Easy Pizza

A very snowy day as Juno sweeps into town...

I bought Archer Farm fire roasted thin crust pizza crusts and Classico pizza sauce since Target was having a special mix and match deal.

Tonight we got them out and child made one and I made the other.

Before cheese:

After cheese:

By the child:

Toppings included:

- leftover ham & pineapple

- leftover meatballs

- leftover kalamata olives and Bulgarian feta

- frozen spinach

- frozen three color peppers 

- cheeses: mozzerella, Parmesan, Gouda, romano 

Crazy pizza

I didn't intend on blogging this one as I thought it'd be a boring, normal pizza albeit with artichoke hearts.

But I didn't have pizza sauce, or I couldn't find it anywhere. And I mixed up a crust with coconut flour, flax meal, and rye flour so maybe it is worth an attempt.

Because it turned out scrumptious.

My husband was doing some grout and caulk work in our bathroom. Child handled grating the cheese.

Preheat to 400 degrees 

Crust (all measures a guesstimate)

In one bowl, no metal utensils:

- 1 cup hot tap water

- 1 teaspoon honey

- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil 

- 1 teaspoon yeast 

Set aside while prepping the dry ingredients. 

Dry ingredients:

- 1/4 cup flax meal

- 1/4 cup sesame seeds

- 1/4 cup coconut flour

- 1/2 cup dark rye flour

- about 2 cups white flour

(And more white flour to avoid stickiness if needed)

Combine, knead, and set aside to rise about 15 minutes.

Coat pan with extra virgin olive oil & corn meal. Spread the crust thin. 

Sauce: I used 1/2 plain tomato sauce & 1/2 buffalo sauce

Toppings: black olives & artichoke hearts

Cheese: some Swiss, some cheddar, about 6 ounces mozzarella and Parmesan.

Pizza Dunkers

At school, they serve a dish called pizza dunkers. It's breadsticks with a side of dipping cheese and marinara sauce. How that constitutes a valid meal, I don't know.

Today we made a pizza dough of:

- 1 cup whole wheat flour

- 1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

- Italian seasoning

- about 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Combined with

- about 1 cup warm water

- about 1 teaspoon local raw honey

- 2 tablespoons yeast

Let rise for an hour, mix with more flour if dough is sticky after kneading.

My daughter lined a large baking sheet with olive oil and we sprinkled it with corn meal.

We spread out the dough into a rectangle on the sheet. We lined it with spinach and mozzarella and folded it in half. We carefully topped it with Parmesan and some more mozzarella.

We cut it into breadsticks.

Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes. Serve with a side of warm marinara or pizzasauce.

Make your own French bread pizza

We're having make your own French bread pizza and kale chips. I needed to use up some of a roaster chicken I made on Sunday. 

The variations came with the sauce:

- Dad had Wegmans chunky pizza sauce

- I had Archer Farms Buffalo sauce

- child had peach-mango salsa

Buffalo broccoli pizza

Yesterday I bought Archer Farms buffalo pizza sauce for $1.47 a jar, normally $3.29.

I made a mixed flour pizza crust (rye, sourgum flour, wheat, flax, white corn meal and coconut flour). Then topped with broccoli and about six different cheeses in addition to the sauce.

I enjoyed it.

Crazy Southwest Pizza

I saw something similar to this on the back of a can of Del Monte corn at work.

I made one of my multigrain pizza crusts, this one with organic white flour, unbleached white flour, whole wheat flour, dark rye flour, sorghum flour, and corn meal.

For the sauce, we used Archer Farm raspberry salsa. Then we piled on spinach, pinto beans thawed from the freezer, and leftover turkey.

Someone ate all the black olives so that's out.

We topped with some of my home-canned corn salsa and a cup of grated cheddar cheese from the farm. We intentionally kept the cheese minimal because of girlie's ears.

It's now baking and before I serve I'm going to sprinkle with the crumbs of organic blue corn tortilla chips.

Fish low-dairy pizza

I apologize in advance for not having a real recipe for this but I didn't know this was going to be the best pizza ever.

Before I went to get my daughter from her after school activity, I made one of my quick pizza crusts:
- 1.75 cups unbleached white flour
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup warm water
- 1+ tablespoon local raw honey
- 2 tablespoons yeast
- parsley
- oregano
- garlic pepper

Mix and set in warm place to rise for one hour.

When preparing the pizza, preheat oven to 450.

Take imitation crab meat and sauté in cast iron skillet in equal parts lemon juice and butter until slightly golden.

