Recipe Box: Roast Chicken and Veggies

August 8, 2013 by Meridith

For a long time, I was not the “cook” in our house. Originally when we first bought our house, the cooking responsibilities fell on to Jay because he knew how. I didn’t. We were both fine with this.

However, when I became a stay at home mom, and he started working longer hours the responsibility shifted more to me. It was terrifying and awesome simultaneously. When we got married a dear friend gave us the Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook, which is where I originally got this recipe. I’ve tried my hand at all sorts of recipes and this one has stuck around for quite some time!

It is more time intensive than labor intensive. You can prep the veggies before preheating the oven and there’s no rushing around with this recipe (unlike others, in which you have five things going on at the same time and need to get them all done in a particular order. You know the type!). What I particularly like about this recipe is that I usually have most of the ingredients in my house – I only need to pick up the chicken on shopping day.

Ingredients

3 carrots, cut into thirds
6 small red new potatoes, quartered if large
1 medium yellow onion, cut into 6 wedges (we love the veggies so I usually up this to 2 onions – if you have the room in your pan, do it up!)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, or olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 chicken (3 to 4 pounds)
1 lemon, quartered
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Put the carrots, potatoes, and onion in a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. Toss the vegetables with 1 tablespoon of melted butter or olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the vegetables to the edges of the baking dish so the chicken may rest in the middle.

Remove the neck and giblets from the cavity of the chicken and discard. Rinse the bird under cold running water and pat dry. Put the chicken, breast-side up, in the center of the baking dish. Brush the chicken with the remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter or oil. Season generously salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with the lemon quarters and rosemary sprigs. Put the garlic cloves under the chicken to prevent them from burning.

Roast for 45 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven. Using tongs, tilt the chicken, pouring the juices from the cavity onto the vegetables, and shake to coat. Your house will be smelling absolutely amazing at this point.

Baste the chicken with the pan juices. If the bird is browning too quickly, cover with aluminum foil. Continue roasting until the chicken is a deep golden brown and the juices run clear when the tip of a knife is inserted into the thigh joint, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thigh, away from the bone, registers 170 to 175 degrees F, 30-45 minutes more, depending on your oven.

Transfer the chicken to a platter and let stand for 10 to 15 minutes before carving. Using the back of a spoon, mash the garlic and squeeze some lemon into the pan juices. Toss the juices with the vegetables. Carve the chicken (okay, I’m not at this point in my life yet. Jay still carves the bird) and serve the vegetables alongside.

The recipe says that it serves two but if you’re liberal with the veggies, the chicken meat can easily feed at least four. Bon appetit!

Running Nerd

August 1, 2013 by Meridith

Back in 2012 at the inaugural Atlantic City April Fool’s half marathon (my birthday race) Cam, Bec and I were up with the sun, prepping to run the boards. As we made our way through the casino floor we were chatting quietly, getting into the running mindset, we came across Drunk Dude.

Drunk Dude clearly had not gone to sleep and was wandering aimlessly around the casino floor, beer in hand. Anyone who’s gone to a casino knows that it’s somewhat difficult to find the doors (they hide those suckers so you can never leave and they continue to get all your money) so while we were struggling to just get out, he was struggling to converse.

Maybe we were asking for it with Cam walking around with “half virgin” on her back.

Us (we speak in unison – or at least we think in unison with one person responding what we’re all thinking): Whoa, look at this dude. He’s wearing the same clothes as last night.

Him: (random loud display) Hey! What’s going on here? What’s happening? Why are there all these people around here?

Us: We’re running a race, a half marathon. (Bec was doing the 7k but we figured Drunk Dude didn’t need the details. From experience as both the drunkee and the soberee, we knew the shorter the answers, the better.)

Him: Oh, a race? You guys are runners? How long?

Us: Yep, 13.1 miles.

Him: So, what, are you guys nerds or something?

