Make Your Own Pizza

I have to admit, it is much easier to just use a tube of pizza crust when you want to make pizza at home.  It is much cheaper and healthier though to make your own.  (I've used this recipe a few times, sometimes adding in some Italian herbs.) I usually go in-between though, and buy pizza crust in a baggie at Trader Joe's.  It lets me skip the prep, and it's healthier than what's in the tube!  I have tried a few different pizza sauce recipes, and am still searching for "the one".  Sometimes I use barbecue sauce in place of a tomato sauce, and sometimes I use pesto.  Once or twice I've roasted a head of garlic, then spread the roasted cloves onto the crust.  Oh my was that delicious!  My daughter's favorite topping is pineapple.  I like anything from caramelized onion or tomato and spinach with feta to ribbons of zucchini and squash.  The point of this is this - Make it your own!  You can use just about anything as your sauce, and anything you'd like as your topping.  You can try different cheeses.  Try something new - it could be your new favorite!

Menu Plan for this week

Back to the real world, I suppose....  :)  Last night I enjoyed a veggie night with Panzanella Salad, lima beans, buttered corn, and applesauce.  For the rest of this week:

Dinner out!
Can-Can Chicken
Pizza
Spaghetti
Grilled kielbasa
Beach picnic :)

Back from Vacation

I went out of town for a while, and got back in yesterday.  I have no menu plan, as I'm not wanting to be back in the "real world" yet!  ;)

Tilapia in Mustard Cream Sauce

Our new recipe this week was Tilapia in Mustard Cream sauce from The Best of Cooking Light Everyday Favorites:  Over 500 of Our All-Time Greatest Recipes.  I am going to post the link of their recipe on their site, but the picture is unappetizing, and looks nothing like mine did.  No idea what's going on there, but really it looked good, and tasted even better! Plus, it took less than 15 minutes.  I love that!  Just remember not to judge a book by it's cover!
Tilapia in Mustard Cream Sauce

Red food dyes

My daughter went to Vacation Bible School for the first time ever on Monday.  When I picked her up, her eyes looked a little red to me.  Half an hour later, even more so.  Then I noticed a small rash on her arm.  I gave her some Benadryl, and she went down for a nap.  About an hour and a half later, she was covered in hives.  Her arms, her legs, her hands, and her cheek all had red welts.  I called her pediatrician, who sent us their Urgent Care.  They have pinned her reaction down to Red food dye.  Have any of your children, or anyone you know, had a similar reaction?  If so, I'd love to hear if they had a reaction a second time, etc.  I consider myself to be pretty conscious of what my daughter eats & drinks.  When she had the fruit punch at VBS, it was the first time she'd ever had fruit punch.  I buy a lot of our packaged food (cereal, cereal bars, toaster pastries, and so on) from Trader Joe's, most of which is dye-free, all-natural, etc.  This means that I'm not too concerned about changing what we eat to accommodate a red dye allergy, BUT I need to know if small doses in snacks at preschool or a cookie from the grocery store will end up hurting her.  Does anyone have any advice?

Menu Plan Monday

Here's what's cookin'!

Chick-fil-a
Fried chicken wings, french fries, green beans, & celery with ranch dressing
Sausage-rice casserole
Tilapia with dijon mustard sauce - New recipe for the week!
Veggie night
Hot dogs & (veggie) burgers
Parmesan chicken, served with spaghetti  (We froze our leftover chicken, & it'll be put in the oven to reheat)

I'd like to say, it hasn't been as much as a challenge as I'd thought for me to be mostly meatless.  Instead of Parmesan chicken & spaghetti, I eat spaghetti and broccoli.  Instead of chicken wings, I eat the fries, green beans, celery & a roll.  Not too tough to manage so far, and I'm glad of that!

This week's veggie night

We happened upon a farmer's market at the beach yesterday, and they had a huge selection of delicious looking produce.  This means that veggie night tonight is going to be quite the mix!  We'll be having:

Roasted beets, potatoes and carrots
Corn on the cob
Cucumber salad
Sliced tomatoes
Peach & strawberry fruit salad
Zucchini bread

I can't wait!