Tortilla Pizza

For more TMTT's check out Blessed With Grace.

Sometimes, I don't feel like cooking. Other times, I forget to take things out of the freezer, which I'm working on improving. When we're short on time and motivation, and long on hungry people, I often turn to this super quick standby. From freezer to table is about 15 minutes, and once paired with a nice green salad or veggie, it makes for a delicious way to avoid take out. I can't even get delivery in 15 minutes. It's pizza ... on a tortilla ... out of stuff in your pantry.

The Starting Line Up

Tortillas, any size, any variety.
We keep a stack of flour tortillas in the pantry at all times. I buy them in bulk at Costco for far less than the specialty aisle or produce section of the grocery store. You'll need 2 per person for adults (or at least adults in this house ... ) usually. Sometimes, when our tortilla stash is large, we'll use 2 tortillas for each pizza and toss a handful of cheese between the layers ... yum.

Pizza Sauce
Really, any sauce will do. I keep a stock of Save A Lot's Pino's brand pizza sauce in the pantry. It's fabulous stuff, and the whole jar is less than $1. When we run out of SAL brand, I'll use jarred spaghetti sauce. You could use whatever sauce you had on hand ... leftover pasta sauce, alfredo, creamy ranch ... basically it all works.

Toppings

Meats
Most of the people in this house prefer pepperoni on their tortilla pizza. I buy it in the giant bag from Costco when we're running low, then break it down into smaller portions when I get it home. I literally throw a handful or two into a used (yea, we wash 'em ... and I don't have to buy so many) zip top bag and throw all the bags into the door in the freezer. When it's pizza time, I just pull the pepperoni I need out of the bag, put it directly on the pizza still frozen, close the bag, toss it back in the freezer. The pepperoni slices don't usually stick together much in the freezer, so you can just pull what you need as you go. I loooooove that part.

Sometimes, when I'm actually planning to make these, we'll pre-cook some sausage crumbles, bacon, or chicken strips for toppings instead of the pepperoni. If you prefer some other meat on your pizza, you could pre-cook a bit, do the pepperoni procedure with freezer bags, and have it on standby. Other times, we've used whatever meats were leftover in the fridge ... beef roast shredded down into strips, seasoned beef from tacos, extra meatballs (cut in half so they won't roll around), pieces of leftover whole chicken ... basically whatever is in there will work.

Veggies
In the summer, tortilla pizzas are super fun with the plethora of peppers, onions, and tomatoes from the garden. In the winter, I rely on stored onions, canned mushrooms, and frozen bell pepper pieces. Again, it's a pantry meal, so whatever you have will work perfectly.

Cheese
Ah, cheese, how I adore thee. We stock up on chunk (and shredded, because they're often on sale together ... ) cheese when the per ounce prices get low enough. Any kind you're in love with will work (except that disgusting Velveeta type 'cheese food' that doesn't really melt).

The Game Plan

Use about 1 Tbsp of sauce, and spread lightly. It's only a tortilla, so a ton of sauce makes it soggy.

These are the world's smallest onions, I think. We found them growing rogue in the herb garden, so I made a quick dice of them and they became dinner. They look huge in that picture, but the knife they're next to is a paring sized knife, not a sword.


A sprinkling of onions, some canned mushrooms, and 5 or 6 still frozen pepperoni.


Half a handful (a fancy and exact measure, no?) of cheese, really like a large pinch. It's not hard to overload the pizza and then they won't crisp up. Now, into the oven.

The End Result

Yummmm! They get all crunchy crispy, especially around the edges. Give them a minute to set up once they come out of the oven, and cut them on the tray in slices (for kids) or quarters (for grown ups).

The Play By Play

Tortillas
+
Light coating of sauce of your choice
+
A few pieces of still frozen pre-cooked meat
+
Handful of veggies that you happen to have
+
An extra big pinch of shredded cheese, spread around
+
400 degree oven for 10 minutes
=
Yum!

Simply,

Em.

ItaliSoy Chicken

For more TMTT, check out Blessed with Grace.

Ah, ItaliSoy Chicken ... yum. I learned this recipe from my stepmother. She used to make this marinade and plop pork chops in it, but I'm partial to its use with boneless skinless chicken breasts instead (probably because I don't eat pork so much ...). I think there may have been measurements when she started, but I neither like nor often pay attention to those kinds of things while cooking and have as such lost them along the way somewhere. If it isn't too weird, I honestly judge it by the color. If it's too light, more of one thing. If it's too dark, more of the other. It is a big ole complicated recipe with it's ... two ingredients.

The Starting Line Up

Uh, yea, that's right ... it's Italian salad dressing (oil based, not cream) and good ole whatever kind you have soy sauce. You couldn't tell from the witty name? It doesn't really have a name here, except sometimes we call it (my step mom's name)'s Chicken. I had to come up with some way to label it for you fine people ... hilariously to the point, right?

On an aside, please just use whatever ingredients you have on hand. Really, we don't use that many name brand ingredients unless I get them for nearly free (at least cheaper than the generic), so please do not be persuaded otherwise by the picture. You can use whatever kinds of these items you have. Honestly, once while desperate, I tore open what seems like 184 of those little take out packets because we didn't have any other soy sauce in the house. Now, we buy it en mass (and fill the little bottle for the upstairs fridge) because I have finally learned my lesson. You can even change the kind of salad dressing as long as it is oil based and has some acid and some spices in it. Then, of course, you'll have to change the name ... ahaha.

