recipe: easy chicken pizza

Last week, I promised you the recipe for my chicken pizza. It's pretty straightforward ... any of you could have "invented" this recipe, too. It's also incredibly quick to make—from the time you turn on the oven until you pull the pizza out, you're looking at 20-25 minutes. It's perfect for those nights when you're looking for a fast, easy supper.

Easy Chicken Pizza

1 thin pizza crust (I use Golden Home's Ultra Crispy & Ultra Thin crust. It comes in a 3-pack for $2.99 at Hy-Vee.)
1/3-1/2 cup pizza sauce
1 can (13 oz.) chicken
4 oz. mozzarella cheese
Garlic powder
Italian seasoning
Fresh ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Spread pizza sauce on crust, stopping about 1/4 inch from the edge. Drain chicken and crumble over crust. Top with cheese. Sprinkle on garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and pepper to taste. Drizzle olive oil over the top. Bake according to crust package directions. Enjoy!

Some helpful hints:

• Place a pan on the bottom rack of your oven to catch any pizza drips. Trust me—I learned this the hard way!
• You can use any combination of cheeses that you want, and you can certainly use more or less than I do! I like to put a handful of grated asiago on top of the mozzarella. Cheddar or parmesan would also be good.
• You can mince two cloves of garlic to use in place of the garlic powder ... I've done it both ways, and it's way easier to go for the powder!
• The crust I buy comes in a 3-pack. The package says you can freeze the crusts for up to a month—just be aware that frozen crusts don't crisp up as well as fresh ones.
• Don't make this when you're the only one eating unless you have a lot of willpower! I have a hard time not eating the whole pizza by myself ... it's just that good!  

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warm and wonderful weekend

So the Huskers lost (and, frankly, looked like they wouldn't have been able to hang onto the ball if their lives depended on it). But other than that, I had a delightful weekend!

Friday

• Made breakfast for supper with Blendy and enjoyed eating with the fam.
• Looked at a house with Val. She has the opportunity to move into a furnished house for not very much money.
• Watched The Proposal with Mom. She thought the eagle scene was hilarious. (And I thought the preview for Old Dogs was hilarious. The movie will probably be ridiculously stupid, but I couldn't stop laughing at the trailer!)
  

Saturday

• Finished the first season of Fringe. Boy, was Lori ever right when she told me I'd love it!
• Did all my dishes. I so wish I had a dishwasher!
• Made pizza with my sisters.
• Went to Love Happens with Steph and Janae. It was ... OK. Much more serious than many romantic movies, it wasn't actually that romantic, either. I think Janae and Steph liked it much more than I did. (Weird fact #1: There were no previews. I don't think I've ever been to a movie with no previews, and I felt kind of cheated. Weird fact #2: The average age of the people in the theater had to be at least 45--and that's only because of the row of teenagers. Most people were well over 50, I'd say. I think the only other time I saw a movie with so many old people was when Beth and I saw The Horse Whisperer.)
  
• Watched The Proposal with Steph and Janae. Tried to contain myself as we watched the Old Dogs preview ... with moderate success.
  

Sunday

• Went to my high school friend Dorinda's anniversary party in Beatrice. Being a great sister, Steph went with me! It was great to see Dori and her parents again! (While we were talking, I remembered how Dori's mom used to always feed me when I went to community college. I had several evening classes one semester, so I'd go hang out at their house during my break between classes. I'm not big on barbecue, but Dori's mom would frequently make barbecue ribs that were out of this world. If I remember right, she made her own sauce--and it was amazing!)
• Stopped by Andrew & Susan's in Lincoln on the way home. Andrew provided me with the caffeine I needed to squelch my headache.
• Drove through Popeye's for supper. Steph and I split a meal, so we got the mild chicken ... next time I'll be having the spicy!
• Made cinnamon coffee for Janae and Val. Thanks to Jen for the simple cinnamon tip!
• Watched FlashForward with Val. We're both thinking that we may not watch much longer. It's trying to be LOST, but it's not succeeding.
• Realized that since I'll be at work until 8 p.m. tomorrow due to parent-teacher conferences, I don't need to go in until noon!
  

