Sunday Pizza: 01.02.2011

The royal STUFF!

Welcome to 2011!  All futuristic sounding huh?  So far so good, my sis had a baby and my dad just bought a condo out here (can I get a woop woop!?)  Should be a great year - I can feel it!

Our first Sunday pizza of the year totally rocked!  [Am I dating myself using totally and rocked? Probably. Dude.]  My friend, Andrea, and her fam came over for pizza.  What's so cool about Andrea?  Well, she's my friend from college.  That's right, we be kickin' it old school like!

Great "cheese"!

Ya right.  By my calculations all four adults total probably consumed LESS bevie than one of us did any given night out in college.  ahh, college... no rules, no responsibilities, no one waking you up at 6:30 am with a dirty diaper.  Good times.

B has a foot on Z at least! Impressive.

That said, we had a fab time.  Andrea only lives 15 minutes away and sadly this is the first time we've gotten our act together to hang out.  It was like old times and it felt like we just picked up where we left off.  Love when that happens.

Brendan performating the dough

The guest pizza maker is Brendan.  He's an adorable 3.5 year old and has a foot on Z as you can see in the pix.  Z was kind of intimidated I think.  The whole night Z wanted, "UP!" and was happy to watch Brendan play.  Cute.  In the end he warmed up and they were starting to kind of play together.

Z's new phrase is "No Touch" when he wants to do something without help.  The last picture shows him saying "No Touch" and pushing my hands away.  Classic.

Make a pizza this year!  Tell me all about it.  Better yet, come on over and have some Sunday pizza!

Weekend Craziness with an Ethiopian Kick

Phew!  It's Monday evening and I am beat!  The weekend was awesome but tiring and I am fighting my little heart out trying not to get a full blown cold.  I've been drinking tea like it's going out of style and well, ok maybe I'm not really fighting that hard cuz that's all I got.  Not even a little chicken noodle soup or taking vitamin C.  As usual, Lame.

We had one of those Saturdays where in the middle you tell yourself to remember to never overbook again.  First, we had soccer for Z at 10am.  He wanted to be held for the first 10 minutes poor little guy.  Plus, he was pretty much done with 10 minutes left and the class is only 50 minutes.  hmmm, nowhere to go but up!

Next, we headed home to meet Grandma and change. She watched Z for the afternoon and evening (Thanks Mom!).  We met my sis, B, at Key Arena and saw Illinois crush Gonzaga at basketball.  It was way fun to see so much orange and blue even though Gonzaga was definitely the home team.  ILL-INI!!!

From there we booked to meet friends at an Ethiopian restaurant.  They just learned they have been matched with a baby they will adopt in January!  We celebrated with some of their other friends.  Ethiopian food is pretty good.  C did not like the bread you pick up the food with, Injera.  It is pretty spongy but is so bland that it works well to not overpower the flavors.  He didn't care for the texture.  I get it for sure.  We had some really yummy kitfo (ground beef cooked not tartar) which was pretty spicy and this chicken with collards dish that was easily my fav.  The rest were vegetarian like lentils, and cabbage, and collards, all good too.  I'd go back.

We dragged ourselves home and as quickly as possible went to bed.  Z, of course, was bright eyed and bushy tailed at 5:30 am Sunday.  Groan.  I'll skip the boring Sunday stuff but know this - we made pizza, Z made pizza too, and it was divine!  If you're actually still reading I'll spare you that tale for another post.  Smoochy smooch, to bed I go!

Chili and Tea? Couldn't be...

First off another SNOW DAY!!  C's school was cancelled and I worked from home again so all day was Daddy Daycare for Z.  He did an awesome job!  Thanks QT.

My dad is visiting and is super fit.  He walked up this enormous hill, ice and crazy sledders and all, and stopped at the store and picked up some knock-off Baileys for me.  Um Yum!  Love you Dad!  Ok, I texted him while he was out to ask him to get it but still way awesome of him to get it for me.  Lucky for me C just made another pot of coffee so "Baileys" and coffee it was.  Yippee.

Fast forward a couple hours and my throat is scratchy and I feel like a cup of tea.  Chai tea.  hmmmm how would "Baileys" taste in Chai?  Ummmmm Amazing!  YES indeed I have, in fact, died and gone to heaven.  I think I like it better than in coffee.  Still not as good as on the rocks but it is way too cold for anything on the rocks.  Don't judge.

Yesterday we had bean and corn chili for dinner.  This is one of my many recipes that I don't really follow any particular recipe to make.  Every time I make chili it comes out different but surprisingly the same.  This time I paid attention so I could pass along to others.  I couldn't resist snapping a shot with the chili and a beer in the best beer coozy in the world!  Have you ever seen a beer coozy look all studly with an 80s collar and all?! Cracks me up!  ILL-INI!!!

Bean and Corn Chili


3 dried chiles (I used New Mexican but chipotle would rock.  Let's blame the snow)
4 cloves garlic
1 large onion diced
3 celery stalks chopped (doesn't this feel like deja vu from the last couple recipes)
2-3 carrots peeled and chopped
1 green pepper diced
1/2 cup mushrooms chopped
1.5 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt/pepper
1.5 Tbsp tomato paste
1.5 cups chicken broth (there I go cheating again)
1/3 cup brown lentils (I just love lentils and couldn't help myself - totally optional if you have the restraint)
15 oz can black beans drained and rinsed
15 oz can pinto beans drained and rinsed (sure throw them in the same colander, go wild)
2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn

First off put about a cup and a half of water in a bowl and zap for 4-5 minutes until boiling (or go old school and use tea kettle).  Put whole dried chiles in water, weight with small plate and let rehydrate about 5 minutes. Chop the veggies... come back and slice off top of chile, throw them in a blender with about 1/2 cup chile water and the garlic, blend until as smooth-ish. 

In soup pot preheat on medium high.  Add 1-2 tbsp olive oil and saute onion adding salt and pepper.  Add carrot, celery, and pepper and cook a couple minutes.  Add chile blend stir about 30 seconds.  Add tomato paste and seasoning stir about a minute.  Add broth, lentils, beans, and tomatoes stir.  Bring to simmer, lower heat to med-low and cover.  Cook for about an hour or more until lentils are cooked.  Add corn and warm through another couple minutes.  

C's family got me into having chili on macaroni.  It is tasty.  I also add shredded cheddar cheese but guess what, C doesn't.  I love him but sometimes feel sorry for him.  To go through life hating cheese must be such a bummer don't you think?  Guess what, it wasn't hot enough for him so he added hot sauce.  I did too.