5 MORE Alternatives to Pepperoni Pizza

Another 5 pepperoni pizza-like recipes I've found so I can enjoy some variety while the kids get their pizza fix. It's impressive how many recipes there are out there for similar food.


Pizza Stromboli

I adapted the recipe I make from one I saw on Tasty but this one is pretty much it.

It's much more delicious than it looks here. It's full of melted cheese and pepperoni oil making it all tasty and pizza-ry. Again, we sometimes have it with marinara sauce to dip the crusty bit in.



Frying Pan Pizza

Ok, this is definitely just a pepperoni pizza but it's cooked in a different way so it counts as a variety because I'm the one making it and a change of method is good enough!

Everyone really enjoyed this pizza. The pizza base had a nice crunchy texture to it. I used a lid to help the cheese melt a bit but it works really well. I'd still prefer to bake a pizza but if you only had a hob you could whip up a tasty pizza if needed.


Pizza Braid

This pizza braid is a great alternative to pizza. Puff pastry filled with tomato puree, mozzarella and pepperoni. So easy to put together with ready-made pastry and tastes great. We all enjoyed it a lot.

No Yeast Pizza

During these lockdown times, yeast has been hard to get hold of so I've had to experiment with pizza without yeast. It worked out really well, it was just more like a flatbread style pizza.

We all really enjoyed it but missed our usual yeasty pizza with it's huge crusts. Still, it's good to have this no yeast alternative in my repertoire for times when there just isn't yeast to be had.

Easy Pizza Cups

These are a cute alternatives for regular pizza. Using a muffin tray to make individual cups. This would be great for little kids to make so they could choose their own toppings. We all had slightly different ingredients too because JD is the only one who likes olives on pizza.

Bonus - Chocolate Pizza

There's no recipe for this one. JD made a more biscuity pizza dough with added cocoa powder. He rolled it thin and spread chocolate ganache on the top along with chopped chocolate and flaked almonds. When it was baked it turned out pretty good.

That's all from the extra pizza recipes, I think I've got enough recipes in my arsenal to keep things diverse from now on :)

Harrogate Cheap Eats - Fodder On The Hoof

Hurray, we're back! It's been a bleak few months not being able to lunch out but as places start to cautiously open back up we can get back to trying some great Cheap Eats food again.

Fodder's Cafe is still closed but their On The Hoof outside takeaway silver van is up and running, serving hot food and drinks.

They have the queue set up for social distancing quite well with yellow footprints marking the distance between queue places.

The menu is quite basic as they only serve a few hot sandwiches (bacon, sausage or double egg all under £4) and Fodder Burgers. They also sell cold sandwiches, a few bakery items and hot drinks. We haven't visited before so it could be that they're serving a reduced menu at the moment.

We were served by a girl wearing a full visor and she had a card machine for payments on a pole which she pushed out to us so we could pay without getting too close. Clever idea!

We each chose the burger (£6) which turned out to be very nice! One of those large flat burgers but very meaty. You would expect Fodder to use quality ingredients for their food and you can tell by the taste. We also had a slice of flapjack each (£1.50). JD was disappointed he couldn't have a Millionaire's Shortbread for 50p extra but I was being strict with the budget. Only £7.50 each for a Cheap Eat! Turns out the flapjack was delicious, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A handy quick stop for a  tasty lunch! I fancy going back to try their breakfast sandwiches sometime.

Previously on Harrogate Cheap Eats:

Starling Independent Cafe

Burgers & More

Little Breads

Santar Deli

Cafe M

Harrogate Grill & Pizza

Nutrition Joe's

Tak Yan

Drakes Fish & Chips

I Am Doner

Cafe Rita

Palm Court Cafe

Playing Silly Burgers 37: Chicken Alfredo Burger

37 different burgers so far! Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing with my life. BUT, it stops us getting bored of what's for tea! Plus there's only 3 more burgers left to make after this one and then I'm done and can move on with my life. Move on with making some other kind of food a ridiculous amount of times probably. Everyone needs a hobby, right?

