I smiled at all the comments to my last post that you thought I was quitting the blog! As I always tell Tony, he’s stuck with me and so are you guys! 😀
Tony was under the weather this weekend so it was low key in the Bizzy household, which is just fine with me because the closer the holidays get, the more stressed I tend to get thinking of all the things I need to get done. Hope you feel better today Tony! 😀
Our Saturday morning greeted us with our first round of snow.
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I had planned on us going out to lunch on Saturday, so while Tony was taking it easy, I looked to see what I could make myself for lunch. I saw that I had a thawed chicken breast that needed to be cooked up, so I thought I would try another version of almost gluten free pizza dough.
Biz’s Low Gluten Pizza Dough
- 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free flour
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1/2 packet of yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Mix together all the dry ingredients and add water. This is enough for 2 personal (8 inch) pizzas. I still had to roll the dough on my pizza pan, but it was much easier to work with.
I grilled the chicken breast with rosemary and garlic seasoning.
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Then added diced green pepper and mozzarella cheese and baked for 13 minutes at 400 degrees, then I finished it off under the broiler for a couple minutes.
Super crispy! I am really liking this dough. I need to see if Whole Foods sells gluten free flour in bulk – does anyone know?
I had a fantastic grocery shop. I spent $79.12. This was the score of the day though – $1.28 a pound for boneless, skinless chicken breasts!
So my menu for the week (remember breakfast and lunches are just me 😀 )
Breakfasts:
- spicy egg and avocado wrap
- vanilla spice oatmeal
- broccoli cheddar bake (I’ll have this twice)
- whole wheat apple pancakes with nutty topping
Lunches:
- spaghetti squash with Italian sausage and marinara
- Asian Turkey Meatballs with carrot cilantro rice
- chili stuffed zucchin
- Panera broccoli cheddar soup
- ancho chile pork and hominy stew with homemade chicken taquitos
Dinners:
- buttermilk fried chicken with potato wedges
- beef stroganoff with grainy mustard green beans (don’t worry Tony – the green beans are for me!)
- pork chop milanese with basil and parmesan brown rice
- buffalo chicken chili mac 3 ways (Hannah, you can put onions on yours if you wish!)
- beef stew with carrots and cauliflower
We have a cookie exchange coming up for work, and I plan on making gift foodie baskets for our immediate neighbors. I decided to do a dry run on an idea I had for dried cranberry brittle. My final version will have pistachio’s instead of almonds, but because pistachio’s are quite a bit more money, I didn’t want to waste them in case it didn’t turn out.
Biz’s Dried Cranberry and Almond Brittle
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups water
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup light corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
- 6 ounces dried cranberries
- 6 ounces chopped salted roasted almonds
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
Combine the sugar, water, butter and corn syrup in a large saucepan. You need to either use a big pot, or a stock pot with tall sides because it does boil up pretty high. Insert a candy thermometer and bring to 300 degrees – because I used more water this process took about 30 minutes. I had my measured out baking soda and nuts/cranberries ready to go when it hit 300.
Once it hit 300, take off the heat, stir in the baking soda and nuts and cranberries, stirring quickly because it will bubble up and quickly pour on a parchment lined jelly roll pan. Using the back of a spoon, quickly spread out evenly while it is still hot, then sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Let cool completely – mine was cool to the touch in about 45 minutes.
Then break in pieces. I plan on buying some cute bags at Hobby Lobby to put them in with pretty ribbons. I think it will be a nice addition to our cookie exchange this year!
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Ready to wrap up and give away! I love giving gifts from the kitchen. This year I bought identical snowman (shocker!) mugs for my co-workers and plan to make homemade cocoa mix with homemade peppermint marshmallows – yum!
Alright, its time for me to get ready for work – its going to be a cold week here in Chicagoland – lows in the single digits!
Oh, and I almost forgot to select a winner for Bacon Santa!
True Random Number Generator 55 6
My favorite way to eat bacon is in a broccoli salad. It’s amazing! I feel ya on the ‘not posting on the weekend’ thing. I’m the same way! It’s all about balance
Congrats Anne Marie! Send me your address at mybizzykitchen@gmail.com and I’l forward it to the company to get your loot.
