Pizza Pizza

I love pizza. Especially homemade pizza. I worked a pizza place for a while during high school and loved the taste of the homemade pizza. I loved being able to design my own and put which ever toppings I like. I grew up eating pizza from this place in Christiansted that would put tomato, broccoli and mushrooms on their veggie pizza. This was my favorite combination and still is. There was a period where I would buy a frozen cheese pizza and add my toppings before baking. Patrick, London and I loved this. Then I decided that I wanted to start making anything that I could from scratch. This included the pizza dough and sauce. I found a recipe online, by Giada DeLaurentiis from Food Network, that was simple, easy to make and tasty. I then would make a simple sauce add cheese and then my toppings. It has been fun to learn what I like and what goes with what. It's also a great way to get the kids involved in dinner. London loves being able to pick what goes on the pizza. When planning dinner I ask her what she wants and she usually tells me. She picks olives a lot. (I love black olives on my pizza.) Another thing to do with the kids is to let them place the toppings onto the pizza. If you don't mind you can make it a smiley face or another pattern. They love this and most likely will definitely eat it once it is baked. Here is the dough and sauce recipe.

Dough:

3/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees )

1 envelope active dry yeast

2 cups flour (plus some to dust the surface)

1 tsp sugar

3/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp olive oil

In your mixer place the yeast and the sugar. Add the 3/4 cup warm water. Stir a little bit and then let stand for about 5 minutes and make sure the yeast rises.

Preheat oven to 375.

Spray or brush some olive oil into a large bowl. Turn the mixer on and add the flour and salt. Slowly drizzle the olive oil until combined. Flour your surface and kneed the dough until smooth. Place dough into the bowl and cover with wrap. Place in a warm draft-free area and let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Take the dough out onto a floured surface and roll out into a circle. (You can always try with your hands just spinning it out but this takes practice.) Place on your greased and/or floured pizza pan or stone. (You can buy a pizza pan from Target pretty cheap. It's a round pan with a bunch of holes in it.)

Sauce:

olive oil

8 oz can of tomato sauce, no salt added

oregano

basil

garlic

salt and pepper

Heat some olive oil in a small sauce pan. Add the crushed garlic. ( I like to use crushed garlic to that once I put the sauce on the pizza I can take out the garlic so no one gets a huge chunk. But if you love garlic leave it in.) Add oregano and basil and let saute for a bit. Add the tomato sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer in order to let the flavors blend.

Pizza Assembly:

After your sauce is finished spread the sauce evenly on your pizza dough, that is now rolled out on the pizza pan/stone. If you are going to make a tomato basil I like to put the basil leaves on before I put the cheese.

Then add 8 oz of shredded mozzarella cheese. (You can use fresh mozzarella if you desire., then just spread out the slices around the pizza.) Then add your toppings.

Place in the oven. About half way through I slide the pizza directly onto the rack in order for the whole crust to get crunchy and to give it that pizzeria taste. I usually bake mine for about 15 minutes but I always check to make sure it's not burning. It's done when the cheese is golden. Slide back onto the pan to take out of the oven.

Take out and enjoy!!

I really like a pesto pizza. If you want to do this, instead of putting red sauce on the dough you spread homemade, or store bought, pesto all over and then cover with cheese. Sometimes after the cheese I add sliced tomatoes and then bake. So delicious. There are so many options in creating your own pizza, go crazy.

Make sure to involve your kids if you have them. You can even make this dough and cut it up once it rises to make small individual size pizzas that they can create all by themselves. (Birthday party idea! London's best friend Chloe did this for her birthday party and the kids loved it!)

Namaste!

Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

Do you ever tire of the same old red pasta sauce? I do. I love pasta, in fact when we go out I almost always order a pasta dish. I always have, ask my mom. I do tend to lean towards alfredos or wine sauces and every once in a while a red sauce. I make my own pasta sauce here at home, which is a money saver and better for you. Last year I was wanting a healthier pasta sauce. Alfredos are full of fat and calories and wine sauces usually have a lot of butter, which means fat so I went in search. I had just returned from a trip home, to St. Croix, where I ate at one of my favorite restaurants, Tutto Bene. I ordered their goat cheese and butternut squash ravioli with a brown butter sauce. It was amazing. Alex and I loved it so much. (Alex being my sister and we both ordered the same thing, I know silly since we should have ordered different things and then split them, but we didn't think obviously.) The point was I got back to Boise and though I need a new pasta sauce. It was winter and I really wanted something different. I made all of London's food when she was a baby so I used to puree a lot of squash. I wondered if there was a recipe out there for a squash pasta sauce. I googled and came across this great blog that had a good recipe for butternut squash pasta sauce. http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2008/05/butternut-squash-pasta-sauce-2.html If you are interested you can go there. I of course changed it up a bit, because that is what I do. So if you want to see the original inspiration visit that site, look around and check out her other recipes. They are great and healthy. Here is my version:

