This week I wanted to feature a couple of easy weeknight dinner ideas for two. Recently I've been cooking for just two of us. Its so easy to default to making the same go to familiar meals all week long. But there are plenty of delicious AND easy meals out there that can help you get out of your routine rut when you are only cooking for two. These meals can also easily be doubled or tripled for those busy moms out there with large families. 

The first meal this week I wanted to highlight is a vegetable naan pizza. It's crispy, savory, and a cinch to throw together. 

Buy pre-made stone fire naan breads. I prefer the full size, but if you are baking for children, the smaller personal size will work great too. The secret to a good home made pizza is the ingredients. Skip the preshredded mozzarella and go with fresh buffalo mozzarella, or in our case, we used goat cheese. Skip the premade hormel pepperoni, and use salami or proshutto to switch things up. Wash and coat some asparagus with olive oil and scatter across your pizza. Then, the finishing is also very important. Use a balsamic glaze to add acidity and sweetness. Top with fresh italian herbs and a sprinkle of lavender salt. Bake in an oven until your cheese bubbles and your naan is golden around the edges. This idea is simple, healthy, and most importantly delicious. 

Hope this helps you busy moms get out of your culinary rut. Clean out your fridge, get creative, and make naan pizza's tonight! 

Its time for pizza to make another appearance on this good old blog today. This time in a flavorful bacon and brussel sprout pizza. This pizza has a lovely crunchy and creaminess from the cheese. Enjoy!

Pizza Dough

Ingredients: (makes dough for 2 pizzas) 
1 envelope yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil 
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Add your yeast, sugar, salt, water, and olive oil in your mixing bowl and stir. Using your dough hook, add your flour slowly and beat on medium until a ball of dough forms. Cover your dough ball with olive oil and leave in bowl covered with plastic wrap in a warm spot until it has doubled in size. Divide it into pieces and knead it lightly and let it sit for about 10 minutes before forming into pizza circles. 

Pizza Toppings: 
8 brussel sprouts
16 ounce package of bacon
1 garlic clove
3 ounces goat cheese
1/3 cup feta cheese
Olive oil for brushing
Black pepper
Balsamic glaze

Cook your bacon in a pan over medium heat until crispy. Remove from pan and drain off all but 1 tablespoon of the excess oil. Trim your brussel sprouts into small shavings. Add them to the remaining bacon grease in the pan and cook until wilted. Add 1 minced garlic clove and cook for 1 additional minute. Cut your bacon into small pieces. Brush your pizza crust with olive oil. Cover with brussel sprouts, bacon, goat cheese, and feta cheese. Crack some black pepper over your pizza. Drizzle your pizza with your balsamic glaze. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes and crust is golden. 

Tonight we stumbled upon a very satisfying and filling meal that came together in a snap. Quesadillas and wraps are so easy to put together, but they can get a little boring week after week. Tonight I made a BBQ chicken Mexican pizza for dinner. It was so easy to throw together but had some unique twists that made it a lot more fun than a boring old quesadilla. It is crispy, ooey gooey, and crunchy all at the same time. The individual layers in this pizza filled with Mexican flavored goodness are like a cinco de mayo party in your mouth, while still being simple enough for a weeknight meal. 

Ingredients:

3 whole wheat soft tortilla shells 

1 can pinto beans 

1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese 

2 tsp olive oil 

1 small onion

1 tsp cumin 

1 tsp paprika 

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp pepper 

1/2 of an avacado 

1/2 lrg cooked chicken breast, shredded

3 tablespoons BBQ sauce 

Cilantro for garnish 

Turn on oven to 350. Take a tortilla and place it on a baking sheet. Cover it will 1 cup of cheese and then place the 2nd tortilla on top of that. Bake for 5-7 minutes while you complete the next step. 

Warm your oil in a frying pan and cook your onion with your salt until translucent. Rinse and drain your beans and add them to the pan with your other spices. Heat through then mash with a potato masher so they have the consistency of refried beans. 

Take your tortillas out of the oven and top the 2nd layer with beans. Add your 3rd tortilla on top of that. Add your chicken, cheese, and drizzle with BBQ sauce. Put it back in the oven and bake until crispy and the cheese on top is bubbly. Remove from oven.

Cut your avacado and place that and the cilantro on top. Cut into wedges and serve pizza style. 

Feel free to switch up the chicken with whatever type of extra protein you have laying around your house. This would also work well with black beans too. Add chili powder if you love heat. This is the beauty of this type of me, you can clean out your fridge! Just don't leave off the BBQ sauce, it will give your Mexican pizza a lovely Kansas City sweetness and tang. Enjoy!