homemade pizza

So I've been trying to perfect homemade pizza.

As a mostly vegetarian eater, there aren't a lot of frozen pizza options for me out there and we don't get delivery where I live. Also The Boyfriend is very picky about what goes on his pizza. He HATES mushrooms (I LOVE them) and isn't a big fan of olives. I'm also pretty sure he hates bell peppers. Since I don't eat meat the traditional pepperoni or sausage isn't going to work, and I think we're both getting tired of pineapples.

So the other day I made my first homemade pizza using Pillsbury biscuits for the dough.

This worked okay except that it was hard to get the crust cooked. It was my first attempt and I tried not to be too hard on myself about it.

The flavor was great though. I made sauce, like when I make pasta. I threw some frozen veggies in the wok to get them tender. Added cheese and some faux chickn and threw it in the oven. The result wasn't gorgeous by any means or perfect, but it had good flavor. I knew if I worked on the crust problem, this could end up being one of my favorite things to make. Well that and you know buy a pizza pan and a rolling pin, because I was having to roll out the dough with a wine bottle covered in flour. Hey, don't laugh, it totally worked.

Here's what my first pizza looked like:

Like I said, it wasn't perfect. But it tasted okay.

I went to the store a few days later and spied some other Pillsbury product that seemed better suited to getting the crust I wanted and picked it up. Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations run about the same price as the canned biscuits and you can find them in the same section at the store.

This worked much better as pizza crust, aside from the fact that one sheet of this stuff isn't really enough to make more than a personal pizza. Of course I didn't know this at the time and had to add in some biscuit dough to make it large enough for two people. I also baked the crust a little before adding the toppings, so this helped too. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of this particular creation.

Anyway when I finally get it PERFECT, I'll post the recipe. And some photos of course.

easy vegetarian soup!

Awhile back I decided I'd like to be able to make my own soup. For the most part canned vegetarian soups are expensive, come in small cans and aren't always available in small towns or bargain grocery stores. Vegetarians are poor too people! So I set out to create a soup that could be made by anyone, anywhere, regardless of season.

WHAT YOU NEED:

3 cans of Swanson Vegetarian Broth

1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables of your choice. What I do is I usually buy one bag of either a California Blend or Italian Blend and then another bag of just regular mixed vegetables.

1-2 red potatoes

1/4 -1/2 clove of garlic depending on your personal taste

seasoning according to taste

(Optional: rice or noodles)

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

Add all three cans of vegetable broth to large pot on medium heat. Add garlic to broth.

While waiting for the broth to warm, wash and slice or dice your potatoes (again according to your personal taste)

When broth becomes warm, add potatoes.

The add either an entire bag of frozen vegetables, or if you plan to mix your veggies, do half and half of each. Two bags would over power the broth.

Wait for soup to boil and reduce heat. I typically let this simmer anywhere from an hour to four hours, depending on how long I have to get it made.

Stir every so often and make sure to taste it. As the broth cooks, the flavor will change and you may need to add your spices of choice.

To beef up the soup (pardon the expression) you can also add rice or noodles. I recommend boiling this addition in an additional pot until it's ALMOST done (or you know, al dente) add the noodles or rice about 10-15 minutes before you plan on serving the dish, in order to keep them from getting too mushy.

This could also be done with fresh vegetables, but I'm keeping in mind that not everyone has access to affordable produce in the winter months. The whole mess usually costs me between 3-5 dollars to complete and will serve 8. It also keeps pretty well in tupper wear and also reheats well. Good option if you're trying to take your own lunch to work/school/etc.

Using my love for Soyrizo

Last night it was pretty warm here in California so I decided a salad was in order for dinner. I went to the store to pick up some lettuce when a brainstorm hit me!

Soyrizo Taco Salad! I did this on the easy and cheap. This recipe could be easily veganized.

What you need:

1-Bag of salad mix. I did a mixed greens and baby spinach leaf mix

1-tube of soyrizo

1-bag of taco chips

1-cup of shredded cheese (or vegan cheese)

1 1/2 cups of sliced olives

1 1/2 cup of salsa

1 green bell pepper

2 cups of chopped green oinions

sour cream or vegan sour cream

salad dressing of choice. (I used Kraft Vidalia Onion Vinaigrette with Roasted Red Pepper)


Preperation:

Chop the bell pepper and oinion, saute in a wok with a touch of salsa and some of the olives until the bell peppers are tender. (I also thew a handful of Frenchs Dried Oinions in for texture and flavor and a dusting of garlic sea salt.)

Take a skillet and heat soyrizo to texture preference. Cook it longer on higher heat if you want a firmer, crisper, texture.

Turn both pans down to low to keep warm.

Take taco chips and crumble. Toss salad with taco chips, cheese and the remaining olives.

Lay salad out on plate. Top with soyrizo and bell pepper garnish. Add dressing to taste. Top with sour cream and a dollop of salsa. I topped the boyfriend's sour creme and salsa mix with a little olive to make it pretty. You can also sprinkle some of the shredded cheese on top for color.

mixed veggie casserole

About a month ago I posted my recipe for Green Bean Casserole, which is one of my favorite vegetarian holiday foods. When I served it to The Boyfriend, he ate it but I also noticed he was picking out all of the green beans. Turns out he likes green beans about as much as he likes mushrooms, which is not at all. Oh well that's what dating is for, to learn what other people like and don't like.

Being as I love this dish and I also love casserole in general because it's sometimes two meals at once, I decided to give it another shot. Last night I cooked up what can only be described as mixed veggie casserole.

What You Need:

1-Can of potato soup. I used a roasted garlic potato soup.
1-Can of mixed veggies
1-Can of cream of mushroom soup
1-Can of French's Famous Fried Onions.
crutons

What You Do:

Pop open the potato soup and add to a pyrex dish.

Mix in the can of mixed veggies

Open up the mushroom soup. If you got condensed soup DO NOT ADD THE MILK, the mixture will get too mushy and you'll get more of a soupy texture and less casserole action. Add mushroom soup.

add either crushed croutons, precrushed breadcrumbs, or if you're feeling crunchy do whole croutons. Stir mixture around.

add about two handfuls of the dried onions. stir in.

Heat oven to about 350 degrees and bake for about 20 minutes.

Pull dish out after 20 minutes, stir in some pepper and seasonings of your choice. Coat the top of the dish with dried onions, these will become your crust as you bake the dish further.

put back in the oven for another 10-20 minutes or until hot and crisp on top.

let stand for about 5 minutes before serving.

A word of caution: this is a really filling and delicious dish. It's also not very pretty. But it worked, I got my casserole deliciousness on and The Boyfriend didn't pick out any of the ingredients this time around. Score.

Soyrizo!

As someone who grew up in Southern California, I've been eating Mexican food my whole life. And before giving up meat, I ate ALL of it. I've been having a hard time finding substitutes for some of my favorite meats until a neighbor of mine turned me onto some Soyrizo.

Holy crap, this stuff is good! And it's so easy to cook up. Just a few minutes in the skillet, depending on how crisp you want it. And because it's soy, there is very little mess left behind in the pan (something I do NOT miss about real meat, is the clean up.)

Best of all Soyrizo seems to be a great compromise in my house, since The Boyfriend does still eat meat. He gets the deliciousness that is Chorizo and Eggs and I get to not have actual Chorizo in my house. It's a win, win for everyone.

Just as a heads up though, because this isn't meat, the "casing" on the "sausage" is NOT edible. I didn't see any mentions of this on the package, but the "sausage" is wrapped in a thin saran wrap, so make sure to cut the plastic off and squeeze the Soyrizo into the pan before cooking.