Kale & Salmon Pizza

So, I'm still battling a cold. I know, I know, and yet, here I am. Posting the pizza I made (like a champ) when most human-shaped humans would be one with the couch and snuggly blanket. ...I might be there now, but whatever. Like a champ, remember?

Pizza

So, confession time. These pictures are of the first time I made this pizza. It was good. But I knew I could do better. So I made it again. And it was goooooooooood. So, pretend that these pictures are of a much better pizza that looks similar to this one.

Kale & Salmon Pizza

1 can Pillsbury Thin Crust Pizza Dough

2 tomatoes, sliced then halved

handful of shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 a bunch of kale, torn into small pieces

olive oil

1 can of salmon, boneless & skinless

Preheat oven to 400. Unroll pizza crust onto a greased pizza pan/cookie sheet. Coat with olive oil. Bake for 8 minutes. Sprinkle cheese onto pizza crust. *Only use a small amount, 1/4-1/3 cup, not even enough to cover the whole crust.* Cover pizza with kale. There should be enough small pieces so that you can't see the crust through the kale. Place tomatoes and salmon on top. Sprinkle olive oil all over. Bake for 6 minutes. Enjoy.

See the kale in this picture? The pieces were NOT small enough. Make them small. Trust me. And use a lot more kale than I did. It's worth it.

Also, there will be more tomato. 

See how scrawny this one came out after making it? You can see whole patches of crust. The second one was better. I'm sad I didn't take pictures of that one. But come on, I have a cold people!

(Healthier) Hash Browns

So, I've got a wicked backlog of food I need to post. But the excuse du jour is that I have a cold. So, instead I'm posting the comfort food I've been making the last 3 days. (Seriously, for lunch today, I just had a plate of these.) 

Slice 

Slice again

Cube and oil

Once done

Perfection

Healthier Hash Browns
Serves 2 (or 1 if it's a sick day)


1 baking potato, scrubbed
Approx 2 Tbs of Olive oil


Preheat oven to 425. Slice potato into coins. Slice coins into sticks. Slice sticks into cubes (ish). Put potato cubes on baking sheet and coat in olive oil. Cook for 20 min, tossing halfway. They may stick to the pan (see picture 4). It's fine, just unstick them and continue. Let cool, serve with ketchup.  

Red Velvet Mini Sandwiches

I made these cookies for a Christmas present, but I'm posting them now because they'd be perfect for Valentine's day. I used this recipe from Babble's The Family Kitchen and just mini-sized it. 

One thing I learned from making these is that if you use a round teaspoon (or tablespoon for larger cookies) to scoop out your dough, it is incredibly tedious, but the process makes amazingly perfectly round cookies that look like they came from a bakery. 

The only one out of the billion I scooped 
that I took a picture of. 

Perfection. 

You won't need as much frosting/filling that you think you will. It's yummy, and rich, and kind of dense. I actually had a bunch of frosting left over after I got done making them.

This part is going to be difficult, but trust me - it's worth it. Once you get the cookie sandwiches made. Put them away and don't eat them the same day. I know, crazy, right! But hear me out. Hubs and I each ate (at least) one the same night I made them. Honestly, they were alright. But that was it. Just alright. I was kind of disappointed. The next day I had another one, and it was AMAZING. These cookies had magically transformed into soft, moist, wonderful little red velvet parties. The cookies apparently absorbed some of the moisture from the frosting and softened up over night so that the texture and taste was more like a tiny whoopie pie. So. Much. Better. Who knew delayed gratification was actually worth something?

Tater Tot Mess

This is not a recipe I'm proud I made. But it happened and it was eaten, so let's do this.

It tasted better than it looks, but it looks like a mess.

The recipe is here from BlogChef.net. I added frozen corn to mine and omitted the onion.

Again, not my proudest moment, but I'm glad it's out here and now, we can move on.

Hangover Smoothie

Let's say you have a situation in which you, the reader, are at a friend's house with your significant other and your dog watching your favorite sports team on TV. And then you start drinking, because, hey, you're hanging out and having fun. And then you keep hanging out and drinking because your team wins after a very exciting very long shoot-out and they never win a shoot-out and hey, look! Holiday Nog!

Not as innocuous as it seems. Beware.

And then, way after the point of no return, your friend asks your significant other "Hey, what time is your flight tomorrow?" and then you remember that he has to be on a plane in fewer than 12 hours. Crap.
Wait, where was I going with this?


Oh, yeah. Hangover Smoothie.


So, I've really been into smoothies for a few weeks now. Like, make one everyday kind of into them. I figured (given that this particular morning the mere thought of any kind of food gave my tummy the heaves) I could slurp down some goodness and it would cure all my ills. So, I blended. 


Now, I'm going to give you my "recipe." But, smoothie making is not an exact science. Be loose and liberal with your measurements. 



For example this is a scoop of OJ concentrate:


See? Be loose and liberal. It's a smoothie. Not actual science.




Hangover Smoothie


1/2 cup Orange Juice 
2 scoops frozen orange juice concentrate (the 100% juice kind)
2 spoonfuls yogurt
2 tablespoons fiber powder (e.g. Benefiber, Brand X dissolvable fiber)
20g protein powder (vanilla or unflavored)
1 scoop greens powder (preferably orange flavored)
ice


Blend until smoothie-like consistency.Drink up, take some vitamins and aspirin, and watch 8+ hours of Biggest Loser on Netflix. 

Action shot.

Ok, so it's not pretty. But it's tasty. Put it in a pretty glass with a straw. That's my prescription anyway. 

Broccoli!!!

Confession:

I 

love

taking

pictures

of 

broccoli.

Double Pie!

Wow, what I could do with this.

Chicago Metallic Non-Stick 9-Inch Split Decision Pie Pan