The pizza files

I know I've been away from my blogging for some time now, but now I'm back. So here it is, the first of hopefully may pizza epics!


In this one I wanted to make an old fav of mine, the "BBQ Chick'n pizza".
I started by grilling my chick Brest with only a dash or two of garlic salt(my favorite) on both sides until the juice runs clear... I like to diamond my grill marks too, even though I'll be shredding it anyway.

First off I am thrown back by all the cool stuff at my neighborhood Trader Joe's... I came out the other day with a Garlic herb pizza dough for a buck! Lets start there. using some glutin free flour so the dough won't stick to the board, I worked it into the my desired shape(rectangle). Prior to transferring it to the baking pan I lightly lubed the pan with some EVOO so I had an easier time getting it off after baking(no need if you are rich and have stone). Oh... and preheat to 375...

It's all about the sauce... Now I'm working the low carb thang and have tried this with "LC" BBQ Sauces before... not good. so I sparingly used about 1 1/2tbsp of some "Sweet baby Ray's" heaven in a bottle and with the back of a spoon just spread it around till it fully covered the dough.


The next daunting task before me was the building of mya Momma Mia pizza pie... I started with a light dusting of whole milk organic mozzarella cheese, and then... you can just go to town!

Chunky Chicken

Diced mushrooms and a pinch more cheese(scientific measurement)

I cheated and added a little more dabs of bbqSBake Baby bake! I learned from this one to rotate the pan half way through...Baby greens w/Balsamic and Dijon mustard salad along with the star of the show!I hope you enjoy this easy to make pizza and modify it as you wish. I enjoy comments and any feed back you can serve up... as always... spin big!

P.S. I'll try to hit up the Garlic a spinach pie in the future for you!

Vicious Burger!

For this holiday weekend I wanted to try something a little out of the norm... I saw this burger sometime ago and then again on VO2 Maxxed, so I thought what the hell?! I started off buy just getting the basics: Ground sirloin, Sun dried tomatoes, and low fat crumbed blue cheese. I got the low fat just because the meat(90/10), and the EVOO in the tomatoes was plenty, any more and the "sliders" would just fall apart on the grill. I started by dicing the SDT (Kennedy loves her some fresh SDT)and added some salt and peppa'. After that it's very easy! In a Lrg mixing bowl I through everything in together and just combined all of the parts until they're all one with the force.

Let it begin...
Oh the humanity!!! (come on it's fun to play with your food!)

Once you've had all of the messy fun that you can stand, start forming the patties. I use the "tennis ball" scale for my unit of measurement... it's about 4-5oz per. Get a wad large enough to make a "tennis ball" sized ball and just do your thing, roll it, mash it, throw it on the counter whatever. If you do it right you should come out with about 7 patties(I had 5+ 1, 1/4 pounder). Wrap them in plastic wrap and chill in the ice box for at least an hour(or 2 beers time), heat the grill to get those great grill marks we all love to see and you're ready to get it on! I like to chuck this mound of heaven on a whole grain bun or if you please a low carb wrap. All you should need to dress up you burger date is some fresh veg's and maybe a little brown mustard(you don't want to kill the taste of something you worked so HARD on!). Again, Enjoy!

Vicious Burger!

Things you'll need:
2 pounds ground sirloin
1 jar/can/package of Sun dried tomatoes
1 package of Blue Cheese(doesn't need to be low fat)

Oh, I also whipped up some Red skin Garlic mash and made fried mash cakes instead of fries/chips... I'll get that one on the next blog.

Chicken and Lentel soup

This is the first blog in my new food page I thought should be a fast and easy to prep(but healthy) meal. I choose Chicken and lentil soup for the protein packed goodness of the two main ingredients! First I started off by browning my boneless chicken thighs(the dark meat has more flavor and stays moist)over medium heat, in a little garlic and about a tsp of EVOO(so not to burn the garlic). About 4 thighs should do fine. Brown and remove to cool and set.

After that, I added about 1/2 a cup of a good Chicken stock just to deglaze the pot of the chicken brownings, You can make your own (stock)if you have the time but again this is a fast and easy dish. I used a famous brand(Rachel Ray), because I knew it would make James cringe, but you can do what you want. Oh, and no need to salt much in this dish do to the stock having enough already. I finished adding the rest of the 4 cup container of stock to the pot(on high), then pour in 1 cup of lentils(rinsed and cleaned) to the mix, add pepper and a little more garlic to taste... home stretch time. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cover.
While the soup is simmering go ahead and chop up the chicken you put aside earlier. You can lightly salt if you want, but it's up to you. At this point I should have crisped up some fresh bacon for some added flavor(next time) and a kicked up southern flair. Once you have chopped the chicken(and bacon :)... ) you can just add it in to the mix. Let the soup simmer for about 45mins or until the lentils stop floating? I don't make this stuff up people.
I like to add some parm/Romano cheese to it after most of the broth is absorbed to give it a creamy savory taste... or not... you could add chili powder, cumin anything you want it's a very versatile dish and so good! Also I think next time I might grill the chicken to add another depth of flavor. Enjoy!

I would have taken a pic of it in the bowl with my home made croutons... but the battery died on me. But you can take pic's of yours and send them to me! Till next time...