Very Berry Salad

A few months ago we got Zupas for lunch at my work. One of the salads that we got was their "Nuts About Berries" salad. This is our take on the salad.

Fresh strawberries

Fresh blackberries

Granola

Chopped greens (we prefer romaine hearts)

Vinaigrette dressing (we like Briannas Homestyle Blush Wine Vinaigrette)

Just toss the ingredients together and enjoy.

White Chocolate Caramel Popcorn

This Christmas, we were given a popcorn maker by Kimber's brother, Vince and his wife, Jordan. Jordan gave us this recipe to go along with our new popcorn maker. Just a word of caution, this popcorn is highly addictive.

1 1/2 cups un-popped popping corn

1 cup margarine

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup white karo syrup

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

almond bark

1. Pop the popcorn in a popcorn maker or according to the directions on the back of the bag.

2. Place the margarine, brown sugar, and white karo syrup into a sauce pan and cook until it bubbles. Let the mixture boil for 1 minute.

3. Remove the sauce pan from the heat and add the baking soda while stirring the mixture.

4. Pour the mixture over the popcorn and mix until the all of the popcorn is covered.

5. Spread the popcorn on a cookie sheet and bake at 200F for 20 minutes.

6. Melt the almond bark according the directions on the bag and pour over the baked popcorn. Make sure to mix well so that all of the popcorn is covered. Let the popcorn set and enjoy!

***This recipe makes a lot of popcorn. I usually just do up a third of the recipe for Kimber and me. We still end up giving a lot of it away.

Pizza Dough

2 to 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

One 1/4-ounce package quick-rising yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon table salt

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1. Combine 1 3/4 cups of the flour, the yeast, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a mixer. Add 3/4 cup very warm water and the oil; mix until a soft dough forms.

2. Add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at time, until the dough becomes manageable.

3. Shape the dough in a ball and place in an oiled bowl; turn the dough over so that an oiled surface is up. Cover and let rise in a warm place until the dough doubles in size, about 35 minutes.

You can use this pizza dough for pretty much anything. Kimber and I used this dough just the other night to make pepperoni and sausage calzones. This dough tastes great cooked up on the grill. Kimber and I love using this pizza dough recipe for grilled BBQ chicken pizza. Here's the recipe:

1. Split the dough into 4 smaller balls of dough and roll out on a table.

2. Heat your gas/charcoal grill to low.

3. Brush the rolled out dough with some olive oil and place onto your grill. Keep a close eye on the dough because it cooks up quickly.

4. When the dough has cooked (4-5 minutes) flip it over. Quickly spread BBQ sauce onto the dough and top with cooked chicken and mozzarella cheese. Garnish with chives.