1 Butternut squash, I choose a smaller one usually but sometimes I can the leftover sauce to put in the pantry for another nights use.
butter
brown sugar
olive oil
onion
garlic
basil
sage
chicken broth
white wine, I also think a splash of rum would taste good
salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375

Slice your butternut squash into half and scoop out the seeds. (I like to roast my squash for I feel it adds more depth to the flavor. It takes more time though.)
Add a bit of butter to the hollow part and place in a baking sheet. I place a little water on the sheet to help with the steam during roasting.

When almost done I sprinkle some brown sugar on the squash.
Let bake for about anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour. Check on it and test with a fork until done.

Once the squash is all done heat some olive oil in a large sauce pan. Add onion and garlic. Saute until tender. Then scoop out the squash, make sure to get the butter and sugar, and add to the sauce pan. Add basil, sage and some broth and the white wine/rum if desired. Let simmer for a bit, only to let the flavors infuse. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Your options now are to smash with a potato masher for a chunkier sauce or run through a food processor. I puree mine.

Serve over pasta, I like a to use a ziti or pene pasta but bow tie or any other smaller pasta would work great.

If your child is picky you could always put some of the roasted squash to the side and make a macaroni and cheese. Then puree the squash by itself and hide it in the mac n cheese. The color will match and it will make it creamier and thicker.

Of course I suggest that you let your child try the butternut squash pasta sauce how it's meant to be and see if they like it. I am not for hiding things in dishes but if you child is an established picky eater and you are worried about them getting their nutrients then hide it.

Hope you enjoy this. If you like butternut squash it is good.

Namaste!

Roasted Broccoli

I love broccoli! (Love might be an understatement.) It has always been my favorite vegetable, and is now London's as well. There is one exception to broccoli, frozen broccoli. It always tastes mushy and I can always tell when people and or restaurants use frozen broccoli, or any frozen vegetable for that matter. It is one of those vegetable staples that I buy every week at the store. I tried growing it here a couple years ago and got a beautiful bush but no broccoli. I asked around and found out Boise doesn't get a long enough spring and you need to baby it if you do try. (Which might explain why they don't sell it at the Farmer's Market.) I like broccoli pretty much any way it's made. I usually steam it, but only until just cooked because I like it a bit firm. Recently I have been roasting it. I love it. It is super easy and it makes the broccoli crisp and delicious.

Preheat the oven to 350-400 depending on your oven.

A head of broccoli
salt and pepper
olive oil

Wash your broccoli and cut it up. :) (Very technical term, can't you tell?)


Place in a bowl and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste and drizzle olive oil. Toss to coat evenly.



Spray a pan with pam, and evenly space out your broccoli.
Place in oven and keep an eye on it. It takes anywhere from 15-25 minutes to roast. Depending on how much and how roasted you want it. I like it when the edges are turning brown.
Take out and enjoy!



Hope you love it!
Namaste!

Ants on a Log

The title says it all. This is a classic snack that my mom used to make me and I'm sure other mom's used to make for their kids. It's a simple snack one that I was never intending to put up onto my blog but London has been asking or this snack everyday for a week. I thought if she loves it so much, maybe others need to be reminded of this great snack for kids. :)

Celery

Peanut butter

Raisins

Wash and cut celery to size

Fill with peanut butter

Top with raisins

Oh so easy but oh so tasty and good for you too. Peanut butter is one of those foods that is amazing for you. It has healthy fats and has protein in it as well. Raisins and celery are great for you and filled with fiber and natural sugars.

Advice on peanut butter. I grew up on Jiff and my husband grew up of Skippy. I have London growing up with Adams Natural.