Us: Yep, only nerds run. We have to go. (Eye roll)

Him: Oh you’re leaving? What? What’d I say?

Us: (walking away) Bye!

Him: (shouting after us) NERDS!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZEdDMQZaCU&w=640&h=360]

And listen, I get where Drunk Dude is coming from because at one point in the not-so-distant past, I wouldn’t have chosen waking up at dark o’clock to run a significant (read: any) amount of miles. In fact, when I ran a 5k through my college, I went past my old residence hall thinking “Girl, if your 20 year old self could see you now…”

You might not be able to surmise this about me if you don’t know me well but the truth of the matter is… I AM a Nerd. With a capital N.

When people call people nerds, mostly what they’re saying is ‘you like stuff.’ Which is just not a good insult at all. Like, ‘you are too enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness’. – John Green

Oh, yes, I’m a nerdfighter, too. If you don’t know what that is, here’s a video. (You can thank me later.)

I’m a running nerd and I’m damn proud to be a running nerd (all running nerds are – just look at their Facebook timeline/pictures for proof). I wear my Garmin proudly, logging my miles on Daily Mile so that I’m then able to talk about running with my friends. I talk about running with people I don’t know too, because they like running and the only thing better than running is talking about it! I wake up at 5 in the morning to run or I run when my kids are at school. Laundry and dishes wait because running needs to come first, so I can get through the mundane tasks. I’ll gladly not partake in alcoholic beverages because I’m training the next day.

My days revolve around when I can run and I get cranky if that plan gets derailed. I spend my money on Mizunos and cute running clothes and race entries. I’ll gladly travel to races, the further the better. I connect with other runners via Twitter. I read running blogs and I genuinely care how that blogger is feeling after their run and what their next event is going to be. I encourage newer runners because I remember what it feels like to be a newer runner. Sometimes I still feel that way.

My friends and I discuss things that happened during runs together and reminisce about things like Drunk Dude. Or the guy that shouted “COLOR RUN” as he bombed us with yellow color from behind as we were taking a selfie. And I like to dress up in costumes to run because as you know, many nerds like a good cosplay.

I like seeing people’s Instagram pictures of their food and their tracks and their playlists and gladly share mine as well. (Oh, and I like seeing their nail polish too, for the record.)

Through running, my confidence has gone up. Something I once believed was impossible is not only possible, it’s possible in great lengths. I can and I will to the fullest extent. I’m proud, enthusiastic and yes… a NERD about it.

So let’s all raise our glasses (mine is a 13.1 tumbler filled with water and Nuun) to all the running nerds. Long may we run.

Bring on the Ice Cream! (And beer!)

July 19, 2013 by Meridith

Things that I love*:

1. ice cream

2. running (right now I’m actually really digging it. I KNOW, right?)

3. my Dude (hopefully he’s not offended that he’s under running and ice cream. Actually, he’s not reading this so to quote Cartman, “WHATEVER! I DO WHAT I WANT”.)

4. my friends, both old and new

5. the Philadelphia Zoo (and more specifically, drinking at the zoo)

6. wooing on Twitter

7. lists and plans

*that are relevant to this weekend. My kids/dog aren’t on the list because they’re going to Camp Grandparents!

Back in March of this year, right after we launched Scoot a Doot, the Jog ‘n Hog folks found me on Twitter.

It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m a HUGE fan of ice cream. If, by some random chance, I could only eat one dessert for the rest of my life… ice cream. Cake, cookies, trifle, cupcakes; I can pass by without so much as a second glance. But when I hear Mister Softee’s alluring song off in the distance? I can and I will push my children out of the way so I can get to that truck first. (Not really.) (Okay, maybe that’s happened on one occasion.)

Furthermore, as listed above, I love when race organizers or companies interact with their potential/current clients via social media. I think it’s brilliant and awesome. I like attention and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

Kudos to Jog ‘n Hog for engaging and wooing (it didn’t take much but let’s pretend) with your promises of ice cream and running.

