Doughboy

My husband was staff chef this weekend, specializing in all things bread. On Friday he made a pizza with the Mark Bittman crust recipe, on Saturday, he made cinnamon rolls (see cinna-man in the photo), and Sunday he made chili with cornbread.

Household favorites were in order of sweetness, with cinnamon rolls being the clear winner.

Tears to my eyes

We slummed it tonight and grabbed one of those $5 Hot N Ready pizzas from Little Ceasar's. When we were leaving the parking lot, my daughter asked why the umbrella over the picnic table outside Ceasar's didn't say "Little Ceasar's," have the right colors, or show the little character. They had some cheesy drink company with lime green labeling on the umbrella instead.

I paused as I took in what she was saying. Joy. A budding designer? Just a person who cares? Thank you for noticing these things and asking why.

Pizza Day-in-the-Life

How late afternoon proceeded on Wednesday:

2:30
No one is napping. Bodily eliminations discovered in various areas of the upstairs couch and carpet. Thank goodness for removable couch covers. Suddenly feel motivated to clean entire upstairs. Plan to begin cooking dinner delayed.

3:15
Clean-up done. Get an IM from husband saying it would be a good pizza night. BUT we have a plan for dinner already and we both want to exercise some pizza-eating discipline. I tell him what the dinner plan is and he reminds me this dish was blamed for killing a small town in a Monty Python sketch.

3:45
4-year-old suggests it would be a good pizza night. Something in the air? Family-wide dread of salmon loaf more likely. She must sense it's coming because I haven't mentioned it yet.

4:00
I casually look up some online pizza deals at Green Mill. Conclude there are some offers not-to-be-missed, and besides, it's getting late to make The Loaf. Everyone wearing thin from a long afternoon.

4:30
Husband IMs he's leaving work. Sideways reference that IT WOULD BE BAD TO GET PIZZA. I take the cue.

5:15
Family happily eats pizza in clean upstairs.

Watching Dough Grow

The kids had fun measuring how bread dough grows while making a pizza with Dad this weekend. They recorded the start time, then drew circles for the 2 subsequent raisings. Cool!

Week 13 – The menu is in

Mon – Broccoli chicken over mashed potatoes (pulled from freezer)
Tues – Take-out pizza w/cake & ice cream
Weds – Stir-fry with beef, snow peas, and carrots
Thurs – Rotisserie chicken (Thurs special at local Whole Foods) w/mashed sweet potatoes
Fri – Chicken fajitas (use leftovers from Thurs)
Alts – Linguini w/carrot ribbons; Lamburgers (from Grampa Murray)
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Made a menu plan while the kids finished lunch and Matt picked up groceries this evening. Bliss.

As an aside, whoever responded that their kids eat their dinner without issue most nights has a formal invitation to take over menu-planning this blog. Happy cooking.

Week 10 -- Hot Weather Eats

Mon – Mojito chicken with corn salad (Not instant recipes, but flavorful and easy. Salad will feed 8-10, or cut recipe as desired.)
Tues – Grilled pizza (per Mark Bittman's recipe, cooked on the grill. 3 burners on high, approx 8 min).
Weds – Chilaquiles (Surprisingly good recipe from the back of a chip bag. Here it is: 1 c cooked shredded chicken -- left overs from Monday -- 1 c chicken broth, 1+ cups salsa verde. Put all in frying pan, bring to near boil. Layer tortilla chips on top, stir gently until softened. Serve w/sour cream and cilantro.)
Thurs – Fish Tacos (Recipe in yesterday's post)
Fri – BBQ Pulled Pork with coleslaw (This is the best thing I know how to make in a crock pot. Pork recipe follows, from "Best-Loved Slow Cooker Recipes.")
1 boneless pork shoulder or butt roast (3-4 lbs)
1 t salt
1 t ground cumin
1 t paprika
1 t black pepper
1/2 t ground red pepper
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 bell pepper, cut in strips
18 oz bbq sauce
1/2 c light brown sugar
Serve on hot cooked rice or sandwich rolls
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Trim excess fat from pork. Combine salt, cumin, paprika, and peppers in small bowl. Rub over roast.
Place onion and bell pepper in crock pot. Add pork. Combine bbq sauce and brown sugar, pour on top.
Cook on low 8-10 hours. Trim off remaining fat, shred pork with 2 forks. Looks dry going in, but will be incredibly juicy when done. This will make left-overs that freeze well, or snack from the fridge well, and you'll look forward to!)
Alt – BLTs
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Lots of recipes included this week as they're either really easy, or typically turn out well for me. Happy cooking.

Food Project

My daughter made lunch for us today, which was an exciting endeavor since she's 3. She made mini-pizzas on english muffins. She split the muffins, scooped the sauce...the works. I was relegated to "prep chef," grating cheese and wiping up crumbs.

Some say that getting your kids involved in cooking makes them more likely to eat the resulting meal. In my experience, there is so much ingredient-sampling that takes place during preparation that no one is hungry enough to eat the finished product. The exception to that might be when cookies are the end result. All good fun.

Great, Easy From-Scratch Pizza Dough

My husband usually treats us to homemade pizza on weekends, but he was busy hauling dirt and wood chips this past Saturday, so I thought I'd try my hand. Not sure of what recipe to use, I looked in a reader's suggested cookbook: "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman. The result was fantastic.

I was suspicious about the lack of kneading and 2t of sea salt, but both contributed to a wonderful crispy crust. I used a dough-hook on a mixing stand and it formed a ball just as described. So easy, I dare say it was fun. This will be my go-to recipe whenever I make the pizza -- the steps are simple so it's a good one for kids to help out with.

Mark Bittman Pizza Dough

Some good tips on the link as well about how to raise dough in the fridge over longer periods (if you want to make it in the AM, for example), or how to freeze it. Some things I had always wondered about.