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on the oregon trail: day 11

We spent Saturday in Portland. Beth had to work again, so it was a good day to go. It was also good because our cousin Kim and her husband Rob had the day off and were able to meet us downtown. We met at the Saturday Market, which would have been lots of fun to browse through if we were shoppers. But I’m certainly not (with some notable exceptions), and neither is Val. I think Steph would have liked to spend more time looking around there than we did.

Waiting for Kim & Rob in Portland. Check out how beautiful the wind made my hair!

We spent most of our time at Powell’s Books. It takes up a full city block and has 9 rooms of books. Nate didn’t buy anything, but Val, Steph, and I all stimulated the Portland economy. A glimpse into our bags—guess who bought what: 1) Mere Christianity, The Case For Christ, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Sense & Sensibility, Betty Crocker Cookbook, The Hiding Place. 2) Mrs. Frisby & the Rats of NIMH, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure, The Tale of Despereaux. 3) The Picture of Dorian Gray, Great American Short Stories: From Hawthorne to Hemingway. In a few days, I’ll post the correct answers.

The cousins outside of Powell's: Val, Kim, Rob, Me, Steph.

After Powell’s, we went in search of food. After briefly considering a Thai place, we ended up at a pub that I can't remember the name of. Then we went back to Powell’s, where Kim & Rob left us. Val wanted to keep looking for books, so Nate, Steph, and I walked back to the car to drop off our things; then we went in search of dessert because Nate wanted ice cream. We ended up at a place right across the street from Powell’s: Mio Gelato. This was my first gelato experience, and it was awesome. I saw a sign in the shop saying it had been voted one of the best places to get dessert in Portland, and I believe it!

Nate & I enjoy our gelato. Mine is tiramisu; his is cinnamon.

We thought about going to Forest Park on our way out of Portland, but it was already approaching 5 p.m., and I wanted to be back in Seaside well before dark. We met Beth at Safeway, where we bought necessary items for our journey home and brownie sundae makings. Beth had picked up a pizza from Pizza a’Fetta—it was supposed to be half pepperoni and half something fancier, but they messed up the order and didn’t do the pepperoni half, so they also gave us three slices of pepperoni. We also had awesome cheese covered breadsticks.

Nate enjoys his pizza--with all the "extras" off my piece.

After supper, we packed up all our stuff; then we had brownie sudaes (with Tillamook ice cream!) while watching Hancock. Hmmm . . . not sure what I think about that movie. It was not what I was expecting, and I'm not sure it even knew what it was trying to be--comedy, drama, romance, or superhero movie--it had elements of all of them.

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on the oregon trail: days 7 & 8

We’ve had an eventful two days! We left Spokane at 9 a.m. on Tuesday. But before we left, I took plenty of pictures of Sharon’s yard and living room for Mom to see. What a good daughter I am!

We stopped for gas and coffee about an hour into our journey. The Starbucks we stopped at was connected to a Mexican fast food restaurant, which gravely concerned Val. She felt better when I pointed out the two places just shared a building—it wasn’t like they made the coffee and the tacos in the same area! My coffee was OK, but Val compared hers to McDonald’s coffee . . . and she doesn’t have a high opinion of McDonald’s coffee!

We stopped at a Walmart for supplies, and then we went to McDonald’s for lunch. There, Nate and I got our first taste of Tillamook ice cream—delicious! We’ll be going to the Tillamook Cheese Factory while Beth works on Friday.

Many people warned us about the road between Spokane and Portland. I came away from each conversation thinking “barren wasteland” . . . but that really wasn’t the case. Sure, the drive wasn’t as breathtakingly beautiful as much of our drive has been, but it wasn’t so bad. Part of Washington actually reminded me and Val of Kansas.

Our drive became more interesting once we hit Oregon. We followed the Columbia River, and the view was, at times, spectacular. We stopped at Multnomah Falls, which I’ve wanted to see ever since I read the Robin Jones Gunn book Echoes in high school. (Should I even admit that? Anyway, part of the story—which I recounted in great detail for my fellow travelers—takes place at Multnomah Falls.) It was not what I was expecting. Beautiful, yes, but I think the Hidden Falls has it beat.

Multnomah Falls

We finally got to Cannon Beach around 7. Beth met us at the park, and we walked over to Pizza a Feta for supper. It was the cheapest meal we’ve had yet—we each ordered one piece of pizza, and our breadsticks were free because they were out of the “real” ones and had to substitute—and it was delicious. Then we went to see Haystack Rock, rented a movie, and went to Beth’s apartment.

