"Chicken" Bacon Ranch Pizza

It's Pizza Friday! This is another awesome pizza from Stephanie Cooks. There should be chicken in here too, but yours truly forgot to defrost the chicken in time. The accidental omission didn't matter, however; the pizza did just fine without it (though I can't wait to try it again with the chicken). We ate this outside on the patio and my husband repeatedly requested that I make two of these next time.


Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza
from Stephanie Cooks; originally from Annie's Eats

• 1 batch of pizza dough
• Olive oil
• 1/4 cup ranch salad dressing
• 4 ounces grilled chicken, diced small
• 3 slices of bacon, cooked crisp and diced small
• 1 tomato, seeded and diced small
• 2-3 green onions, chopped
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 450.

Prepare your pizza dough, leaving a thicker edge around the side for the crust. Prepare it on either parchment paper or on a pizza peel topped with corn meal. Drizzle olive oil lightly over the crust and rub it all over the dough, over the edges as well. Bake for 7 minutes.

Top with the ranch salad dressing, spreading evenly over the crust.

Next, arrange your chicken, bacon, and tomato evenly over the dressing.

Top with the cheddar cheese. The sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over top.

Transfer the pizza to the stone. Bake 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden.

Top with the green onions as soon as you pull it from the oven. Serve hot.

Chicken and Bacon Ranch Mac and Cheese

You already know that I'm a huge mac and cheese fan. Look over there to the left - I have a whole tag full of variations, and though I definitely have my favorites, I'm always up for trying something new.

This Chicken and Bacon Ranch Mac and Cheese was adapted from Cooking Light, but I'm not really sure what's so light about it. Sure, it could be a lot worse, but this doesn't really scream healthy dinner to me.

Anyway, fat content aside, this was a seriously delicious dinner that both of my children gobbled up. I doubled it, which left plenty for leftover lunches for a couple of days. I also took Danielle's suggestion and added broccoli.

Chicken and Bacon Ranch Mac and Cheese
adapted from Dinner with Danielle, who adapted from Cooking Light

• 8 ounces uncooked Fusilli pasta
• 3 slices pre-cooked bacon, cut into small pieces (reserve 1/3)
• 8 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 breast)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 12 ounces skim milk
• 1 can condensed 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup
• 4oz shredded cheese
• 3 teaspoons Ranch dressing mix
• 1 steamer bag of broccoli florets, cooked
  
• Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain.

Cook chicken in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add bacon to the pan and warm through. Remove from heat and set aside.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; sprinkle flour evenly into pan. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk. Combine milk and soup, stirring with a whisk; gradually add milk mixture to saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until thick. Remove from heat; let stand 4 minutes or until sauce cools to 155°. Add cheeses and dressing mix, stirring until cheese melts. Stir in broccoli, pasta and chicken.

Spoon mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake covered for 10-15 minutes; remove cover and bake for another 10.

Cheesy Bacon Pierogie Bake

I have never, before this meal, eaten a pierogie.

I don't know why... I just don't think we ever had them growing up, which means they weren't something I actively sought out in my own cooking.

That will change, though, because this Cooking Light meal was too good to leave as a one-hit wonder.  It's been popping up throughout my food blog world, and for good reason.  This was barely enough for all four of us, though; next time I will double.

Cheesy Bacon Pierogie Bake

barely adapted from Cooking Light

• 1  (16-ounce) package frozen potato and onion pierogies (such as Mrs. T's)
  
• Cooking spray
  
• 3  slices turkey bacon,  chopped
  
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
  
• 1/3  cup  (3 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
  
• 1/2  cup  fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
  
• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  
• 1/4  cup  thinly diagonally sliced green onions
  
• 1 tomato, seeded and diced
  

1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Arrange the pierogies in an 11 x 7-inch glass baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cook bacon in a saucepan over medium heat until crisp; remove from pan. Set aside.

3. Add garlic to drippings in pan, and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add 1/3 cup cream cheese to pan, and cook for 1 minute or until cream cheese begins to melt, stirring frequently. Gradually add chicken broth to pan, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Pour the cream cheese mixture evenly over pierogies. Top evenly with 1/2 cup cheddar cheese. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until bubbly and thoroughly heated. Remove from oven, and sprinkle with bacon, green onions, tomato, and pepper.

Stovetop Mac and Cheese with Bacon and Broccoli

I just love doing recipe exchanges. I love thinking about which dish I want to submit, and then I anxiously await my assignment. I always get nervous. Will we like it? Will it require weird ingredients that I'll have to buy and never use again? Will it be easy to make while 2 energetic young boys run around my kitchen?

This is my third exchange with my online group (I still haven't blogged the second - yikes!) and I'm three-for-three. Melissa submitted Alton Brown's Stovetop Mac and Cheese, and you probably all know how much I love anything pasta-related, especially mac and cheese. I definitely have my favorites, but I love trying new variations.

This is definitely another one to add to the rotation. At first, I was really wary of the quantity. HALF a box of elbows was going to feed all four of us? I was positive I'd be making some sandwiches later. But don't be deceived - we all ate it and there was still some leftover.

I wasn't a huge fan of the cheese and sauce combo, but it was so fast and easy that it doesn't matter. Next time I would probably use half cheddar and half American, my usual cheese concoction. I also took Melissa's advice and added some turkey bacon. Yum - this was a hit for the whole family!

Stovetop Mac and Cheese with Bacon and Broccoli

adapted from Alton Brown, as seen on I Was Born to Cook

• 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 eggs
• 6 ounces evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Fresh black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 10 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
• 1 package frozen broccoli, cooked
• 4 slices turkey bacon, cooked and chopped

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente and drain. Return to the pot and melt in the butter. Toss to coat.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and mustard. Stir into the pasta and add the cheese, bacon, and brocolli. Over low heat continue to stir for 3 minutes or until creamy.

Rotini with Cheese

I'm not a bacon fan at all, but I've recently discovered that I do enjoy turkey bacon.  I don't know if it's truly healthier, but I definitely can appreciate the flavor it adds to my meals.

My good friend Jenn made this not too long ago, and though she didn't give it rave reviews, she liked it enough for me to give it a whirl.

Mine didn't look like either Jenn's photo or Cooking Light's, but I suppose that's not unusual.  I agree with Jenn that it is "good but not great" - I do feel like it's lacking something.  I just don't know what... stay tuned for a makeover!

Rotini with Cheese

from Jenn and Food: Perfect Together, who adapted it from Cooking Light

• 3 turkey bacon slices
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 TBSP all-purpose flour
• 1 cup 1% low-fat milk
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  
• salt & pepper
• 5 cups hot cooked rotini (about 8 ounces uncooked pasta)
• 3/4 cup frozen green peas, thawed

1. Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan; crumble. Increase heat to medium-high. Add butter and oil to drippings in pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; sauté for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add flour, and sauté 1 minute, stirring frequently. Gradually add 1 cup milk, stirring constantly with a whisk, and bring to a boil. Cook for 3 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat. Let stand 3 minutes. Add cheeses, salt, and pepper, stirring with a whisk until smooth.

2. Place pan over low heat. Stir in bacon, pasta, and peas; cook for 1 minute or until thoroughly heated, tossing to coat.