Pizza

My husband introduced me to Pizza Margherita, a deliciously simple pizza that really is made up of crust, sliced fresh tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, and fresh mozzarella cheese. We love it and have started to make all of our pizzas starting off from this very basic idea. Sometimes I add chopped garlic or hamburger. It is really delicious and easy (and the kids LOVE it). Here is my recipe for pizza dough (adapted from a Honey-Whole Wheat pizza dough recipe from Win-Co):

Pizza Dough

2¼ tsp yeast
1 cup warm water
1 Tbsp honey
¼ cup wheat germ
1 tsp salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
½ Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp cornmeal


1. Rinse mixing bowl in warm water (to warm it up). To the warm bowl add water, yeast, and honey. Mix and allow to sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the wheat germ, salt, and flour. Mix the dough in a mixer. Knead the dough for about 9 minutes in the mixer. Cover and let rest for 5-10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F and prepare pan by coating with oil and sprinkling with cornmeal.

4. Press dough onto prepared pan. Dock with a fork to prevent it from puffing up. Bake for about 2 minutes in hot oven. Add toppings then place back in oven and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Servings 1 pizza (8 slices)
1100 total calories (138 calories per slice)

Vegetarian BBQ

Most people are afraid that if they were to go vegetarian they would miss out on BBQ. I am here to tell you they are dead wrong. Here is a great recipe for a BBQ Bean Sandwich that will make even a lion happy:

BBQ Bean Sandwiches

1 pound dry beans (pinto, black, navy…)
4 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp salt
2 tsp dry mustard
½ tsp chili powder
4 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup vinegar
2 cups tomato juice
½ cup ketchup
1 cup water (or bean juice)


1. Soak beans. Drain. Cover with water (2 inches above top of beans), bring to boil simmer for 1 to 1 ½ hours (you want them to be a little firm). Drain beans (if you want to use bean juice in the sauce, reserve 1 cup of juice). Replace in cooking pot.

2. In a sauce pan whisk together all other ingredients. Bring to boil and let simmer for 15 minutes. Pour sauce over beans, stir, and heat to low boil. Allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes. Serve on buns.

Makes about 16 servings
1000 total calories (63 Calories per serving)

As you may have already guessed, I make my own buns. They are very easy. I just use my regular bread recipe but instead of making two loaves I divide it up and make 16 buns. To keep them from sticking to the pan I use either parchment paper or oil with a light dusting of flour. Slice them in half and fill with delicious BBQ Beans.

For all of you who would prefer eating meat, this sauce is usable on beef, pork, and chicken. Just pour over shredded meat and let simmer for at least an hour (you can make a roast in a crock pot, shred the meat, return it to the crock pot, pour the sauce over the meat, stir, and let it simmer for at least an hour).

If you want to make less, halve everything except the vinegar (you still want 1/4 cup of vinegar).

(In all honesty, I made up my first line. Additionally, I am not a vegetarian, I just eat like one - most of the time.)

Beans

Here are simple instructions on how to use dry beans.

1. Rinse Dry Beans.
Measure out the amount of dry beans you want to use. 1 pound of beans is about 2 1/2 cups of dry beans. Place in colander and rinse under running water.

2. Soak Beans.
Place beans in pot and cover with water (2-inches above top of beans). Bring the water to boiling and let boil for 2 minutes. Turn off heat, place lid on pot, and let beans sit for at least 2 hours.

3. Cook Beans.
Drain soak water off beans. Cover with clean water, drain off. Cover with more water (2-inches above top of beans) and place on stove. Bring to boiling. Allow to simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until beans are tender but not mushy. Be sure to check on your beans periodically so they don't dry out and burn. If the water is below the top of the beans, just add more water and continue cook until done.

You are done with your beans. See, that wasn't too hard.

Butter

I made butter! It tasted like...butter! I have been intrigued by this for about two weeks. Who knew that you could just make butter with whipping cream? I didn't so when I saw this on a blog (I don't remember which one) I was very interested. Then I saw it on Angry Chicken's blog and she said it was a lot of fun to make. So, I decided that I would give it a try. My husband had to push me a little (I was a bit scared that it wouldn't work out). Yesterday morning before leaving for work he said, "Are you making bread for dinner?" I said, "Yes." Then he said, "I would really like to have homemade butter on our bread." So I did it. It was really easy. I started small with 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, poured it into the bowl of my KitchenAid and started whisking. I watched and watched. Within 20 minutes I had butter. I was completely finished and cleaned up about 40 minutes after starting. If you are interested in making your own butter go to this site. It is a bit wordy but very helpful.

Plant a Garden

Food tastes better when prepared with fresh ingredients. Grow fruits, vegetables, and herbs from seeds! Learn how here.

Pioneers Didn't Use Cooking Spray

In my ongoing effort to be more like the pioneers - self-reliant, natural, dedicated to real food... - I have stopped buying many things that I used to buy such as box mixes, salad dressing, ketchup, etc. Included in this is cooking spray. It just doesn't seem right that there is this stuff that has magical properties such as no calories and the ability to keep things from sticking. I have tried everything. Oil works fine for cookies but not bread. Butter also does not work on bread. Why in the devil is my beautiful, delicious bread sticking to my pans? What is with that? I am so irritated. So, if anyone has any ideas please send them my way. I am just flabbergasted. Flabbergasted.