Tomato Pie

It’s been a while.  Again.  Still been making new recipes.  Still forgetting to take pictures.  I’ve been lazy.

But there is something I have been spending my time taking pictures of.  Surprise! There is a new addition to our family.  Three weeks ago, a little French bulldog moved into our house.  Her name is Pancake.

Pancake helping Matt in the workshop.
Pancake helping Matt in the workshop.

It’s been an adventure.  Neither of us have owned or trained a dog before so we enrolled into a puppy class.  Pancake is becoming proficient at playing fetch, and she’s great at sitting, but now that she has learned that sitting equals treats, walking on a leash has become more difficult.  She will walk a few steps, sit, and wait for a treat.  It’s only been three weeks so hopefully she will get the hang of it soon.

Pancake loves stacking lumber.
Pancake loves stacking lumber.

Our kitchen also has experienced a new milestone.  I finally made something using yeast! I’ve been saying for months that I wanted to learn how to make dough, but every time the opportunity arose, I opted for Pillsbury’s.

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This lazy streak has come to an end! Matt is an avid woodworker (the best if you ask me!) and he subscribes to every woodworking show, blog, youtube channel.  One of the woodworkers he follows had a post about making a pizza peel with a recipe for tomato pie which included a homemade crust.  Matt took it as a sign that it was time for me to finally learn to work with yeast.  Clever guy 🙂

tomato pie

I love this tomato pie recipe because of the simplicity of it.  While I love a pizza piled with toppings, sometimes you crave the bare necessities.  Plus, you make this pizza up-side-down.  The cheese is the first topping with the sauce on top.  This unique structure and simple ingredients enhances the flavor of the pizza.  It was the perfect recipe for me to start my journey working with yeast.  And we’ve now made this pizza over 10 times.  I’d say it’s a keeper!  And I now consider myself a “yeast expert.”  Well, as long as it involves this recipe…

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Loaded Potato Skins

Whenever my parents came to visit me in college, the first thing we would do is go out to eat.  As a freshman, I always wanted to go to the same place–Friday’s–so we could eat loaded potato skins.  After reaching the freshman 15, my choice of appetizers had to change, and I haven’t had restaurant potato skins since.

loaded potato skin bites

My love of the saltiness hasn’t died.  And with my lack of desire to ever make side dishes aside, this weekend I decided to try to recreate an old college favorite. I am proud to say I only ate two potatoes–letting Matt devour the rest of the plate.  The two were just enough nostalgia for my taste buds.  Although, I suddenly had the urge to play some good old fashion beer pong…

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Caprese Soup

It only took six months, but I finally feel like I have a real handle on my job.  Instead of being perpetually on defense, I finally feel like I am on offense.  Now, I can anticipate what needs to be done, understand where I am in a file, and no longer feel like I am constantly asking my boss questions (although, he may not agree. haha).  It’s a good feeling.  Unfortunately, I am not infallible.  So I am not in the clear yet.  I still spend a good amount of time reading statutes and learning something new about banking law.  But, that’s the whole reason why I went into law.  Everyday, there is something new to learn.  (wow, yes.  that is correct.  i am that nerdy. gross).  So, I’m in a good place.

In that some vein, I am getting far more comfortable with my cooking skills.  I no longer stay clear of recipes that require multiple tools, crazy ingredients, and complicated steps.  This recipe is not hella complicated but it is amazing delicious.  It is a bit time consuming, but it is worth the extra time and effort.  After making this, I felt on top of the world.  Trust me, it’s a recipe you do not want to miss.

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Taco Flatbread Pizza

I am starting my second round of p90x.  And this time my focus is on nutrition.  Which is particularly challenging during this holiday season.  But so far so good!  Especially with delicious meals like this taco flatbread pizza!

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For me, the hardest part of eating healthy is not living alone.  When I lived by myself in law school, healthy eating was never an issue.  I controlled what food was in my fridge and what cluttered my cupboards.  Now as husband and wife, grocery shopping is a team sport.  Since Matt is a woodworker, he is all about the snack food that’s easy and fast to eat–which basically means unhealthy (but delicious) food that is rather hard to resist.

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So finding meals that are healthy but still have that snack-like taste can be difficult.  This taco flatbread pizza was an excellent compromise–full of protein, little bit of veggies, and still falls into the pizza family so both Matt and I were happy.  This has definitely made it into our recipe rotation.

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Kopanisti (Whipped Feta and Roasted Red Pepper Dip)

It’s been a while! I have so many new recipes to share and so many pictures to edit.  Hence the lack of new recipes.

I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited for Thanksgiving.  Now that I have a full-time job, long vacations are far and few between.  No more month winter vacation or no class Fridays.  Eh.  The growing pains of becoming an adult.  So a 5-day weekend–it felt like winning the lottery!

This long weekend has been a great opportunity to make new, fun side dishes.  Honestly, with working every day, making multiple dishes each night is a bit of a handful.  So in my effort to learn to cook, my focus has been on main dishes.  Thanksgiving was a great chance to master some appetizers.

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Matt has always been a dip-guy.  He loves chips.  So when I found this kopanisti recipe, I had to try it.  This dip is great for pita chips, carrots, celery, and other finger veggies.  A great change from the usual french onion dip Matt has been devouring.

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Cheesy Zucchini Bake

While I was studying for the bar, I wanted fast and easy homemade meals.  Our freezer was full of ground turkey so I decided to cook it up, mix it together with pasta, cheese, and herbs and turn it into a bake.  Matt feel in love with the meal, begging me to remake it.  So after making various versions of the pasta bake, I decided it was time for a vegetarian bake.

Our fridge is becoming increasingly more full of fresh veggies from our garden every day so I cut up our multi-colored zucchinis, some basil, green onions, and jalapenos, mix them with some cheese, spinach, and dried herbs. and the cheesy zucchini bake was born!

isn’t this tomato cool! it’s a striped tomato.
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