Honey Pizza Dough

I have been making my own pizza dough for a while with so-so results.  I stole this recipe from a friend who follows this food blog and have been using the following pizza dough recipe ever since.  It is fantastic!!  It does use all purpose flour rather than whole wheat which knocks it down in the health category but it tastes so good and is so easy I have decided that it is worth it! 

Photo by whitneyinchicago

Recipe: Honey Pizza Dough

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 Tablespoons dry yeast
• 5 cups bread flour
• 1-1/2 cup cool water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons honey

1. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, stir the yeast into the warm water until dissolved. Let stand.
2. Add the flour, the cool water, salt, olive oil, and honey into the yeast mixture. Knead with a dough hook for about 5 minutes, or by hand for 7.
3. Place the dough in a large greased bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise for 30 minutes.
4. Punch down dough and divide into 16 portions (for individual pizzas) or four portions (for 16 inch pizzas). Coat each ball of dough in olive oil, wrap in plastic wrap or place in resealable bags and freeze.
   

To use: Remove from freezer 8-12 hours before using. Allow to thaw in the refrigerator. Let rise until doubled in size, then punch down and make your pizza.

Try it!  

It is awesome!

Mock-Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of my neighbors made these and gave us a few when she came over for a play date.  It's been a couple of weeks but they were so good I can still taste them!  By far the best cookies I have had in a long while, probably ever.  I will make them sometime but can't quite justify the caloric indulgence yet (that and they have nuts to Erik can't have them).

Here is the recipe!  

I encourage you all to try it, or better yet make them when you know I am coming over!  Ha!!

 Enjoy! 

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, cold ( no substitutes)
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2 large eggs, cold
• 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup walnuts or 3/4 cup pecans, if desired

Directions

1. In large mixing bowl add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, cut in cold butter until mixture resembles crumbs, add sugars and stir well (breaking up any brown sugar clumps), add eggs and mix until dough forms, stir in chocolate chips (and nuts, if desired).
2. Chill dough for one hour (and keep chilled while baking first batch).
3. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
4. Put half of the dough on an ungreased baking sheet in 7 large balls, bake for 8 -10 minutes, turn cookie sheet around back to front, bake until light golden brown on top, another 5 - 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on sheet for a few minutes, then place on wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the rest of the dough after cookie sheet cools. This should give you a very close approximation to the Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookies.
5. If you'd like to make them somewhat smaller I suggest using a 375 degree oven temp so they don't over-brown, though they may not rise quite as high.

Breakfast Smoothies

We have been making smoothies for breakfast quite often this summer.  They are easy and healthy!

Blend together:

1 cup of plain yogurt
1-2 cups of frozen fruit
Drizzle of honey
Milk to thin if needed


Yum! 

Fish!

I have always hated fish or any other food that comes from the sea.  As a mom though I want my kids to eat a healthy diet and think that fish provides certain nutrients not found in a lot of other foods.  Therefore, I have been trying to prepare some kind of "fishy" meal 3 times a month or so.

Tonight I tried a new recipe.  The kids and Victor loved it and I would say I even enjoyed my fish!  I didn't think to take a photo of it until it was pretty much gone but here is the recipe....

Baked Sole

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese-- I LEFT THIS OUT (didn't have any)
• I ADDED a teaspoon of parsley as well
• 1/4 teaspoon ground dried thyme -- I used closer to 1 teaspoon
• 4 haddock fillets -- I used SOLE
• 1/4 cup butter, melted -- I LEFT THIS OUT

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).  -I COOKED IT AT 450 degrees
2. In a small bowl, combine the milk and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, and thyme. Dip the haddock sole fillets in the milk, then press into the crumb mixture to coat. Place haddock sole fillets in a glass baking dish, and drizzle with melted butter. 
3. Bake on the top rack of the preheated oven until the fish flakes easily, about 15- 20 minutes.   

I served this with a side of sauteed spinach and brown rice.  I make brown rice about 2x a week.  I almost always add a little butter, cilantro, garlic, salt, and cumin to the rice. YUM!  I also add peas sometimes as the kids eat them without any hesitation if they are mixed in rice.  

Salmon "Salad"

I read the book "Real Food" by Nina Planck recently.  It is a good read and has changed the way I shop for and prepare food.  I will probably do a post on the book soon but thought I would mention it as one change I am making is to incorporate more fish into our diets.

For those of you who know me well you will know that I really dislike anything that comes from the sea.  In the pursuit of health I am going to learn how to like it.  Here is one "fish dish" that I thought was scrumptious.....

8 ounces of cooked salmon (I used wild alaskan pink salmon) - diced -- canned would work
Cumin
Cilantro
Red pepper
Dried Cranberries
Avocado - diced
Small amount of mayo (the "healthy" grocery store here sells a safflower mayo) - that is what I used
Mix together


Serve with whole grain wild rice -- I added a small amount of butter, cumin, garlic, and cilantro to the rice.  I would have added lime juice too but I didn't have any.