Found this little piggy at the end of the Broad Street Run in May. Like I said, the Jog ‘n Hog people know how to do it!

We’ve steadily picked up steam, excitement, and team members over the past couple of months. There’s been planning (MY FAVORITE!), tweets, emails, Facebook messages, shirt orders, OH MY!

Team Scoot a Doot has members from PA, NJ, NY, and DC and we’ll all converge at Shady Brook Farm in Yardley, PA. Finally, FIN-AL-LY, the weekend of the much anticipated Jog ‘n Hog has arrived.

In addition to the Jog ‘n Hog, it’s the Summer Ale Fest at the Philadelphia Zoo on Saturday night. This is a ritual for Dude and myself; we love wandering around the zoo, trying local ales, and seeing the zoo residents in the evening hours.

One of my first pictures on Instagram. I’ve since embraced the “no filter” rule. Guess it’s safe to say that I didn’t like that particular beer – I’m sort of picky.

Let’s review, shall we? Drinking beer for dinner on Saturday evening. Eating ice cream (and running) for Sunday morning’s breakfast. Go big or go home!

Months of planning have been leading up to this weekend and I am super duper excited! Like puppy with a new toy excited! Like seeing awesome friends that I haven’t seen (or, ahem, met before) excited!

In April, we introduced you to some of Team Scoot a Doot for the Jog ‘n Hog. Since that post, the team has expanded! With that in mind, I’d like to introduce you to Kimberly and Kyle. Kimberly was our Philadelphia Chocolate Tours winner back in May and along with their tour, they decided to join us for the Jog ‘n Hog. I can’t wait to finally meet these ladies!

Yes, I have this many containers at work. Or…12 total.

Kimberly – Strategy: leftovers. If leftovers were a way to rule the world, I’d be all over that. So instead of losing my ice cream all over the course, I’ll bring some back for the post-race party. You won’t see me wasting perfectly good ice cream!

Want to touch the hiney…

Kyle – Let’s be honest, I’m too innately competitive not to go hard. I’m gonna run for two miles. Then I’m going to eat as much ice cream as I can. Then I’m going to run back. (Then I’ll finish the ice cream I have left.) I have yet to experience exercise-induced purging. No time like the present to tempt fate!

So, there you go. Some of my favorite things are all happening within one weekend and I say, with much enthusiasm, BRING IT ON. The past couple of weeks have been tough and I’m more than ready for a weekend of friends, indulgences, and Philadelphia.

What are your weekend plans? Have you ever done one of these non-traditional races or gone to a zoo brew/ale fest? Just want to say hi? (I love saying hi back!) Comment away!

Bon voyage, BOB

July 8, 2013 by Meridith

In second grade, I wrote a story called “Unfortunately, Fortunately”. It went a little something like this:

Once upon a time, it was a beautiful day so Meridith and Jenereesa went to the park.

Unfortunately, there was a bear that came out of nowhere and started to chase them!

Fortunately, there were many places for them to run.

Unfortunately, there was a cliff! (In New Jersey? Really, little 2nd grade Meridith?)

Fortunately, as they jumped off the cliff to get away from the bear, there was a cloud pillow to catch them.

And so and so forth. Don’t worry, Meridith and Jenereesa are both alive and well and still intact. I know that was so believable that you’d be concerned.

Anyway, I’m having a bit of an “Unfortunately, Fortunately” moment here and now, at age 36. (No bears are involved.) As Jess mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I’ve sent her the BOB Revolution.

My final moments with BOB were spent cleaning. This is my life.

While I’m overjoyed to know that one of my prized possessions is still going to be put to good use, I’m a little sad. Let’s take a trip down Meridith memory lane, shall we?

I got BOB as a birthday present from my husband. Who asks for a stroller for her birthday? This girl.

Storybook Land with my Pooks.

