Category Archives: things we like to eat

Bacon & Kale Pizza

Posted in main dishes, things we like to eat by

My Daughter and I Bacon and Kale Pizza 2

I love pizza. If I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life, I would probably choose pizza. Or bacon cheeseburgers. Tough decision, huh? This pizza is incredibly easy and because there is kale on it, it could even be considered healthy! The dough is quick and easy and before you know it dinner is ready.

My Daughter and I bacon and kale pizza 1

Let’s start with the pizza dough. I made it in my mixer, so it came together very quickly and with very little mess. But you can mix it up by hand and knead it too.

bacon and kale pizza 3

^^^It must be Super Bowl time!! My dad asked me to take a picture of the haul- a banker’s box literally overflowing with handpicked, homegrown avocados. Mhmmmm! I see some delicious guacamole in my future! Thanks dad!

Bacon & Kale Pizza

Makes one 12″-14″ pizza, so recipe could easily be doubled

Ingredients: 
4 slices extra-thick bacon
2 cups chopped kale
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1/3 cup BBQ sauce (or more or less depending on how saucy you like your pizza)
1/4 cup Sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
1/4 cup red onion, sliced
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

For the pizza dough:
1/2 cup warm water (think “hot-tub” temp – not luke-warm, but not scalding)
1-1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
1 Tablespoon honey
1-1/2 cups flour + more for kneading
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions: 

For the pizza dough: Combine water, yeast, and honey in a large glass bowl then stir to combine. Let sit for 10 minutes in a warm place, until foamy. Add flour, salt, and extra virgin olive oil and mix with dough hook until ball forms.

Spray a large glass bowl (or keep the dough in your KitchenAid mixer bowl, if that’s what you used to mix) with nonstick spray then add dough and cover with a towel (don’t let towel touch dough.) Place bowl in a warm spot, I put mine into the oven that I preheated to about 200*, and then turned off. Let the dough rise until doubled in size about an 1 hour. You can cover and refrigerate the dough at this point for 1-2 days. Let come to room temperature for 30 minutes before continuing on to next step, of you are using dough from refrigerator.

When dough has 20 minutes left to rise, line a baking sheet with foil then place a cooling rack on top and spray with nonstick spray. Lay bacon slices on top of cooling rack then place into a cold oven. Set oven to 400 degrees. Bacon will cook as oven heats up. Continue to cook at 400 degrees until crispy, mine took an additional 10 minutes after the oven was preheated. Cool slightly then chop.

Lightly massage kale with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl, then set aside. It might seem like a lot of kale at first, but it wilts down a lot. Massaging the kale is definitely a necessary step!

Spray a pizza pan or baking sheet very well with nonstick spray then spread risen dough into a 12″ circle, or into an even layer on a baking sheet. Spread BBQ sauce on top then sprinkle on massaged kale, sun dried tomatoes, chopped bacon, and cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until crust and cheese are golden brown. Slice then serve.

My Daughter and I Bacon Kale Pizza collage

Original recipe from Iowa Girl Eats. We changed it up quite a bit to suit our tastes.

Cindy

Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies

Posted in sweets, things we like to eat by

My Daughter and I Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies 1

These oatmeal cookies are so delicious- they are chewy and are so rich. I thought the brown sugar gave the cookies a butterscotch-like taste. These are totally purist oatmeal cookies. Don’t get me wrong- not purist in the sense that they are in any way healthy, but purist because they are so simple. And flawless 🙂

My Daughter and I Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies 2

I got this recipe from The Pioneer Woman website and I didn’t make any changes. Next time I may try adding some cinnamon or chocolate chips, or raisins (if that’s your thing).

Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 whole eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 cups Old Fashioned oats

Preheat oven to 350*. Beat together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl after each one. Mix together the flour, salt and baking soda in a separate bowl and add it to the creamed mixture in 2 or 3 batches, mixing until just combined. Mix in the oats until just combined.

Scoop onto a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper spacing them a couple inches apart, and bake them for 12 – 13 minutes. Let them cool slightly on the pan then transfer to a plate or cooling rack.

Using my cookie scoop, I made 3 dozen cookies.