Today I'm making a chicken alfredo burger. A burger version of chicken alfredo pasta. Essentially a chicken burger with alfredo cheese sauce on top. Sounds good to me.

Here's the recipe I used if you want to make it yourself.

Instead of making a chicken burger froem scratch I used some breaded southern fried chicken steaks to make things quicker and easier for a week night meal. I then made up an alfredo sauce, which is just a cheese sauce made with parmesan.

Put spinach on the bottom burger bun, then the chicken and then a generous dollop of sauce. Top with the burger bun and consume!

Yum, I really liked the moistness of the sauce on top of the chicken. It was a bit messy to eat but very tasty. JD and I both enjoyed the burger and feel curious what cheese sauce would be like on a beef burger.

Ratings: JD - 3, Emma - 3.5

A Year of Learning - Meditation

I've always been a worrier. When there's something on my mind I often overthink it and it can affect me physically, bringing on a headache or my back hurting. I'd like to feel more in control of my thoughts and not have them spiral out of control when I worry about something going on in my life.

I've recently been made redundant from my job due to the corona virus lockdown so this seems a good time to try focus on meditation and my thoughts of doubt. I'm worried about getting another job in these uncertain times. I'm worried it could lead to money troubles. I'm worried I will lose the confidence in myself that my new job brought me.

I'm starting with this website --> https://www.mindful.org/how-to-meditate/

My first experience of meditation was short but interesting. I just sat on the sofa in the morning after breakfast. Neither of the kids were up yet and JD was busy playing on the Quest. It was quiet and comfortable. I started off with my eyes closed trying to focus on my breath. Following my breath with my mind, in and out. I soon realised I'd started wondering if I looked serene! Haha! I went back to focusing on my breath and did that each time my mind wandered. I only did it for a couple of minutes but I enjoyed trying to focus and was amused by the thoughts that tempted my mind away.

Do I look serene? :D

The second time I tried for 5 minutes and found it much harder. Maybe I just had more on my mind that day but I felt my mind constantly bringing up thoughts and I got frustrated trying to bring my focus back to my breath. When I finished I felt a bit more stressed than I was before.

Mindful also do guided meditation practises so I decided to try one of those. I chose the 10 minute one and found it to be very relaxing having a voice instruct me in my meditation. I feel this is a more natural way to learn what to do instead of going it alone. I finished this 10 minutes feeling much more optimistic about being able to meditate.

The next day I listened to the 15 minute guided practise and found it to be just as relaxing. My mind still wandered a lot but with the encouragement of the guide I felt much better about it and managed to bring my focus back to my breath each time.

Next, I tried an app for guided meditation called Serenity. It has a series of guided lessons in meditation. 10 minutes a day for a week. I liked these even more than the Mindful ones. You practise slowing down your breath, thinking of things to be grateful for and stretching at the end of a session. I've done 5 days so far and it feels like a nice addition to my usual routine. I have 10 minutes peace and relaxation as I start my day. I like that the Serenity meditation has soothing background music so it feels easier to ignore noise around the house. I completed the first week which you get for free then it's usually £17 for 6 months. Not bad if you use it every day.

I decided to move on to trying a different app and chose Calm as it seems very popular. It's also free for the first week to try. Turns out I like their guided meditation practises even more than Serenity. It feels so much more laid back, not really like you're trying to focus and more like you're trying not to. I started with the 30 day learn to meditate course and after a few days something clicked in me about why I want to meditate and what it means to me. I've been wanting to control my mind when really I should be learning to let things go.

When the week free trial finished I went back to meditating alone with no guide and found it much easier using the advice I'd learned from Serenity and Calm. There are lots of meditation apps and I feel it's just a case of finding the right one for you. I'd recommend making the most of free trials to find out which one you like best.

I've really enjoyed my month of meditation. I think it will be something I carry on with after this month. There's much more to learn and I'm intrigued to see where it takes me.

Previously in A Year of Learning:

Smartphone Photography

Breadmaking

Arduino Programming

Harmonica

Creative Writing