Vegan Mofo V Day 7 - Pizza Supreme

We don't have too many family traditions, but one of the newer ones we've invented is to eat pizza and watch a scary movie each Friday night in October. So far we haven't watched anything truly scary since my niece is only eight and does not seem to have inherited our appetite for gore and guts. Our kid-friendly movies included Return to Oz, Watcher in the Woods, and a few of the Goosebumps dvds. I know there are more but I can't recall at the moment. I know she definitely did not like When A Stranger Calls and we could not get more than 15 minutes into Nightmare on Elm Street before turning it off. I know it sounds inappropriate to let a kid watch those, but we were raised on those movies. My sister took a life size poster of Freddy Krueger to second grade show-and-tell!

There aren't any especially good pizza places near us so we have to make do. Sometimes we order a few toppings on a cheeseless pizza or just get one with sauce and add whatever we want to it. Other times we will buy dough and throw something together really quickly. We do have some Tofurky and Amy's pizzas hiding in the freezer, but I like to save those for emergencies, like when we forget to plan enough dinners for the week or when I am on my own and don't feel like cooking.

Since it's mofo time, I thought I would make a pizza we could really enjoy. Plus, it fits perfectly into my magazine week. This is Southwestern Pizza from Family Circle (who won't let you search recipes without registering, so I can't link it). Anyway this is really easy and you can probably figure out what to do from the photo. They suggested using two 9" premade crusts, but I opted to roll my own out from a store bought dough ball. Then you do a layer of salsa, a layer of cheese (I used FYH Monterey Jack), beans, bell peppers and green onions. Bake it at 450 for about 15 minutes. I put way more of everything because I like my pizzas loaded up. Garnish with cilantro when serving and you're ready to go.

I can't believe the first week of MoFo is done and I've blogged everyday. I hope I can keep this up, gotta start planning for next week.

taco tuesday on a monday

I'm always looking for new recipes to expand our menus and not our waistlines. I've been trying harder to add in vegetables, grains, etc. that we probably would have been eating for years if only we had taken the time to try them. Between my sister and I, I usually cook the more involved, complicated dishes and she will do the quicker easier ones, maybe because she is actually the "busy mom" and I get home around 3 so I have more time to go all out-even after walking the dog.

Lately she has been cruising the magazines in the breakroom at her job and has been bringing back recipes she finds. I think she's brought three or four in the past two weeks. It's really cute because I know she does support my goal of having us all eat better but she doesn't always have the time/desire to cook as often or as hard as I do. So she's still involved in the process at the jump off, now if I only I could get her to swing back around and pick up the dish duties. (I clean when she cooks, but also most often when I cook as well).

Anyway, last night's recipe was from Family Circle and you can find it here. It's called "Taco Night Pasta" and it's ridiculously easy. I goofed and got medium enchilada sauce instead of mild so I only used regular chili powder rather than hot. My niece will always use "spicy" as an excuse to not eat something, so I have to make sure it isn't really spicy to begin with. I didn't put cheese because we don't all like fyh's cheddar but I did shred some fyh monterey jack for the table and everyone could add as much as she liked. My niece took nearly all of it, which is what I would have done with dairy cheese at her age, so I can't be mad at her.

I don't know if it tasted like tacos so much as chili mac from back in the hot lunch days at school but for the effort, it was good. I had two and a half small bowls, so that should say something. My only notes would be to add a bit more seasonings and maybe use more tomatoes. We'll definitely make it again, especially on a cooler day like the few we've had lately.