Can I really do that?

Anyone else out there love Real Simple?  I was perusing my daily meal ideas when I found these ideas for how to top Pizza.  I love 'different' pizzas - especially if they will help me keep my New Year's Resolutions!  AND at the end of this post, I'll share with you my 'secret' pizza crust.  The biggest secrets are that it is quick to make and healthy for you too!  So, go ahead and give in to those cravings - just be smart with your choice!

Smoky Barbecued Chicken
Barbecue sauce, barbecued-chicken slices, red bell pepper, smoked Gouda, cilantro.

Pesto and Goat Cheese
Pesto, sliced tomato, goat cheese.

Hawaiian
Tomato sauce or sliced tomato, pineapple chunks, Canadian bacon, sharp Cheddar.

Shrimp Scampi
Sautéed shrimp and garlic, chopped arugula, Parmesan, mozzarella.

Scalloped Potato
Thinly sliced cooked red-skinned potatoes, caramelized onions, crumbled bacon, Fontina cheese, a drizzle of heavy cream or ranch dressing.

Alfredo
Alfredo sauce, crumbled blue cheese, toasted walnuts, Parmesan.

Salad
Mesclun mix, sliced grape tomatoes, shaved Pecorino or Parmesan, balsamic vinaigrette. (Add toppings after baking.)

Middle Eastern
Hummus, sliced tomato, pitted Kalamata olives, green olives, crumbled Feta cheese, fresh parsley, a drizzle of olive oil.
More pizza ideas featured today: 

Sausage, Spinach, and Provolone

Provolone Ham, Gruyere, and Shallot

Tomato, Olive, and Scallion Pizza

More Pizza-Making Essentials (and here) from Real Simple. All photos courtesy of Real Simple.

Instant Pizza Crust

1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt (or vanilla yogurt for breakfast pizza)

1 cup whole wheat (or all-purpose)

1 tsp baking powder

3 Tbs low-fat milk

2 tbs light olive oil (or a specialty oil such as sunflower)

Salt to taste

For the dough, quickly knead together the yogurt, flour, baking powder, milk, 2tbs of oil, and 1/2 tsp salt. Preheat oven to 400F. line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a slightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to a thin rectangle and transfer it to the baking sheet.  Pierce the dough several times with a fork. Distribute desired toppings over the dough. Bake 25-30 minutes on the middle over shelf. Serve.

I found his Valentines day present

What do you think?

My Crazy T's Return February 1

Oh - and Mine too ;)

  What a great way to get something fun and benefit others as well! Sharing the love all around the world - that's me. 

SHIRTS FOR SHOES: HOPECHEST PROJECT STORE

What is Shirts For Shoes?

•  Providing shoes & shirts for 400 orphans enrolled in HopeChest programs.
• For every T shirt you buy- HopeChest will provide a new pair of shoes & a new shirt for an orphan.
•  100% of proceeds will benefit orphans in Ethiopia.
•  To Ethiopia with Love- projects throughout the country that HopeChest sponsors.

Why buy a T shirt?

Your contribution will provide over 400 orphans in Ethiopia basic needs & the greatest gift of all -  love.  Make this a Valentine’s Day you will never forget.  Please pray for the orphans every time you wear your shirts.

I found these over here at mycrazyadoption.org.  

Click on the Be My Valentine Button right there on my sidebar to find out more.

15 min. break: Stormy Solutions

Seems like a lot of the country is being hit by either rain or severe weather.  I feel for you, really I do.  And I am very excited that the sun is peeking out at our house today.  Really lifts my spirits to bask in those warm rays through my window.

 I was just looking at a this blog during my self assigned 15 minute break for today and it brought back memories of the following fun we've had when cooped up indoors last year.  Enjoy!

Today we had a day full of VERY important things: doing dishes, playing dolls, unpacking from our great trip 'to the city', making pancakes, making pretend pancakes in the girls kitchen, dancing to music while being dressed up for 'the ball' etc., .... but I think the VERY MOSTimportant and the activity which drew the most excitement was thePINK BATH {a great idea from a weekly email that I get here. A few drops of food coloring does not hurt or color skin or bath and is PURE JOY for the girls}. And because we were so busy doing all of the VERYimportant things - this is the only picture we have. Enjoy!

I also want to share a fun idea that we've done a couple of times, but unfortunately I can't find the pictures of right now - and because there are only 4 minutes left of my break - you'll have to check back to see if I've found it.   

Life Size Paper Doll Buddies

I often purchase 'newspaper ends' and we use the paper for all sorts of fun! (I am thinking that I need to devote a whole blog to this idea - so look for it soon :} )  This particular time, we used them to make a virtual life sized group of friends.  Took lots of days and the girls LOVED it!

We trace the girls onto the paper and let them go to town coloring the replicas of themselves.  Cut out the paper doll and 'make copies' by tracing the 'paper doll' again and again.  Then let the kiddos go to town coloring. Make it easy on yourself and don't be too detailed about cutting it out. Because I have princesses - we trace a head, arms, and dress (no shoes or feet even).