Originally I got the BOB because I taught Stroller Strides and I needed a stroller that was easily maneuverable, both on and off-road. I needed an awesome stroller. And the BOB was/is/and always will be awesome.

Pregnant with Littleberry at Longwood Gardens.

After Littleberry was born, Pooks “graduated” from the BOB to preschool and Littleberry took over.

Little was 6 months old when we visited Disneyland in CA.

LB was 6 months old when we visited Disneyland in CA.

The BOB was used for everything. No other stroller measured up to its supreme awesomeness so I didn’t even bother with others. After a couple of failed prior attempts, when I started (really) running in 2011, BOB was ready to roll.

And so was this kid!

Both kids loved cruising along – I have very fond memories of them telling me “Faster, mommy! Faster!” And of thinking, My goodness, children, Mommy is going AS FAST AS SHE CAN. You try pushing this and running. Only I didn’t say “my goodness” in my head.

As you can see, I’ve a lot of moments with my kids that involved the BOB stroller. And I suppose that’s why it’s a bit bittersweet to send it along to Jess. I know it’s going to the best place ever and will be treated with love and respect.

I am also fully cognizant of the fact that it’s a thing and not possible of emoting any type of feelings. (I guess.)

It will have the hills of San Francisco! The safety strap will get use (it’s a little flat around these parts)! It will have Bug as a passenger and Jess and Mister Jess, some of my all time favorite people.

But this is sort of the end of a era for my family. We’ve started giving away baby clothes. We no longer need strollers.

We’ve graduated. I wouldn’t say that’s unfortunate… it’s just time to transition. Change is hard for me, okay?

Just don’t make me get rid of the Big Red yet.

Fortunately, I know the BOB has a lot of miles left in its tires (p.s. Jess, they need air) and Jess is just the Chick for the job.

Fare thee well, BOB. Hopefully I’ll see you soon because I miss Jess and I’m slightly jealous that I’m not the one being packed up and shipped out to her.

What changes have you gone through in life that have made you a little sad, along with the happy? Did you have to write an “Unfortunately, Fortunately” story in 2nd grade? Aren’t my children adorable?

runDisney’s 2014 Tinker Bell weekend, now with 10k!

July 2, 2013 by Meridith

Anyone who knows me knows that I love the 10k distance. Therefore, when I first started catching wind about the additions of 10ks to the already awesome runDisney weekends, I got excited.

Cam, Vic and I ran the Tinker Bell half this past January in California’s Disneyland and it’s a race that holds a special place in my heart. I met some really cool people at the 2013 meetup and I hope to make my way back to the West coast to run Tink again at some point. (Jess, next time, you’re doing it too!)

We fairies need to stick together!

So today’s announcement from runDisney about the 10k to the Tinker Bell race weekend lineup was happily received!

I know that some people might think it’s crazy to fly across the country for different races but this is honestly what keeps me going, it gives me purpose and reason (especially when a training run isn’t going the way I’d hoped).

If you want to check out more about the Tink Half 10k, definitely hop on over to runDisney’s blog post regarding it. I’ve already said that I can’t swing getting myself to the Glass Slipper challenge in 2014, which I’m super bummed about. Maybe I can get out my pixie dust and fly across the country for the Tink Half/10k? Hmmmmm.

Let’s chat about runDisney races! Which have you done? Which do you want to do? I’ve been fortunate enough to take part in the Princess half (2012), Castaway Cay 5k (2012), and Tink half (2013). Coming up? Wine and Dine!

Chick Chat: Who’s who? And why?

June 21, 2013 by Meridith

What’s in a name? And what’s in a name that we get to choose for ourselves? And if asked to pick a pic, any pic at all, to share with Scoot a Doot readers, what would it be?

VICTORIA: My userID, VFreile, is the least inventive of the Scoot a Doot bunch. It’s my first initial and my last name. It’s the same for my twitter handle and instagram account and pretty much anything I use professionally. I kept it simple because of my job. As a newspaper reporter I cover a lot of tragedy, so using something cute or trendy just wasn’t an option.

