bake at 425* for 10-12 minutes. Brush the crust again with butter, but this time sprinkle garlic salt and grate fresh Parmesan on the crust and pizza. Broil for 1-2 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before removing from pan and slicing.
5. Place extra dough balls into individual sandwich bags and then place 1 in the refrigerator for funnel cake and put the rest in the freezer for another time. It may take up to an hour to thaw completely.

Monday January 16th

Pizza from Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company

Tuesday January 17th

Chicken and Garlic Burritos with Beans and Rice

Wednesday January 18th

Shrimp Fried Rice

Thursday January 19th

Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

Friday January 20th

Chicken Noodle Soup

Saturday January 21st

Leftovers

Sunday January 22nd

Football Food TBD

Want more menu ideas? Check out OrgJunkie.com.

I used to use “But, I want fried ice cream!” as an excuse to go eat at my favorite Mexican restaurant. I had no idea that it could be made so easily at home. I don’t think I will be buying it again because  I’ve finally figured out how to make it perfect. Here’s a really great fried ice cream recipe my family loves!

Fried Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients:

• Vanilla Ice Cream
• 3 egg whites
• Splash of vanilla extract
• 4 cups of Corn Flakes
• 4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp sugar

Directions

1. Shape the balls of ice cream. I’ve found it works best to fill up a prep cup, or a ramekin would work and let it freeze in that shape for 3 hours. Mine were about 1 cup each.
2. Crush the cornflakes, cinnamon and sugar. Leave in gallon bag until you are ready to coat the balls of ice cream.
3. Using a knife, pry ice cream ball away from the sides. It should fall right out.
4. Pour cornflake mixture on a plate.
5. Whisk egg whites in bowl large enough to coat ice cream balls.
6. Coat the ice cream in egg wash, then cornflake mixture. Repeat.
7. Fry at 350* for 15 seconds. Make sure you do not fry any longer or the cornflakes will begin to burn.

To plate:

Either drizzle with honey surrounded by fruit or drizzle with a little bit of whipped topping and chocolate sauce. I made some cinnamon sugar chips (fried tortilla’s dusted with cinnamon sugar) to go with mine.

It’s really that easy! The hardest thing to do is wait the 3 hours to finish making them!

Guest Post by Christina Flis. Follow her on Twitter: @ChristinaFlis

It’s the second week of the year, and our son turns 8 this week!

Monday January 9th

Chicken Alfredo

Tuesday January 10th

Salsibury Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans

Wednesday January 11th

Chicken Pot Pie

Thursday January 12th (Little Man’s Birthday!)

Chorizo Burritos and Banana Cheesecake (recipe to follow next week). His favorite meal, and requested “birthday cake.”

Friday January 13th

BBQ Pork Chops

Saturday January 14th

Leftovers

Sunday January 15th

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Want more menu ideas? Check out OrgJunkie.com.

Daphne Oz, the infamous daughter of Dr. Oz, is now a host on The Chew. She’s all about health, like her father. When looking for something quick for breakfast that will pack the energy punch, I discovered her “magic drink.” Apparently, the name comes from her father, who gave her the shake as a child, and had to tell her it was magic to get her to drink it. The picture, no matter how hard I tried to make it look good, doesn’t do this drink any justice. It’s a great tasting smoothie, and there’s a lot of flexibility in what you can add so you can vary the flavor from day to day, if you want.

Superfood Breakfast Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1 cup fresh fruit (any you have on hand will work!) with an optional 1/2 banana.
• 1 teaspoon honey (optional)
• 1 tablespoon psyllium husks
• 3 Ester-C capsules (about 1 teaspoon)
• 1 capful of chlorophyll or algae (optional)
• 1 serving of bee pollen (optional)
• 1 cup ice, plus water for blending ease

Directions:

Add everything to the blender, and blend until it is smooth. If you use frozen fruit, you can skip the ice.

This recipe will yield approximately 2 1/2 cups, so you can fill up your cup and save the rest. Freeze it in Popsicle molds for a healthy snack later in the day.

