BBQ Chicken Pizza: busy mom style

Today I traveled to LA on business but two days ago I promised the kids they'd have BBQ chicken pizza for dinner that upcoming Wednesday. Of course I hate to break my promises soooo...

I set my alarm for 4:30am, snoozed twice  and then finally got up at 5am after a nudge from daddy. Next came a shower and a few last minute things thrown into the suitcase and I was ready to head downstairs to make lunch and then the pizza (this pizza feels like it needs a theme song now). 

The pizza is a easy make no-brainer and a take on what I used to order at California Pizza Kitchen back in the day. It's an instant crowd pleaser and my kids called me in LA to say how much they loved it. 

So with that I'm sharing my semi-homemade recipe with you so you can add it to your own repertoire. Hope you enjoy:

INGREDIENTS:

-Whole wheat pizza crust or flatbread (pictured from Target)

-Grilled chicken strips (I buy the bag of Tyson ones from Target-they are kept frozen).

-BBQ sauce (I use Sweet Baby Rays)

-Shredded Monterey Jack and Cheddar Cheese (Smoked Gouda works well)

-Red onion thinly sliced & green onions fine chopped

-Cilantro (optional)

-Arugula (optional)

-Baking sheet

DIRECTIONS

Place pizza crust on baking sheet and sprinkle cheese liberally to your liking. 

Take a good handful of the frozen chicken strips and put into bowl. Microwave on high for 1.5 minutes to defrost, let cool. Take a knife and cut the strips into 2 inch pieces. Pour BBQ sauce on chicken and toss evenly. Top pizza with coated chicken.

Next sprinkle with red and green onion then drizzle BBQ sauce across the top and bake until cheese is melted and flatbread is crispy but not hard.

Top with a little cilantro (omit if your family doesn't like) and a little Arugula for a few extra veggies or serve with a salad. 

Yum!!

Cake Cake Cake...

Oh baby I like it...yeah well that's about all the Rihanna your gonna get out of me. This post is about bringing out your inner Betty Crocker and making some great cupcakes in the process that your kids will love.


Last weekend, my husband and I decided to drop my oldest off at football and take the other two to brunch and then to the park nearby. Little did I know that when we got there we would happen upon a 3 yr. old birthday party for one of my son's classmates. 


The mom, Missy, has moved up to bakery guru in my eyes with these delicious Elmo and Cookie Monster cupcakes (pictured) she made for the birthday party. They were so expertly made (I thought she bought them) that I had to share them with you.  




THE RECIPE: In Missy Brown's own words...


I am a librarian (by day and Cupcake Boss by night--totally my words) so I did tons of research by looking at lots of pics online (just Google) and came up with what I thought would work best. This is the cupcake recipe that I used http://www.marthastewart.com/353205/billys-vanilla-vanilla-cupcakes (you can't go wrong with Martha!).

FROSTING: 
I used the recipe for buttercream frosting that is on the side of the Domino's Sugar box, adding a pinch of salt since I'm obsessed with salty/sweet things and food coloring. I iced the cupcakes with red and blue icing (for the respective monsters), then dipped them in red or blue sprinkles (they won't look nearly as good with white icing - I tried). 


FACE: 

• For Elmo's nose I bought orange Jordan almonds at Dylan's Candy Shop but you could use a gum drop, Peanut M&M, jelly bellies, or something similar. 
• The eyes are sliced marshmallows. I drew on the eyes with an edible dye pen. You could also make eyes with icing that you pipe out of a pastry bag and then stick in a black jellybean for the pupil but that seemed like more hassle than even I was willing to do. 
• Elmo's mouth was an Oreo cut in half and Cookie Monster had a quarter of a chocolate chip cookie. 

I got over feeling like I gave in to the commercialization when everyone was praising me for my glorious cupcakes. And my husband works for Sesame Workshop, so we could just blame him for being the bad influence.


Either way Missy, the kids and I loved them and they are forever immortalized in print and Instagram. Great job!


Hey CBM's, Missy has taken most of the guess work out of this one for us so feel free to replicate for you kid's next party and send me a picture so I can post to the blog. Happy baking.



-chicbusymom

REVIEW: Sparkling Ice flavored drinks

Recently I received a lovely box of candy-colored drinks in the mail from the folks that rep Sparking Ice. I was so excited by the array of colors that I immediately wanted to jump right in (I'm such a sucker for color). I decided to put a few out to test at work and then take a few home to my family to try. Here is the skinny:

My peeps at work liked flavors they tried. We all appreciated that they didn't have that alternative sweetener after-taste. One of my co-workers had also just returned from meeting her boyfriend's family and she explained to me how everyone was talking about Sparkling Ice there (in Texas) and obsessed with them. She was so surprised to come back and see the test tray out of the drinks to try.

As for my family, I traditionally don't give my kids Splenda (which is what the drinks are sweetened with) but I thought as a rare treat this would be fun and they could have a fizzy drink without it being soda and filled with a ton of garbage. Needless to say my 8 year old sipped on his Orange Mango Sparkling Ice for two days just to make it last (weirdo :-))!

Sparkling ICE’s collection includes 8 flavors: Coconut Pineapple (my personal favorite), Lemon Lime, Kiwi Strawberry, Lemonade, Orange Mango, Pomegranate Berry, Pink Grapefruit, and Black Raspberry. They retail for about $1.29/bottle and you can get them at your local Target or Walmart.
 
Additionally, according to the paperwork I received Sparkling ICE contains B-Vitamins, Vitamin D and antioxidants. And if you don't know...

• B-Vitamins are known to play an important role in helping your body obtain energy from food. 

• Vitamin D is widely known to play a significant role in overall health – in particular bone strength. 

Sparkling Ice also contains caffeine-free green tea extract (huge fan of anything made with green tea), an antioxidant. And the best part...the drinks are Zero Calories, Gluten Free, and Caffeine Free...this chicbusymom was sold.

I decided to give you two quick recipes below for Sparkling ICE Pops that you could do with your kids while its still hot outside. They are easy and entertaining and a good thing you can do together. Not sure about you but my kids love, love, love to help me in the kitchen. Here you go:

     Black Raspberry

   

INGREDIENTS:

Ice Cube Tray (or your favorite ice pop making molds)

Toothpicks or popsicle sticks

I bottle Black Raspberry Sparkling ICE

1 container of fresh raspberries, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

Fill you trays or molds with Sparkling ICE, topping each with a scoop of chopped raspberries. If using ice cube trays cover tray tightly with tin foil. Poke a popsicle stick through the foil into each cube.  If using an ice pop maker place the handle sticks into the molds.  Place in the freezer for about 2 hours or until frozen. Enjoy!

    

Strawberry Kiwi

INGREDIENTS:

Popsicle Trays
Popsicle Sticks

2 bottles Kiwi Strawberry Sparkling ICE

10 strawberries, pureed

DIRECTIONS:
Fill an ice cube tray with Kiwi Strawberry  Sparkling ICE, top each cube with a scoop of pureed strawberries. Cover tray tightly with tin foil. Poke a popsicle stick through the foil into each cube. Place in freezer until cubes are frozen. 

An adult option would be to add a little of your favorite Vodka for a delicious flavored spritzer and pour in fun tumblers (see previous post for ones from Govino) for a perfectly easy party drink.

Try them out and let me know what you think. For the price tag and the flavor you can't beat it. Enjoy!

Smooches, 

chicbusymom

Note: I am not a paid spokesperson for Sparkling Ice