Eggcellent Pizza

About a week or so ago, I used up my last pizza crust and made egg pizza. I had a craving for eggs and I decided I wanted to try them on a pizza. It was easy, and the leftovers made for a good breakfast.

So I laid out the pizza crust and spread a little olive oil over the base. In a bowl, I mixed together six eggs which I then poured over the pizza. Don't worry if your eggs extend beyond the crust onto the pan; they'll cook together like a quiche and stay with the rest of the pizza.

Then I sprinkled freshly shredded mozzarella over the eggs. I would suggest you go parmesan instead of mozzarella, but I didn't have any parmesan on hand. Next I salted and peppered the pizza. Lastly, I put some broccoli and spinach over the pizza, and popped it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. When it starts to turn golden-brown around the edges, it's ready to go.

The end result was a lot like a quiche, which a tasty, buttery crust underneath the egg. You can refrigerate any leftover pizza, and it reheats in the morning for a delicious breakfast you can have on the go. Definitely a keeper, and a great way to get rid of eggs before they go bad.

Beet Pizza

A couple days ago, I experimented with beet pizza. I had bought some pickled canned beets and thought it'd be interesting on a pizza.

So I started cooking some chicken, which I cooked with Philadelphia's lemon and herb cooking creme and some rosemary and basil.

As the chicken was cooking, I started prepping the pizza. I took some of the beet juice from the can and mixed it with some of the lemon and herb cooking creme for my pizza sauce. I spread this along the dough, then added some chunks of mozzarella cheese. Over this, I spread my chicken and some spinach, plus some chopped up beets. Then I popped it all in the oven and baked for about 15 minutes.

The end result looked a bit like a normal pizza, with a red sauce and nice big chunks of melted cheese. The taste was unique but delicious, with the beets providing a subtle sweetness. I could've used less spice in the sauce, as it created a taste that at times was a bit jarring. All in all though, beet pizza proved to be a unique take on pizza!

The Case For Love

Last year, Rick Santorum was still in the running for the Republican presidential nomination. Every time the man opened his mouth, something absurd came out of it and women across the nation bristled with a combination of outrage, amusement, and utter disbelief. When the nomination went to Mitt Romney instead, Santorum stepped down and shut his mouth - for a while. Now he's coming to Washington to help fight against same-sex marriage in Washington State.

I'm not a fan of Santorum in the slightest, and I whole-heartedly support same-sex marriage. But if there's one thing I can respect about Santorum, it's his commitment to his personal values. I don't respect his values one tiny bit, but I do admire his consistency and honesty about where he stands. He's not trying to please anyone, just do what he believes is right. With this in mind, I'd like to make the case for love in this ugly political debate over the "definition" of marriage.

The first thing both sides of this argument forgets is that everyone involved is a person too. We are all human with feelings, beliefs, values, and morals. That's what drives us to fight for our side. Unfortunately, it's also part of human nature to "other" the enemy. By vilifying the other side, you can forget about their humanity and ignore their views in favor of your own. The anti-same-sex marriage side is accusing the others of being Godless sinners while the pro-same-sex marriage side is accusing their opponents of being hateful bigots. It's easy to disrespect the people on the other side by viewing solely on the issue and forgetting their humanity.

One of the biggest reasons religious people are changing their minds about homosexuality and same-sex marriage is because they are getting to know more gay people. It's harder to demonize a person when you start seeing their humanity. This is another human being with feelings and love who you actually respect as a person. On the other side, I can point to a handful of people in my life who I respect and value as individuals who hold views regarding same-sex marriage that I find abhorrent. But if I lose sight of who these people are and why I respect them in the first place, then my behavior is no better than the very views I'm fighting against.

The message of the pro-same-sex marriage side is one of love; God loves everyone, it's our duty as human beings to love and support everyone, and so we should provide marriage equality for everyone. If we can remember to love everyone, we come out on top. The winners isn't the side that fuels hatred and creates enemies; the winners are the ones who can continue to love and respect the people despite opposing the values.

If you want to send a message to Santorum explaining that same concept to him, explaining that his values and his message isn't welcome in Washington, the Washington United for Marriage campaign has a form you can fill out.

Furthermore, I couldn't be more proud of the entire Approve R74 campaign in Washington; there's no hatred being spread. No tearing down of the other side. It's all love reiterating why the supporters believe this is the right message to spread. Take a look at Lutherans Approve R74 in particular.

Chicken Noodle Soup (For the Graduate Student Who Doesn't Want to Starve)

Last week, I was telling my mom that Progresso's Light Chicken Noodle soup was pretty good, and she suggested that I actually just make my own chicken noodle soup, so I'd know what all went in to it. So I did.

