Easy Taco Bell @ Home

This one is for all you Taco Bell fans out there. I know there are plenty of you, so this should be a real treat. We all know that spending $20 at Taco Bell would land you a regular fast food tex-mex feast. However, I came up with this error proof recipe for one of their best treats, the Crunchwrap Supreme.

Mind you, all ingredients and amounts are at your discretion. The following is a recipe to make just one Crunchwrap.

What You Need:

1 - Large burrito sized flour tortilla
2 - Regular sized corn hard taco shells (or flat round tostada shells)
- A quantity of cooked ground beef (Chorrizo is a great substitute!)
- A quantity of refried beans
1/4c. - Shredded Cheddar Cheese
2Tbsp - Sour Cream
- Chopped Lettuce
1/8c. - Diced Tomato
1/8c. - Diced Onion
1/8c. - Diced Red Bell Pepper

How to Make It:

Start by placing your large flour tortilla flat on the counter. Spoon a good amount of the refried beans in the middle, and spread it around in a circular shape. Next, place your cooked meat on top of that. Cover with cheese.

Now take your two hard taco shells, and break them evenly in the middle, so that that form a circle when laid flat. Spoon the sour cream over the top of the shells, and then place on top of the cheese. Your beans/meat/cheese layers should NOT extend outside of the circle made by the hard taco shells.

Next, put down your lettuce and other veggies. Then proceed to carefully, but tightly fold the outer edges of the flour tortilla, over the top of your layered creation. It is okay to have a small opening on top, but not preferred.

Lastly, you'll wanted to have a lightly oiled skillet heated up to medium/high. Place your Crunchwrap flat side down, and then place something flat and heavy on top to compress your treat and keep the folds from opening. After bottom is lightly toasted, flip so that the folds are down, and again compress. Once both sides are crisp you're creation is done.

Starbucks for a fraction the price.

Don't waste $5+ on that seasonal yummy treat, the Peppermint Mocha Latte, at Starbucks this year. Instead, make you own for a fraction of the price.

I'm pretty resourceful out here on the boat, and was really craving that hot goodness from Starbucks. I knew I had seen some Candy Cane Sprinkles from Target on board, and I fixed the problem.

In one 8oz coffee cup, first add:

1 tsp sugar
1 tsp Nestle Quick Powder
1/2 tsp Candy Cane Sprinkles

Add coffee, and your preferred creamer, and just like magic, Peppermint Mocha!

It's awesome, I have at least two a day now.

Pizza From Scratch, My Way!

So last night, during shift I had pondered in my head making a pizza. We have a guy on the ship, the Chief Engineer, Anders, who makes pizza for the crew maybe once a week or so. It's pretty decent, but it's nothing to write home about. Usually topped with Pepperoni and/or Sausage, and no sauce, and a mediocre crust.

Everyone on the ship loves my Calzones I make using my very own Parmesan Oregano bread, so I thought of using that as a pizza crust. And using some techniques I learned from Pizza Hut back in the day when i worked there in High School, I came up with a game plan.

Pizza Dough

1 1/4 c. Warm Water
3 c. Flour
2 tsp. Yeast
1 tsp. Salt
2 tbsp. Sugar
1 tbsp. Milk Powder
1/2 c. Grated Parmesan
1/2 c. Dried Oregano

Sauce

1 can Tomato Sauce
1/2 c. Grated Parmesan
1/2 c. Dried Oregano
1/8 c. Garlic Powder
1 tbsp. Black Pepper

Other

Mozzarella String Cheese
Grated Mozzarella
Sliced Pepperoni

Mix all of the dough ingredients together right away, no need to let dough sit and rise. It will see sort of dry and crumbly, but thats what you want. You'll want to roll it out to maybe 1/8" thick in a long rectangle shape, like the size of a cookie sheet. After it nice and long and flat, with a fork make holes all over the crust... don't ask me why, but it helps, haha.

The next part is great if you have string cheese, otherwise grated will work. Using mozzarella, line them up along the outer edge, stretch the dough and fold it over the cheese, pushing down on the inner part to seal it. Do this all the way around.

Take only a few spoons of sauce and spread in a thin layer all over the inner portion of the crust. You can add more as you like, I just prefer less. Top that with a nice layer of grated mozzarella, then top with sliced pepperoni (or whatever else you want).

Then lightly brush the crust with olive oil, and sprinkle extra garlic powder and oregano.

Cook @ 350 for roughly 10 mins, or until crust is firm.