I also roasted broccoli with garlic and olive oil.


YUM!  Easy, healthy dinner.

Erik ate it; Lainey wouldn't touch it.

If we didn't have nut allergies in the house I would have added pistachios to the "salmon salad" as well.

Mexican Lasagna

I made this dinner -- it was easy and good plus different from what I make on a regular basis

Ingredients:

12-16 ounces of ground meat (I used "free-range" chicken)
16 ounces of cottage cheese
1/2-1 cup of sour cream
1 can of refried beans
1 can of black beans
1 can of corn
Salsa ( I used medium black bean/corn salsa)
Cheese -- I used a mixture of shredded monetary jack and cheddar)
Cumin (2 tsp)
Oregano (2 tsp)
Garlic (1tsp)
Water (about a can of water)
Lasagna noodles (I am guessing you could use corn tortillas if needing to be gluten free)

Brown ground meat.  Add spices and refried beans plus water until smooth consistency.
Mix salsa and cottage cheese together (separate from meat).

Layer in 9x13 pan...
lasagna noodles
Spread 1/2 of meat mixture on top
Spread 1/3 of salsa and cottage cheese mixture
Can of black beans
Shredded cheese

Lasagna noodles
1/2 meat mixture
1/3 of salsa mixture
1/2 can of corn
Shredded cheese

Lasagna noodles
Corn
Rest of salsa mixture (I added about 1 cup of sour cream to it at this point)
Shredded Cheese

Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

Lainey chowed down - Erik wouldn't touch it.

Homemade Granola Bars

I made some home made granola bars today. They taste great. If you try the recipe out I think they start out a little crumbly but if you refrigerate them for a few hours (after you cut and wrap them up) they are perfect. You can put a lot of different things in them. I added cranberries, raisins, a handful of chocolate chips, and chopped peanuts. I left out the sunflower seeds. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly. Enjoy!

Granola Bars:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Gather your ingredients:

• 2 cups oats
• 3/4 cup wheat germ
• 3/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 cup peanuts, crushed
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• approximately 8 oz. dried fruit

To crush your peanuts, put them in a plastic bag and smash them with a heavy mallet, measuring cup, or sauce pan. (I chopped them up using a dicing device.)

Then, mix the peanuts, oats, wheat germ, and sunflower seeds in a baking dish with sides. Toast them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, stirring every few minutes so that they don’t get burned.

Meanwhile, prepare a glass baking dish (about 11 x 13 inches) for your granola by lining it with waxed paper lightly sprayed with a nonstick spray.

Put the brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla, and salt into a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. (I forgot to take a picture of this step, but it looks so pretty!)

By now, your grains and nuts should be toasted, so mix everything together in a large bowl. The grains, the liquid “glue,” and the dried fruit. Oh, and turn off your oven, because you’re finished with it now.

Mix everything REALLY WELL because you want to make sure the “glue” gets all over everything. Now, dump your granola mixture into your prepared baking dish.

Spread out the mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Wait 2-3 hours or until the granola has totally cooled.

Then, open the waxed paper …

And carefully turn the granola onto a large cutting board, peeling away the rest of the paper.

Now, firmly pressing down with a big knife (not sawing), cut your granola into whatever size bars you’d like.

I wrapped ours individually in plastic wrap and then stuck them in the fridge. I got about 18 bars out of one batch. Enjoy!

I found this recipe on this blog.

Egg/Nut Free Cooking

As most of you know Erik is allergic to nuts and eggs. Therefore, I have spent a lot of time trying to figure how to make everything I would normally make without eggs/nuts and still have it taste good.

A number of my recipes have been requested by friends (thank you!) -- both with and without allergies. I thought the easiest place to put them would be on my blog. I may not have time to do all of them tonight but some of my favorite egg/nut free recipes are chocolate cake, oatmeal pancakes, monster cookies, and carrot muffins (very healthy!).

Erik enjoyed blueberry oatmeal pancakes this morning. He LOVES pancakes. Here are some photos. (He wasn't very cooperative.)

OATMEAL PANCAKES:

1 cup flour

1 cup quick cooking oats

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup oil

1 banana

Blend ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth. Cook on a griddle. Erik likes them best with a few blueberries added to each pancake. Enjoy!

CHOCOLATE CAKE: (Aunt Janet's recipe)

3 cups flour

4 tablespoons cocoa (I usually add more)

2 teaspoons soda

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups cold water

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vinegar

3/4 cup salad oil (I usually use a little less)

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Make three holes -- place vinegar, vanilla, and oil in each hole. Pour water over the top. Mix thoroughly with a spoon. Spread evenly in a 9 x 13 pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

I usually make chocolate frosting -- using butter, cocoa, powdered sugar, and milk. You can follow the recipe on the back of the cocoa container.

I love this recipe and so does everyone I have ever shared it with!