Remove to bowl.

In skillet, combine about 2 tablespoons flour with 2 tablespoons butter. When bubbly add about 1/2 cup soy milk and 1/2 cup skim milk. Set aside after warm and bubbly.

Press pizza into large jelly pan/cookie sheet.

Place fish on the pizza. Sprinkle with lots of fresh spinach and peas. Drizzle with the cream sauce.

Sprinkle about 3/4 cup shredded Italian cheeses and 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan across spinach.

Drizzle about 2 tablespoons ranch dressing across the pizza.

Bake 15-20 minutes.

Summer Solstice

Yesterday I had asked my daughter if she could have anything for dinner what would it be.

She answered ice cream.

I said that was dessert. So I asked again.

She said toast and French fries, and starting eyeing garlic bread. I could worth with that. And then she told me she was just being silly.

I suggested French bread, garlicky vegetable covered pizzas. She liked my idea.

I spent $16 and got the goodies in the one photo, including a half gallon of half-and-half at a clearance price of $2.58.

As for the pizzas, we started with Archer Farm garlic-herb baguette, buttered it, piled it with black olives, leftover zucchini, carrots, cauliflower and broccoli. Then we added Parmesan and mozzarella cheese.

I also bought cherries hoping to make a clifoutis but don't have eggs.

Strange-O Pizza

We made a multigrain pizza crust today with:
-1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
- 1/2 cup rye flour
- 1/2 cup wheat flour
- 1/4 cup corn meal
- 1/4 cup flax seed
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar
- 2 tablespoons yeast
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
From the garden:
- 2 teaspoons shredded French sorrel
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 2 teaspoons chives

Mix, let rise. When double, punch down and spread across large cookie sheet with olive oil and a pinch of cornmeal with some cooking spray on the corners.

Spread with Wegmans chunky pizza sauce.

Top with toppings and cheese.

We used:
- Leftover grilled peppers, pineapple and black olives
- fresh broccoli
- provolone
- Parmesan
- sharp cheddar

Bake at 425.

Pizza-ish Pipettes

I had to use up a bag of salad, so I started this meal with the following:
- side salad of iceberg lettuce, carrots, red cabbage and cucumbers with raspberry cherry vinaigrette dressing
- last of the pickled, mustard seed vegetables canned last summer

Drink: juice with bubbles

And the pasta:
INGREDIENTS
- one box pipettes, cooked
- Morningstar vegetarian meatballs
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- one small can Hunts no salt added tomato sauce
- one can pizza sauce
- hearty handfuls of real parmesan cheese

1. Fry the meatballs in the skillet until thawed and slightly warm
2. Add sauces and cook on low until bubbly
3. Add pasta, stir well
4. Top with cheese and serve

Roasted Asparagus French Bread Pizza

I made homemade bread today, something I've blogged about many times before. AND I roasted the rest of the asparagus just like I did a couple days ago.

Then for dinner, I sliced some bread and prepared garlic bread/white veggie French bread pizzas.

Ingredients:
- French bread
- butter
- minced garlic
- spinach
- broccoli
- roasted asparagus
- black olives
- ranch dressing

Method:
Preheat oven to 450.
Slice bread and arrange on cookie sheet.
Combine butter and minced garlic. Spread evenly over bread. Toast bread about five minutes in oven.
Combine broccoli, spinach and enough ranch to get the veggies wet.
Remove bread from oven. Pile on ranch mixture, top with cheese. Add some asparagus.
Put in oven about five minutes to get cheese melty.
Remove from oven. Add move asparagus, black olives and more cheese.
Return to oven. Cook until hot and melted.

White veggie French bread pizzas

This is a family favorite.

Ingredients
- a crusty bread (today I'm using Archer Farms roasted garlic and herb baguette)
- butter
- vegetables (tonight I'm using California blend and extra broccoli, frozen, prepped in the microwave)
- Italian seasoning
- extra virgin olive oil
- provolone

Instructions:
- preheat oven to 400 or 424
- slice bread, spread with thin layer of butter
- place on cookie sheet and toast for about five minutes
- melt about one tablespoon butter, mix with one tablespoon extra virgin olive oil for about every four pieces of bread, about 6" long and 2" wide
- place desired veggies on bread, spoon olive oil butter sauce evenly over them
- sprinkle with Italian seasoning
- toast another five minutes
- cover each pizza with 1/2 slice provolone
- return to oven to melt cheese

I served with a side salad. Lots of veggies tonight!

