Updated Mini Pizza Recipe: The Lazy Version or Tortilla Pizza

Tortilla Pizza!

I’m lazy.  If there’s a shortcut to doing something, I want to know about it, or I’ll figure it out.

I hate cooking, so I’m all about shortcuts for recipes.

Yes.  I hate cooking.  This revelation blew my son’s mind a few months ago.  He thought I loved cooking.  We never eat out, and I always cook.  I am always experimenting, when I cook, too.  I am always researching recipes and tweaking them into healthier versions.  So, of course, he thought I loved to cook.

Well, I dont.  I do it because I love my family.

And because I’m afraid when I go to a restaurant, the person cooking my food has Hep A and a different idea of hygiene than me.

So back to the lazy version of things.

For our Mini Pizza recipe, we cut the tortillas and placed them into a muffin tin, making cute little cups of yumminess.

That’s just too much work for me.

Now, I put everything on a tortilla and shove it in the toaster oven.

What you’ll need:

1.  Tortillas

I finally found some gluten-free ones!

2.  Pizza sauce

We use the pizza sauce in the jar from Trader Joe’s.

3. Cheese

We like to use a mixture of mozzarella and cheddar, but cheddar alone works well.

4. Toppings

I have to have onions.  I also like to chop up whatever leftover chicken we have.

Parmesan-Encrusted Chicken Leftovers

I used the recipe for my Parmesan-Encrusted Zucchini Rounds and made this chicken.  It was really good!

Anyway, for this pizza, I used chicken, onions, and green bell peppers.

Chopped chicken, onions, and bell peppers.

After you’ve chopped your toppings, grab a piece of tin foil, and put your tortilla on it.

I hate shredding cheese because I hate having to clean the shredder afterward.  Have you ever shredded your skin while trying to clean that thing?  I have.  It sucks.

Slicing the cheddar cheese works well, and it’s easier to place.  Yes, I have also sliced my thumb with the cheese slicer, but it’s not as bad as grating a patch of your skin.

If I use mozzarella, I chop it up into small cubes and place them around the tortilla.  I didn’t have any mozzarella on hand for this pizza.

Spread some pizza sauce on your tortilla, lay your cheese down, and place your toppings.

Uncooked Tortilla Pizza

Unfortunately, like the other pizza recipe, I don’t time it.  I “watch it.”

Yes, I know this is annoying, as it annoys my son, as well, when he wants to make his own.  He has ADD, so he wanders out of the kitchen and forgets he’s cooking something.

I used to do this.  I stopped burning things, once I learned that I need to stay in the kitchen no matter what, when I’m cooking.  I am trying to teach him this skill.

I do put the toaster oven on bake at 350F degrees, though.  It doesn’t take that long, maybe a few minutes.

The time varies because sometimes I’m so hungry, I don’t wait for the cheese to get all bubbly and brown.

Tortilla Pizza

Use whatever leftovers you have in the fridge for your toppings.  Experiment.

After it’s done, don’t forget to sprinkle some red pepper flakes and grated parmesan!

Quick and easy breakfast, lunch, or dinner!  Enjoy!

Related articles

• tortilla pizzas (firstapartmentcookbook.wordpress.com)
• Vegetable-english Muffin Pizzas Recipe (kraftrecipes.com)
• Quick Genius Lunch (mcdudziak.wordpress.com)

Gluten-Free, Apple-Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal Goodness

The first time I made this, I followed the directions from the original recipe at Money Saving Mom.  Awesome site, by the way, if you’re into couponing and saving money in general.  She also regularly sends out collections of homeschooling freebies from other sites.

This past weekend, I made this again but added apples.  It turned out even yummier.

Here’s what I made:

1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar (I know!  I’m still trying to find a sugar alternative that isn’t ridiculously priced.)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk
3 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Whole Grain Rolled Oats
3 organic Gala apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin.
Coconut oil

1.  In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar, and butter together.

2.  Add baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.  Mix thoroughly.

3.  Carefully stir in milk and oats.

4.  Grease a 9×13 glass dish with coconut oil.  Layer apple slices in the dish.  Pour oats mixture evenly on top.

5.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

6.  Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

7.  Bake for 35-45 minutes.

That’s about as creative as I got, but I’ve read about many other add-ins: bananas, raisins, nuts, berries, etc.

Enjoy!

Gluten-Free, Super Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

I know I should write some clever, personal story about where the recipe comes from or what it reminds me of.  I just don’t have the brain power this morning.

So here’s the recipe:

1 bag Trader Joe’s organic brown rice pasta, cooked per package instructions and drained

This pasta doesn’t taste gross or bleh, I swear.  My kids (especially my daughter) would not eat it otherwise.  It tastes like regular wheat pasta but cooks for a much shorter time.  My Trader Joe’s only carries the penne shape which is fine with us.

Trader Joe’s organic whole milk
3 ounces Trader Joe’s cream cheese
4 wedges The Laughing Cow Original Creamy Swiss

If you don’t have the Creamy Swiss on hand, and you don’t want to go out and buy it, then just sub in another ounce of cream cheese.  Total cream cheese in the recipe would then be 4 ounces.

½ – 1 cup Tillamook sharp cheddar cheese

Optional add-ins:

1 teaspoon dijon + 1 teaspoon horseradish, or
1 teaspoon dijon + ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, or
Dash or more of your favorite hot sauce, or
A combination of the above.

After draining the pasta, put it back in the pot and put the heat to low.

Add enough milk to ensure the pasta doesn’t start sticking to the bottom of the pan, about 1 inch deep.

Add the cream cheese and Creamy Swiss, and stir to partially melt.

Add the cheddar cheese (amount is per your taste), and stir to melt and combine all cheeses completely.

Add additional milk a little at a time until desired consistency (and amount of sauce) is reached.  You can add milk while adding and stirring the cheeses if the sauce is looking nonexistent.

Take off the heat to stir in optional add-ins.

Enjoy!