Copycat Recipe - California Pizza Kitchen Pizza Dough

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Last Friday, my husband's parents had plans to attend the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Easter Concert, so it was going to be just the four of us for dinner.  We don't get to have dinner just the four of us very often, so whenever we do it's always really special for us.  We decided to do something fun that the kids would love, so we made grilled pizzas.  This recipe for a copycat CPK pizza dough has been our go-to for a few years now.  I don't think it actually tastes like their pizzas, but it is really good and really easy to make.

The recipe is for two crusts, but they are kind of thin, which is still really good.  When I made the dough on Friday, we wanted to make 3 pizzas, so I doubled the recipe and they came out a little bit thicker and chewier, which was so good.

Our favorite pizzas to make are a plain cheese with pizza sauce for the kids, a margarita pizza, and a barbecue pizza.  For the margarita, I take fresh mozzarella and just break it up into small pieces, rather than shredding it.  Then I add sliced Roma tomatoes, some fresh basil that's been chiffonade, and then I drizzle the top with olive oil.  It's so good and probably favorite of all the different pizzas we've made.  We had some leftover smoked pulled pork that we used on the barbecue that made it extra yummy.  We used Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce, fresh mozzarella, and red onions as well.

Our favorite tool to use for homemade pizzas are pizza screens.  We only bake the pizza on them in the oven, but I love using them for their shape to help get the pizza crust into a circle.

Be careful putting the dough on the grill, you don't want it to fall through the grate.  If it does, just use some tongs to pull it back up.

We first lightly cook both sides of the dough before adding the toppings.

After the toppings are added, we put the pizzas back on the grill and close the lid to keep the heat in so the cheese melts faster.  Make sure the heat isn't up too high so that you don't burn your crust.

Once the toppings are heated through, it's time to enjoy!  We love the flavor and texture of the crust when it's grilled.  We've also cooked them on the smoker and that is definitely my favorite way to cook these pizzas.  The crust takes on a really delicious, smokey flavor and it's soft and chewy, just the way I like it.  But it does take longer to cook that way, so we don't do it too often.  If you try out this recipe, I'd love to hear if you think it tastes like the CPK pizzas and what your favorite toppings are.  The recipe and directions here.  Enjoy!

Homemade Guacamole Recipe

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Guacamole is one of my most favorite sides of all time.  Any time we have Mexican, whether at home or at a restaurant, for me, it's just not complete without some guacamole.

Here's my recipe for a delicious and flavorful guacamole that is sure to please.

Ingredients:
4 avocados
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/3 cup diced red onion
1-2 tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. black ground pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder
cilantro, to taste

I start out by scooping out the avocados and then pouring the lime juice over them to help kind of soften them and break them down a little bit.  Then I add the rest of the ingredients and, rather than mashing the avocados, I stir everything together.  We like our guacamole to have a balance between mashed and chunky and stirring allows us to get the right consistency.

Add to tacos, burritos, salads, quesadillas, nachos, burgers (it's so good!), sandwiches, or serve as a dip at a party.  However you eat it, I sure hope you enjoy it!

Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup

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Have you ever tried one of those rotisserie chickens from Costco?  They're only $4.99 and they're really good.  However, we love trying to make our own versions of things we love, so we made rotisserie chicken last Sunday for dinner.  It was moist, tender and full of flavor; everything that chicken should ever be.  Since my brother-in-law and his girlfriend were coming to dinner, we did two chickens...and ended up with a ton of leftovers.  My husband suggested I use it to make chicken noodle soup, so I did and it was delicious.  The day I made it the weather was cold and rainy, a perfect fall day, and the perfect day for homemade soup.

This served four adults, an almost three-year-old boy and a 1 year-old-girl, with about a cup left over.  So, ya know, make of that what you will (sorry, I didn't get a chance to measure how much it made before it was eaten).

Here's what you'll need:

2 cups mini farfalle
two 32 oz. cartons of low-sodium chicken stock
2 cups water
3 cups rotisserie chicken, roughly chopped
1 medium onion, diced
2 cups cubed carrots
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. dried marjoram
1/4 tsp. (heaping) dried thyme
1/4 tsp. (heaping) dried rosemary
1/4 tsp. (heaping) dried oregano
1/4 tsp. black ground pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Heat oil in stock pot and saute onions until translucent.  Add carrots and cook a few minutes.  Add chicken stock, water, chicken and seasonings and stir to combine.  Bring to a boil and add pasta.  Cook until tender.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour.

