MX Momma: Pizzas - Half Homemade!

We are pizza loving people, for sure! The kiddos love helping me make pizzas at home and we do it fairly often. We used to stick with the always safe "Pepperoni, Sausage and Mushroom" (Little tip...fry the mushrooms in butter first...you can thank me later *wink*).

We have been branching out though...ham & pineapple, taco pizza...or our most recent fave, JENN'S FAMOUS BUFFALO CHICKEN PIZZA!! YUMMY!

I wanted to share my Taco Pizza recipe (which is a FANTASTIC use for leftover taco meat) and my Buffalo Chicken Pizza recipe today...and as with most of my recipes, they're what I call "Half Homemade"...not quite whipped up from scratch, but so much better than something that would go straight from the freezer to the microwave. Good, homecooked food for my family in half the time! Love it!

Taco Pizza
1 lb. Ground Beef - browned and drained
Taco Seasoning
1-2 cups Salsa
1 premade pizza crust
1 can Refried Beans (I used fat free!)
2 cups Shredded Cheddar (I use sharp cheddar, but use whatever you prefer)
2 cups Shredded Lettuce
Taco Sauce (optional)
Sour Cream (optional)

***Couple of things: You can substitute the first two ingredients for leftover taco meat. If not, 1 lb. of meat should easily make enough for two pizzas (if not more). Regarding the salsa, I am usually pretty picky about salsa, but for this recipe I use whatever is on sale. For the pizza crust, I use pre-made "Mama Maria" crusts...kind of like a Boboli but I like them better. I'm sure you could use the Pilsbury dough type crusts, BUT, in the spirit of "Half Homemade" I don't want to have to bake my crust first (plus I don't love how those taste!)

Ok...

1. Preheat your oven to 400°.
2. Prepare taco meat using seasoning and ground beef, according to pkg. directions. Set aside. If you're using leftovers, omit this step.
3. Spread refried beans in a thin layer over your crust.
4. Spread about 1 cup of salsa over the refried beans...if you like more "sauce" use more salsa. I usually just eyeball this step.
5. Sprinkle 1 and 1/2 cups of cheese over the sauce.
6. Sprinkle taco meat over cheese, and top with remaining half cup of cheese. You may also splash with taco sauce at this point, but I do not.
7. Bake until cheese is melted and bubbly...about 12 minutes.
8. Remove from oven, cool for a few minutes, and cut into triangles.
9. Sprinkle shredded lettuce on top of cooling pizza after it's been cut. Serve with sour cream as a garnish. We also have chips and salsa on ths side!

YUM!

And now...Jenn's FAMOUS Buffalo Chicken Pizza!

1 premade pizza crust
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil (extra-virgin)
1-2 cups pizza sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar (I use Sharp)
1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup shredded parmesan
Garlic powder to taste
1 (large or 2 small) chicken breasts
Hot Sauce (Frank's Red Hot or equivalent)
Ranch Dressing

1. Season your chicken breast to taste. Grill or pan fry until cooked through. Dice or shred into small pieces and toss in hot sauce and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 400° and brush crust with EVOO (Olive Oil).
3. Spread desired amount of pizza sauce on crust. I like to spread the sauce and let it sit and soak in a bit for a couple of minutes, and then spread a little more on top.
4. Sprinkle garlic powder over sauce.
5. Spread mozzarella, parmesan and half of cheddar cheese over sauce.
6. Add chicken to pizza. Splash pizza with more hot sauce if desired. Top with remaining cheddar cheese.
7. Bake until cheese is bubbly...about 12 minutes.
8. We serve with ranch dressing for dipping. DELICIOUS!