This pic was taken last year by a colleague in the Hall of Justice. I was reviewing my notes and calling my editor with an update (to be posted online) in between court cases. I can’t specifically remember the two cases involved, just that they were high-interest. But I do recall my colleague snapping this pic after the first court appearance ended, before the second.

REBECCA: Bec2point0 – It’s like me, only better! I have a history of reinventing myself. Pretty regularly, actually. I’m a writer. I hate writing. I’m a runner. I don’t feel like running anymore. I’m not a runner; but I’m a vegan! Where is the cheese?? Lather, rinse, repeat.

I feel like most of my life I’ve been in a constant state of evolution. I don’t really know what I want to be when I grow up, and I think that’s okay. Because no matter what I am, I’m always me.

Here’s me with my fellow Scooters Cam and Mer, and honorary Chick Jenn, wandering the streets of Boston, eating chocolate and just being us.

CAMILLE: Camoozle is the blending of my first and last name sounds. It originally started with my “Who” name. Every good teacher has a Who name, it’s mandated in our credential. I was christened Cammy Zoo Who. Which eventually got shortened to Cammy Zoo, then, out of sheer laziness, got turned into Camoozle.

My Rainbow Sisters were the first to nickname me Cammy Zoo.

MERIDITH: When I was a wee lass, I was an only child. As an only child I had an overactive imagination, which included my imaginary friend: Jenereesa.

Jenereesa was a pretty cool chick. She opened doors for me (aka automatic doors – remember when you had to step on a mat to make that happen?) and was always down to take the blame if we did something wrong. She also could do what I could not because she was magical.

Somewhere along the way, right around the time that I began my healthy living journey, she reappeared as the “person” I wanted to become.

JESSICA: WriteitDownJess – I have a terrible memory and need to write things down in order to remember them. I’m always telling myself, “write it down, Jess!” Beyond that, I’ve always been a bit of a storyteller (in written form only. Please don’t ever ask me to tell a story if it’s not written out), so it seemed like a fitting name for me.

My personal motto:

BROOKE: BeeWhoBabbles – Because my first name is Brooke, I hear some variation of “Oh, babbling Brooke?” from at least half the people I meet. (Clever, no?) When I set up my twitter account, I tried to use “bwhobabbles”, but it was already taken. I didn’t want to use that name plus numbers, so I settled on “beewhobabbles” and now, I like that better. It’s a perkier, cutesy spelling and I can be a chatterbox- so it fits.

My new favorite running shirt (that I haven’t actually run in yet) from Run Pretty Far. It’s super lightweight, soft, and I put it on as soon as it arrived. Love!

What’s the story, morning glory? What’s the word, hummingbird? How’d you settle on your name?

Do Good, Feel Good: Out of this World Alex’s Lemonade Stand

June 18, 2013 by Meridith

Last week, I wrote about our first Alex’s Lemonade Stand. This past weekend we hosted our second annual event.

The goal this year was to beat last year’s total of $566.

This kiddo wants in on the action. He wants his name in lights.

Which we did.

By a lot.

Not by a couple of hundred… but by over double.

Despite it being Father’s Day.

And with the assistance of my bro-in-law, Matt, who said he’d shave his hair and beard to help raise more funds.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmEdo5eQ_7c&w=420&h=315]

No longer looking like he’s on Duck Dynasty.

We raised $1,292.35 for Alex’s Lemonade Stand!!!

Because when life gives you lemons… you make LEMONADE!