Have a great Monday!
I made candy once. It left a lasting impression on me and that is probably the only time I will do such a thing. We made all kinds of brittles and candies to send to Ryan’s Company when they were in Iraq and I burnt the SHIT out of my hands making some sort of ball shaped treat. And not the good kind of balls (dough balls, what were you thinking?)
Ha! You said balls! 😀
The brittle looks awesome!
I want some of that dried cherry and almond brittle! That looks like the perfect holiday gift. Also, I need to start planning out menus like you do, at least for lunch. When I’m working from home, I’ll end up eating pretzels and other snacks instead, but I know I need to fix that.
Congrats to Anne-Marie!
I just got back from our walmart (the one w/ the grocery store inside) and was in the baking aisle. They had a whole little section devoted to GF mixes — thought you might want to check it out if you weren’t aware!
Thanks Christina – I’ll check it out next time I am there! 😀
woah quitting???? no way!!!! thank god I missed that post…I might have shed a tear =) I love your blog….
AHHHH the S word! I hate it so much….we had a little bit this morning and it was just enough to remind me, how much I REALLY hate it hahaha
I want to try that cranberry recipe =)
wow! Snow snow! The menu for the week sounds fabulous. I’d love to try your breakfast casserole and I can’t get enough spaghetti squash right now. The brittle looks perfect. So festive
Must try that brittle! I lurve cranberry anything.
We have not gotten that much snow yet, but I think some is on the way tonight.
That first snow fall is so pretty! You know I don’t own a candy thermometer, so I always shy away from recipes that require one but this recipe looks so good it could cause me to go out and purchase a new kitchen gadget!
i’ve never even THOUGHT to make a brittle before but you make it look effortless!! i’d be very happy to receive a batch of that as a christmas gift 🙂
I’m with you – as you saw in my post, so much to do but not enough time. What always amazes me about homemade food gifts is that people love them so much. Each year I deliver plates of goodies to my neighbors and you’d think they hit the jackpot.
For a change I had a good grocery shop too… $139. But I hadn’t gone in two weeks so yay for that. I told Mr. Helen maybe I should try that more often.
You would love the California Pizza Kitchen Rosemary Chicken with Potato pizza. Let me know if you want the recipe!
BTW, I’m loving the snow that is falling across your photos… is that a WordPress thing?
Yes, I would love that recipe Helen!
Yep, its a WordPress thing – starting December 1 it just starts to snow! 😀 I am too not technical to have figured that out on my own. Um, I don’t even know how to Twitter! 😀
I’m so excited to have won the giveaway!! Hope Tony is feeling better! I’m a fan of giving gifts from the kitchen also…which reminds me that I better get started!
that candy looks to die for! i love giving gifts from the kitchen too. i’m actually sitting here waiting to get my oven fixed, it’s killing me!
I’m so jealous of the snow!!
Yes it looks like you got a lot of snow!! Our idaho snow is turning into a rainy pile of slush. 🙁 Hope you enjoy the beauty of it all! And that brittle looks to die for!
everything looks so delicious! wow!
I do have a weakness for brittle and your pictures make everything look so good!
Your menu looks like something out of a restaurant! Makes my menu of “whatever is in the pantry/fridge” look pathetic. 😛
Great looking brittle. I don’t think I have ever made brittle, but maybe I should on my 2 week break coming up. I can’t believe you got all that snow. Wow! I haven’t lived somewhere with snow in a long time.
your Poor Weber… 🙁
Omaha hasn’t gotten snow yet, so we’re still using ours! It’s only a matter of time, though…
Never thought about putting dried fruit into a brittle, but holy cow does that look good! Emailing you my address…you deliver, right? 😉
Your Weber looks like a sno cone. Or else I am just wanting dessert, lol!
Stay warm and have a wonderful day!
That cranberry and almond brittle looks scrumptious! That recipe is going on my “to make this Christmas” list.