Day 1

BBQ Chicken Pizza with Chipotle Ranch Sauce
&
Frozen Caramel Coffee


At the beginning of my day I wasn't sure which of the ideas that I could pick up on Pinterest I would end up attempting for Day 1.  Since it was a Saturday I had plenty of time, but it's a non-pay week Saturday and I knew there would be no trips to the store and I'd have to incorporate things I already had into my unknown endeavor.  That turned out a lot easier than I expected.  I love love love to cook.  I knew when I began this challenge that a lot of my days I would be trying new recipes.  That's what I ended up doing on this day.  And not only did I try 1 pin, but ended up using three different pins.  I'm what you might call a cooking "rebel."  I collect cookbooks and have over 100 of them, but I rarely ever follow a recipe.  I don't like to follow the rules, I make up my own!  So far that is what has worked best for me and I find myself doing the same thing with the ideas I get from Pinterest.  I knew I had seen a pin for BBQ Chicken Pizza.  I found one, but it happened to be one of those pins that really irritate me and was not linked to a page with the recipe.  Oh well!  I had the ingredients I figured I needed and I would just wing it.  I planned out our Saturday night dinner in my head and put the chicken in the crock pot to cook.  There wasn't much else to do until later, so guess what that meant?  More time for Pinterest.

As I spent the afternoon searching and pinning I came across the pin for Frozen Caramel Coffee.  I love frozen and iced coffees and this one looked delish!  The link took me to the Smuckers website.  Score!  I just so happened to have the caramel syrup this recipe called for along with the rest of the ingredients. Into the kitchen I went to create this yummy frozen coffee that would tide me over until suppertime.  I blended all the ingredients, took a test taste and was pretty pleased with the outcome...Until...I spotted Kraig's bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream on the counter.  Ooh!  How great would a small bit of that be in my drink???  So I poured about a capfull in.  And then another.  And then I poured an unknown amount straight from the bottle into the blender.  Didn't I tell you I don't follow the rules?  And after a day of strenuous pinning and planning I felt I deserved to turn my frozen coffee into an adult drink.

Recipe Here

By the time I had finished drink number one it was time for me to start making my pizza dough.  Nothing relaxes me more than baking.  Kneading dough makes me happy!  So making pizza dough while drinking my creamy frozen yumminess  was the absolute perfect combination for a very content Tracy Lynn!  I usually have really good luck with yeast doughs, but every so often I will have one that just flops for whatever reason.  I crossed my fingers and hoped that this one would turn out.

An hour later my dough had risen beautifully and it was time to start assembling my pizza.  I poured another coffee and got to it.  Kraig got home from work and I made him a frozen coffee.  He loved it!  I get so much satisfaction when I make something for him and he likes it.  We are still a fairly new couple and he seems to be impressed with everything I make.  I cherish things like that!  Sorry, I have to warn you this happens a lot...I'm very in love and sometimes it's all I want to talk about!  So back to my cooking.  I don't know where the idea for my chipotle ranch sauce came from.  It just happened.  I added some chipotle seasoning to ranch dressing and that became the sauce.

I then shredded my chicken breasts from the crock pot and added mixed it with bbq sauce.  I used Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory and Brown Sugar.  Sweet Baby Ray's is by far my favorite sauce I can get in Ohio. I shredded my mozzarella cheese and assembled my pizza.  For a finishing touch I added jalapenos.  My family loves spicy!

I preheated the oven to 450 and just let the assembled pizza rest until it was time to go into the oven.  15 minutes later I had my masterpiece!

This pizza fed me, Kraig, my 16 year old Derryk, and his girlfriend Kayla.  Those three went on and on about how good it was which in my eyes declares Day 1 a success!  So far so good!

Soon I will post the exact ingredients and amounts I used for both the coffee and the pizza.  You can also find the coffee recipe on my 365 Days of Pinteres board on Pinterest of course!