Summer Skillet Pizza! Fun and Easy for Camping!

 Tomorrow I'm visiting our local Good Morning Arizona channel 3 TV station for a cooking segment on easy camping and summer meals for kids! I'm so excited to meet everyone there and cook with some new folks! The segment airs at 8:45 so if you're local, it should be a fun piece. I wanted to share one of the ideas I've used for camping that is just way too fun for kids and adults! I make pizza while camping using a skillet with a lid. It is fast, easy, and certainly can be done at home as well. In the summer this will give you that crispy crust and gooey melted cheese without the oven heating your house. I can make them a lot healthier and cheaper than purchasing the pre-made frozen meals and they take about 20 minutes to make 10-12 ready-to-eat pizzas!  For the most part, camping meals need to be simple. If I'm not using one of my shelf-stable convenient 52 jar method meals, I'll usually bring along some of these! You will need store purchased pita bread or you can use the  homemade pita bread tutorial. Today I'm using some grilled panini flat bread. It really doesn't matter what you use for the crust, as long as it is thick enough for a pizza. When the boys were younger I'd use homemade English Muffins, split in half they made two mini pizzas. Now we need the bigger size. They're getting into teen years and it is a whole new grand adventure!  The best part of the skillet-pizza is that it doesn't heat the oven and it gives us a gooey cheese with a crispy crust. That's hard to do in the microwave. It's just freakishly cool!

 I still try to suck the life out of the time I have with them and that included having them help make the meals they'll be eating while I'm at work. They like having some time with me. I have to admit, I adore having some time with them as well. So, this is my son aka Face. He's shredding the cheese and helping spread the sauce.

 I lay out enough pieces of foil to accommodate all the pizzas. In this way, we can make a whole bunch at once and have 10-12 pizzas on-hand for quick meals. This is great for camping too because the work is already done. I like not having to prepare food in the rough.

 Put a pita on each 10 inch piece of foil. Add sauce of your choice, just about 2 Tablespoons.

Put the children to work. They love this part!

 Top with cheese and your favorite toppings.

 Sprinkle with an outstanding Italian Seasoning. Um...I tend to lean toward my own blends whenever possible. Yup. I'm a fan.

 Now if you use a tomato based sauce, be sure not to use a foil to cover the pizza. The acid in the tomato sauce will react to the foil and make a terrible mess. It will taste horrid. I'm using a parchment lined foil. You can use wax paper here as well. Just cover the top of the pizza. Wrap the foil from the bottom around the pizza.

 Place in a gallon size freezer bag. We can usually get 5 pizzas in a bag. Freeze. I keep 3 or 4 in the fridge (up to 4 days) so the boys don't have to even defrost the pizzas. For camping, I always freeze them. This keeps them at a safe temperature and helps prevent food born illness. Remember the picnic food safety segment? It keeps them together and adds to the cold of my ice chest. For more information on picnic safety go here.

 To prepare, simply slip the pizza out of the wrap and place in a thick covered skillet. Mine is 14 inches and the bottom is thick enough to not burn the crust.

 The main secret is making sure the flame is low and letting them cook with the lid on the pan about 7-10 minutes.

 The cheese will melt and the pizza will have a crispy crust. It's just what we love in a pizza without all the trouble of baking it.

Ironically we find ourselves using this stove-top method a lot more at home than we do camping. After all, how often do we really go camping? On the other hand, when we have taken them camping we have been very excited to have pizza! This is great for a Dutch oven or even on "no burn days" here in Arizona when we have to use our Solar Oven. Tomorrow I'll be sharing a few new tips for camping as well as the fun Hobo Foil Dinner that my kids adore! I'm looking forward to an amazing segment tomorrow! There you go! Make skillet Pizza and don't forget to watch tomorrow morning! Always My Very Best, Your Friend Chef Tess

Homemade Wheat Thins and French Onion Potato Cheese Soup

Okay kiddos. Chef Tess is here. We're doing some crazy cool stuff today. When was the last time you made homemade crackers?! You've never made crackers?! What?!

Every other week, I do some cooking classes with my sweet Bakeroose. Class is starting to grow. Any kids who cook at home are welcome to join the fun here on Bakeroose. A group of Home school kids and their moms along with my two sons (Little Man and Face) are in on the group for Friday classes. I don't know about you, but it seems a cryin' shame to me that Home Economics was ripped out of school curriculum. Far too many are growing up with absolutely no idea how to cook even basic meals. That will not be the case with these little dolls. No way. Meet my girls...(If I could adopt them all, I totally would!) Notice the sweetie on my left doing the exact same thing I am with my arm on the table. Seriously...I almost cried seeing how much she wanted to be like me. It's a great responsibility and honor to have someone try to emulate you isn't it?


