Easy Pizza Casserole

 Here's a really simple recipe that's quick to throw together for a weeknight meal. It's perfect for the cooking novice because you really don't even need any experience. You just layer your ingredients, and then bake it! See? Easy!
 TBH, I have no idea where I found this recipe. Hmm... come to think of it, I've said that a lot lately, haven't I? Well, what can I say? I'm always seeing recipes and then setting them aside for another time until I finally get around to trying them. I guess, with this one, I saved the recipe, but forgot to note where I got it. Oh, well, I'm sure whoever came up with it won't mind that I'm sharing it. It's absolutely a "how can this not be good?" recipe. Delicious and hearty and always hits the spot! Serious yum.

1 can biscuit dough, cut into pieces

1 jar (15 ounce) of your favorite pizza sauce

1 medium tomato, thinly sliced

1 package (8 ounces or 226 gr) of sliced pepperoni

2 cups (180 gr) shredded mozzarella cheese

12 large basil leaves, whole or roughly chopped

1/2 cup (45 gr) Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat your oven to 375 °F. 

Lightly grease a 8" x 8" casserole pan. Add the biscuits dough pieces to the casserole.

Add the tomato sauce, spreading it evenly over the biscuits pieces and saving 1/2 cup for later. Place the tomato slices and 1/2 the pepperoni evenly on top and sprinkle the leftover tomato sauce. Add the basil leaves. Add the mozzarella cheese and top with the Parmesan cheese and remaining pepperoni. Bake your casserole for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown. 

Tips:
Switch up the ingredients! Sauteed onions, mushrooms, peppers, sausage, even ham and pineapple! Add whatever pizza toppings you like!
Feeding a crowd? Double everything and bake it in a 9x13 pan! 
To turn regular marinara sauce into pizza sauce, just add a few shakes of dried oregano. Boom! Pizza sauce!

The Easiest Pineapple Cake

 OK here's a quick recipe that TOTALLY lives up to its name. You literally just mix everything up and dump it into your baking pan. It SERIOUSLY doesn't get any easier than that, right? I bet you probably have most (if not all) of the ingredients already in your pantry! And it's absolutely delicious!
 Tbh, I have no idea where I got this recipe. I think it was probably in a video that was bouncing around social media. Basically, I saw and saved the recipe somewhere and then baked it for friends, all the while forgetting where I got it in the first place. Ah well. I guess it really doesn't matter. What matters is how it tastes, and I promise you it'll definitely be a hit! The cream cheese frosting just makes it all the better. If you're a fan of pineapple, then you simply MUST try this cake, and that settles that. MMM... come to think of it, I think maybe I should make it again! Enjoy!


Cake:
2 cups all purpose flour 
2 cups sugar 
2 eggs 
1 tsp baking soda 
1 tsp vanilla 
pinch salt 
1 - 20 oz can of crushed pineapple in it's own juice (not syrup), undrained 
1 cup chopped nuts, optional

Frosting
1/2 c butter or 1 stick 
1 8oz cream cheese softened 
1 tsp vanilla 
1 1/2 c confectioners' sugar

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350º F. 

Mix all of the cake ingredients together in a bowl. 

Pour into a greased 9X13 inch pan. 

Bake 35 - 40 minutes (until top is golden brown).

For the frosting: 

Beat butter, cream cheese and vanilla together until creamy. 

Gradually mix in powdered sugar. 

Frost cake with cream cheese frosting while still warm. 

Sprinkle with chopped nuts if desired.

Tips:
If you'd rather use fresh pineapple, go for it! Just blitz it a few pulses in the food processor before you add it to the other ingredients.
For an extra tropical variation, add a little coconut on top. You could even add a little Malibu Rum to the icing, or a little coconut extract to the cake batter. Because who doesn't love coconut with pineapple???