We're finally with Beth . . . and we're cold!

I slept through most of the movie—Inkheart starring Brendan Frasier. I can’t remember the last time I slept through I movie I hadn’t seen before, but I was suddenly exhausted! Val slept through some of it, too.

Following the movie, we all crashed . . . me and Val on a foam mattress, Steph on a loveseat, and Nate on an air mattress. Poor Nate got the shaft everywhere else, even sleeping on the floor in our motel rooms, so we decided to be nice to him at Beth’s ☺

This morning, we slept in—a wonderful thing! Then we headed to Astoria, where we had brunch. We went to Coffee Girl, and we were all quite impressed. I had a bagel sandwich—cheddar cheese bagel, cream cheese, turkey, and cheddar—and a latte. Both were excellent! Nate, Steph, and Beth all had paninis, and Val had yogurt with fruit and granola.

After Coffee Girl, Beth took us to see the sea lions, only they were nowhere to be found! Then we went to the Astoria Column. I think it has some sort of historical significance, but I don’t know what! It’s a very tall tower that you can climb to the top of. For me, coming down was a lot harder than going up. The staircase was spiral, and I got really dizzy going down. Beth bought Val and Nate little airplanes to fly from the top. Nate’s won, though Val’s also flew a very impressive distance!

Next, we crossed the Astoria Bridge, which doesn’t go underwater as Nate thought his mother had said. The Astoria Bridge connects Oregon and Washington. Once in Washington, we went to Cape Disappointment State Park. Surprisingly (at least for this Nebraskan), the park was free for day users. We hiked to two lighthouses, saw Waikiki Beach, and visited a General Store. Evidently, the Cape Disappointment lighthouse is the oldest lighthouse still in use in the United States.

I was pretty tired after the park, so I was glad for the 45 minute car ride back to Seaside. Once back in Seaside, we went to this store that sells sweatshirts for $12.99. I was amazed at the selection! Val, Steph, and I all bought sweatshirts.

The sisters in our cheap hoodies. Val said we should "look like we were from the 1800's."

We wore the sweatshirts tonight when we went to Cannon Beach. We ate at Bill’s Tavern. Steph and I got the homemade root beer. I must not have very sophisticated tastes because I’d take a good Sam’s Choice root beer over Bill’s any day of the week! All of us save Beth had burgers . . . and they were really tasty.

Nate wanted to run on the beach, so he did that while we girls got coffee, this time at Bella Espresso (which is where I’m posting this blog from). Steph thought the hot chocolate she got there was some of the best she’d ever had.

We met Nate at Haystack Rock, then we built a fire on the beach. We made s’mores and Jiffy Pop, sang songs, talked, and laughed. It was a great way to end the day!

Beth starting our fire. A mother and daughter bought us lighter fluid in exchange for watching their wood while they went to buy lighter fluid for themselves.

Nate making our Jiffy Pop. The instructions specifically said, "Do not use over an open fire."

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crazy? you bet!

Steph wanted pizza last Friday, but I didn't want to take the time to make our normal homemade crust. Searching through Mom's recipes, I found one from my aunt called Crazy Crust Pizza. It looked fairly quick and simple, so I decided to go for it. I knew it would be different, as it called for 4 eggs and only 2 cups of flour . . . but I had no idea just how different! Fortunately, I had my camera:

1. Mix all ingredients until smooth; spread in pan. Add meat, and bake for 25 minutes. I chose to ignore the meat directions--why would I put the meat on before the sauce? Well, perhaps the meat would serve to hold down the crust; when I opened the oven to check on the crust 15 minutes into the baking time, this is what I saw:
2. When I took the crust out after the full 25 minutes, it looked like this:
3. After I beat on it with a spatula, it looked a little more normal:
4. Add the sauce . . .

5. And cheese. And in my case, meat:

6. And here's the final product. It looks like a normal pizza!
The crust was surprisingly good . . . until the next day. I usually love day-old pizza, but not this stuff. The crust took on a funky texture and flavor. So, beware of Crazy Crust Pizza . . . or at least follow the recipe :-)

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