There are a few posts here on this blog that were written and submitted by some of our little chefs. I'm open to any new posts by kids. I can be contacted here: chef-tess@hotmail.com so if you and your family cook and want to add your adventures...I'm happy to look at your ideas and add them if I like what I see. Hint...I usually like what I see if it involves kitchen math and some basic skills for kids.

We started with the Homemade Wheat Thins from here on my blog.The real trick was not making the crackers so much as getting enough rollers to do the job right.

Mix in a large bowl:
3 1/4 cup whole wheat cake flour (50% barley 50% hard wheat if grinding your own flour).
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt.


whisked well :
1/3 cup oil
1 cup water
2T honey

Add liquid to dry ingredients, mixing well, but as little as possible.

Divide into 2 balls. Totally non-rocket-science, right?

Roll them out really thin. This is enough dough to make two pans of crackers. If you roll them thick they will be more like a teething biscuit, but I don't have any babies who would appreciate that anymore.

Oh my gosh! She could not be any cuter if she tried! Look at that...

Cut and bake. 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. That's perfect time to make the soup.

Now for the French Onion Potato Cheese Soup of glory. Pause for effect. Kids will eat onions. Mind you...they can't be toxic overpowering onion. So we had a lesson on how to make them edible-happy. Caramelizing them makes them sweet and amazing. Believe it or not, the kids actually really liked the soup.

Chef Tess' French Onion Potato Cheese Soup

2 large yellow onions, sliced thin
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 large shallots, peeled and sliced thin
2T butter or olive oil
3/4 cup flour
9 cups good beef broth or stock
1 tsp each: thyme, dill
1/2 tsp each: celery seed, fresh ground black pepper
zest of 1 lemon, micro grated
8 oz. cream cheese (I use the 1/3 less fat)... soft and chunked
4 oz sharp cheddar, shredded
2 oz Parmesan or asiago cheese, shredded

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup fresh chopped Italian flat leaf parsley


Okay...I have to say...this sweetheart is one of my favorite people. Love you Dolphin Girl! This was her first time using a micro-plane zester. I know it won't be her last. She measured, cut, chopped...and well, was an excellent right arm. I'm keeping her.

Now kids...this is how to cut an onion.

Cry it out. Emma Bug was laughing so hard that her eyes were watering...and tearing up because of the onions. It was so funny to watch.

Oh the vision of love.

In a 2 gallon heavy pot melt butter over medium heat and add the onion and shallots. Slowly cook until very dark brown but not burned.

Add a little broth and scrape the pan clean. Simmer until broth is evaporated and onion begins again to stick to the pan and get dark. Add a little more broth and scrape pan again. Add the potatoes.

This little doll worked very hard to cut all the potatoes. We need to think of a blog nick-name for her. She's been to all my classes...

In a separate container, whisk the flour into the remaining beef broth. Pour the beef broth into pot with the onion and potato. Your onions should be very dark colored.

Stir in the seasoning: thyme, dill, celery seed, pepper and zest. Simmer this 15-20 minutes until the mixture thickens and no starchiness is detected when tasted.

TURN OFF HEAT. This ensures your soup will not get a "grainy" texture. Add cream cheese, cheddar, Parmesan and parsley and stir until cheese is melted and Incorporated.

Enjoy this with someone you love. There you go.

Homemade Potato Chips

These need to be made with an adult. Obviously we are cutting with sharp knives. We will also be frying the chips in hot oil. Don't do this alone. You need supervising. Mrs. Chef Tess almost needs supervision. The boy holding the knife and cutting this potato is a member of our Friday kids cooking class. Today we made some homemade potato chips. I think these kids are very much improving on their knife skills. Ages five through twelve and all of them did a wonderful job handling the knives safely and practicing cutting potatoes paper thin. Amazing isn't it!

We put the cut chips in big bowls of water. Water keeps the potatoes from touching air, which will make them turn brown. This is called oxidation. It doesn't make the potatoes bad to eat, just ugly to look at. When they where all cut, we drained the chips and dried them between two clean kitchen towels. Too much water in frying oil is very dangerous. It will spit hot oil all over the kitchen and all over you. So be sure to dry them very well. Now we piled them in a bowl and heated a large heavy pot full of oil. The oil got very hot. When it came time to fry the chips, we had the kids play outside for the most part to avoid any oil injuries. It takes 3-5 minutes to cook a potato chip to optimum crispness. It took a while. We skimmed them out with a metal skimmer. Okay. Mrs. Chef Tess skimmed them. The only one who stayed and helped where the very oldest kids.