A couple of tips we followed to make our stand a success:

Send fliers home to all the students at school! There are nearly 500 kids in Pook’s elementary school. After getting the “okay” from the higher ups, we made copies and sent them out to each class. Next year Littleberry is getting in on the action and hopefully we’ll be able to expand this to his school as well.
Set up an online donation page through Alex’s Lemonade Stand. This was a key step in our success as many of the donations to our stand came from far and wide. Even if people couldn’t partake in a delicious cup of lemonade, they were able to take part in the giving.
Take advantage of the fundraising kit! Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation sends out kits a couple of weeks before the stands are being held with information, giveaways like lemon shaped silly bands (the kids loved these), papers to fill out names to show participation, bandannas, and balloons.
Post to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter throughout the event. Live updates are especially fun because it makes those people who are far (see number 2) feel like they are part of the action.
Have a really amazing person who is willing to shave off his hair! In other words… Gimmicks! Bells and whistles! Razzle dazzle!
Ask for donations – don’t have a set amount for lemonade. Whatever someone can give is the perfect amount; nothing is too big, or too small.
Instill the love of helping others within children early on and show them that hard work pays off. This weekend was exhausting, busy and incredibly gratifying.

Mix. Pour. Find a cure!

How have you given back recently?

Do Good, Feel Good: Alex’s Lemonade Stand

June 10, 2013 by Meridith

My Pooks is a sensitive kid.

This is both a good and difficult quality to possess. He cares too much; he cares with his whole heart. Sometimes it gets him in trouble (when he cares too much about what his classmates think rather than standing on his own two feet)…

And sometimes, most times, it’s absolutely glorious.

No, he will not fix your computer. Which is probably good for everyone involved.

In March of 2012, Pooks announced that he wanted to hold a lemonade stand.

Now, I don’t know about where you live, however, March in New Jersey isn’t exactly prime lemonade stand weather. It might have still been snowing at the time. When I mentioned this to him, his response was “Well, okay. When can we do it?”

I asked his motivation and naturally, he wanted to make money. I’m all about the American Dream but he is healthy, happy and wants for… not much.

Or rather, he wants a lot, gets some and we say “no” to the ridiculous.

I saw the opportunity to turn his dream of a lemonade stand into something special, something more. So, I told him about Alex’s Lemonade Stand and how he could help other children; children who are sick. We looked at the website together, we watched videos together. We read books together. And, just like that his dream got grander and it was no longer solely about himself.

It was about carrying out Alex’s dream.

It was about helping others.

We registered our very first annual Out of This World Lemonade Stand to benefit pediatric cancer research.

And we got working!

Building

And working.

Publicizing

And working.

Lemonading!

And working some more!

Best little cup carrier this side of the Mississippi.

Until finally…

After all the hard work of preparing our Alex’s Lemonade Stand, we got to work some more! Within two days through the generosity of friends and neighbors, near and far, the Out of this World Lemonade Stand raised $566 for pediatric cancer research.

Let me repeat that because that’s AMAZING. $566!

Enjoying a cup of lemonade after two hard days of work (don’t worry, he had more than a cup over the two days!).

The thing about kids, especially kids who’ve got eight years of experience behind them and many more in front of them, is they feel with their entire hearts. It’s up to us to steer them in directions where they can use those feelings, those hearts, to accomplish great things.

We’ll be hosting our second Alex’s Lemonade Stand this coming weekend. We’ve been talking about it since we packed up the stand last year and the goal is to reach (and hopefully surpass!) $600.

We can and we will! (I’ll do a follow up post next week.)

What sort of philanthropic endeavors do you take part in? What organizations speak to you; which do you hold near and dear to your heart? How do you volunteer your time and your efforts? I want to hear all about it!

You know who rocks? I do, that’s who!

June 1, 2013 by Meridith

The following is a letter I wrote to my Future-Now-Past self on December 25th, 2011. Past-Past me knew I’d need a little encouragement before my first half marathon (runDisney’s Princess half, February 2012) so she decided to write Future-Now-Past me a letter.

All mes were/are terribly confused when it came/comes to tense. Which was/is apparent but try to overlook it.

Dear FutureMe,

As long as everything goes according to plan, you’ll be running a half marathon in the next few days.