This superfood breakfast smoothie crams nutrition in when you’re in a hurry, so there’s little to no excuse for stopping at the drive through in the morning, or skipping your breakfast all together. It really is the most important meal of the day. It only takes a few minutes to prepare. A full 2 1/2 cup batch of this smoothie contains: Calories: 435, Total fat: 4.5 g, Fiber: 11.8 g, and Protein: 8.8 g. The psyllium husks are a form of fiber which expands in your stomach to help it feel fuller, longer. The Ester-C is a form of Vitamin C that is easier on your stomach, to help boost your immune system.

When I made my smoothie, I used blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. I didn’t have a banana on hand, so I skipped it. I purchased chlorophyll from Purtain’s Pride, because I wanted the nutritional power of greens. I added the Ester C, and the psyllium husks, but skipped the bee pollen. If you are allergic to bees, or if you are not sure whether or not you have an allergy, you should skip the bee pollen, too. I skipped it purely because I don’t know if I’m allergic or not, but there is a lot of nutritional value in it.

There is nothing better than a cold brew after a long day’s work, but recently I bought a microbrew that tasted terrible. The beer was way too dark for my taste, but I didn’t want to waste my $10 so I looked for the perfect beer bread recipe.

When I say perfect, I mean easy, of course. This is the recipe I found and it works wonderfully with any type of beer.

NOTE: If you are looking for the perfect beer to use for your beer bread visit your local grocery store and ask about buying individual bottles. Many grocery stores offer a mix and match six pack for under $9. You can pick and choose from several popular microbrews.

Ingredients:

• 3 ¼ cups self-rising flour
• ¼ cup white or brown sugar
• ¼ cup melted butter
• 12-ounces of beer

NOTE:  If you don’t have self-rising flour, mix 3 cups flour with 3 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt.

1. Add the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl.
2. Mix well.
3. Add beer.
4. Mix again until all lumps are gone.
5. Pour into greased loaf pan or muffin pan.
6. Drizzle melted butter over the top.
7. Bake at 375 degrees for one hour (loaf pain) or 35 minutes (muffin pan).
8. Cool slightly and serve.

Recipe Contributed by Summer Banks of Married and Writing.

Now that the holiday madness is over, and we have a new year upon us, we’re going to make more of an effort to post on a regular basis. We’re kicking off 2012 with a Menu Plan Monday post.

Monday January 3rd

Alton Brown’s Homemade Corned Beef

Tuesday January 4th

Red Beans and Rice

Wednesday January 5th

Meatloaf

Thursday January 6th

Fish Sticks, Mac and Cheese, and Green Beans

Friday January 7th

Garlic Chicken Pasta with Vegetable Medley

Saturday January 8th

Leftovers

Sunday January 9th

Chicken Wings

Next week, we’re gearing up for Little Man’s 8th birthday.

Green bean casserole is a staple Thanksgiving side dish, and while many families love the Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup and French’s Fried Onions version, this one is even better! Though it is a bit more labor intensive, it is totally worth it! This recipe serves 6 to 8 people, and will take you about 45 minutes. You’ll need 10 of those minutes for preparation, and 30 minutes of cook time. If you haven’t trimmed your green beans, you’ll need to add some extra prep time for snapping the beans. The top right picture is the mixture before we topped it with the fried shallots and baked it. We prepared this part the night before, then fried the shallots and baked it the morning of, and the bottom right picture is the final result. See how green the beans are? We blanched them, so they kept a lot of their color. We weren’t able to find creminis, so we used shitake, bella, and oyster. We doubled this recipe and it came out well. We just used two separate 9×13 pans.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 pound mixed gourmet mushrooms, such as shiitakes, creminis and oyster, cleaned and quartered
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 4 medium shallots, sliced and separated into thin rounds
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• Vegetable oil, for shallow frying

Directions

Monday December 5

Chicken and Biscuits Homestyle Bake

Tuesday December 6

Chicken Legs with Garlic Pasta and Vegetable Medley

Wednesday December 7

Spaghetti and Meatballs with Salad

Thursday December 8

Turkey Breast Cutlets, Baked Potatoes, Mixed Vegetables

Friday December 8

Leftovers

Saturday December 10

Papa John’s Pizza (Gotta use my PAPA’S Points before the end of the year!)

Sunday December 11

Tacos