Food: Pizza, Pizza, Homemade Pizza

All Rights reserved Najeema Iman (I AM Curly Locks)

I was inspired today after watching ABC's The Chew, to use what I had in my pantry and refrigerator to make a whole meal under $1 per portion.  It's One Dollar Wednesday , but honestly part of the reason for my frugal meal today stems from me exhausting my bi-monthly grocery budget and only having $20 bucks for meals this week. Top Chef Richard Blais' One Dollar Wednesday option was English Muffin Pizza.  I had English Muffins in the freezer, but I wasn't really feeling it, so I went a different route. We made a meatless thin crust pizza with fresh spinach, tomatoes, mozzarella, Kraft Mexican Cheddar Jack Cheese, and a semi homemade red pizza sauce.

I found a wonderful  thin crust recipe on thekitchn.com and it is fairly simple to make.  It makes two 10 inch pizza's or 8 personal size pizzas. 

Here is what you need....

All rights reserved Najeema Iman(I AM Curly Locks)

• 3/4 cups (6 ounces) lukewarm water
• 1 teaspoon active-dry or instant yeast
• 2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour(I substituted 1/2 a cup of all purpose flour with whole wheat flour to give some extra flavor)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• mixing bowl
• parchment paper (optional)

Directions:

1.  Combine water and yeast in mixing bowl. Stir until dissolved.
2. Add flour and salt. Combine to soggy dough is formed.
3. Turn Dough out on clean floured surface. 
4.  Knead dough for about 5 minutes, until smooth and elastic. (Note: if dough is still sticky add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.)
5. Let dough rise for about an hour and half, or until doubled in size. 
6. When dough is done rising cut into two pieces or eight smaller pieces for personal size pizzas.
7. Place dough on parchment paper and flatten into a disc using hands or floured rolling pin. (I used wax paper since I didn't have parchment paper.)
8. Place dough on the wrong side of your pizza pan.
9. Preheat oven to 500 degrees, or highest setting.
10. Add sauce and topping.
11. Heat for approximately 5 minutes. 
12. Lift off the pizza pan with metal spatula.
13. Enjoy. 

(Note: This dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.  I am sure that it can be frozen for later as well but I am not sure for how long.)

For the Pizza sauce I adapted a recipe that I found on Allrecipes.com .  It was a great base recipe, but was to bland for my taste buds so I added a little curlitude to it.  Here is what you need...

All Rights Reserved Najeema Iman(I AM Curly Locks)

• 2 cups of Prego Traditional Spaghetti Sauce
• 1(6 ounce) can of Hunts Tomato Paste
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of Oregano
• 1 tablespoon of McCormick Italian Seasoning
• 3 1/2  teaspoons of garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon of ground paprika

Directions: Mix spaghetti sauce and tomato paste together till well blended, then add spices. 



(Note: The pizza sauce recipe makes enough sauce for about 4 pizzas so you may want to cut it in half or freeze some for later.)


The three year old kept it simple and added mozzarella, fresh spinach, freshly diced tomatoes, then another layer of Cheddar Jack cheese. Oh and don't forget a few shakes of Alexander's Parmesan Bread Dipping Seasoning. The hubs is quite a meat eater, so he picked up some turkey pepperoni before he came home.  I will definitely be using both of  these recipes again. It was affordable and fast.  

To see more of my recipe inspirations follow my Yummy board on Pintrest.
Najeema Iman, I AM Curly Locks 

*All photos are courtesy of Justin McMahan Photography 

Food: Citrus Apple Pancakes

Well I didn't accomplish everything that I set out to this weekend, but I did make an awesome stack of pancakes.  Saturday is pancake day.  Daddy takes the three year old to gymnastics and when they return I try to have brunch ready. It doesn't always happen, as one year old's need to be kept occupied and entertained, but it is one of the few consistent things that we have going for our family right now.  Don't get me wrong I am starting to enjoy being a homemaker and I am so happy that my husband has a job in this tough economy, but it is hard for us to find balance. Pancake day is our way to unwind and enjoy time as a family without the worries that weekdays bring. 
I decided to try something new this time around. I was inspired by Mia Rogers' Pumpkin Apple Pancakes  on ABC's The Chew Friday.   I didn't have all the ingredients, so per my new frugal lifestyle I decided to get a little inventive.  I used what I already had in my kitchen which included boxed pancake mix, Granny Smith Apples, and navel oranges. Box pancake mix is absolutely fine by me as I have struggled and failed at finding a from-scratch pancake recipe over the past six months.  Of course I added my own flair by adding a few extra spices to the mix, as I do with most items I purchase.   I enjoyed it so much I figured I would share it with you.

This recipe is fairly simple, and requires nothing more than two skillets and a spoon to make. So here it is, tell me what you think.... 

Najeema's Citrus Apple Pancakes

For the batter:

-Your favorite pancake mix

-1 tablespoon of Brown sugar

-2 teaspoon Cinnamon

-1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Prepare pancakes according to directions on boxed mixture. Add Sugar, Cinnamon and Vanilla Extract to the pancake mix. Pour 1/4 cup of mixture onto hot non-stick griddle or skillet. Flip pancakes when bubbles are observed. About 1/2 minute for each side. Add Apple Topping and drizzle with maple syrup to taste.

For topping:

-1 thinly sliced granny smith

- approx. 3 tablespoons of maple syrup

-1 teaspoon of orange extract 

-zest of one orange

-1 cap full of lemon juice

-1 teaspoon of brown sugar

Add ingredients to a non stick skillet on medium heat. Stir occasionally. Cook until they are soft and golden; which took me about 10 minutes.

