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Pizza Pizza

March 1, 2011 by 7 Comments

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For Oscar Sunday, we made pizza from scratch. It was awesome.

Baking bread has been on my food related goals list for a while, and Jeffrey loves pizza, so we decided Oscar night would be a fun time for homemade pizza. We crossed our fingers that it would turn out!

I looked at some favorite websites for dough recipes and instructions and our dough came out 100% perfect. It did take about 7 hours from start to finish, but there was a lot of down time for rising. Our dough made two pizzas, and we topped with a store-bought sauce (one thing at a time!) and lots of vegetables, sausage for Jeffrey, and mozzarella cheese.

Homemade Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

  • 1 tsp white sugar
  • 1 1/2 C warm water
  • 1 packet active dry yeast
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 C whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 C all purpose white flour
  • 1 T honey

Instructions:

(pay attention, there are a lot of steps!)

  • In a large bowl, dissolve sugar into warm water. Sprinkle yeast on top and let stand for 10 minutes until foamy. (We did not stir it in. picture 1)
  • Stir in the olive oil, honey and salt into the yeast mixture, and then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the AP flour until the dough starts to come together. (picture 2)

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  • Spread the remaining flour onto countertop and plop the dough onto it. Knead until all flour is absorbed and the dough ball becomes smooth, about 10 minutes.
  • To knead, you take the left side and fold it in, then the top and fold in and repeat over and over. Our dough was a little sticky, so we added more flour. It was fine. (picture 3)
  • Place dough in an oiled bowl and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel and let stand on countertop for 1 hour. We left ours out for about 3 hours. (picture 4)

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  • When the dough is doubled, tip the dough onto a floured surface and divide into two pieces for two crusts. Form into a tight ball and let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled. We wrapped ours in saran wrap and placed in the refrigerator after one hour. (picture 5)
  • When you’re ready to roll the dough, preheat oven to 450* and flour your surface again.
  • With a rolling pin, roll out to desired shape. Ours were oval and it rolled easily without tearing. We did not do any pizza throwing in the air. We don’t have a pizza stone, so we placed each pie on a cooling rack so the bottom would cook well too. (picture 6)

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  • Drizzle top with olive oil and add toppings and sauce. Our choices included arugula, roasted garlic, artichokes, red bell pepper, sausage, red onion, basil, and mozzarella cheese.

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Jeffrey’s pizza, pre-baking.

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Marci’s pizza, pre-baking.

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We baked for about 15 minutes or until it just looked ready. Next time, I would put the cooling rack on a baking sheet, or put a baking sheet on the bottom of the oven as a drip pan. We placed both pizzas on the top rack side by side for equal cooking. Jeffrey’s pizza had some leaky sauce that burned on the bottom of the oven.

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Finished pizzas!

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I love how the cheese browned so nicely and the arugula really wilted down. The onion strips cooked perfectly, and the cheese was perfectly melty.

Jeffrey’s pizza was super cheesy and spicy. I cut my cheese into strips and he used rounds. It made a difference in the cheesy-ness.

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We cut into wedges and had lots leftover too. These two pies would be a perfect amount for 3 people probably.

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If we have the time, I don’t think we’ll ever buy a store-bought crust again. The dough was crispy outside, doughy and soft inside. The wheat really stood out and the thickness was just perfect.

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Making pizza together was a fun and messy project in the kitchen for a Sunday. You really realize that the dough is filled with love and hard work! We worked on that dough from noon until 7 p.m.!

Little Caesars has nothing on us. We can’t wait for the leftovers.

Filed Under: Dinner, How To, Recipes · Tagged With: , , ,

Gingered Out

December 2, 2010 by 14 Comments
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Happy December!

I want to give a big “thank you” to you, my readers, for coming back to visit so often. My November had more pageviews than any month so far, which also means that my readership has increased every month since I started to blog last Spring. I really appreciate you reading, commenting, or emailing. Connecting with readers is so fun, and growing readership means I’m going in the right direction.

Odd blog stats:

After Texas, the states that come to my site most are California, New York, and Washington State. If you are in Washington, say hi. I don’t know anyone there!

Now you can go over to my giveaway and leave a comment to win the coupons and kitchen tools I put together. It’s how bloggers say thank you!