Cindy

Treat of the Month- January: Buckeye Bars

Posted in sweets, things we like to eat by

My Daughter and I buckeye bars edited 1

^^^Because this was a “gift”, I couldn’t slice it and take better pictures…you’ll just have to trust me on this one 😉

I know- that title makes no sense! These treats are called Buckeyes because they apparently look like something from the buckeye tree. But I am suggesting you make them in bar form, which is nothing like the buckeye tree, or so I assume. What is a buckeye tree anyway? And what does that have to do with chocolate and peanut butter?

My Daughter and I buckeye bars edited 2

^^The peanut butter mixture pressed into the pan

Whichever way you decide to make it, it is delicious and super easy and fast! If you hurry you could be eating this delicious treat in about 15 minutes. If you stop reading my ramblings about buckeye trees that is.

Past Treat of the Month posts: Carrot Cake Cupcakes, Zucchini Bread, White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies, Coffee Ice Cream Pie, Lemon Squares, White Chocolate Dipped Pretzels.

Buckeye Bars

1 stick butter

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

2 cups chocolate chips

Melt butter in large pan, stir in peanut butter until melted. Stir in sugar and crumbs. Spread in greased dish. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave and spread over the bars. Refrigerate, and then cut into squares.

Jordan

Apple Pie Bars with Caramel Sauce

Posted in sweets, things we like to eat by

My Daughter and I Apple Pie Bars edited 1

We were up in Big Bear a couple of weeks ago and we checked out a local bakery, which seems to be one of my favorite things to do whenever we take vacations. I think when I grow up, I’d love to own a bakery 🙂 One of the items we got was an apple pie bar. Our version was quite a bit different than the one we got in Big Bear, but still totally delicious. We started out with our Raspberry Bar recipe and just modified it a bit. We added cinnamon to the crust, substituted apples for the the raspberry preserves, and topped it off with caramel sauce. The result was delicious and very messy!

My Daughter And I Apple Pie Bars edited 2

Apple Pie Bars with Caramel Sauce

For the crust and topping:

2 sticks butter, softened

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 cup old fashioned oats, or rolled oats

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 egg, beaten

For the apple filling:

about 3 apples

2 T flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. apple pie spice

Sliced almonds, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. I just used the excess butter leftover on the butter wrapping, and smeared it around.

Add the flour, both sugars, oats, cinnamon and salt to a bowl in your stand mixer. Add in the butter and egg and beat at low speed. Stop the machine and scrape the bowl down a couple of times. Keep processing until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Keep 2 cups crumb mixture aside.

Press the remaining crumb mixture on the bottom the prepared pan. Spread the prepared apple pie filling (see below) over the top of the crust. Crumble the rest of the oat mixture over the apples and then sprinkle approximately 1/4 cup of sliced almonds over the top of that. I loved the addition of the almonds. They gave the bars a yummy extra texture and looked really pretty.

Bake until lightly browned, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool completely and drizzle with caramel sauce before cutting into bars.

For apple pie filling: Peel and slice the apples, mix in flour, sugar, cinnamon, apple pie spice.

Cindy

Dark Chocolate Poke Cake

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My Daughter and I Poke Cake edited 1

This cake is so simple but so delicious. If you have a party or potluck to attend, but not a lot of time, this is the dessert for you. When we make this cake, we use the ingredients listed below, but the recipe is really quite versatile. Wouldn’t it be delicious with chocolate sauce and mint chocolate pieces instead?

My Daughter and I Poke Cake edited 2

Dark Chocolate Poke Cake

recipe from: Iowa Girl Eats (with some of our own modifications)

Ingredients: 

Dark chocolate cake mix of your choice

1 – 10 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk

1 – 12 ounce jar of caramel sauce

1 -8 ounce container of Cool Whip

4 ounces (1/2 a bag) of milk chocolate Heath bar toffee bits

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (if desired)

Bake cake as directed on box. Allow to cool slightly then use the bottom of a wooden spoon to poke holes halfway through cake, all over. Drizzle sweetened condensed milk and caramel topping on top then let cake cool completely. Spread Cool Whip over cooled cake then top with heath pieces and mini chocolate chips, if desired.

Cindy & Jordan