Overall this recipe came out better than I imagined, but I will definitely be peeling the apples, as my husband nor I were fans of the texture. I am so glad I tuned into The Chew on Friday, who knew I would be coming up with my own recipe. What have you added to your recipe catalog recently? What are your favorite flavors?

If you like this post let me know and don't forget to subscribe. 
Peace and Love

Najeema Iman, I AM Curly Locks

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Food: October Eats

Okay so if you haven't noticed already from previous post I am trying to improve my culinary skills, add more fresh ingredients and homemade from scratch items to my families menu.  There have definitely been a lot of hits and misses. For instance a couple of weeks ago from-scratch meatloaf ended up being beef stroganoff after negligently misreading the recipe and adding the cream of mushroom soup to the mixture, rather than poring it on top of the mixture to keep it moist and flavorful.  My from scratch pumpkin pie was okay, not quite a miss but could us some improvement.  I didn't exactly have everything that the recipe asked  for despite sending my husband to the store 3 times in one week, so I had to make substitutions with items I already had on hand.

Photo via boulderlacavore.com 

If you're already following my board Yummy on Pintrest, you know that most of the new recipes being added to my menu can be found there.  One of my favorite recipes is short, sweet, and simple. Home made fries, who need Ore-Ida when you have cutting board, olive oil, salt and a hot oven.  Yes they take a little more time and effort, but it is so worth it.   I used a recipe by Toni of Boulderlacavore.com that can be found by clicking the photo to your immediate right.  I will definitely be using this recipe for years to come, home-cooking made easy.

Photo from foodnetwork.com

Another high note in potatoes was the Tyler Florence's Scalloped Potato Gratin hat I found on FoodNetwork.com. OMG no more box for me, these were so good.  Not the picture on the left is not from my try at this recipe, but it turned out exactly like the recipe said it would, so flavorful and creamy.  I would normally think of using a cheddar or white cheddar for making Potatoes Au Gratin, but the grated Parmesan , nutmeg, thyme, and cloves came together so well in this recipe.  Of course I had to do my soulful thing and add one of my pantry favorites Lawry's Seasoned Salt.  It is just something about Lawry's and the truth is I never follow any recipe exactly the way it is written.

Contrary to the way this post may seem, not everything that I made in the month of October was savory.  I also made a pumpkin pie completely from scratch, hubbard squash bread with raisins, and experimented with baby cereal cookies.  The later was an epic fail, okay well not really since the girls loved them, but they just weren't sweet enough for me.

This weekend I won't get to cook a lot, but tonight is nacho night. I'm feeling pretty lazy and the whole family can make their own bowl  On My Grocery List Tonight-

-Fresh Cilantro
-Black Beans
-Sour Cream
-Lettuce
-Tomato
-Nacho Chips

I will be combining two recipes The Turkey Chili Recipe from Oprah.com and Velveeta Ultimate Nacho Recipe from Kraft.com. I'm making my own seasoning blend using a recipe I found on Rachel cooks.com. I have some ground turkey in the freezer and some Velveeta in the fridge so this is going to be a good night.  What are you cooking tonight?

Najeema Iman, I AM Curly Locks

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Food: Carrots, Carrots, and cauliflower

I like to eat but I don't always like to cook.  Well that isn't exactly true, sometimes I am just to tired to cook or I don't want to make a meal from scratch.  Most of what I know about cooking I learned in the kitchen with my Granny. (I sure miss Marie.)   I'm not the best chef, but I love a challenge from time to time to flex my culinary muscles.  I volunteer at a local food bank often and sometimes end up with a surplus of certain food items.  After I give a some to my neighbors, I still have quite a bit left and I refuse to waste food. (Food ain't cheap, even for couponers.)The past two weeks I was blessed with an abundance of cauliflower and carrots.  Needless to say, I took on the challenge.

At first I was a little overwhelmed with the pounds and pounds of carrots that I had so I decided to blanch a few pounds and freeze them for a later time.  In the middle of the week everyone in my household was plagued with a summer cold so I used a few pounds of baby carrots, celery, egg noddles, and chicken for some homemade  soup.  I still had a ton of carrots left this morning so I spent 15 minute juicing about 4 pounds of carrots. I added a few apples which I thought would take away some of the overwhelming carrot flavor, but that didn't quite work.  I decided to mix my my homemade carrot juice with the same amount of Tropicana Orange-Tangerine Juice (the only orange juice that the hubs will drink) and that did the trick.  I've been drinking it all day and it is wonderful.

If you have ever juiced, you know that it is inevitable that you are going to end up with some type of pulp.  The pulp was perfect for carrot cake cupcakes  that I was planning on making today, it was the exact amount that I needed.  I have only made carrot box cakes in the past, but I am so glad that I made it from scratch today.  I have not quite become confident in my baking skills enough to make my own recipe, so I used Alton Brown's recipe on foodnetwork.com.  I even made the frosting from scratch and it turned out great.  They were so flavorful. We still have a few pounds of carrots left, so I will probably juice again and make some carrot-banana bread or a carrot salad.

I haven't used any of the cauliflower yet, but tonight I may make some garlic mock mashed potatoes.  I am always looking to add to our families menu, especially with a picky toddler and a selective husband.  I will also be making garlic mock mash potatoes, using the cauliflower which I hope I can add to our ever growing family menu, especially since the oldest Tot in my house doesn't eat much.

I know there are tons of dishes that can be made of of both cauliflower and carrots, what are some of your favorites?

Najeema Iman, I AM Curly Locks