The Game Plan

I tried to measure as I went this time so "mix it until it turns caramel colored" didn't have to appear in my recipe post. From what I can tell, you'll need 1 and 1/2 cups of salad dressing to 1/4 cup of soy sauce. You can increase or decrease the amount based on how much meat you need to cover, but that ratio should be pretty close to magic. I put it in a little bowl and use my super cool wisk so it mixes together well (and so I have an excuse to continue owning a fancy wisk). It should be approximately a shade darker than the one in the picture as the flash on my camera kind of washed out the depth when I took the above shot.

The End Result

Oh, pretty marinading chicken ... how yummy you will be. If the chicken looks a little awkward, it's because it's still frozen solid. I had to beat the bag against the floor to knock the pieces apart. Frozen or fresh, it works just the same. I just dump the marinade over, cover the bowl, and let it hang out in the fridge overnight. Other times, I let it marinade for as long as it takes to walk from the kitchen, down the stairs, to the grill outside our basement walk out (this happens more often than the other, honestly). See all those little bits of spicy tasty goodness? Yes! That is why salad dressing is the coolest marinade base in the world! There's no need to buy fancy special "marinades". Psh. Salad dressing = perfect.

The Play By Play

1.5 Cups Italian Salad Dressing
+
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
+
Fancy Wisk
(ok, or just a fork ...)
+
Chicken, pork, fish or your choice
=
Yum!

Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays: Em Hash

Quick dinners that fill up bellies for relatively few pennies are my friends. When I get home from trekking across campus all day I'm often far from in the mood for complicated meal prep or long cooking times. This dish has neither. It isn't the absolute healthiest thing we've ever eaten, but paired with a cooked veggie and a green salad it isn't all that bad.

You will need ...
sausage ... crumbled or smoked links (or any other protein of your choice)
cubed hashbrowns ... either real potatoes or a bag of frozen
eggs
shredded cheese

You will not measure any of these things. I am not a measuring kind of girl. I throw in what looks like enough based on my family's appetites and histories with a certain meal, especially this one. Sometimes I'm way off and someone starves or there are 30 days worth of leftovers (not really that exciting after 2 or 3), but most often it works out alright. I suggest experimenting with what looks appropriate for your family. The more wacky things you add to it, the farther it goes.

Now, to get started I cut up the smoked sausage in little disks. When I use uncased sausage, I just crumble it into the pan. These chopped nicely into little rounds, because well ... they were frozen solid when I started dinner.

No need to defrost, just cut them up anyway. They cook just fine from frozen, and better yet, there's no time spent on defrosting. If you're smarter than I, take them out earlier in the day. I just toss them all into the pan regardless.

The added benefit of tossing them in frozen is the pretty steam show. Also, the pan you see is my very favorite one in the whole world: a cast aluminum caldera. It's the.coolest.pan.ever. Once the sausage has a chance to brown a little, make a little divet by pushing all the sausage pieces to the outside of the pan around the edges and toss in the potatoes.

As you can see, also frozen. I would advocate breaking them up in the bag before tossing them in because they're easier to work with. I, because I was taking pictures for this post instead of paying attention to what I was doing, forgot that step. Usually I beat them on the counter a few times and call it good once they're broken into manageable chunks. Then throw in about a 1/2 cup of water, slap on the lid and let it hang out for a little while (5-6 minutes, stir, then another 5 or so until the hasbrowns are cooked through).

While you're waiting ... clean the counter, sort the mail, oh, and make some eggs. I just break them into the pan and 'scramble' them from there. No need for more bowls or utensils or the like.

Once the hashbrown time is up, take the lid off and give it a good stir. It will not be pretty. The water will have deglazed the sausage goodness off the bottom of the pan and the water will likely look like something out of a dirty bird bath. Do not be alarmed. It will also look a bit like soup. Rest assured it will get better.

See, I warned you ... soupy. Leave the lid off and turn the heat up a bit to give the potatoes some coaxing to soak up all that flavor-fest goodness. The extra heat also cooks off whatever water the potatoes can't handle. Stir frequently as it will start to stick once it starts to dry up a bit.

Once the potatoes look like potatoes again, throw the eggs in and give everything a solid stir. Grab your shredded cheese (any kind will do) and toss a handful or so on top. I usually put the lid on for a few minutes after that (off the heat) to let the residual heat from the pan melt the cheese. It should look something like this ...


Yummmm!

It's not the prettiest thing I've ever made. It's not the healthiest, though it can be changed up with just about any protein (chicken or turkey sausage, for example) or even dinner leftovers (just throw in some spices ... oregano, sage, pepper to taste to replace the sausage's natural seasoning). It is sooooooo good, though, and it is absolutely cheap to make based on what you have on hand. You can throw in extra veggies if you have them (tomatoes and bell peppers are particularly good). My favorite: it's easy peazy and requires almost no time. I mean, really, I just put frozen things in a pan and they turn into magic. That's why my family named it after me.

Enjoy!


Simply,

Em.