  Then, we staple two girls together, leaving a few strategic openings around the body.  Next - tear paper off of the roll willy-nilly and stuff it into the life size paper doll.

and there is the timer - color, dance, have a tea party - make a prince and prepare for the most bestest Ball ever - or do something for boys too - hmmmm  - I'll come up with ideas for that later when the timer is not going off and the girls are ready for their promised 'Tea Party'.

Notice Anything New???

I know, what's not new right?

 Well, I'll tell you what's not - my header - just can't get that thing to work right.  But I did finally find some great helps out there and once I get it figured out, I'll post about it so that anyone else out there that may have the same dilemmas as I will be able to triumph over the little things! It feels so good to do that.

I have to tell you what I am really excited about!!!  There is a new widget over on the sidebar - yup -

FBR recently announced a brand new virtual store, they have great giveaways, AND a huge collections of food blogs - ummmmm.... YUM!

I often visit here to get dinner ideas and now I am approved to join in! Yay! When I get truly excited about something, my toes tingle - and I tell ya - they have been tingling all day!  Feel free to go check it out and salivate at all of the delish meals and pictures that are so beautiful you can taste them!  Of course, you can always just come here to admire the cute little widget, because I have it on my blog. Right.... over..... there.

Roasted Herbed Chicken with Lemon Slow Cooker Recipe From Crock-Pot

Peach surprised me by giving me a new Crockpot for Christmas!

Woo-hoo! 

I have been wanting/needing a new one for a while and this is the perfect kind of gift for me. Sensible and allows me to create
more of something I love - 
FOOD!

This is my new crockpot:

Photo courtesy of crock-pot.com

I love that it has the four typical time settings and shift to warm when done. I can put dinner together in the morning and come home to a warm meal that is cooked to perfection! It is also a great size for my family to have dinner and leftovers for Peach to take to work. (Do ya think that is why he really gave it to me - so he could have delish leftovers all the boys would be jealous of? Hmmmmm.)

Thank you Peach!

The picture they have online is not the same one as on the box - but still looks oh, so tasty!

 The mice issue made me wait a while to even get this baby out of the box because I was so obsessed preoccupied with getting the house sanitary again.

And here is the link so you can try it as well (photo courtesy of crock-pot.com):

Roasted Herbed Chicken with Lemon Slow Cooker Recipe From Crock-Pot

The smell of rosemary, lemon, chicken, and of course - Buttah is already tantalizing our senses.

This is what it looked like when I put it together this morning. (The chicken is hiding under all of the yummy veggies because I just used 3 chicken leg quarters as that is what I had on hand.)

 I am so excited to try it!
Addendum: After trying this recipe, there are quite a few changes that I will make next time.  I would use only chicken breast, even if it is skin on.  The meat was succulent and literally falling off of the bone - but there were a LOT of bones to deal with - tough when feeding little princesses.  Also, I will slice the lemon and layer slices directly on the chicken.  The lemon juice ended up soaking into all of the veggies ending up with an unwelcome surprise citrus kick with each veggie bite.  I will also probably layer the potatoes, then chicken, then veggies for better flavor - but that might dry out the chicken.  Overall, I will definitely try this recipe again - but to quote the bean "Mom, next time I think you should not follow the ingredient (she meant recipe) and just do it your way.  It always turns out yummy when you do it your way."  And THAT is why I will try it again.  She made me feel great and I want to prove her right. :)

Here is the full recipe for all ya'll:

Roasted Herbed Chicken with Lemon

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Cook Time

7-8 hours on LOW
4 hours on HIGH

Slow Cooker

4 - 4.5 Quarts
5 - 5.5 Quarts
6 - 6.5 Quarts

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, 2 to 3 pounds

1 lemon, cut into wedges

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary

10 cloves garlic

1/4 cup white wine or chicken broth

1 small pat butter or margarine, melted

small red potatoes, qty as desired, cubed

fresh green beans, qty as desired

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Clean the chicken and pat dry.
2. Add chicken to the stoneware.
3. Drizzle the chicken with butter and then rub with garlic and sprinkle with salt and pepper as desired.
4. Add the garlic, wine, and red potatoes to the stoneware.
5. Add the green beans on top of the potatoes and sprinkle the rosemary on top of the chicken and green beans. Garnish the top of the chicken with lemon wedges as desired.
6. Cook on High 4 hours, or on Low 7-8 hours.

Disclaimer on Recipes:

Sunbeam Products, Inc. d/b/a Jarden Consumer Solutions ("JCS") has not tested these recipes and is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe you try from our website. You may not achieve the results desired due to variations in ingredients, cooking temperatures, cooking times, typos, errors, omissions, or individual cooking abilities. Please always use your best judgment when cooking with raw ingredients such as eggs, chicken or fish.

I must be hungry...

Ya'll know I love to cook - - - And boy, do I have a lot of blog catching up to do. Check back a bunch in the next couple of days for the how to's for these tasty morsels:

Cranberry Orange Relish * Salmon Cakes * Orange Chicken with Cranberry Relish * Asparagus Mimosa * Chicken Pesto * 
Sweet Potato Chicken * Asparagus & Ham Roll-ups 
* Giant Cupcake *

Drooling yet? Em... I need a snack... caramel popcorn sounds just right :)