I acquired all the necessary ingredients, such as chicken (I bought chicken tenders so I could just cut them up and cook them), carrots, celery, chicken broth, and of course noodles. I love egg noodles but couldn't figure out where to find them at the local Kroger, so I bought some little round noodles called ditalini. (Of course, when I started making the soup I nearly forgot about the noodles altogether, so everything was ready to go except for the pasta)

So anyway, tonight I made my soup. I started with the chicken, which I cut up into chunks and tossed in a pot with some olive oil, rosemary, and basil. While in the pot, I put some salt and pepper on the chicken. Then I stirred it all around and let the chicken cook itself through. Easy.

Here's the chicken, nearly ready to be put in the soup. It already smelled great!

Meanwhile, I poured all of my Swanson's chicken broth into a large pot and got that going. Once the chicken was ready, I put it right into the broth. Added some more rosemary, basil, salt and pepper, and then started on the vegetables. I washed some celery stocks and carrots sticks, peeled the carrots, and chopped everything up to add to the soup.

Everything was looking good and I was getting ready to call it quits when I realized I was missing the noodle part of my chicken noodle soup. So I cooked up the pasta and added it to the mix and called it good.

The carrots and chicken sunk to the bottom, but everything is good to go...I thought.

I did notice that by not pre-cooking the vegetables, they are still fairly crunchy in the soup. If you like that, go for it. If you prefer mushier veggies in a soup, however, definitely cook the vegetables prior to adding them to the soup. Anyway, the flavor is rich and delicious, especially the chicken which has nice seasoning due to being cooked with the spices.

This dinner was a bit more time-intensive, but the wonderful thing about making my own soup is that I'm guaranteed to have the things I like in it; the chicken was cut in a way so as to get rid of any fat or gristle that I refuse to eat (I often throw away chicken in soup if it "looks funny"). Plus, by making an entire pot, I still have quite a bit of soup left over, which I can now freeze for future use. Another culinary success.

Bon apetit!

Healthy Pizza

Saturday night, a group of girls from the Arts Administration masters program got together for a pizza night. We watched TV shows about ghost hunters and Nazis, made pizza, drank wine and beer, and just had a good time hanging out together. I'm a pretty big fan of pizzas, but I can't eat many of the traditional staples of a pizza. So tonight for dinner, I decided to explore some healthier pizza options to meet both my dietary needs and my picky eating habits.

I made a broccoli spinach pizza with an olive oil sauce for myself. It was very tasty, and incredibly easy to make.

I started with Pillsbury thin pizza crust, because I don't like too much crust. It's all about the cheese and toppings for me! You simply spray a cookie sheet and unroll the crust. It's rectangular in shape, not circular, but that tends to work better for thin crusts anyway. The directions state that if you want a crispy crust, bake it for 5 minutes before adding toppings to it. For softer crust, don't. I opted for a midway point and popped mine in for about 3 minutes.

Next, the sauce. I'm not a fan of red sauces because the tomatos are hard on my stomach, and white sauces are often too fatty because of all the cream. So I made my own sauce; I mixed together olive oil, rosemary, thyme, and half a spoonful of my tried and true Philadelphia cooking creme (the reduced fat Italian Cheese & Herb variety, as usual). I whisked this all together so it was a consistent texture and then drizzled it over the pizza dough. You can use the back of a spoon, a spatula, or one of those nifty little brushes to ensure the sauce covers the entire pizza.

Then, the cheese! For the sake of ease and time, I opted for pre-shredded cheese. I used an Italian blend, which consisted of mozzarella, provolone  and parmesan cheeses. Of course, I'm always a fan of freshly shredded cheese, so if you have some on hand, definitely shred it yourself and go for stronger, fresher flavor!

My pizza mid-process; it's got sauce, cheese and broccoli so far.

I chopped up some broccoli heads and spinach leaves which I sprinkled across the top of the pizza, then added more cheese on top. Pop the whole thing in the oven following the instructions on the dough package (I baked it for 13 minutes at 400 degrees) and it's golden. While cooling, I sprinkled some additional rosemary on top for a little added flavor.

The finished product; golden around the edges without being burnt!

The end result was flavorful and filling; definitely something I'll have to hold on to and try again. The crust is a tiny bit sweet yet savory, and the rosemary and thyme complemented the cheese and greens. In the future, I may contemplate adding black olives, artichoke hearts, or chicken. I probably spent 20 minutes making dinner tonight, and used barely any dishes. Plus, I ate some veggies! I paired mine with some moscato (and some peach iced tea Crystal Light after my glass was empty) and watched some Wilfred on Netflix. Night: success.