Budget contemplating on pizza night

My jaw feels almost perfect these days, despite the obvious exposed bone in my gum line. I have even chewed some food on that side of my mouth, and I can say that the healing where #29 was is in better shape than the last bottom molar on the other side of my mouth.

I go in to my regular dentist Tuesday to have that tooth tackled, so this weekend may be a storing-up-calories pig out in case I am reduced to pudding and yogurt once again.

We delivered girl scout cookies tonight, ones that had not been paid for. Our family pooled our funds and decided to stop at Dario's for pizza on the way home.

I had $14, my husband had $16 and the cookies yielded $14.

Large white with fresh ricotta, chopped tomatoes, broccoli and spinach = $15. Add a drink for the child, a 2-liter of coke for Mom and Dad, some fried zucchini sticks and French fries and the bill was just under $25 before tip.

This got me thinking about our budget:

DECEMBER:
- We spent $460 on medical expenses.
- $271 on groceries (and some of that was 'extra' food storing up for when I'd be traveling for two weeks in January)
- $236 on dining out (bad us: Target café, Target Starbucks, Five Guys, Wawa, MexTex Trio, Dario's, Forks Mediterranean Deli and China Fun. But in our defense, that $236 covered 17 transactions)
- our spending for the month was $1,000 more than our income, so we visited and depleted the savings account. Those medical expenses and our quarterly bills (water, sewer, garbage, life insurance) snuck up on us

JANUARY
- Overall spending was $300 more than income, which considering I was out of work for almost a month is reasonable
- groceries amounted to $136
- dining was $157, this included seven transactions. Two visits to Tic Toc diner, a trip to Friendly's on the way home from Girl Scout camp, MexTex Trio.

FEBRUARY
- This month our spending is on track to match our income
- I've spent $127 on groceries, but that doesn't include the $81 at Wegmans where I used gift cards
- dining: $89, including tonight's pizza, Chinese to celebrate daughter's report card, Joe's Steaks and several coffee runs.

Must curb spending. I can do better.

Friday update

Yesterday for dinner I let my 7-year-old daughter make one of my multigrain pizza crusts. I read the recipe out loud and she found ingredients, selected measuring spoons and did the measuring. We topped the pizzas with chicken (leftover from her earlier meal with the grandparents at TGIFridays), black olives, broccoli, pineapple and several kinds of cheese. It was the best pizza ever.

Today child had peach muffins and Very Vanilla soy milk for breakfast.

For lunch I packed her:
- leftover "mighty green soup"
- banana
- juice box
- cucumber slices
- dipping sauce for the cucumbers of 2/3 whipped cream cheese and 1/3 Goddess dressing
- ritz style crackers

Vegan pizza

I always use too much sauce, so I had to add more "cheese"

Our foray into dairy-free has been good, with daughter bringing her thermos of juice to school diligently. We've eaten Meditterannean food, beans, and homemade baked goods, and spaghetti... But tonight we're adapting our pan pizza.

Daughter prefers it thin crusted so I did my best to press the very sticky homemade dough into the cast iron skillet. The dough was unbleached white flour, whole wheat flour, cornmeal, stoneground rye, sesame seeds and flax.

We grated some carrots for in the sauce. Layered carrots, then sauce, then veggie slices cheddar flavor and finally black olives. Liberal sprinkles of Italian seasoning and garlic salt.

Husband picked the "cheese" because he remembered this brand and flavor being most tolerable during our vegan days. Our vegan experiment was more than a decade ago, so I hope they've made strides with fake cheese.

More pizza

Tonight we made pizza. Used the recipe for crust I devised in April for skillet pizza (tried to link above). Clicking pizza or le creuset below could lead there...

Only one cheese tonight: mozzarella

The sauce was Wegmans chunky pizza sauce (selected for its high vitamin A count).

Toppings: whole black olives from Aldi that we sliced ourselves, Morningstar vegetarian bacon and spinach (canned, a 'gift.')

Vegetarian Buffalo Chicken Pizza

This is one of the first few entries I’ve attempted without a home internet connection. So, bear with me if my entries are sporadic. Monday’s rice krispie treats with nutella and peanut butter came out beyond delicious by the way. I used about 3/4 cup total split evenly between nutella and peanut butter.

Tonight, I am making homemade pizza. The dough is currently rising (multigrain: 1/2 cup rye flour, almost one cup whole wheat flour, slightly more than one cup unbleached white flour). The one pizza will be a rather thin crust with Wegmans extra chunky pizza sauce (has the highest vitamin A content of any pizza sauce I can find) and extra sharp white cheddar. In my Le Creuset skillet.

