Easy Pizza Dough!

12 Aug

One of my best friend’s growing up ALWAYS had homemade pizza at her birthday parties.  And let me tell you nobody makes pizza like her mom. It was my favorite food!! Some years later  -  ok a lot of years later – I got married and moved to Oklahoma (which is actually fairly recent history). When we arrived back from our honeymoon there was a box on our doorstep. It was from my friend’s parents. Her mom had purchased us an awesome baking stone, a pizza peel, and a pizza cutter as our wedding gift. Inside was a note that said “So you can carry on the tradition”. Not only did I cry but I was super excited! Well yesterday, after 6 months of non-usage. I decided it was time. And much to my surprise it went off without a hitch! Successful pizza made from scratch and in practically no time at all! Not only was it easy it is SO much healthier to make it from scratch – this way YOU can control what is in YOUR dough and what toppings YOU put on. No mystery ingredients. And it was CHEAP – about $1.25 per serving – yet another perk. Try this one out (this recipe makes 2 pizzas and approx. 4 large servings):

1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose Flour (you can always substitute wheat flour as well – this will be my next experiment!)

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (115 -120 degrees F)

Mix on low speed for 30 seconds

Scrape sides of Bowl and Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes

Place dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead in another 1 1/4 cups flour

Knead for approximately 8 mins or until you have a moderately stiff dough

Split it into 2 pieces and let it sit, covered, for 10 minutes

Roll each half into a 13 inch round and build up the edges to form a crust

Place onto a pizza peel that has been covered with corn meal

If you do not have a pizza peel and baking stone you can put them onto a baking sheet – you will still want to put corn meal down 1st

Bake at 400 Degrees F for 10 minutes

Remove from the oven and add your desired toppings, then return to the oven for another 10 minutes.

VOILA! Homemade pizza – so so so YUMMY

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The No-Fail Way to Make Me Roll My Eyes

30 Jul

Hope – Obama (Shepard Fairey poster)

Obama on The View DEFINITELY makes me roll my eyes. Roll them so hard that they are almost invisible. So hard I am looking at the back of my skull. I mean seriously, don’t you have better things to do than hang out with Joy Behar??

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Comfy Comfy Comfort Food

28 Jul

My favorite comfort food is Corn Casserole… Paula Dean’s recipe to be exact. My mom started making it some years back for Thanksgiving. We all fell in love with it so much that we eat it year round now. I mean what better comfort food is there than something that has a whole stick of butter and an entire container of sour cream wrapped inside? That’s right. There is none. Seriously people, look that recipe up on FoodNetwork’s website. It will change your life.

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Trans Fats

4 Jun

What is Trans Fat? When hydrogen is added to vegetable oil via hydrogenation.

Why do food manufacturers use them? Trans fats are more solid than oil causing them to spoil less quickly = increased shelf life.

Where can you find Trans Fats? Many of your favorite everyday foods. Like Oreo’s, Bisquick, Ramen Noodles, KFC chicken, Froot Loops, Quaker Chewy Granola Bars, Girl Scout Cookies, Animal crackers, Fig Newtons, and Ritz crackers just to name a few.

What words should you look for in ingredients? Partially Hydrogenated Oils, Hydrogenated Oils, Shortening, margarine.

Fact: If a product has less than 0.5 grams of Trans Fat the manufacturer can label it as Zero Trans Fats – even though they are still in there.

Fact: Trans Fats increase bad cholesterol

Fact: Trans fats increase triglycerides (fat found in your blood) which can cause hardening of the arteries and thickening of the artery walls which means increased risk of stroke, heart disease, diabetes, and heart attacks.

Fact: Trans Fats increase the body’s inflammation response which can effect the way your body responds to injury

To put it simply: Trans fats = BAD for your health. If you know what’s good for you, AVOID at all costs.

To learn more click HERE or HERE

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The Iron Cactus – Dallas, TX

17 May

If anyone happens to be heading to Dallas, Texas anytime soon (or Austin – there are 5 total) you MUST and I repeat MUST go the Iron Cactus (Tex Mex restaurant and bar – but as our hotel bar tender told us it’s “LEGIT Tex Mex”). I am a food snob. Plain and simple. Sometimes to the point that I drive my husband crazy. So when the bar tender told us to go there I was a little skeptical – I have had some recommendations gone wrong in recent history – but we decided to go anyways once we walked by and saw the place. The staff was super friendly, the manager came by the table twice to check on us which I loved, and the margaritas were delish. But more than that the food was AWESOME! Best fish tacos I have had to date hands down. Check out their website here to see the menu and get directions etc

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Blood Money – The Business of Abortion

11 May

Click here to view the trailer for Blood Money - The Business of Abortion – a film taking a look at the abortion industry. This looks like its going to be a really powerful and eye opening film. Go to www.bloodmoneyfilm.com to sign up and show your support for this topic/film!

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Cheap and DE-Licious meal

26 Apr

So I had purchased a bag of lentils at the store – not know what I was going to use them for – I looked up some soup recipes and came across a great recipe forVegetable Lentil Stew! Not only does this recipe make a TON of stew but its SUPER cheap – I made it for about 1.15 a serving. THAT IS CHEAP – and its really healthy and yummy too which just makes it even better! Here is my version – slightly adapted from the original recipe -  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/vegetable-lentil-stew-recipe/index.html

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 5 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 2 medium zucchini, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 2 cups dried lentils, picked over for stones
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 32 oz. chicken broth or stock – sub vegetable broth if desired
  • 2  20 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
  • 2 tsp oregano
  • 1 tablespoon basil
  • 2 cans kidney beans, black beans or white beans, drained and rinsed
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Directions

In a large heavy pot, heat oil and cook onions abd garlic until tender. Stir in green, red peppers and carrots and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in zucchini. Add all the spices and toss to coat. Stir in the lentils. Add the wine, broth, tomatoes, oregano and basil. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer gently for 1 hour. If more liquid is needed, add 1 cup of water. Stir the stew occasionally. When lentils are tender, stir in the beans. Cook for another 20 minutes. Season to taste. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Give it a whirl – I definitely suggest this for anyone who is busy and wants to save some time in the kitchen – since it makes such a large amount you can freeze and eat at a later date (I froze half of the pot to eat in a few weeks and my husband and I STILL ate it 3 nights in a row). Time saver if you ask me!

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