So I have been cooking since my last post, and I've got a couple of updates. But first, I wanted to make sure and write down our meal plan for this week since it's Monday! (Yes, I am aware of the fact that Monday is practically over.) When I started this blog, it was with the intention of reducing our fast-food consumption, helping both our health and our bank account. However, this is quite easier said than done....especially when there are several fast-food places within 5 minutes of our house! But Ryan and I have decided to make a renewed concerted effort to only eat out 1-2 times a month! So, here is my BTHO Fast Food menu for this week!

Monday: Laughing Cow chicken with squash & zucchini gratin (DELICIOUS! Update coming tomorrow)

Tuesday: Cheese Tortellini Soup

Wednesday: Spaghetti

Thursday: Pizza Chicken Roll-up

Friday: Grilled cheese sandwiches

Saturday: either leftovers or Kaese Spaetzle

Sunday: either leftovers or Kaese Spaetzle (depending on what we eat on Saturday)

I realize that Saturday and Sunday are prime targets for fast-food, and I'll have to be really careful that I don't give in to the temptation, but it's really hard to plan for those days when I have NO idea when Ryan will be home. Could be 10 pm....could be 4 am. Ah, the joys of being a Domino's delivery driver in a college town!

I'm a bad blogger.

I really am. I haven't posted in far too long, and I hate to say it, but the amount that I have actually cooked since my last post has been almost as sparse. My only excuse is that my classes have been insane and I just haven't felt like doing much of anything else. Add to that the stress of taking the GRE and finishing up my application for graduate school and you come up with many nights of fast food. Ugh.

But now that the semester is almost over and the GRE is done, I can relax (a little....I still have finals.) and work my way back into the kitchen. About a week or so ago, I made salsa chicken, which was good, but needed a little tweaking, so I won't blog about it yet. I also made some cranberry-orange muffins and a cranberry-hazelnut bread, but those were from box mixes (I know, I know.) so also not blog-worthy. I'm planning on making some from scratch, but that will probably have to wait until finals are finished.

So while I was taking a break from studying today, I jumped on The Nest to the What's Cooking board to check out people's blogs and find some inspiration to get me into the cooking mood again. Right now, I really am having to focus on things that don't take a whole lot of time, not only to accomodate for finals-induced madness, but also because I've gotten so far out of the cooking groove that it will take me a while to get back in, and I don't want to burn myself out. However, I still want to have good meals and not resort to take out or the Blue Box. So I was intrigued when I saw The Novice Chef's recipe for Pesto Chicken Pizza. It looked so good, even despite the tomatoes, that I decided it would be great to make for dinner tonight. The tomatoes may not have kept me away from making this pizza, but I still left them off. Hey, I won't run screaming away from them, but that doesn't mean I'm going to eat them! I also didn't feel like buying chicken just for this since I had perfectly good HEB fully cooked chicken fajita strips at home in the freezer, so I just subbed those, and it turned out AMAZING! Honestly, people who have never had pizza without marinara are missing out! The pesto gives this pizza so much flavor, and it's so much better for you than normal pizza. And it's so simple to make that there's no excuses!

Pesto Chicken Pizza
adapted from The Novice Chef





1 pizza crust ( I used the kind in the can from Pillsbury)
pesto to taste (see my recipe here)
8 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced
pre-cooked chicken fajita strips (as much as you want for the size of the pizza)


Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Roll out pizza crust on a baking sheet and spread pesto on top. You can use as much or as little as you like, but I used all that my pesto recipe made.
Top with sliced mozzarella and then the chicken.
Bake for 17-18 minutes.
Enjoy!