Put in a paper towel lined metal pan or metal colander. The best part of teaching knife skills with potato chips (free hand, without a food processor or other appliance) was that they felt extreme ownership for those potatoes. They could easily tell if the thickness was acceptable when it was fried and we got to talk about the cooking times being different for thick and thin cut potatoes. It was a great lesson learned.

The chips where delicious!

There you go.

Fast Taco Rice

Middle of the week fast meal here it comes! This is one the kids can do very easily. It uses the stove so if you have to have an adult with you, make sure it's okay. Taco Rice is one of our family favorites. It's got a lot of vegetables in it. You don't have to use them all, but it is good to try new stuff. It makes you a better chef when you try new foods. It really does. So, gather your ingredients.

Tess' Taco Rice
1/2 lb lean turkey meat (taco seasoned)
2 bell peppers, chopped fine
1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 cloves of garlic chopped fine
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
2 cups instant brown rice
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth

sour cream (optional)
chopped green onions or chopped cilantro (it's a Mexican herb)
Directions: Saute the bell peppers, onions and garlic with the taco meat in a 12-14 inch skillet with a lid that fits. Cook 4-5 minutes until meat is no longer pink and the veggies are tender.
We like a lot of vegetables around here and after years of practice, we are finally on board with wanting a lot of the good stuff in our food too. It's a process. Mom says that it takes fifteen exposures to a new food before kids will want to eat it. Sometimes you have to try it made a lot of different ways until you find a way to like it. It's worth liking vegetables because they will make you strong. Here's a picture of me...Face. Would I stir the pot if I didn't want to eat it? Maybe. But this time, take my word for it, this is good stuff.

Add the tomatoes and broth. Stir and bring to a boil. That's big bubbles. Add instant brown rice, mix well. Cover with lid and turn to lowest heat. Cook 10 minutes. Stir in cilantro or green onions if desired.

Serve with taco chips, sour cream. Homemade yogurt also works as a topping. Really anything you put on a taco would work. Yes, this would work wonderfully as the base for taco salads. You're so smart.

There you go.

Biscuit Quiche Muffins

Chef Tess here. How are all my little chefs? This morning, with Spring Break in full swing I was excited to make some breakfast with the kids. I love days when we don't have to rush off in the magic mini van and defy laws of nature to make it to school in one piece with our sanity in tact and homework papers trailing the highway behind us. It may not really be that bad, but it feels that bad. Slower days mean breakfasts like this biscuit and quiche muffin. The first time I saw these it was at a dear friend's house. Face and Little Man gobbled them up and begged for more. We've loved them ever since. Thank you Heather!

I like mine made with Crisp buttery French Onion biscuits on the bottom and Swiss cheese, bacon, bell peppers and egg nestled in between the outer crust. You don't have to use the French onion biscuit mix, you can just use regular plain baking mix. It is simple to make. I used my French Onion biscuit mix this morning. (technical difficulties...please see "Make a Mix" section of my main blog for the full recipe http://cheftessbakeresse.blogspot.com ).

4 cups of the mix with 1 cup of buttermilk. Mix lightly and then roll out to 1/2 inch thickness using 1/2 cup of flour on your counter top. (If you don't want to make the biscuits from scratch, you can use the tubes of pre-made biscuit dough. They aren't all natural, but they work.)

Cut 12, 2 inch circles with a biscuit cutter. Lightly oil a muffin tin and place the dough in the bottom of each cup, like a crust. The same way we made the pizza muffin bites.

You will also need:

4 slices of bacon, sliced in 3 pieces (total 12 small pieces)

3 eggs, beat well

1/4 bell pepper, chopped fine (if you like bell pepper)

12 1 inch squares of Swiss cheese (or any cheese you like)

Every time I told my son Face to,"cut the cheese again"...he laughed in hysterics. Seems my husband Ace has been teaching him some slang terms. Tisk, tisk. Your cheese should look like this. In squares that will cover the top of the muffins.

Put pieces of bacon and bell pepper in each cup.

Fill cup with 1 Tablespoon scrambled egg.

Put a nice little cheese top on the whole deal-eee-oh. Like a lid.

Have an adult turn on the oven to 425 degrees. Adults should do the oven stuff unless you have specific instructions that it is okay to use it. Bake 425 degrees 13-15 minutes. Serve warm. Any left overs need to go in the fridge. You know I want you to have a good time and not be all woozy from eating food that has been left out too long. Much longer than an hour and a half, and I wouldn't eat it. Use the fridge. Love it. If this really makes it that long. It may not...Yields 12.

There you go.