This Week's Dinner Line Up

Here is this week's dinner line up! And for us Catholics, Lent starts this week which means Fridays will turn into cheese pizza nights (olives for Penelope and I), and ex naying the pepperonis! Later in the week, I'll post some of the Pittman's favorite breakfast dishes!

Monday: Chicken Enchiladas with refried beans
I made these tonight and the sauce was really yummy! I simplified the instructions a bit because I have a two year old and an almost five month old who both long for my attention around dinner prep time. The recipe instructs you to separate the onions and tomatoes out from the sauce by straining it and I wasn't about to make things so complicated. I simmered the sauce a little longer which brought the tomatoes down more and then simply used the sauce just as so, no straining, and they turned out most perfectly.
Tuesday: Frito Pie
Wednesday: Hearty and Healthy Bean and Cheese Nachos (and by healthy, I mean that they will have two wholesome dairy products on them, an abundance of cheese and all natural sour cream)
Thursday: Glazed Pork Chops with baked potatoes and veggies
Friday: Homemade Cheese Pizza and below I've included the recipe that I've adapted. I included it in another post but I thought I'd break it down more for you since I tend to ramble on about what I've changed and haven't changed in a recipe.
Saturday: Chicken nuggets, fresh fruit, and carrot sticks
Sunday: Chicken Vegetable Soup

Here is the pizza crust recipe I've adapted from the brown eyed baker

Pittman Perfect Pizza Dough:

Ingredients
½ cup warm water
1 envelope (2¼ teaspoons) of Fleischmann's Pizza Crust Yeast
1¼ cups water, at room temperature
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
4 cups bread flour (or I used 4 overflowing cups of All Purpose Flour and it worked!)
1½ teaspoons Kosher salt

Directions:
1. Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water and oil and stir to combine.

2. Combine the flour and salt in a mixer using the paddle attachment (at a speed level of 2) and then pour in the liquid ingredients. If the dough does not readily form a ball , you may need to add a tiny bit of water. It should do this after approximately three to five minutes. If the dough looks too sticky then a bit of flour will help it to ball up. The dough's consistency should end up being smooth and elastic.

3. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead by hand for a few strokes to form a smooth, round ball. Put the dough into a deep oiled (again I used EVOO) bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.

4.Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two pieces. Form each piece of dough into a smooth, round ball and cover it with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes. If you are only wanting to make one pizza you can store the other ball of dough in the freezer for another day. Wrap it up in some seran wrap and then throw it in a freezer bag. The day you want to use it, throw it in the fridge to thaw it out.

5. Preheat your oven to 500 and start assembling your pizza. Place the pizza crust on a lightly oiled (EVOO) baking sheet and stretch out to resemble a circle. Then slop some tomato sauce on it, then some mozzarella cheese or any other cheese your heart desires, and lastly, any other toppings you crave.

6. Bake it for 8-12 minutes or if you like it a bit crispier like myself, I venture closer to the 15 minute range.

7.Now go and enjoy your masterpiece pizza pie!