I made these amazing cheese stuffed pretzels to go with the soup because they looked delicious, and they were.  In fact, I doubled the recipe, and today there are no more left.  Which is really sad too because I only one.  Anyway, check out that recipe.  My dear friend, Carrian, does not disappoint. 

White Sauce Chicken Enchiladas

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**First, I want to apologize for the terrible quality of these pictures.  I am not a photographer, especially not a food photographer.  I don't have a fancy camera and the batteries for my Nikon Coolpix are dead, so these were taken with my iPhone.  I think I do pretty well with outside photography, it's inside I struggle with.  Indoor lighting is tricky business!**

Anyway, on to the enchiladas.  You've probably seen the recipe for best enchiladas ever floating around on Pinterest.  Well, I kind of want to challenge that.  I've tried it and it's good, but I think that mine is better.  If you've tried that one and you try this one, you'll have to let me know what you think.  Just for comparison's sake, my recipe uses whole wheat tortillas, more veggies and there is no butter or flour, so ya know, it's healthier ;)

This recipe makes 16 enchiladas, to 9x13 pans, which is great for having leftovers (these freeze really well) or feeding a lot of people.  However, if you want less, you can just half the recipe.  Super simple!

Here's what you'll need:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

16 oz. of your favorite tomato-based salsa

3 cups low-sodium chicken stock

16 oz. low-fat sour cream

two 4 oz. cans green chilies

1 can black olives, diced

3 roma tomatoes, diced

1 medium white onion, diced

3 cups shredded cheese, of your choice (I use the cheddar/jack mix from Costco; also, I eyeball this, so you can use more or less, depending on your taste)

16 whole wheat tortillas (we use these)

refried beans (I use this recipe)

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

4 tbsp. corn starch, dissolved in about 1-2 tbsp. water

To start off, place the chicken and salsa in a crock pot and cook on low for about 6 hours.  Shred the chicken and let it sit in the juices in the crock pot while you make the sauce so that it can reabsorb as much of the juices as possible.

To make the sauce, saute the onion in vegetable oil until translucent.  Add chicken stock and heat to a boil.  Add cornstarch mixture and stir until thick; remove from heat.  Stir in sour cream, green chilies, tomatoes, and black olives.  Spread a small amount of sauce on the bottom of your two (or one, if halving) 9x13 pans.

To make the enchiladas, spread desired amount of beans onto middle of tortilla, then add chicken and some cheese.  Roll up and place in pan.  Continue until all the tortillas and chicken are used.  Top enchiladas with remaining sauce and then top with cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes until the cheese is melted, slightly browned in some spots and bubbly.  And enjoy!

favorite Pinterest recipes: dinner

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If you've ever tried recipes from Pinterest, then you've probably come across the occasional recipe fail.  I know I have and that can be really frustrating, but on the flip side, I have tried some that have turned out better than expected and have had even my young son salivating when I go to make it again.  Here are a few of our favorites. *click on image for link

For this recipe, I used my own homemade biscuit recipe because we all love it so much, but the filling was absolutely delicious.

These enchiladas are a favorite in our house.  In fact, I always double the recipe so that we have lots of leftovers.  My son will eat these for lunch for days after.  For the chicken, I cook it throughout the day in the crock pot with enough salsa to coat it and it comes out juicy and flavorful, a perfect filling for these enchiladas.

We love stuffed bell peppers so much and these did not disappoint.  In fact, this will be my go to recipe from now on because they were so simple.  My only substitutions were: instead of rice, I used quinoa; in place of the turkey sausage, I used ground turkey; and I used chicken stock in the bottom of the pan instead of water.

I don't really know how skinny this chicken Parmesan is, but it's super tasty and sometimes, that's all we really want.

I do not like lasagna, at all.  But I really enjoyed this recipe.

Best meatloaf ever.  At least in my (and my family's) opinion.  The best part about this recipe, is you can make it into meatballs and you'll have plenty that you can freeze for at least one other meal.  Love it!