Egg Salad Lunch

I saw this recipe in Better Homes and Garden magazine and decided to give it a try. I love egg salad and tomatoes, so why not?

Tomato Egg Salad

Ingredients
6 eggs
6 roma tomatoes
1/3 of a seedless cucumber, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1/4 of a red onion, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. Dijon-style mustard
1 bunch watercress, trimmed
1/2 teaspoon each salt and ground black pepper
Directions
1. In a medium saucepan, cover eggs with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 12 minutes. Drain, rinse, peel and chop cooked eggs.

2. Meanwhile halve tomatoes lengthwise and remove seeds. In a mixing bowl combine cucumber, onion, mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper. Fold in chopped egg.

3. Divide watercress among 4 plates. Top each with 3 tomato halves; spoon on egg salad. Drizzle with any remaining dressing. Makes 4 servings.

My version...


Ingredients
6 eggs
6 roma tomatoes
3/4 cup green pepper, chopped
1 large shallot, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. spicy brown mustard
1/2 teaspoon each salt and ground black pepper

I didn't have cucumber, red onion, or dijon mustard, so I substituted green peppers, shallots, and spicy brown mustard. And it was still FABULOUS.



I figured my version was approximately 5 WW points. (3 for the eggs, and about 2 for the mayonnaise.)

Pizza Pizza Pizza!!

Who doesn't LOVE pizza?? Like I stated before, I grew up with HOMEMADE pizza. There's NOTHING like it! My mom makes the BEST pizza out there, but mine takes a close second. The dough recipe is SIMILAR to mine, but I'm thinking I should get my mom's approval before posting hers. The ingredients in this one are the same as hers, just different measurements.





Homemade Pizza

Dough:

Ingredients
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons white sugar

Directions
1.) In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2.) In a large bowl, combine 2 cups bread flour, olive oil, salt, white sugar and the yeast mixture; stir well to combine. Beat well until a stiff dough has formed. Cover and rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes. (I don't let it sit that long... I'm from Jersey... who has that patience??)
3.) At this point, roll your pizza dough out however you plan to make it. I combine two pieces of foil, spray with cooking spray and sprinkle corn meal on it. My pizza's are never fuly round, but that's what makes them homemade and amazing!

Toppings, etc.

-Spaghetti Sauce (I swear by Traditional Ragu)
-Parm Cheese
-Mozzarella (THIS IS KEY!!! The better the cheese ($$) the better the pizza!) I usually go with Maggio Part Skim.
-Pepperoni, veggies, etc.

I then put my pizza onto my pizza stone in the preheated oven (425 degrees) for 13-15 minutes.

And what is pizza without Cucumber and Onion Salad??




Cucumber and Onion Salad

Ingredients:
Cucumber
Onion
Cider Vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt & Pep

I use a mandolin slicer I got from TJMaxx for both the cucumbers and the onions, so they're SUPER thin and crispy!

The amount of oil and vinegar will be based on preference. I recommend taste testing til you get what you want!

Ready, Set, GO!

It's a rainy Saturday afternoon. Laundry. Check. Cleaned 2 out of the 4 bathrooms. Check. Kitchen clean. Check. Time to blog. Check!

I've decded that I want to start blogging about my cooking! I LOVE TO COOK!! Baking too... just any sort of creating food/meals.

I moved to Virginia a year ago to be with mi amor, and have not regretted it yet. I miss my family and a LOT about New Jersey and Philly, but I'm creating a life down here. We have a beautiful home, good jobs, and more recently I've been givn the opportunity to go back to school full time. I am blessed and truely happy.

I grew up with home cooking. Like REAL home cooking. Every night of the week we had homemade meals, including pizza! (see my next post!)

I will take pictures of everything I make and post recipes and reviews!

I am REALLY excited about this!