Two posts in one week was a delusion that I had. How about no posts for two weeks instead?
The weekend of the 15th/16th was spent going to the cabin, cleaning and hauling stuff home. One more trip out there for E last Monday to do some more work (spiffing up the shed with paint and finishing cleaning it out), then the photographer was there Wednesday and by evening on Thursday, it was listed. We've had a number of showings already, and inventory for similar places is very low, so hoping it sells soon. It is a bittersweet parting - the cabin really has been a great deal of fun and we have a lot of great times there. I can't wait to scrap book some cabin memories and also to see what comes next for us and our lake life.
We celebrated our 21st anniversary in true E and me style - quiet time at home with take out from a local restaurant. If it weren't for the stupid virus, this was when we would have been in Norway. There is always another year for that, right?
I promised some recipes so let's get to a couple of those now.
Recipe 17 - Crispy Sheet Pan Gnocchi with Veggies and Sausage
This was a recipe I pinned awhile back when all the recipes on Pinterest seemed to be sheet pan dinners - toss all this stuff on one pan and bake it. I think this phase has peaked but there are a few of them that I liked and this was one I would definitely make again. Ingredients were simple, just a little chopping for prep and then some really great flavor (more than I expected from the minimal ingredients). We had ground Italian sausage instead of links which would have been easier to work with and it took a little searching to find shelf-stable gnocchi. I had only ever had boiled gnocchi, but liked it crispy. I may have slightly over-cooked so would not bake as long next time - gnocchi was a little tough). It was not quite as good as leftovers but we would both definitely make/eat this recipe again. From a website called 12 Tomatoes, my comments in ( ) PLUS I don't have annoying ads popping up all over the place.
Ingredients:
1 (17.5 oz) package potato shelf-stable gnocchi (in pasta aisle)
1 orange bell pepper, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 small red onion, cut into wedges (I used about 1/2 this amount and only put onions on one of the 2 pans, since E doesn't like them)
1 pint cherry tomatoes (I used grape tomatoes - don't tell)
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 lb Italian sausage, sliced (mine was ground, no casings, so I made little bite size balls of meat)
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/4 cup basil leaves, chopped (I didn't have fresh basil so sprinkled dried basil very liberally)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Spread out gnocchi, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and sausage on two rimmed baking sheets.
Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper (and basil if using dried) and toss to coat gnocchi and veggies in the oil. (I found it easier to toss/coat in a bowl vs. on the pans.)
Spread ingredients out in a single layer and bake until beginning to brown, 15-20 minutes. Remove, stir and spread back out in a single layer, and return to oven until golden brown and tender, about 10 more minutes. (bake time too long - maybe go about 5 minutes more after stirring)
Toss with fresh basil, serve, and enjoy! (or sprinkle with dried basil before baking).
Recipe 18 - Thai Chicken Pizza
We used to have California Pizza Kitchen in this town and I LOVED their Thai chicken pizza. Then again, I will eat almost anything that has peanut sauce in it. Unfortunately, CPK in MG closed and I have been thinking of that pizza for years now. Most Sunday nights are pizza night at our house and we finally tried this recipe. I forgot to get carrots, and E doesn't like/eat sprouts or onions so I didn't add those either. I had too little dough for the amount of sauce I made (to be fair, I don't make my dough to be measured in pounds and was not going to make 2 smaller pizzas, just one big one), and I forgot the cilantro. I used rotisserie chicken so I didn't have to mess with cooking and chopping chicken. Despite all those modifications, I thought it was pretty darn good. E said his only complaint was that it didn't really seem like pizza. I would make this again, but use less sauce. You can try my pizza dough recipe (I now cut recipe in half), a pre-made crust or any other crust you like. Recipe is from Spicy Southern Kitchen website where she teases you with some amazing pizza dough recipe/technique but then never actually tells you how to make it (and the link to where you can supposedly learn it goes nowhere).
Ingredients:
for the spicy peanut sauce:
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon oyster sauce (I didn't have this so subbed another tbsp hoisin - could have skipped it all together)
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon olive oil (I didn't use because I had cooked chicken)
2 chicken breasts cut into 3/4-inch cubes (I used about 2 C chopped rotisserie chicken)
1 pound pizza dough (I used 1/2 of the crust recipe linked above
cornmeal (skipped this like I always do when using pizza stone)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
4 green onions, slivered diagonally (didn't add)
1/2 cup bean sprouts (didn't add)
1/3 cup shredded carrot (didn't add)
2 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts (forgot to chop them but it was okay)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (forgot to add)
Directions:
Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees (or as high as your oven will go). (I used my normal 425 degrees that I always bake my pizza at and did not preheat the stone - it is easier to work with your dough if stone not hot)
To make Peanut Sauce, combine all sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil gently for 1 minute. Remove from heat and set aside. (Did NOT boil - it started to separate and get weird consistency so I called it good enough after it was heated and combined - it was delicious!)
Heat olive oil in a nonstick pan and cook chicken until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Place chicken in a bowl and toss with half of the peanut sauce. (Oh, whoops! I just now see the part about tossing the chicken with some of the sauce - I just put all the sauce on the pizza)
Divide dough in half and shape each into a 9-inch round. (I made the usual pizza stone sized pizza - 12"? 14")
Coat a pizza peel lightly with cornmeal and place one pizza dough round on top. (nope - no pizza peel and no cornmeal, just rolled out the dough on stone). Spread 1/4 cup of sauce evenly on dough. (Maybe using 1/2 cup instead of the whole batch like I did would be better)
Cover sauce with 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese.
Place half the chicken on top of the cheese followed by half the green onions, carrots, and bean sprouts. (or if only making 1 pizza - all the chicken, onions, carrots and sprouts if using)
Top with 1/4 cup mozzarella and half of the peanuts. (remaining cheese and all the peanuts)
Transfer pizza to pizza stone and bake 8 to 10 minutes, until crust is golden. (mine bakes longer because it is bigger and at lower heat)
Sprinkle with cilantro and serve. Repeat for second pizza.
Honestly, I feel like I should give you a whole new recipe - by the time I got done with all my revisions, the directions were probably super confusing. I'll do better.
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| Cheesy caption, like "Thai it! You'll like it!" |
Until we eat again - I have 2 more recipes and 3 more books!
Hallie
Fifty for 50 Tally
Books completed – 21 (4 more in progress)
Recipes tried – 20
Blog posts published– 18
Miles walked in May - 39.63
Miles walked year-to-date –213.6
Scrap book pages completed –19
Hats donated – 20
Hours volunteered – 0
