Pampered Chef

Alrighty it's been awhile, and I'm sure everyone has been waiting with bated breath....ha or not...anyways long story very short, i got really sick and I'm still tired all the time and my legs get a little shaky if i walk for too long.
now that that's over. i haven't made or done anything exciting for quite some time so I'll use this post to let you all know about my Pampered Chef Partay! it will be on Friday April 24th at 7pm. I'm actually having it at my neighbors house so we can have a better kitchen layout. every party has a theme and my party's theme is.... dun dun dun

DEATH BY CHOCOLATE!

now we're not really planning any deaths but just in case we will have an ambulance on site. and by ambulance on site i mean, nobody will really die. even if you don't want to buy anything you are welcome to come and eat because it's not called death by chocolate for nothing :). this is what i want PS:

the bowl...and i guess i'll take whatever's inside too if you twist my arm.
so anyways if you would like to come you are welcome if you need any more details you can ask. i do have regular invitations to hand out too but i thought i'd post a link if anyone would like to buy anything online click, here for the link. every purchase made through that link will be counted for my party FYI. woohoo. i love pampered chef.
what brought this whole thing on was my aunt had one a few months ago so i set up a party. at my aunts i bought (among other things) this smokey bbq rub. it smells kinda gross but seriously the tacos that thing cranks out are AMAZING. i usually don't like tacos but these are good. next time i make it i'll post the recipe.

well i'm done. i just wanted to put it out there. it will be one hoppin' night. well as hoppin' as cooking parties can be.

Uugggg being sick sucks

last week i had a bit of a cold, no big deal right? i got over it in a couple days. well that weekend it came back, a little worse. still not that big of a deal. well tuesday i was doing good, no more cold for me :). then wednesday i woke up with the chills to end all chills. every bone in my body ached, when i stood up, i just fell right back into bed. i was supposed to visit teach, get my haircut, take baby pictures, wash my car and go to YW, needless to say, none of that happened, or has yet to happen. i thought i was feeling better yesterday, but i guess my body was just playing a trick on me. after taking NyQuil last night, i fell asleep around 11pm, and woke up promptly at 2am and have yet to go back to sleep, it's now 10:12. i think i have strep i can't swallow, my head has it's own heartbeat and those darn bones are still killing me. i'm going to the walk-in here in the next hour or so, i hate doctors, HATE going to the doctor but i guess i need antibiotics if i want to get over this in the next 14 days. ok i'm done complaining i just don't know what to do with myself, i feel terrible.

Chicken Pizza 2 Ways

we love pizza in this house. it's the one thing that everyone will eat but we were sick of the same old pepperoni and it's not the best for us, so one day many months ago i came up with my own version of pizza, this is my story: (sorry i couldn't resist..too much intervention i guess)
maybe i should tell you what kind of pizza we're making, BBQ Chicken and White sauce, spinach, feta, & chicken 'za. it's goooood i tell you

First: Dough
i don't like bread machines for making bread, i like them for making dough, the pizza dough recipe i use is just one that came with the recipe book for our machine. usually i make whole wheat dough but we didn't have any fresh ground and i couldn't find the wheat grinder so i used white flour. i get 3 thinner crusts out of one recipe. i make dough about an hour and a half before i want to have dinner done. but it could be done earlier or buy already made dough.

Second: Chicken

I don't have a picture but i think everyone has cooked chicken before. i make a dry rub using garlic and onion powder, a little salt and a little chili powder just to add some taste to the chicken. make enough to cover 3 pizzas. i make this in advance like hours before just to have it out of the way. just store it in a ziplock in the fridge.

Third: White Sauce

very simple: 1 Tbl. dry ranch mix, 1/2 scant C mayonnaise (i used 1/2 C the first time and found it was too much so i cut it down a bit the 2nd time), 1 Tbl. minced garlic---mix all ingredients together, i usually have to thin it out a little bit with some ranch dressing from the bottle. i make this beforehand too and stick it in the fridge for the flavors to become friends.--don't be turned off by the little bit of mayo, i was a first but it turns out ok.

Fourth: Ingredients

here are the ingredients, spinach, chicken, white sauce, olive oil, bbq sauce, cheese mix & feta optional but not pictured: caramelized onions---gag me i avoid this at all cost.

Assembling:

BBQ:

after rolling out the dough, spread enough bbq sauce on to cover the whole thing, don't go overboard but put enough. i use an offset spatula, best invention ever.

layer the chicken on top of the sauce then top with cheese. you don't need too much cheese. sometimes we put pineapple on it just for fun.

the finished product! mmm. it holds up pretty nice after it's sliced (i sound so weird).

Spinach, Feta, Chicken & White pizza:

again roll out the dough, then i pour a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and spread it around. don't put too much just a little bit. next spread the white sauce over the EVOO, i don't put too much of this either b/c i don't like it too saucy but i thinly cover it.

put the spinach all over the sauce, it cooks down a bit so use a little more than you think. put the chicken on top of that.

then put a little bit of the regular cheese mix on i accidentally put a little too much. then put the feta all over the top of that...mmmm put lots please.

and the finished product again! i always bake this kind on the stone, if anyone cares. they are both baked at 425 for about 15 minutes, until the crust is light brown.

if you are over the same old same old pizza, this is a nice change and even the boys will eat it which is a miracle in and of itself.

i'm not the best food photographer when i'm covered in flour and sauce so don't judge the pizza by my poor pictures. if anyone would like the dough recipe i can email it or just use one you already have.

alright i'm not feeling very good so i'm going to finish drinking my mint herbal tea with honey and lay down for a bit and watch amazing race. woohoo. go short guys! and guy who wrote school of rock! and the hillbillies (oh wait they are gone).

Oatmeal. Attempt #1--and Final Attempt.

i can't remember the last time i had oatmeal, the only thing i remember is how disgusting it was. so last night as i was laying in bed watching TV- john and kate plus 8 thankyouverymuch- i started craving oatmeal....weird to crave something you hate....so i decided oats were healthy so i would make up a batch in the morning for breakfast. i don't do breakfast usually but my thought was if i eat breakfast, it would help me not be so ravenous by lunch.
after i woke up this morning after taking 2 sleeping pills at 11pm (bad idea if you want to wake up at a decent hour) i started boiling some water and i measured out my oats and i put the two together. about this point i'm deciding this was a bad idea b/c it looks a lot like baby food. to make it taste good i added a few of my favorite breakfast-y type items, blueberries and bananas and a little (cough) brown sugar.
the first bite i took had everything on it, it was all i could do to not spit that stuff up everywhere. DISGUSTING. it's like gross mushy mush that tastes like elemers glue and toilet paper. i didn't want to waste the fruit though so i ate around the oats but it still made me gag just smelling the stuff.
overall, i'm not impressed and i don't care if it's good for me, i don't want it ever again. unless someone has some secret to masking the mushy gross taste. if you do by all means please let me know. i guess i'm not a breakfast person after all. (last week the same type of thing, late at night i was watching alton brown and he was making pancakes the next morning i decided to try his recipe since i'm not a fan of bisquick or really any kind of pancake usually, and it failed miserably, it was gross.) oh well. sorry this was so long and random i'm just waiting for the call so i can go get my new LG VU touch screen phone. booya.