Lazy Thai Pizza

Every week, mostly, I follow a meal plan. Simply put, it's a list of what meals I want to make that week. It's a pretty simple idea but it helps save money and cut down on food waste. Every Sunday morning over coffee, the Fiancé and I go through the fridge, the freezer, the 'on sale' items on our grocery store app, and our fanciful food desires, and figure out what we want to eat the following week. Usually we try to come up with meals that use up fresh produce or leftover ingredients in the fridge. Or meals that make leftovers for lunches (or the freezer - quick defrost dinners = best). Or meals that take advantage of the grocery store sales. While one writes down the meal plan, the other makes the grocery list. It usually take 20 minutes if we're feeling uninspired (that's where cookbooks and the internet come in!).

Making a meal plan may sound super fancy, like I'm making a roast every other day, but it's definitely a lot more casual. For example. Despite my love of cooking, I do Not want to have to cook for 2 hours every night. Some of my favourite meals are done in 20 minutes or less. And I actually make it a point when planning to only have one prep intense meal (if any) on the weekly roster. The following pizza is an example of this. It uses leftover roast chicken, a pre-made pizza shell (I sometimes stock up on these when they're on sale and freeze them) and a 5 minute homemade peanut sauce. Once it's all put together it literally takes 8 minutes in the oven. Sold.

Lazy Thai Pizza

Pre-made pizza shell

Peanut Sauce (See below)
Chicken Mixture (See below)
~ 1 cup bean sprouts
~ 1 TBSP cilantro leaves, chopped

  1. Pre-heat oven to 450'F.
  2. Layer peanut sauce, chicken mixture, bean sprouts and cilantro.
  3. Bake pizza for 8 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Enjoy!

 

Peanut Sauce
3/4 cup peanut butter (I used chunky)
2 1/2 TBSP brown sugar
2 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP water
1/4 tsp chili flakes

  1. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pot.
  2. Over medium heat, stir ingredients until well combined and heated through, about 4 minutes. (Add some more water if it's too thick, stir till smooth.)
  3. Remove from heat and set aside till ready to assemble pizza.

Chicken Mixture
Oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 TBSP minced garlic
~ 1 cup roast chicken, shredded

  1. Heat ~ 1 TBSP of oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
  2. Add onion and cook until clear, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add garlic and chicken and stir together. Cook for about 2 minutes until garlic is fragrant.
  4. Remove from heat and set aside till ready to assemble pizza.

Bam. Dinner done in 20 minutes.

Also. Oh gad, it's good.

Meal planning win! ;)

-Andrea

The Half-Assed Hobbyist

 

Easy Cinnamon Buns

Here is a recipe for what the fiancé's family calls "easy cinnamon buns" that I haven't made in ages. The sad sad fact of reality is I totally forgot about them. As did my pant size. No more! Ah memory, how I love and curse you.

The reason this recipe is so easy is it's actually a baking powder biscuit recipe made to look like cinnamon buns. So no bun rising required! All the goodness of cinnamon buns with only a fraction of the time necessary until you can start putting these tasty devils in your face.

Easy Cinnamon Buns

Baking Powder Biscuit Dough:
2 cups flour
3 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup margarine
~3/4 cup milk (use more if it's dry outside)

  1. Combine dry ingredients in bowl.
  2. Using a fork or pastry blender, cut in cold margarine until mixture forms little pea sized crumbles. (Make sure there are no big lumpies of margarine!)
  3. Stir in milk. Mix until a wet dough forms.
  4. On a floured counter, knead dough for 10 strokes. (Use more flour to stop it sticking to everything and the dog.)

(At this point, the dough can be rolled out to 1/2 inch thick and cut into circles for biscuits. Bake at 450'F for 12 minutes.)

OR

Easy Cinnamon Buns:

Margarine (~1/4 cup)
Brown Sugar (~1 cup)
Cinnamon (~ 1/2 TSBP)

Note: The amounts of ingredients for this recipe are variable. If you want more goopy, add more sugar. If you want super cinnamon-y, add more cinnamon. My pictures have way more sugar than I normally use because I wanted to see what would happen. Super syrupy is the answer.

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 450'F.
  2. Roll out baking powder biscuit dough into a rectangle, ~1/4 inch thick.
  3. Spread margarine on dough. (I use my fingers so I don't make holes in the soft dough.)
  4. Sprinkle dough with brown sugar and cinnamon.
  5. Roll gently and cut into 12 X 11/2 inch sections.
  6. Place in greased muffin tins.
  7. Bake for 12 minutes, until golden brown.

These little delights remind me that sometimes making the easy version can be just as satisfying as making the more complex version. You know, except for the whole having hot homemade cinnamon buns within a half hour part.

;)

-Andrea

The Half-Assed Hobbyist