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Homemade Gingerbread

(by Simply Recipes)

This whole post is as festive as it gets. It’s all about gingerbread. I scoured the internet and cookbooks to find a basic gingerbread recipe with icing. I didn’t want to try a healthified one, I wanted to make the real thing from scratch. This process took a long time but the cookies turned out perfect. They are so soft on the inside, crispy outside. My icing skills are a little amateur, but ugly icing tastes just as good as pretty icing.

The whole process was really fun, but it was very time consuming and made a mess!

Ingredients:

  • 3 1/4 C sifted all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 C unsalted butter, room temperature (1.5 sticks)**
  • 1/2 C dark brown sugar, packed
  • 1 T ground ginger
  • 1 T ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 C unsulfured molasses

**Butter confession: I defrosted two sticks of butter and realized after the dough went in the fridge that I used all two sticks instead of 1.5 sticks. So when I was rolling out the dough, I liberally tossed on flour to make it tougher. That fixed it. So if you use this recipe, you may not need to throw on as much flour when rolling it out.

Instructions:

  • In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.

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  • In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Mix in eggs and molasses. Gradually add flour mixture; combine on low speed.

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  • Divide dough into thirds, wrapping each in Saran Wrap. Chill for at least one hour or overnight. Before rolling out, let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. If the dough is too soft to roll (or is sticky), add in more flour.

  • Heat oven to 350*. Place a dough third on a large piece of parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, roll to 1/8 inch thick. Refrigerate again for 5-10 minutes. Use a cookie cutter to make shapes, lay on ungreased cookie pan. Press raisins or chocolate chips into dough as buttons.
  • (baker’s note: My dough was a little sticky, so I added flour and worked it in, then rolled it, and then put it in a ball and added flour and rolled it again. Just do what you need to do to get it rolled pretty. I also thought parchment paper was annoying but then I transfered the sheet to sit in the refrigerator, and that was easier than lifting and placing on a tray to refrigerate.)

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I tried greased and non-greased cookie sheets, both worked fine.

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Bake for 8-10 minutes until crisp. Let sit until cooler and move to a wire rack. Decorate only after it completely cools. Icing instructions below.

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Royal Icing:

Ingredients:

  • 1 egg white
  • 1/2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 3/4 C confectioners sugar

Instructions:

  • Combine egg white and lemon juice and mix in electric mixer. Add powdered sugar slowly and incorporate fully, scraping down sides too.
  • Spoon into piping back or sandwich bag and cut an end in the bag to pipe. You can’t wait to do this or it will dry out quickly.

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Doesn’t it look like snow? And don’t you want to lick that spoon?

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Sometimes they break, which is just so so sad. You know where broken gingerbread men go, right?

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Gingerbread Oatmeal

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Ingredients:

  • 3/4 C water
  • 1/4 C Scottish Oats
  • 1/4 C Almond Milk
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 2 T raisins
  • 1/2 tsp chia seeds
  • 1/2 banana, sliced
  • dash salt
  • crumbled gingerbread on top
  • maple syrup on top

Instructions:

In small pot, bring water to a simmer. Add oats and whisk. Add almond milk and salt and whisk. Let cook and bubble. Add banana, raisins, chia seeds. Stir. Add all spices. Let cook together for 5 minutes until thick.

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With two days of baking gingerbread shapes, decorating, and having it for breakfast, I am gingered out for now. But the house smells great, and those cookie men are calling my name.
What’s your favorite use of gingerbread?
Filed Under: Breakfast, Dessert, Hanukkah/Xmas, How To · Tagged With: , , ,

How To: Once Per Week Grocery Shopping

July 22, 2010 by 2 Comments

First—I’m still looking for a few guest posts while I’m on vacation! If you’d like to write something for my site, please let me know. You don’t have to be a blogger.

Onto a new How To post. And be sure to check out the other How To’s that I’ve written on its own page here.

 

One of my favorite parts of the week is going to the grocery store on Sundays. (foodie dork here!) I try to get all my shopping done for the week in one day, and here are some tips of how I do it. It does involve planning, but not to the extent that I write down 5 days of dinner menus.

A little background–I only have to feed two people, and one of us eats most meals from restaurants. When planning and buying, I pay attention to expiration dates or overbuying so things won’t spoil.

