Stoplight Pizza w/ Cheese Head Pizza Crust

This evening I made our first pizza in the new house! I have several different pizza crust recipes to choose from but decided to make my Cheese Head Pizza Crust because it is super quick and easy to make and it tastes exactly like regular pizza crust...maybe even better!

I just happened to have a package of "stoplight bell peppers"...you know the package that comes with 1 red, 1 yellow and 1 green pepper. I decided it would make the perfect ingredient for "Stoplight Pizza", with a few thinly sliced Vidalia onions and pepperoni thrown in. I decided to bake my pizza crust the minimum amount of time (10 minutes) until light golden brown because it continues to cook after you add the toppings. This kept it from getting too brown on the edges when fully cooked with the toppings. It turned out AMAZING! I'm still learning how to use my new stove; so far everything I've made in it or on it has turned out great. I snapped a few photos of the pizza below (as well as a pic of my new stove). If you haven't tried this pizza crust yet...it's a must try! To get to the recipe, please click here: Cheese Head Pizza Crust. Enjoy!

Before going back into the oven with the toppings

Fresh out of the oven!

GGC's new stove!

One of my many obsessions...teapots! (It might be time for an intervention!)

            

Peach Pecan Muffins - Easy & Dellicious

Today I've got a brand new recipe to share with you. It's special to me for a number of reasons. First, it's made with my favorite almond flour...Honeyville's Blanched Almond Flour that has had a place in my pantry for over 4 years now! Second, it's made with two of my favorite Georgia grown ingredients...Georgia pecans and Georgia peaches (and I just happen to live in Georgia)! Last, but not least...this recipe was the very first item to be baked in my new oven in my new house. These delicious muffins embarked on the "maiden voyage" of my new oven. A little silly, I know, but it's true!

These muffins are easy to make and can be made with either fresh, ripe juicy peaches or no sugar added canned peaches. They are lightly sweetened but can easily be made sweeter if that's how you like your muffins (simply increase the sweetener or add a few drops of stevia to boost the sweetness). They are super moist and tender. I store mine in the fridge since they are moist and because it's pretty humid here this time of year. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Check out a few photos below. To get to the recipe, please click here: Peach Pecan Muffins. Enjoy!

        

Spicy Homestyle Chili

This evening I decided to make dinner instead of unpack boxes...and it felt SO good to be back in the kitchen again believe it or not! Since it was a little cooler today (as in upper 80s/90 degrees...LOL) I was in the mood to make a big ole pot of chili. I usually like to make chili and cook it all day long on low in the crock pot, but I settled for simmering it on the stove this evening instead. I made a modified version of my "Sweet & Spicy Chili" recipe but used all ground beef instead of a mixture of beef chunks and ground beef and made a few other tweaks as well. It turned out great! I snapped a quick photo below and included my modified recipe as well. You can make this chili as spicy or as mild as you like by adjusting the chipotle pepper, hot paprika and cayenne pepper. Enjoy!

Spicy Homestyle Chili

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 tablespoons oil, to saute vegetables
1 cup onion, diced
2 sweet bell peppers (red, yellow or orange), diced
1 Poblano pepper, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced (optional)
5 cloves garlic, minced
Spices:
   1 tablespoon chili powder
   1 teaspoon "chipotle chili powder" (or regular chili powder to reduce heat)
   1 teaspoon hot Hungarian paprika (or substitute sweet paprika to reduce heat)
   1 teaspoon ground coriander
   1 teaspoon cumin (I used roasted cumin)
   1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
   1 teaspoon oregano
   1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
   1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1 28-oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes (including juice)
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup water (more or less, depending on preferred thickness)
1 16-oz can kidney beans, drained (optional)

Directions:

In a large stockpot over medium heat, add oil and saute onion, sweet bell peppers, Poblano pepper, and jalapeno peppers until almost tender; add minced garlic and cook a couple more minutes, stirring frequently (covering the pan helps speed up cooking the veggies). Remove the veggies with a slotted spoon and set aside on a platter.  

In the same pan, brown ground beef until cooked and no longer pink. Return pepper and onion mixture back to the pot. Stir in all of the spices, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken stock and water. Bring to a medium boil; taste to adjust seasoning, if necessary.  Cover pot and reduce heat to low, Simmer on low for approximately 1 hour (if desired, chili can be placed in a crock-pot and cooked on low for 8 - 10 hours instead of simmering on top of the stove).  

Ladle chili into bowls and top with shredded sharp cheddar cheese and dollop of sour cream, if desired.

           

First Breakfast in the New Kitchen -- I'M BACK!!!

Good morning! It seems like a lifetime since I've posted here. As some of you already know...I moved recently to a new home. It has been a long and arduous, not to mention HOT, process to say the least (so far we've had 70+ days above 90 degrees here when the average is only 30 days). Not exactly the perfect temperature to be moving in...and the humidity...DON'T EVEN ASK!

We are slowly getting settled into our new home. Still have lots of boxes to unpack but I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We've installed new carpet, repainted much of the house, re-done the kitchen (yes, ANOTHER kitchen remodel...the 2nd in 2 years -- am I crazy or WHAT?). We've got the last (hopefully) contractors coming later this morning and then life will hopefully return to some sense of "normal" (after I finish unpacking the last 40-50 boxes, that is). I've spent the last few months keeping my other house "showroom ready" and spotless (brutal), packing what seems like hundreds of boxes and now unpacking all of those boxes that seem to have doubled. I've not gotten more than 3 hours of sleep in a night except for ONCE in the last few months. I'm hoping to slowly re-emerge from "zombie mode" back into the human race. I've been blessed by a very understanding boss who has allowed me to juggle one million things at once which has enabled me to retain my sanity (or most of it).

Anyway...be expecting to see more and more of me again SOON! I wanted to share a photo with you of my very first breakfast in my new kitchen. After 2 nights in a row of "yogurt" for dinner...I decided I needed some REAL FOOD this morning to get me through the day. It isn't anything fancy, and the photo was taken with my phone (sorry), but it's the maiden voyage on my new stove, so I wanted to share it with you! LOL Scrambled eggs w/ cheese and bacon...not to mention I also enjoyed the FIRST cup of coffee in my new house this morning, too. I've missed blogging more than I could have imagined but just couldn't squeeze one more thing into the short 24 hours in a day. It feels GOOD to be back. Enjoy!