Homemade Pizza with Easy Crust...

Crust Ingredients:  (makes 2)
2 cups warm water
2 packages of yeast (or 4 1/2 teaspoons from jar)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon honey
5 to 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Toppings:
sauce (I had bottled spaghetti sauce on hand, it was fine)
mozzarella cheese, grated
onion, sliced
green bell pepper, sliced
black olives, sliced
green olives, sliced
Italian sausage, removed from casings and browned
pepperoni
cherry tomatoes, halved

• Add water, yeast, and sugar to a bowl.  Stir and let proof for about 5 minutes.
• Add salt, honey, and about 2.5 cups of flour.  Mix by hand.
• Add remaining flour a half cup at a time until it doesn't feel 'sticky'
• Knead a few times
• Place in an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel, and let rise at least 30 minutes, the longer the better
• Preheat oven to 425° F
• Pat dough out to fit pizza pan or cookie sheet
• Bake for 10 minutes
• Add sauce, cheese, and toppings, then bake at 475° for 15 minutes

My notes:  Any combination of toppings can be used.  These were what I had in the fridge today, and it turned out so delicious.  I forgot to pre-bake the crust, and it still turned out fine and cooked through.

Strawberry Fluff...

Ingredients:
  1 angel food cake (store bought or homemade)
  1 14 ounce can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
     (may substitute one 3.4 ounce pkg of instant vanilla pudding 
      prepared as per pkg directions)
  1 cup of sour cream
10 ounces of frozen sweetened strawberries (thawed)
  1 8-ounce container of Cool Whip topping (thawed)

Directions:Tear angel food cake into large-ish bite-sized pieces and put into a deep bowl.  Mix sweetened condensed milk (or vanilla pudding) and sour cream.  Pour over torn cake.  Pour strawberries on top, and spread to cover.  Top with Cool Whip topping.  Refrigerate until served.  Can be made a day in advance.

My notes:  You may notice my helper and I got the steps out of order a little.  It doesn't really hurt anything.  This kind of recipe is not an exact science.

Chicken Spaghetti Especiál...

Ingredients:

12 ounces spaghetti, cooked al dente as per package directions and drained

4 Tablespoons butter

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 onion, diced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 Tablespoons Chicken bouillon

4 Tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

1 15 oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes

2 cups shredded chicken (left from Crockpot Chicken Tacos)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup Gruyere cheese, grated

3/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º F.  Cook spaghetti as directed on package, and drain.

Melt 4 Tablespoons of butter in non-stick skillet.  Saute onion and green pepper till softened.  Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and chicken bouillon, and stir through.  Add flour and stir to coat vegetables and cook flour a bit.  Pour a cup of milk into pan, and stir to make a sauce.  When the sauce is smooth and thickened a bit, stir in the diced tomatoes.  Stir in sour cream, Gruyere cheese, and about 1/4 cup of the cheddar cheese.  

Pour this over the cooked spaghetti, and stir to blend.  Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray.  Pour the spaghetti into the casserole dish and top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese.  Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

My notes:  The combination of using the chicken taco meat, making homemade sauce rather than using condensed soup, the fire roasted tomatoes, and the Gruyere cheese (which was in the fridge and needed to be used up) really upped the game of my usual run-of-the-mill chicken spaghetti.