How to get your grocery shopping done in one day for one week:

1. Have an old-fashioned list. I keep a list going all the time in the kitchen. Make sure you add things that you run out of right when you run out of it! Jot down new foods to try from things you read (like my blog!) Then at the grocery, stick to your list. It will keep you from overbuying. However, there are some days when I like to browse the aisles and look for new things to try, or produce that is in season.

2. Think about your week. Do you already have plans to eat out? Are you packing your breakfast every morning or will you have time to eat at home? Same with lunch. For me, I always pack breakfast and a snack, and my lunches are similar within a week. Keeping lunches similar keeps your grocery bill down. Buy a bag of cherries one week and then mixed berries the next. Use pantry items to change it up, like buy turkey, and alternate in tuna or beans for salad protein.

3. Get to know your grocery store. The annoying part of wanting certain brands or fresher produce is going to multiple grocery stores. I usually go to my local Randalls and Whole Foods every Sunday. However, I can be in and out of a grocery quickly because I know where things are and what each store may or may not carry. For instance–I will not find the turkey or yogurt I like at Randalls, so I don’t need to spend time looking for it!

4. If you go to multiple grocery stores, go to the one that will be cheaper first. By this I mean that I will look for produce at Randalls before Whole Foods because I know it will be cheaper. If the quality is poor at Randalls, I’ll get it at Whole Foods.

5. Use Costco! (or Sam’s Club) My weekly trips to the grocery are for what we need for the week. We leave our cleaning supplies, some freezer items, dry snacks, and waters to buy in bulk every 6 weeks or so.

6. Plan to make use of your Sunday afternoon. Every Sunday, I hard-boil 6 eggs–to use for breakfast or chopped into tuna salad or on a salad. Sometimes I bake chicken to have for a few days. Sometimes I bake muffins to freeze for breakfast. And then I make dinner for Sunday night with plans to have leftovers for Monday lunch or Monday night. Or if I make chicken, I will use it in a different way during the week.

7. Planning a basic dinner: It doesn’t always have to be about creating a recipe! You just  need things on hand to satisfy the carb-protein-vegetable ratio, in my opinion. For instance, sweet potatoes, vegetables to roast (brussels sprouts, broccoli, squash, zucchini, mixed peppers) can always be paired with canned baked beans, 90 second rice, grilled chicken or your protein of choice for a well-rounded meal.

8. The freezer is for more than ice cream and ice. Use your freezer to store baked goods, then defrost in the refrigerator overnight for breakfast. You can cook soups ahead and defrost before work for dinner that night, and let meats thaw all day. Planning is the hard part. If you make the decisions ahead of time, all that’s left is to execute when you get home at night.

Happy cooking!

How often do you shop? What are your once/week tips?

Filed Under: How To · Tagged With:

Sunday Recipes and How to Boil an Egg

July 12, 2010 by 3 Comments

Finally a weekend in Houston with no major plans! Saturday I ran 5 happy miles on the treadmill in much better form than Thursday’s rocky and slow 3 miles. And then on Sunday I swam for about 30 minutes and did a 50 minutes spinning class.

And as a typical Sunday, I spent time in the kitchen. I baked muffins, boiled eggs for the week, and made gazpacho.

Oatmeal Raisin Muffins (with a special ingredient):

I love mufins. They are perfect for me to take to work or have for a snack, and there are so many varieties! I have been in search of a new kind of muffin, and found this one from Anne P. at Fannetastic Food. These muffins have no eggs, butter, oil, or white sugar, but are still sweet from the bananas, raisins, and maple syrup. And a powerhouse of nutrition from the flaxseed, whole wheat flour, and sweet potatoes. Potassium and Vitamin A and C anyone?

I made a few changes to her recipe, noted below.
Ingredients:

makes 12 muffins

Dry:

1.5 C whole wheat pastry flour
1 C oats
1/3 C ground flaxseed (I had a problem finding ground–I only found flax seeds or flaxseed meal, so I bought the seeds. I tried to pulse it in a food processor, but it didn’t work. Luckily, can’t tell in muffins.)
1/3 C walnuts
1/3 C raisins
1/8 C brown sugar
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking soda
Wet:

1 C canned pureed sweet potato (I only found sugared sweet potatoes in cans, so I baked a sweet potato and spooned out 1 C and mashed it)
2 large overripe bananas, mashed
1/2 C (overflowing) skim milk
1/4 C pure maple syrup
Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350. In two separate bowls, mix dry, then wet, and then combine, adding wet to dry and stirring gently until the mixture is uniform-ish.