In this day where so many foods are already prepared and packaged with extra sugar why choose a peanut butter that has extra sugar added. I advise switching to a natural peanut butter that has no added salt and no added sugar. Kids don't need their taste buds sweetened. Natural peanut butter takes a few extra steps, like stirring it because it naturally separates over time. If you use peanut butter on a regular basis you will only need to stir once though. If your child is already used to sweetened p.b. then it might take some getting used to a natural one. I totally believe that the more natural you get the better their eating habits will be and obviously the healthier they will be. (We don't need sugar in everything we eat despite what the corn industry is trying to do.)

Hope your child will enjoy!!

Namaste!

Canning Tomatoes

Yesterday, it was raining.... all day. Sometimes that can be fun, if you have a good book to curl up with for example. I did not. :( So I thought of something to do. I had about 4 tomatoes sitting on the counter, almost too ripe. I have already frozen about 2 dozen tomatoes and right now don't really want more frozen ones. I decided to put on my rain coat and go pick the last red ones off the vine and can some diced tomatoes. This process, especially the first time, seems daunting and you might even think you can't because you don't have the supplies. (I don't have the supplies.) It is actually super easy and you don't need to own "canning" supplies, other than the jars and lids. Here is my step by step process.

You will need:

1. A large soup or pasta pot, a really deep one would be ideal, mine isn't as deep as I would like but I make do.

2. A smaller sauce pot to boil at least 3 cups of water

3. Mixing bowl filled with ice water

4. Pairing knife and knife to dice

5. Tongs

6. Tomatoes

7. Lemon

8. Hot pads, towels

9. Jars with lids

First you need to wash your jars and lids in the dishwasher to make sure they are clean.

Boil water in your large pot, fill it pretty full of water, enough to cover the jars.

Place the jars and lids, not the sealing flat part, into the boiling water until ready to fill.

Boil your 3 cups of water and set your bowl of ice water to the side of the stove.

Wash your tomatoes.

Place one tomato at a time into the boiling water for about 30-45 seconds. Take out and place into ice water. Using your fingernail or a knife just scrape the skin and the rest will just peel right off. (Super easy.) Set the peeled tomato aside, in another bowl if you don't want to loose the juices. Repeat until all are done.

Empty that boiling water and replace with clean water and bring to a boil.

With your pairing knife cut out the stem and any other blemishes.

I love my plastic cutting boards that are flexible for this job just any one will do. Now you can dice your tomatoes.

Take our a jar using your tongs and place on the stovetop or on a towel. Fill the jar with the diced tomatoes. (This is a non cook version so you get more of a diced tomato instead of a crushed tomato like other recipes out there on the internet.)

Once it is pretty full squeeze about a teaspoon of lemon juice into the jar. Fill up the jar to cover tomatoes with the fresh boiling water.

Using a paper towel clean the jar so there is no liquid where the sealer and lid are going to be. Place sealer and lid and tighten. (You might want to remember that the jar is hot so use hot pads or towels to do this.) Repeat until your jars are full.

Once they are full place the sealed jars into the large boiling water pot. Ideally they should be standing and covered, my pot is not deep enough so I lay them on their sides. I rotate half way through the boiling process to make sure they are evenly boiled, not sure if that really does anything but I have had success every time I have canned. Let them process for about 30 minutes, depends on how many jars. (You can google times if you are doing a large batch, I only did two jars.)

Take out and place on towels and leave sitting on the counter, undisturbed, for at least 24 hours. You will hear a pop sound usually within a couple hours coming from the jars. This is the sound of the lid being sucked in sealing the jars completely. If you can still push the lid in after 24 hours the process did not take. This has never happened to me so I think if it were, you would just do it again but google that to make sure. :) (There will be some separation between the water/juice and the tomatoes. This is natural and nothing to worry about.)

Then put in your pantry and enjoy!!

I don't add extra salt like some recipes call for because I will be cooking with them and will add salt to my dish. (We don't need extra sodium.) The lemon acts as a preservative and helps them to retain their color.

Questions? Just ask.

Well, it's supposed to get close to freezing here in Boise so for all my local friends out there I suggest you either cover your vines at night or pick everything. Today I will brave the cooler weather and go pick all the tomatoes, even green ones, and bring inside. Sit them on your counter and the green ones will turn red with time. Then it will be time to can again! (Or freeze.) This could make good christmas gifts for your friends. Who doesn't love a homemade gift?

Namaste!