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

  If you've ever done a show with me, you know that I like to bake for the cast. Whether it's for a long rehearsal or for a double performance day, I like to bring some oven lovin', just because those kinds of days can be tedious and exhausting, and a little treat can help everybody get through it. Not only that, it really helps to unite a new cast.
  Since I mainly audition at only a few local theaters, (and have been doing so for many years), it's not uncommon for me to be in a show where I go into it already knowing most, (if not all), of the cast members. A few months ago, though, I found myself in the lovely situation of not knowing many of the people in my new cast at all. How exciting! This was my golden opportunity to not only work with an entirely new group of gifted individuals, but also to laugh and bond and artistically grow as we all worked toward our shared common goal.
 When I asked my friend Anthony what his favorite dessert is, he said that he loves cinnamon rolls. Alrighty then! Lets run with it! And btw, honestly, who doesn't love cinnamon rolls? They're warm and gooey with a fabulous cream cheese glaze pored over the top. So I thought, "ok, what can I make for my fabulous new friends that involves cinnamon rolls?" I wanted a small two-bite picky uppy something that one could just grab while getting ready for a performance or during the show when one has down time between scenes. Then I found this recipe on a blog called Lady Behind the Curtain. How perfect! This was CLEARLY the right recipe. So I made them for the cast and crew, and everyone LOVED them! They were easy to do, plus they were everything I was looking for in a small picky-uppy treat.
 Over the course of the show's run, I baked several times for the cast, and I'm happy to say that the show was a huge success! I think, for me, the bigger success was that my life was made richer just for having worked with this wonderful wacky hilarious group of artists who are now my very close FRIENDS. It's pretty amazing to think that something as simple as a tray of cupcakes can help to turn a newly assembled cast into a family of friends. Pretty cool, huh?
 So whether you're making these cupcakes for a party or a new cast or for friends or family, I'm absolutely certain they'll also be a huge success! Oh, and don't forget to take a bow because you will most definitely deserve a round of applause!




Filling:
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Cupcakes:
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup butter, room temperature
1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk

Frosting:
1 (8 ounce) cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp ground cinnamon
5 cups confectioners' sugar




For the filling:
In a small bowl stir together brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon. Set aside.

For the cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two muffin tins with cupcake liners. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture and milk to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Spoon a heaping 1 tablespoon of batter into each prepared muffin cup. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon brown sugar mixture over batter in cups. Spoon another heaping tablespoon of batter evenly over brown sugar mixture in cups; add another heaping teaspoon of brown sugar mixture. Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar mixture over batter in cups. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool completely in muffin tin then remove to be frosted.

For the frosting:
Mix together butter, cream cheese, cinnamon, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. If the frosting is too thick add milk 1 tablespoon at a time to reach spreading consistency.



Tips:
I made them as mini cupcakes instead of regular cupcakes. If you do this, just be sure to adjust your baking time! Since all ovens are different, I like to test for doneness with an inserted toothpick.
As much as I love pecans, I decided to omit them because I was making them for a new group of friends and I was concerned that someone might have a nut allergy. I try to keep this sort of thing in mind when I'm baking for a crowd. Just sayin!

Joey's Mashed Potato Salad

  This is a super easy feed-a-crowd dish that is so delicious, I feel like I should be asking.. Why didn't we invent this sooner? Basically, if mashed potatoes and potato salad had a baby, it would be this dish. Cool, huh? It has a lot of the usual potato salad ingredients, only you stir them into mashed potatoes instead of tossing them with diced. You get the fluffiness of the mash with the flavors of the salad. Brilliant! Also, I think it's a little lighter than regular potato salad because you use half sour cream and half mayonnaise, instead of using all mayonnaise. It's absolutely a much better trade, and it makes it nice and creamy too. You could even do Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, if you like.
 As I was searching for the right variation of this recipe, I discovered many that are all pretty similar, much like a regular potato salad recipe. This is my version, but definitely tweak it as much as you like. I promise it'll be a new favorite! Again, I ask you.. why didn't we invent this sooner?!?



