Tasty Tuesday: Personal Pizzas and Indoor S'mores Bars

PART 1
We love making pizza. I toss a few ingredients in my bread machine and 90 minutes later we have pizza dough. (Have I ever mentioned how I love my bread machine?) Fifteen minutes after forming the pie and adding toppings, we have hot, delicious pizza, fresh out of the oven. Usually, we make one big pizza. This time, I decided to split the dough into fourths and let everyone make his own. The kids loved it!

I save left over dipping sauce when we order pizza. If we need more, I use jarred pasta sauce. You can't even tell the difference. Jake, who is the pickiest of the three, had no hesitations in putting mushrooms and banana peppers on his pizza. Alyssa loves toppings. Her pizza would have had a pack of cheese, a whole onion, and half a pig if she had her way! Zachy eats anything you put in front of him . . . and then some.

Pizza Dough for bread machine
Ingredients:
3/4 tsp salt                                             2 tsp active dry yeast  
4 c all-purpose flour                               1 3/8 c water
1 Tbsp pizza seasoning                         3 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in bread pan.
2. Select dough setting and press start.
3. Once the machine is done, remove dough and pat into preferred shape. Prepare as desired.
4. Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Let rest 5 minutes before cutting.

PART 2

We love camping. Jake asks all year long if we can go. He doesn't care that it's freezing temperatures outside. He just wants to camp! One of the best things about it is making s'mores. I love sitting by the fire and sloooowly roasting marshmallows. It is a science to get them just right - lightly browned on the outside, ooey-gooey on the inside. Once it's perfect, you use the graham crackers and chocolate to slide the marshmallow off, leaving a clean stick behind. The chocolate melts into creamy goodness. Mmm, now I'm ready to go camping! Almost.

Currently, it's too cold to go camping, but that didn't stop us from eating s'mores.

Indoor S'mores Bars
Ingredients: 
8     cups Golden Grahams cereal           5     tablespoons butter
5     cups miniature marshmallows             1     teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2     cups milk chocolate chips              1     cup miniature marshmallows, if desired
1/4     cup light corn syrup

Directions:
1. Into large bowl, measure cereal. Butter 13x9-inch pan. In large microwavable bowl, microwave 5 cups marshmallows, the chocolate chips, corn syrup and butter uncovered on High 2 minutes to 3 minutes 30 seconds, stirring after every minute, until melted and smooth when stirred. Stir in vanilla.
2. Pour over cereal; quickly toss until completely coated. Stir in 1 cup marshmallows.
3. Press mixture evenly in pan, using buttered back of spoon. Let stand uncovered at least 1 hour, or refrigerate if you prefer a firmer bar. Cut into bars.  Store loosely covered at room temperature up to 2 days.

We made a few modifications. We made half a batch because somebody ate most of the Golden Grahams. We melted the coating on the stove. We had to use regular marshmallows because that's all we had. I cut some into pieces and tried ripping some to the size of mini marshmallows for the final mix-in. It was actually easier to just tear them apart. As I put the  ingredients away, I found a bag of minis, right where they were supposed to be. Go figure.

The bars don't taste exactly like a s'more. They have a strong Golden Grahams flavor. Strange, I know, since that's the main ingredient. They would be more s'more-like if made with plain ol' graham crackers. They are delicious and very addicting! But, they will never replace a good, old-fashioned s'more.

Tasty Tuesday: Homemade Ice Cream

It was a big day for ice cream in the Leaf household. First, we made snow ice cream in the afternoon. At night, we had the treat of making real, homemade s'mores ice cream with my new toy - the Cuisinart ICE-21 Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker. Fancy, huh? I have wanted one of these for a while, but could never justify spending the money on it. This one was on such a good sale and I had birthday money (which I never spend on myself) and figured the whole family would benefit from this purchase. One can never have too much ice cream.

Zachy helped crush the graham crackers.

After all 3 kids took a turn.

Ingredients:

1/2 c cocoa powder, sifted (We used 1/4 c and it was great.)

1/3 c granulated sugar

1/4 c packed brown sugar

pinch salt

2/3 c whole milk

1 1/2 c heavy cream

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3/4 c marshmallow cream (e.g. Fluff)

2 full graham cracker sheets, crushed

2 oz milk chocolate (1/3 c chips), melted and reserved at room temperature

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugars, and salt. Add the milk, and using a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk, beat to combine until the cocoa and sugars are dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate 1-2 hours or overnight. 

2. Turn on the ice cream maker; pour the mixture into the frozen freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, about 15-20 minutes. Five minutes before mixing is completed, gradually add the marshmallow cream, 1 spoonful at a time. Once mixed, add the crushed graham crackers and melted chocolate one at a time through the top and let mix in completely. The ice cream will have a soft creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream to an air-tight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

Here we go.

Dry ingredients.

Mixing like a pro.

Dissolved in the milk.

Adding the cream.

Jake was ready to drink it up.

Sealing it up tight.

Icy bath.

The anticipation is killing me!

Ok, I admit, I was a little too adventurous for my first time. We should have made a plain ol' flavor without any mix-ins in order to get to know the machine. I followed the directions and let it mix for 12 minutes before putting in the marshmallow cream. Fail. It was already mixed to death and would not swirl the cream or chocolate. Instead, we had a big mass of each with little bits throughout. Let me tell you though, that did not stop us from devouring it! It was super-duper delicious (as Jacob would say.) As you can see, I didn't even take the time to place a big scoop in one of our pretty ice cream bowls for a picture. You are stuck looking at the glob in the bowl. You don't know what you're missing.

The machine at work.

S'mores ice cream

The machine itself is so easy to use. You pour the ingredients in and turn it on. It's no wonder that it's the number 1 rated  budget ice cream maker on the market. Another pro is that it's quick. You can make fresh ice cream in less than 30 minutes. I keep most of the ingredients on hand, so it's convenient as well. It has a safety mechanism that shuts the motor down if it overheats (in case you're not standing there watching through the transparent lid, like us.) 

A con is that the bowl must be completely frozen (20-24 hours) before using. We will just make a permanent home for it in the back of the freezer. That way it's ready any time we need it. Also, it makes only 1 1/2 quarts (6 cups) of ice cream. That amount is currently fine for our family. Once the kids get older or have company over, we can purchase a second freezer bowl. The motor is louder than I expected, but not enough to bother me.

Overall, it's a great machine that makes delicious treats. I am so glad that I finally purchased one. I know we will put it to good use. Tonight's flavor: strawberry.