Buffalo Style Chicken Pizza

I made this pizza for my boys on Friday night. They both approved. In fact, they asked me to make it again. That is high praise from the boys.

BUFFALO STYLE CHICKEN PIZZA

SERVINGS: 6

INGREDIENTS:

3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cooked and shredded (approx. 2 cups)

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 ounces hot sauce (Frank’s)

8 ounces blue cheese salad dressing

1 (16 inch) prepared pizza crust

8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, melted butter and hot sauce. Mix well. Spread blue cheese dressing over crust, then top with mixture and sprinkle with shredded cheese.

3. Bake in a preheated oven until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly, about 10 to 15 minutes. Let set a few minutes before slicing.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Easy Taco Pizza

I know, I know...  we all need to lose weight but it was Superbowl weekend.  I wanted to make something yummy to eat during the game (yadda yadda yadda).  I didn't want Buffalo Chicken Wings or anything of that sort, so I ferreted out a recipe on one of those online recipe sites.  Probably, www.allrecipes.com or something like it.  It is a recipe for Easy Taco Pizza.  After reading the recipe, I decided to make my own taco seasoning for a myriad of reasons.  The first and most important reason was that I hadn't bought any taco seasoning at the grocery store.  I also figured it was more economical to make my own seasoning from what I had in the house rather than buying a packet.  So, there you have it.  A combination of laziness, lack of forethought and cheapness motivated me to make the taco seasoning myself.  Wait... I had another more altruistic reason that turned out to be completely bogus.  I thought that all taco seasoning packets had MSG in them.  I am against MSG for health reasons.  I'm sure I eat enough of it in prepared foods without adding it to foods I make myself.  In this case, I found out that I was wrong.  It seems that now McCormick is advertising that their seasoning mixes do not contain MSG! Are they doing this just for me?  I doubt it, but it is nice to know they care.  Anyway, this recipe is a nice mix of two favorite dishes into one delicious meal.

Easy Taco Pizza

Serves: 4

Preparation Time: 20 min

Cooking Time: 20 min

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef

1 packet of taco seasoning mix

1 can (4-ounces) diced green chilies

1 store bought pizza crust

1 can refried beans

1 ½  cups Cheddar cheese, shredded

¼ cup green onions, thinly sliced

Instructions:

1.       Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2.       Prepare ground beef according to seasoning packet directions. Be sure to drain excess fat after browning meat. Once the taco meat is prepared, stir in the chilies and set aside if still working on the other steps below.

3.       While the meat is cooking, smear the pizza crust with the refried beans.  Spread evenly across the crust leaving a ring of crust (unless you prefer to dress to the edge of the pizza).

4.       Once taco meat is done, pour it over the crust and spread evenly. Top with cheddar and green onions.

5.       Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Allow pizza to rest for 5 minutes before cutting.

Taco Seasoning

Prep Time: 1 Minute

Servings: 10

"This is a mixture of spices that approximates what you would buy in a package of taco seasoning. Depending on how spicy you and your family like your dishes, use as little or as much as you want."

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon chili powder 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon onion powder 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon sea salt 1 teaspoon black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza

The weather is getting really nice down here. It was actually sunny today after several straight days of rain. In fact, my dad has been talking about Noah's Ark lately... Just in time for the great weather, I started craving salad. Not to mention the fact that my work calendar for April has a chef making a huge salad on it. Could that be the source of my cravings?? Maybe. But I asked D last night if he wanted to do movie and pizza night. He said "sure" in his creative kid fashion. I thought we should try something different so I suggested Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza. He jumped at the chance to try that. So tonight, I made the pizza and we lurved it. It was really great. We watched "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" and it wasn't nearly as bad as I was led to believe it would be. Maybe I was expecting a terrible movie. It wasn't "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory" or anything but it was far from terrible. I will say that Dustin Hoffman's character, Mr. Magorium is very weird. I wouldn't recommend it for really little kids but D thought it was pretty good. So rent a copy of it from the Red Box and cook up some Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza. You'll have a great night!

Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza

by Sandra Lee @ http://www.foodnetwork.com/

3/4 pound chicken tenders (we used pre-cooked chicken)

1/2 cup Caesar salad dressing, plus 2 tablespoons

1 (12-inch) pizza crust

1-3/4 cups shredded mozzarella and asiago cheese

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

For Salad Topping:

4 cups hearts of romaine, shredded

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup Caesar salad dressing

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

1 cup seasoned croutons

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a bowl combine chicken with 1/2 cup salad dressing; set aside. Brush pizza crust with remaining 2 tablespoons of dressing and top with cheeses; set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan. When oil is hot, saute chicken strips for 4 to 6 minutes or until cooked through. Remove chicken from pan; place on top of pizza. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and begun to bubble. Complete pizza as directed.

The Creative Cook