Easy Pizza Sauce

Before I went gluten free, we used to have homemade pizza a couple times a month.  To help us eat as healthy as we can and to save money, I decided I should start making my own pizza sauce.  After all, I'm making my own marinara, pizza sauce couldn't be difficult either.  And it isn't.

I found a good sauce we liked from Kitchen Treaty.  This recipe had everything we wanted in a pizza sauce.  Full of tomato flavor? Check. Just a hint of heat? Check.  Super simple? Check.  Easy to adapt? Check.  Freezes well? Check.  I adapted this sauce slightly to accommodate our tastes and my cooking style.

Gluten Free Orange and Cream Cheese Scones

Two of my closest girlfriends from college are both big tea drinkers.  One of them even throws beautiful tea parties for her friends.  I was honored enough to be invited to one back in November for our other friend's birthday.  The table was set with heirloom china, crystal, and silver.  She had a savory course and a sweet course, four different blends of tea, and was even kind enough to make sure I had some apple cinnamon gluten free scones perfect for fall so I could enjoy my tea to the fullest.

Yellow Rice

I realized the other night when I made this fantastic dish by Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom that I had never shared my yellow rice recipe with you.  It's such a simple recipe, it's easy to overlook, but it's such a versatile side dish and good starter for more substantial recipes.  The best part about this is, it's cheaper and healthier than those boxes or bags of yellow rice mix in the grocery store.  I know exactly what I'm eating when I make it myself and it takes only an extra minute to or two.

Ham and Cheese Corn Muffins

The 8 year old has decided that he's tired of sandwiches.  Since he takes his lunch to school, this is a bit of a problem.  So I set out trying to find something that would be filling, have protein, be reasonably healthy, and would be packable for his lunch.

Cast Iron Skillet Nachos

The final post of my little two week camping series is for these super yummy and easy cast iron skillet nachos.  You don't really cook the nachos in the skillet.  It's more for getting everything warm once its assembled and for serving.  So if you don't have a cast iron skillet, don't panic.  You can still make these nachos easily using a heavy duty pan or even a disposable aluminum pan.

Meal Plan Camping Style

Things have been a little stressful in good ways and in not so good ways around the Now Things Are Cookin' household the last few weeks, which is why the blog has been quiet lately.  My husband and his best friend have known each other literally all their lives.  They lived across the street from each other from the time they were babies until they graduated from high school and even roomed together in college.  Two weeks ago my husband's best friend's father passed away.  Both the family and my husband have been taking it hard.

Two days after the funeral, we took our annual  four day/three night (car) camping trip with three other families. We've taken this trip ever since the 8 year old was the 3 year old,  It's always a trip we look forward to every year, even after the disaster of a trip four years ago when it was 100 degrees every day and none of our campsites had any shade!

Bread and Butter Freezer Pickles

As I'm working on this post, I'm also chatting on Facebook with one of my parents' long-time friends, Marian, whom I haven't seen in more years than I can count.  When I was little, for a few years my parents, Marion and her husband, and another family all shared a large neighborhood garden.  It was quite large with lots of space for experiments - I remember the year they tried to grow peanuts! - and standbys.  Zucchini, anyone?

Vacation Meal Ideas

Later this summer when our family goes on vacation to Virginia Beach, we're planning on eating most of our meals in the hotel room to save money.  We did this last year on our vacation too, but I wasn't quite as prepared.  This year I'm already making food to freeze and take with us on our trip.  My husband and I are already talking about eating out at the two restaurants we tried last year, but for the most part, we'll make all our meals in our room or pack picnic lunches to be enjoyed on the beach.

Saving Chipotle Chilies in Adobo Sauce

We like a lot of Tex-Mex/Mexican food around here.  In fact I'd say we probably have at least one thing a week that would be considered Tex-Mex, whether it's tacos, Southwest Pasta Skillet, Spicy Bean Burritos, taquitos, or Roasted Tomatillo Salsa with Avocado.  Sometimes I come across a recipe that calls for chipotle chilies in adobo sauce.

Cream of... Soup Mix

I admit, there are some things that are just not the same without a can of cream of "something" soup.  My momma's meatloaf calls for a can of cream of celery soup for the gravy, and I'm just not sure it would be her meatloaf without it.

Working Ahead - Marinara Sauce

More often than not, I use jarred marinara sauce.  It's a lot easier to open a jar than to cook it myself, right?  But then I ran across a recipe for marinara sauce by The Naptime Chef and featured by Recipe Girl.  It's oh so good and simple enough that it can be "doctored" to your own tastes.  I generally just follow the recipe on Recipe Girl's site.  

Working Ahead - Shredded Chicken

I make a lot of casseroles, soups and other dishes that call for cooked shredded chicken.  Normally I poach boneless, skinless chicken breasts to achieve this, which doesn't necessarily take that much time.

Working Ahead - Vegetable Prep

One of the things I always think will just take a moment or two but ends up taking longer is all the vegetable prep for my salads or dicing onions for casseroles.  So when I bring out my cutting board for one job, I look at the meal plan for the remainder of the week to see what else I can prep at the same time.

Working Ahead - Hamburger Patties

Welcome to a new five week series entitled Working Ahead.  Each week I'll focus on one area where I do prep for a meal or meals in advance.  Most of what I prepare ahead of time goes into my tiny freezer, but some things are short term and go to the fridge for the next day.