That’s 13.1 miles.

That’s a long effing run.

Remember when you were in high school and they made you run the mile each year for the American fitness test? And remember how you’d sort of half walk, half jog around the track just so that you could just get it over with?

Remember how you were in shape until you reached a certain point in college and you became horrendously out of shape? Remember when you lost your shape and could no longer fit into jeans or shirts that you’d once lived in? Remember when you had to wear those gray pants all summer long because they were practically the only things that fit you?

The comments made by others were nothing compared to the way you felt about yourself. After Elderberry was born, you decided to make a commitment to yourself and your health. After Littleberry was born, it took you a bit of time but you once again made that commitment.

Why do you run when you don’t always like it? Because it’s hard. Because it makes the finish and the reward that much sweeter when it’s finally over. And because that sense of accomplishment, that sense of SELF, of being truly aware of who you are, is like nothing you’ve ever felt.

You are amazing and can do amazing things. At this point, you might be doubting us, nervous about doing something seemingly so BIG. But you shouldn’t be because you have this strength within you.

Remember that.

Remember to have fun with this, push yourself, and be the incredible person you’ve become over the past 34 years.

You can and you will until you could and you did.

Always,

Meridith

Want to write a letter to your Future Self? Check out FutureMe.org

If you need a pep talk, who do you look to? Do you talk to your Future self too? Or your present self?

Recipe Box: Tomato and Corn Pizza

May 23, 2013 by Meridith

Brooke is our resident recipe sharer, so it’s only natural that I first heard about this delish pizza from her. A couple of summers ago I was searching for new recipes and Brooke came to the rescue with a boatload of recipes, including this one.

Okay, it was three recipes. Does three constitute a boatload? Let’s pretend it does.

Ingredients

I’ll chime in with my notes after each.

3 small plum tomatoes, sliced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 (14-oz.) package prebaked Italian pizza crust – the Boboli Wheat is pretty rad but really, anything will work. Anything that is pizza crust, that is. Don’t try using cardboard. That would be bad. Sidenote: someone in college actually attempted to warm pizza and didn’t remove it from the cardboard box before putting it in the oven. That was a mistake.
Parchment paper – this isn’t absolutely necessary, as I have made the pizza sans parchment paper. But it does help reduce stickage.
1/3 cup refrigerated pesto – this can be homemade or jarred, I’ve used both and both taste delicious. However, I don’t use 1/3 cup. I just use as much as it takes to cover the pizza crust. Actually, maybe I do use 1/3 cup and don’t know it. Hmmmm.
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels – fresh, frozen, whatevs!
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese – that’s a fact. I really do use 1/4 grated Parmesan. Measured and all.
1 teaspoon sugar
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced

Preparation

Place tomato slices on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; let stand 20 minutes.
While you’re waiting for the moisture to drain from the tomatoes, pre-heat your oven to 450°.
My goal is to dirty up as many dishes as possible to give the illusion of more work for me. I’m sure my husband is on to this.My plan goes a little something like this:
- Plate to cut the tomatoes
- Plate to slice the mozzarella – my mozzarella has no salt added, which I suppose is good since I just did the Salt and Pepa (Slide, Push It!) to the tomatoes. The package says that it’s easy open. But don’t believe their lies, because it was not.
- Bowl to mix together corn, Parmesan, and sugar
- Measuring cups! Measuring spoons! Mixing spoons! NO UTENSIL LEFT BEHIND!
Place pizza crust on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet; spread with pesto (however much or little you’d like).
Bake at 450° for 14 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden. While you’re waiting for the pizza to cook, snack on leftover tomatoes. YUM!
Remove from oven. Try not to shove directly in mouth to avoid burning oneself (trust me on this one) and enjoy!

The original recipe is on MyRecipes.com but I made some modifications.

Scootadoot

fitness, food, friends, fun

Author Archives: Meridith