5 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
6 eggs, hard boiled and peeled
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup scallions, chopped
1/2 cup sweet pickles, (can also use dill), finely chopped
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3 tbs brown mustard
Salt and pepper to taste



 Peel potatoes and cut into large chunks. Rinse well with cold water and drain well. Place in a pot and cover with cold water. Add a handful of salt. Boil them in the salted water until they are fork tender but not mushy. Drain the potatoes and let them cool completely.  Mash or rice the potatoes and place in a large mixing bowl. Add chopped eggs, celery, scallions, and pickles. Add mayonnaise, sour cream, and mustard. Season to taste. Stir to combine. Chill until ready to serve.


Tips:
You can absolutely go in any direction with this. Add diced red and/or green bell pepper. Add crisped and crumbled bacon. You could even add a little splash of vinegar, any kind you like, just to brighten everything up a bit.
The amounts are just guidelines. Add as much or as little of each thing as you like. Add more scallions. Add less celery. To be honest, I was tempted to add more chopped pickles. Maybe I'l do that next time. You do you!
You can use a different kind of potato, but I find that the Yukon Golds are the best ones for mashing!
Oh, and just one other note, I always use a potato ricer instead of using a hand masher to mash them. They tend to be a little fluffier that way, otherwise they may turn out a little like spackle. Rinsing and draining them also helps you to that end because it gets rid of a lot of the extra starch in the potatoes. Just sayin!

Orange Chicken

 Let me just start by saying that I have no idea where I got this recipe. I've seen it on several sites, and I honestly have no idea who should get the credit for it. At first, I saw it labeled as 3-ingredient orange chicken. But the thing is, there are more than three ingredients! So I decided to just call it orange chicken. Fair enough?
 And OMG wait'll you taste it. It's REALLY delicious. You know how take-out sesame chicken has that sort of sweet and sticky thing going on? This has pretty much the same kinda vibe, only it's more tangy, and has that yummy hit of orange. Also the soy sauce and chopped scallions help to balance all of the sweet. The first time I made it, I couldn't stop eating it. And when my friend AJ helped me test it, he had that MMMMM expression on his face from the very first bite. You could even just make the sauce and use it as you would regular BBQ sauce when cooking different kinds of meat on the grill. It's just that good. Definitely give this one a try! So thank you, mystery person, for coming up with it in the first place! It's now one of my new favorites recipes!


1 cup Sweet Baby Ray’s or other favorite BBQ sauce
1 cup sweet orange marmalade
2 tbs soy sauce
3 to 4 chicken breasts
1 cup flour or cornstarch, (can use both or either/or)
2 eggs
Oil for frying
1/4 cup chopped scallions
cooked rice


 In a small bowl, mix the BBQ sauce, marmalade, and soy sauce. Set aside.
Cut up the chicken breasts into cubes and place in a large bowl. Add beaten eggs to coat chicken pieces. Place flour and/or cornstarch in another bowl. Dip pieces of egg-coated chicken in flour/cornstarch, tossing to completely coat.
In a large saute pan, add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Over medium high heat, cook the chicken in batches, just until slightly browned on the outside, but not all the way cooked through. After you remove your last batch of chicken from the pan, pour the sauce in, being sure to scrape up any browned bits. Add the chicken back to the pan and toss to coat. Reduce heat and then simmer for 5 minutes, just until the chicken is finished cooking through. Top with chopped scallions. Serve over rice.


Tip:
Usually, if I'm using purchased orange marmalade, it comes in a 12oz jar. So I usually just increase the whole sauce recipe by half, which uses the entire jar. (1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce, 1 1/2 cups marmalade, 3 tbs soy sauce).
Be sure to serve with the chopped scallions on top. They're more than just a garnish! That little hit of mild onion flavor is key!
If you'd like to use the sauce on its own, (it's great on pulled pork or grilled chicken!) place the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and then simmer over low-medium heat for 10-15 minutes, just to blend the flavors and mellow out the sharp bite of the orange peel.
For extra delicious rice, saute a small chopped onion in a little oil, then add dry rice. Toss to coat. Add twice as much chicken broth as rice (instead of plain water). Reduce heat, and cook until broth is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes.
For an extra spicy hit, add a few crushed red pepper flakes to your sauce!

