The Perry's Eat! Our Favorite Garlic Chicken Pizza

Some foods fill your brain (and your mouth) with memories. The smell, the texture, the taste take you right back to a certain season of life. This pizza is one of those.

I was first taught how to make it by my sweet friend Crystal. During my last year of grad school we were two of the last of our college 'gang' to still be in town and we had a Friday night ritual of cooking dinner at my apartment and watching Friday night TV. I particularly remember Joan of Arcadia.... One night we made Chipotle copy cat (Before we had one in our college town), other nights fish tacos, and.... this pizza. I believe the recipe first came from our friend Letty (thanks Letty!). And after I got married the following fall it became a regular in our rotation. Last night as we were eating it my husband said all he could think of were our first few years of marriage in our first apartment, then our first house and lots of episodes of Smallville and Gilmore Girls. Ha! Apparently we watch TV when we eat this pizza :)

Well it was just as much of a hit last night as it was in those first few years and will definitely be making it's way back into my regular rotation!

I even found a decent crust that was easy and quick to throw together! Win! Win! I found the recipe for the crust here.

Ingredients: 

Crust

2 cups of unbleached self-rising flour*

2 Tbsp olive oil

6 Tbsp water

*Substitute 2 c. all-purpose flour + 1 tbsp baking powder + 1/2 tsp salt and increase water to 1/2 c. 

Toppings

1/2 red onion

2 cloves garlic, pressed or 2 3 tsp. of minced garlic

Olive oil

2 chicken breasts sliced in thin strips

3 Tbsp parsley

2 c. mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 425°F 

2. Mix the flour, oil, and water together. The mixture will be flakey, so use your hands to form it together and shape into a ball. 

3. Cover with saran wrap and let it sit for 10 minutes.

4. While the dough is sitting heat a good dosing (3-4 Tbsp.) of olive oil in a frying pan. Sauté the onion and pressed garlic until the onion is soft and sweetened. Add the chicken and cook through. 

5. Grease 2 pieces of parchment paper and roll the dough out between the two. I ended up finishing the rolling without the parchment paper to get it thin enough. 

6. In a separate bowl combine the chicken/garlic/onion mixture with the parsley and half of the cheese. Spread on the crust distributing evenly over the entire surface. Top with the remaining cheese.

7. Cook in oven for 10-13 minutes or until crust is cooked through and cheese is bubbly. 

And Eat!

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Seriously, it's fantastic! Enjoy! 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

One of my favorite soups to throw together is Chicken Tortilla soup. It takes just a few simple ingredients that I usually have around the house and it's the perfect warm punch of flavor on a cool day.  I love finding ways to feed my family fresh, tasty food on a budget. It's one small way I can be a Godly wife, mother, and homemaker, fulfilling my Biblical roles while loving every bite!

Ingredients:

Soup

• 4-6 cups of Chicken Broth (I like to make mine at home and freeze it)
• 1-2 cups of chunky salsa (Our local grocery stores have a $1 section that has the perfect salsa for this. I've found the cheapest ones work best in this soup)
• 1 cup of corn (Frozen or canned)
• Precooked chicken (I love to use leftovers from a roasted whole chicken, or I'll bake it in the oven right before making the soup)
• Black Beans (optional)
• Leftover Rice (optional)

Garnish:

• Mexian Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Avacado
• Tortilla Chips or Corn Bread

Put all the soup ingredients together in a Stock pot and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes. Serve!

Fish and Chips!

Fish and Chips (or fish sticks and french fries) is one of my family's favorite meals. My kids eat it well. It's pretty healthy. And it's budget friendly. My recipe is a variation of Rachel Ray's found here.

Basic Ingredients

Ingredients: 

Fish

-3-4 pieces of tilapia cut into strips (we love the Market Pantry brand from Target) 

-1/2 c. flour

-1 egg, beaten

-salt and pepper

-4-6 pieces of whole wheat bread

-2 tbsp of olive oil

Dip

-1/3 c. mayonnaise

-1 tbsp. mustard (dijon or regular)

-1 tbsp lemon juice

-2 tbsp pickle relish

Fries

-We love Alexia Sweet Potato Fries

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. I start with regular whole wheat toast. Spread the slices out on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 3-5 minutes. Blend the toasted bread in a food processor pulsing until you have bread crumbs. Spread the crumbs back on the same baking sheet. Pour olive oil over crumbs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir to coat. Bake the bread crumbs for 2-3 minutes, until crispy. Keep a close eye on them. It doesn't take long before they'll start to burn!

2. Put your fries in the oven and set the timer for 12 minutes. I like to cook my fries on the bottom rack to help them get a little crispier.

3. Cut each piece of tilapia into 3 pieces. Coat each piece with flour. Then dip in beaten egg. Then dip in bread crumbs and place on a baking sheet sprayed with oil.

4. After your timer goes off for the fries, flip them over and put them back in the oven. Also place your fish in the oven. Cook for 12 minutes.

5. Mix the ingredients for the dip.

6. Pull everything out of the oven and give them a few minutes to cool before serving. Enjoy!! 

We enjoyed ours outside last week! 

Dipping Sauce

Even the kids eat this one up! I hope yours do too! 

Chicken Tacos with the Perry's

We love Mexican food in our house. My kids will eat most anything with that involves tortilla chips, salsa, and cheese, so we often resort to quesadillas, and tacos for dinner. This is one of my favorite go to's. The thing that makes it crazy easy to throw together is using leftover chicken. I'm a big fan of roasting a whole chicken in the oven (or crock pot). We then typically only eat half of the chicken in one dinner and I can save the rest of the meat for another meal. Sometimes I freeze it. Sometimes I just plan to use it in the next few days. I will also then use the bones to make chicken broth in the crock pot (it's FREE people, so why not?!). So without further adieu.....

Chicken Tacos with the Perry's

 Chicken Taco Ingredients

Ingredients
-leftover chicken (we use leftover chicken from a roasted whole chicken)
-Chili Powder
-Garlic Salt
-Cumin
-Oregano
-Tortillas of your choosing (we LOVE Stacy's Organic tortillas that we get from Mama Jean's locally)
-Toppings of your choice (we love cheese, salsa, a bit of lettuce, and avocado)
-Rice
-Parsley
-Butter
-Salt

Normally I start the rice first. My favorite lately is Jasmine. I use 1 heaping cup of rice for just over 1.5 c of water. Let it simmer till the water is gone (15ish minutes). Add about 2 Tbsp of butter and a sprinkling of salt and Parsley. Then let it sit till it's nice a fluffy (usually 10ish more minutes). This combo changed my life.

While the rice simmers put the chicken in your favorite skillet and generously sprinkle with garlic salt, chili powder, cumin, and oregano. I don't ever measure on this one. Just sprinkle till it tastes good. Add a few splashes of water to the pan. And sauté until the chicken is warm and water has evaporated.
Warm your tortillas in the oven or microwave and pile in your ingredients! Add some rice to your plate and enjoy! I know we do!

 Chicken Tacos