HGTV Overload

This weekend was a bit of a bummer for us.  Drew and I both had to work on Saturday, and my almost-gone cold returned with a vengeance Thursday night.  I felt, sounded (and looked) pretty nasty, so I spent pretty much all of Saturday and most of Sunday on the couch with Murph.  Still not feeling any better on Monday, I stayed home from work, and then had my usual Tuesday off as well.  Sooo Murphy and I have spent quite a bit of time together over the last 4 days.  Which has led me to this conclusion:

Murphy is actually a cat in a dog's body.  To give credit where it is due, BearFace actually came up with this theory first.  I laughed it off.  Of COURSE he's a dog!  But, having spent almost every waking moment with him for 4 days, I started to rethink my position.  

Reasons That My Dog Is Actually a Cat:

• He takes cat naps 20 out of 24 hours of the day. 
• Any light fragment or moving shadow sends him into a tizzy (Ever see a cat chase a laser pointer?)    
• When sleeping on his bed, he curls himself into the smallest possible ball.  Like a cat.
• Birds, groundhogs, bunnies, and pretty much any small mammals are fair game for a rousing game of chase. 
• He spends at least an hour every day grooming himself.  Cat-like. 
• After his breakfast, morning stretch, and venture outside, he spends the rest of the morning moving around the house with the sun spots.  Where he curls up in a tiny ball and sleeps until the sun moves again.
• And finally, he is OBSESSED with cats.  I assumed he just wanted to play with them, but now I think it is because he is trying to reach out to his own kind!

Although he may in fact be a feline, he is definitely a great sick day companion. As long as he can be on whatever piece of furniture I happen to be on, he is quite content to snuggle quietly until I get up.

I'm finally feeling better today, so will be heading back to work tomorrow.  Couldn't come soon enough, because I'm about to go stir-crazy after being trapped in the house for this long...I've had about all can I take of HGTV and FoodNetwork, and I think Murphy is getting sick of me force-snuggling him on the couch.  Pretty much, we've been doing this: 

Sometimes he lets me share the blanket.  Sometimes.

  

I haven't done much cooking in the last few days, but now that I'm back on my feet, I ventured back into the kitchen!  On the menu tonight, another homemade pizza at BearFace's request.  

Chipotle Chicken Pizza

This recipe was super simple and easy to make.  I used leftover cooked chicken from the night before, and also used my pizza stone in the oven, rather than making it on the grill.  Here's what I did:

1. Place pan or pizza stone in oven and preheat to 500 degrees.
2. Saute onions and peppers in olive oil over medium-high heat about 5-10 minutes until they are soft, and beginning to brown on the outside.  Remove from pan.
3. Heat cooked chicken in pan, then add about 1-2 tsp Chipotle Tabasco sauce.  Toss chicken in sauce to coat, adding more if needed.
4. Return onions and peppers to pan and mix with chicken.  Add a few more shakes of Tabasco and toss to coat.
5. While chicken mixture is heating, mix Original Tabasco, olive oil, and garlic in a bowl. 
6. Roll out dough on floured surface until it is the size of pizza stone, then transfer to stone and poke liberally with a fork.
7. Spread sauce thinly over dough, then top with cheese and chicken/vegetable mixture.  Top with a few more shakes of Chipotle sauce. 
8. Bake for 12-15 minutes until crust is crispy and cheese is bubbling.  Let stand for 5-10 minutes before slicing and gobbling up!

Unfortunately, I forgot to pick up cilantro at the store sooo my pizza was cilantro-less.  Considering how much I love cilantro, this was pretty disappointing.  But the pizza was still really tasty.  I'm a big fan of trying non-traditional pizzas, and this one definitely made the cut!   

Oh pizza stone, how I love you!  You make my pizza so 

crispy and amazing!