Spoon the mixture into a non-stick muffin pan (or use muffin cups). Sprinkle a couple raw oats on the top of each muffin to make them look pretty when they’re done.

Pop them in the oven for about 25-30 minutes and do a fork check near the end. (Mine baked in under 25 minutes.)

Once they’re out of the oven, transfer them over to a cooling rack, and enjoy!!

Next up is Gazpacho. This is my mommy’s recipe, and I grew up eating chunky gazpacho. I don’t like it pureed like many restaurants serve it. Here is our recipe, a great summertime soup for lunch or dinner. (I hope you like to chop!)

Mom’s Gazpacho:

Ingredients:

24 oz tomato juice

2 T olive oil

2 T red wine vinegar

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 tsp Worchestershire sauce

2 tomatoes

1/4 C onion

1/2 C red bell pepper

1/2 C cucumber

1/2 C celery

2 tsp parsley

1 tsp chives

Instructions:

In blender, combine tomato juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, chives, worchestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, and one tomato. Move to large serving bowl or sealable container.

Chop onion, one tomato, celery, bell pepper, cucumber and add to large bowl.

Shake container, or stir all together in bowl.

Refrigerate until serving. I like to eat it with chicken or shrimp inside, or serve on top of chopped spinach.

How to Boil an Egg:

1. In a medium sized pot, put 6 eggs in, fill with water, and cover. (note–I don’t boil the water then add the eggs.)

2. Place on medium heat, and bring to rapid boil. Today it took about 15 minutes to boil.

3. I let the eggs boil rapidly for about 2 minutes before I turn the heat completely off. But watch your pot so the water doesn’t overflow.

4. I leave the eggs covered for about 10 minutes, but this part isn’t necessary. I think it helps the eggs harden so you don’t bruise it when cracking.

5. Pour out hot water and cover with cold water. This makes the eggs able to be held to peel.

6. A tip I learned from Ina Garten, roll the egg on a cutting board or counter to break the shell. Then peel off.

7. Sometimes it works perfect, and sometimes they still look butchered, even from the same batch of eggs!

Filed Under: Breakfast, Dinner, How To, Recipes, Vegetarian · Tagged With: , ,

How to Pack Foods for Work…

June 18, 2010 by 2 Comments

and not get bored with them.

This “How To” post is something I think about every day when I’m eating what I packed the night before, and every night when I look in my refrigerator and ask myself what’s for lunch the next day.

Since starting the blog, I pay more attention to what I bring with me to feed me after a workout (breakfast), tame my hunger (lunch and snack), and keep me away from sweets or packaged foods (noshes).

So here are some tips for packing foods that are good for you, and that you’ll want to eat.

1. Plan your breakfast, lunch, and snack to include protein and carbs. This was a big “aha” moment for me when I realized I need that combination everytime I eat, with some fats during the day but not all day!

2. I also like my meals to take time to eat, and I eat at a table, not in the car on the run. A smoothie for a meal, or just one dense sandwich doesn’t work for me. I like to draw it out.

3. Plan your weekend grocery list to add a new food each week. It makes your meals more fun. Try a new dip, a different bread or cracker variety, or a seasonal fruit or vegetable.

4. Plan your dinner to have leftovers. An extra piece of chicken or cold pasta will make a salad more enjoyable.

5. Keep some foods at work for emergencies (yogurt was moldy, lunch didn’t do the trick, hungry at 11 a.m., etc) like crackers, granola bars, peanut butter packs, or nuts. If you can keep things in a refrigerator all week, pack yogurts, cheese wedges, hummus, or a container of fruit.

6. Don’t keep foods at work that you know you will eat even when you aren’t hungry, like candy, granola bars if you can’t say no, or nuts if you can’t just have a handful. (this is why I do not keep trail mix or dried fruit at work–I can’t just eat a little! )

7. Make your food choices easy to transport. No saucy dishes, salad dressings that may leak, or smelly meals. Use tupperware, and make your dishes ready to eat without at-work prep. i.e. Don’t smell up the kitchen heating up your leftovers.

What are your tips?