This one is for Ashley :)

My great friend Ashley, with whom I grew up with, requested a soup. Since I love her and she has said she and her fiance make my dishes, how could I refuse. This is for them! (And anyone else who wants to try it.)

One of our favorite soups as a family is Black Bean Soup. It is super easy to make, filling and fun for kids to add the extras in. It is a good soup to make on a cold day and it also works in summer because it's not too heavy. Here it is! (*Note: I have a cold and forgot to take pictures until the very end so pardon me in this area.)

olive oil
diced onion
a couple minced garlic cloves
1 carrot diced
1 celery stalk diced
at least 2 cans black beans drained and rinsed
oregano
salt
dash of cumin
broth

Heat a soup pot on medium high, add olive oil. Add onion and garlic saute. Then add carrot and celery and saute some more. Add the black beans. (We use 2 cans for 3 people and Patrick and I usually have 2 helpings, so make to make more soup add more of everything.) Add oregano and salt to taste. You can also add a dash of cumin. (I think cumin has a tendency to over power so I only add a little.) Add broth, enough to cover. The more broth you add the soupier it will be, we like it thick so I add just enough to cover. I also tend to use veggie broth but a beef broth would make it rich as well. Bring to a simmer and let simmer until carrots and celery are tender. I tend to make an hour in advance and just let it simmer until it's time to blend. When it's time for dinner, if you had a hand held immersion blender like the one I am coveting use it to blend everything together. If you don't have one, then use your food processor and in small batches blend the soup.






You want it to be creamy. (A few pieces of carrot here and there are fine.) Serve!

Toppings!!
This is fun and you can get creative. Here are some suggestions:
Avocado: I almost always have avocado on hand so I dice it up and put in a bowl at the table. (Of course last night I did not.)
Cilantro
Shredded cheese
Light sour cream, or the mexican Crema
Tortilla chips: I like to crunch them on top



I hope you enjoy this as much as we do. London really eats this up and it's super fun to let the kids decide what to add in. (Although she usually gets carried away with the sour cream.) She likes to have that option. You can also use the tortilla chips to dip with. (And if you wanted to make it even thicker add less broth and you have a yummy black bean dip!)

Namaste!

Quinoa Salad

Quinoa

Quinoa is one of those really yummy and nutritious grains, although it's not really a grain but a seed, that we have available but simply don't use very often. It hails from Peru high up in the mountains. People up there found that it grew really well in the high altitude climate and not only provided fiber but a complete protein. What a cool seed. I like quinoa for it's texture and ease of cooking. It is easily available thanks to some guys from Colorado that brought it back from Sud America with them and attempted to grow it in the high altitude of Denver, I believe. Now I buy it in the bulk section at WinCo, a local grocery store but I am sure it is available at other stores as well here in the valley and around the nation. I made a yummy salad, served either hot or cold. I forgot to take a picture of the final product because I was soooo hungry by the time it was done I just ate most of it. I did manage to snap a photo of the leftovers in the leftover container... not too great. Sorry. But you will get the idea. I took the idea for this recipe from a Cooking Light recipe for a corn salad. I just added quinoa to make it more of a complete meal. It is a very light meal though, so you can always use it as a side dish.

1 cup Quinoa
1 1/2 cups water
diced tomato
diced new potatoes, about 4, boiled and cooled
corn
green onion

Bring water to a boil and add quinoa. Cover, lower heat and let simmer until water is absorbed. If you want the salad cool then cool it down.

Add the tomato through the onion to the quinoa.

Vinaigrette
1 tbsp dijon mustard
3 tbsp red wine or white wine vinegar
salt and pepper
3tbsp olive oil
lemon juice

combine the mustard, vinegar and s&p. Slowly add the olive oil as you whisk. Then whisk in the lemon juice to taste.

Pour this vinaigrette over the quinoa salad for a yummy flavor.

Sometimes I make the quinoa and add in cucumber, tomato, feta and green onion and then add a similar vinaigrette. That one is super yummy as well.

Hope you enjoy this salad!

Today I went out to my garden, which I haven't done for a bit because the tomatoes just didn't look quite red enough from the window and it's been raining, not as much as in St. Croix though. I went out and turned around and came back in for my biggest mixing bowl. Went out and harvested red tomatoes galore. I will definetly have some to freeze for winter use. :)

Namaste!