Slow Cooker Chicken and Biscuits

 This is a tweaked version of a recipe I saw in a Tasty Video. I've always felt that recipes are often just guidelines and you should adjust your cooking to suit your own taste. It's basically the same thing I always say about the way my Mom always cooked. If you like a lot of something, add a lot! If you like a lot of carrots, then add a lot of carrots! This rule is especially true when you're cooking soups and stews. It's not like baking, where you have a bit of science involved. So that's what I did with this recipe. Perhaps when YOU make this recipe, you'll swap out different veggies, or use a different kind of cream soup, or you'll leave out the biscuits and serve the whole stew over a big pile of mashed potatoes or even rice. Make how YOU like and you'll come back to the recipe again and again. That's how recipes stand the test of time!! Oh, and don't forget to let me know if you make any changes.
I'd love to hear about it!


4 boneless chicken thighs
Salt and pepper to taste
1 onion, diced
2 cups broccoli florets
2 cups carrots, diced (or a 1lb bag of baby carrots)
2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 10oz pkg frozen peas
1 can refrigerated biscuits


Cut the chicken into small pieces. Place the chicken in a 7-quart slow cooker. Sprinkle on salt and pepper. Add the veggies, condensed soup, and poultry seasoning, and mix thoroughly. Cook on high for 3 hours. Cut each biscuit into quarters, and drop evenly over chicken. Cook an additional hour.


Tips:
Be sure you use boneless thighs instead of breasts. Tbh, I don't often do slow cooker recipes involving chicken (especially boneless breasts) because they just don't need that much time to cook and they wind up coming out dry and over cooked. Boneless thighs, however, are a much better choice because they stay juicier longer.

Indian Kidney Bean Stew

 A while back, I saw Bal Arneson making this recipe on her show "Spice Goddess", and I thought "ooooo I need to try that." And then I promptly forgot all about it. Cut to several months later, I happened to turn her show on again, and I saw the same episode. I thought "OH! There's that recipe I never tried!" And now that I've built up my collection of Indian spices, I finally have all the ingredients on hand to make it! Perfect!
 It's spicy and warm, it has a couple sweet elements, it's comforting and aromatic and flavorful, and it all blends PERFECTLY! It's really easy too! If you like Indian flavors, you MUST try this. Serve it up in big bowls as is, or serve it over rice as I did. (Yes, yes, I know this stew already has potatoes in it so it should be served in a bowl, but I served it over rice anyway!) Either way, it's absolutely delicious. I'm so glad I finally gave it a try. You should too!


2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (or vegetable oil)
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh garlic
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds*
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons tamarind pulp*
1 (14-ounce) can crushed tomatoes (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 cups diced sweet potato
1 cup water
1 (14-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 small seedless oranges, peeled and cubed

 *Can be found at specialty Asian and Indian markets!

 Place the oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the bay leaves, cumin seeds, garam masala, fenugreek seeds, oregano, rosemary, and turmeric, and cook, stirring for about 2 minutes. Add the tamarind pulp, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
Add the kidney beans and oranges and cook for 2 minutes to heat through. Turn the heat off, cover with a lid and let sit for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and serve.

Tips:
Before you start  cooking, make sure you have all of your spices measured into a small bowl and ready to go. You don't want one spice to burn in the pan while you're searching your spice rack for the next one! 
There are A LOT of very strong flavors here. The spices bring quite a lot of flavor to the party. So it's nice to have the sweet potatoes and oranges to help balance everything out. Definitely be sure to include them!
 When I bought the tamarind, it was a solid block. So I soaked it in some warm water for a while, just to soften it, used my fingers to separate it and smash it up a bit, then strained it and pushed the pulp through a sieve. If you can't find tamarind, just use mango or peach puree.
 Instead of cooking the sweet potatoes in the stew, I roasted them on a sheet pan in the oven until they were just about cooked through, and then added them to the stew at the last minute. I think it helps to keep the them from becoming too mushy. Then you can just simmer them in the stew until they're done. Oh, and be sure to be gentle when you stir everything together!
 If you don't like kidney beans, you can substitute chickpeas or any other kind of bean. Just be sure to drain and rinse them, just as with the kidney beans.