Filed Under: Breakfast, How To, Lunch, Snacks · Tagged With:

Beach Vacation Recap

June 7, 2010 by 4 Comments

Jeffrey and I took a long weekend vacation to Destin, Florida. We had a great time with friends–sunning, exploring, shopping, and just relaxing. Here are a few pictures to recap.

We take a lot of weekend trips, and I have a few quirks to try to stay with my eating and exercising routine while I’m gone.

1. Bring your own food. I always travel with Fiber One, and more recently Larabars. My box of Fiber One has been around the world! It came to Paris last December, and even on our honeymoon. I love me some Fiber One. Even if you can only find milk and a banana, you’ve got a good breakfast.

2. Add something new. This time I also packed my own Justin’s Peanut Butter packs. In an airport that had pretty much nothing (3 departing gates), I found a plain turkey sandwich, brought a banana, and had my nut butter pack. And lunch was served.

3. I make time to get in exercise. I did 3 walks on a streetside sidewalk, and one jog. All about one hour. It was hot! I was also proud of myself for the jog, as I usually am a sissy for extreme heat, humidity, and wind. But I made a deal with myself that if I jogged 3/4 of it, I would walk the last 10 minutes barefoot on the beach. It’s also really fun to use your morning walk to explore new towns!

4. Exercise early. Especially when you’re going somewhere hot. Not like 5 a.m. early, but just not in the afternoon. I am not one who could sweat all day at the beach and then put on gym clothes and go for a jog. I like to get it over before I get too hot, then relax the rest of the day. Does this sound familiar to why I moved my workouts to morning?

5. Leave your weight training for home. I personally don’t like to spend time in a hotel gym for too long while I’m on vacation. So I try to use vacation for cardio days. Work your schedule so that you aren’t missing a strength training day and use your vacation for walks, jogs, or a bike ride.

Filed Under: Exercise, How To, Travel · Tagged With:

Morning Work Out–Just Do It!

May 12, 2010 by 10 Comments

About two months ago, I switched my time-of-day routine from night to day. I know we are new friends, so here’s a background of my exercise routine and a couple quirks about me.

 For almost four years, I was an after work exerciser. I would always hit the gym, yoga studio, or the outdoors by 6 p.m. All day I would think about what exercise I wanted to do that night, make sure I left work at the same time, then crunch in a shower, dinner, TV, and get ready for the next day. Didn’t I realize how exhausting that becomes?!

I am also a creature of habit. I like routine, I like to plan! Two times I tried and failed at waking up early to exercise. I worried the night before about falling asleep, being too tired the next day, and not having a quality workout before the sun comes up. But when I finally got the hang of it, I am hooked! There are so many benefits that I have no reason to switch back. To name a few:

  1. I love feeling that I have accomplished something before 7:30 a.m.
  2. I  literally added 2 waking hours to my day (granted,  I go to sleep a little earlier).
  3. I am more social at night. I can see friends, run errands, go out to dinner, and not be a sweaty mess!
  4. It’s nice to drink 25 ounces of water and work up a sweat before breakfast.
  5. I can watch the sunrise, and exercise before it gets to be 100 degrees outside!
  6. I can spend quality time with my puppy and husband at night, not rush around the house, and cook a real dinner.
  7. I don’t feel guilty about wanting to go home and watch TV. I’ve already exercised!
  8. I really do have more energy and feel more awake all day long.
  9. I eat clean all day long for two reasons–a. I need to fuel my body properly to make my workouts work best. b. I didn’t wake up at 5:32 a.m. to put crap in my body! Make it worth it!

Here are a few tips to getting the hang of a morning workout:

  1. Lay your clothes out the night before. Water bottle and towel too.
  2. Pick music for your ipod that literally makes you jumpy while you’re sitting there making the playlist.
  3. Plan out your workout before you get to the gym. Nothing worse than getting there, looking at the machines, and thinking “now what do I do?”
  4. Don’t try to go to bed earlier than you’re used to. If you aren’t tired, you probably can’t fall asleep. After a few early mornings, you’ll be tired enough!
  5. Make plans at night so that you have to get it overwith in the morning. Otherwise, you’ll just put it off until later.
  6. Make a buddy do it with you. Or take a class. Takes the thinking out of what to do for an hour. Just follow instructions!
  7. Have a hearty breakfast ready for after. You’ll enjoy it more knowing you worked for it.

Which do you prefer–morning or night–and why?

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