A Pioneer Woman Kinda Dinner

AKA. Yuuuuummmmmmyyyyyy.

I love The Pioneer Woman. She makes me laugh so hard I cry sometimes. Or spit at the computer screen. Or away from the computer screen (I've learned a thing or two the past couple years). The point is, she's hilarious.

But that's not the point.

The Pioneer Woman also cooks. A lot. And her recipes have always made my mouth water. I have never actually bit the bullet and made one though, I have just been wiping drool off my chin for far too long. That all changed yesterday and I think I'm hooked. I made four, yes I did say four, of her recipes yesterday (my brothers are in town, you know... kinda a big deal).

Every single recipe was absolutely delicious. And so simple. And most of the ingredients were things I had in the house anyway (how often does that happen?).

First recipe up: Spicy Pasta Salad with Smoked Gouda, Tomatoes, and Basil. It was so yummy. So very very yummy. 

I made a few minor adjustments:
- no idea what mastaccioli was so I just used penne noodles I had at home.
- I had no milk, but the vinegar thinned the mayo anyway so it wasn't an issue.
- I used sirachi instead of adobo sauce from chipotle peppers.... don't know what that is.
- I did splurge and use gouda (not smoked), but any cheese would be delicious.

Second recipe: Grilled Chicken Salad with Feta, Fresh Corn, and Blueberries. Again, delicious. Though "too healthy" for the boys (except my dear husband, Erik, who has been trained to eat veggies). No adjustments. I had everything I needed!


Third recipe: Caramelized Onion & Prosciutto Pizza. Even the boys loved this one. I don't even know where to get fresh mozza so I just used the normal stuff. Actually the pre-shredded (cringe) because it is actually cheaper. And I hate shredding cheese (Erik does it, bless his heart, but he wasn't part of the prep yesterday).

And finally: BBQ Chicken Pizza. Erik especially loved this one. Lindsey doesn't like cilantro so we just used basil. I think it would be even better with cilantro! Cilantro is a flavour I have come to love since being married. Erik loves cilantro so it kind of comes with the territory.

I would highly recommend you make every single one of these recipes immediately. Go ahead and double them... they're that delicious. And perfect for summer.