Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza

If you've had "chicken, bacon, ranch" anything, I think most of you will agree that it is a wonderful combination. Chicken, bacon, ranch pizza? Might be the best way to have the trio. This past week I made this pizza and even added a few sautéed mushrooms - which I didn't regret!

The recipe is as follows:

1 can Pillsbury pizza dough (or your favorite recipe)

1 C Ranch

1/2 lb. Bacon

2 large chicken breasts

1 T vegetable oil

Shredded mozzarella cheese

2 C raw mushrooms

1/3 C butter

1-1/2 t garlic powder

S & P to taste

To begin, preheat your oven to 375 degrees and cook up your meats and mushrooms.

Cut your chicken breast into bite-sized pieces and cook in the vegetable oil.

Crisp up your bacon in a frying pan. When it is fully cooked, place on a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess fat. Then, cut into bite-sized pieces for the pizza.

Melt the butter and add in the mushrooms. Once coated, sprinkle in the garlic powder, salt & pepper. Cook these about 15 minutes, or until they are as tender as you prefer.

While the meats and mushrooms are finishing up, roll out your pizza dough onto a non-stick or sprayed baking sheet and bake for 4-5 minutes to keep your dough from getting soggy when you add all the ingredients on top. Don't cook the dough too long, just enough to give it a head start!

(Tip: I have always poked my pizza dough with a fork all over to prevent the crust from bubbling up)

Once the dough is done pre-baking and the meats and mushrooms are ready, spread however much ranch you'd like on the crust. I put 1 cup in the ingredients, but this is your "pizza sauce", so if you usually like it saucy then load it up! Otherwise, maybe use a little less - you can always drizzle extra ranch over it at the end.

Continue with the chicken, bacon and mushrooms. Finish it off with a sprinkling of mozzarella or your favorite pizza cheese.

Now it's ready for the oven! Bake the pizza on the middle oven rack for 20 - 25 minutes or until the cheese begins browning. Everything you put on it is cooked, so just keep an eye on it for however well-done you prefer your crust.

(If you notice the cheese is ready and beginning to brown, but the crust is still a bit soft, move your oven rack to the bottom and put the pizza down lower. This will concentrate more of the heat on the crust, and give the cheese a little break. Make sure to check it often so it doesn't burn!

...and voilà! Your chicken, bacon, ranch pizza is ready to eat!

Homemade Banana Muffins

I rarely ever eat bananas, but when I do decide to buy them while getting groceries, I am notorious for letting them get far too mushy to eat. However, I never throw them away. Banana muffins or bread is far too good to pass up! This weekend I realized my bananas were looking very brown so I decided to make homemade muffins for breakfast, of course.

Here are the ingredients you will need:

The recipe is as follows:

1-1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

3 large bananas, mashed

3/4 C white sugar

1/3 C butter, melted

2 T vegetable oil

-Preheat your oven to 350 degrees & put liners in your muffin tin

-Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt; set aside

-Combine bananas, sugar, egg, oil & melted butter in a large bowl

-Fold in flour mixture & mix until smooth **Be sure to not over-mix!

-Scoop into muffin tins & bake for 20-25 minutes

For a little added flavor, I also decided to add in these two ingredients:

1 t vanilla

1/2 t ground cinnamon

...and viola! Yummy homemade banana muffins in only about 35 minutes!

This recipe makes approximately 9 muffins.

A couple of added tips...

• You could easily make this recipe in a loaf or bundt pan, it would just take a little longer to bake so keep an eye on it!
• Adding 1/2 - 3/4 C of chocolate chips would be a great addition of flavor
• Many people enjoy banana nut muffins - just throw in 1 C chopped walnuts either toasted or raw

A Little About Me...

Hello and welcome to my blog!

I want to start off with telling you a little about me and the direction I hope to take my blog posts, so I'll keep it short and sweet! My name is McKayla and I am a senior marketing major with a sales emphasis at the University of Northern Iowa. My blog is going to focus on my own personal experiences with cooking while living away from home on a college budget. I'll share recipes of food that I have made, along with photos and tips!

Ever since I was little I have always loved learning from and cooking with my mom and sisters, and now that I am on my own at college I haven't lost my passion for cooking. More often than not, I am making dinner with my roommates and/or boyfriend throughout the week. If you looked through my Pinterest page you might guess I was a culinary arts major, as my pins are mainly food-related. I'm obsessed and not afraid to admit it. I love finding new recipes and putting a different twist on them every so often. Throughout my posts this semester I hope you love the recipes I share just as much as I do!

Enjoy!