A second, smaller pizza will be vegetarian buffalo chicken. Same cheese, but Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo sauce instead of tomato sauce and some Morningstar vegetarian chicken products (probably the buffalo wings) and a few dollops here and there of Target’s Archer Farms Buffalo Blue Cheese dip.

After:
It was delicious, but I overdid it on the Red Hot sauce. Also, I had a feeling I didn't need the veg. chicken and I would have enjoyed this so much more with fresh broccoli instead of fake meat.

Wegmans!

Because of my anemia this summer, I have not done a major shopping order since... I don't even know when. I've done the medium kinds of orders that were meant to be small orders but ended up bigger than anticipated... but...

My family volunteers with the Mary Meuser Memorial Library. This weekend was the library's annual book fair, so we spent a total of something like $30 on food and we bought some cookies, soda, hot dogs and tomato pie for lunch, plus a molasses pineapple upside down cake for my husband's birthday. AND a GIGANTIC bowl of fruit salad that the Friends of the Library made at my suggestion and no one but me bought, so I bought it all.

Then we got home last night and since it was my husband's birthday, my husband bought Papa John's pizza for the family. Two extra large pizzas and a calzone, some of which we plan on freezing.

Now, before I get into this grocery order, after all the cake and junk we ate this weekend we had big salads with garden tomatoes, monterey jack cheese, HUGE amounts of broccoli and pepperoni for dinner.

And for my daughter's school lunch, my school lunch and my husband's work lunch we have eel sushi from wegmans and fruit salad. Plus, for my daughter, a thermos with soy milk and a bag of Boo Berry so she can make a bowl of cereal to go with her fruit and sushi.

To the groceries:

- Wegmans White Made with Whole Grains sliced bread, $1.69 - Wegmans coupon so it was free
- soy milk, $2.69
- individual 6 ounce container of Wegmans organic super yogurt, 75 cents - Wegmans coupon so it was free
- large curd cottage cheese, $1.99
- 2 boxes of wegmans feta and spinach peorogies, 2 boxes at $1.69 each
- bag of frozen peas, 99 cents
- bag of frozen french cut green beans, 99 cents
- bag of florentine ravioli, $2.99
- two boxes of frozen spinach, 89 cents each
- whole wheat flour, five pounds, $2.39
- unbleached white flour, five pounds, $1.69
- box of raisins, $1.99
- four cans of chunky soup, 4/$5 minus manufacturers coupon
- blueberry cobbler whole bean coffee by Fasig's, $4.99
- various cambell's soups, purchased because I had a coupon and my daughter is on a soup kick. I bought them for when I don't have homemade ready or in the freezer and she says she wants soup. I think I bought nine cans and have three coupons. One coupon was for kid soup, why were all the kid's soups chicken? Kids don't like tomato or beef or vegetable? Weird.
- 2 jars of organic mango salsa, $2.99 each minus $1 wegman's coupon
- several cans of cat food, many salmon flavored, which came up on the receipt as "Weg Salmon" and I'm thinking, "I didn't buy any salmon..." and "Why was the salmon $1.28?"
- NUTELLA! 16 ounce jar, $3.98 minus $1 manufacturer's coupon. I smell crêpes and nutella and bananas in my future. Except I forgot eggs...
- 2 cans of garbanzo beans, 65 cents each, for hummus!
- 3 cans of spaghettos and meatballs at $1.09 each, minus a manufacturers coupon, except, funny thing is, the kid hates them. They are for her dad and I.
- large can of crushed pineapple, 99 cents
- OKAY - IMPULSE BUY - one box each of Frankenberry, Booberry and Count Chocula, because once a year I can't resist, $1.89 each
- clover honey, $2.69
- chex mix, four bags at $1.99 each minus two manufacturers coupons
- Juicy Juice 100% juice orange tangerine juice boxes, because sometimes her thermos doesn't fit in her lunch box, $2.49
- 3 cans of dark red kidney beans no sodium added, 59 cents each
- one large can pineapple chunks, 99 cents
- Pepperidge Farm goldfish, $1.50
- Ziti, 3 boxes at 69 cents each
- one can peach slices in light raspberry syrup, 99 cents
- nugget-shaped pasta, 89 cents
- light red kidney beans, 59 cents
- Pear halves in pear juice, large cans, 3 @ $1.59 each
- six boxes Wegmans spirals and cheese dinner, at 3/$1
- Quaker yellow corn meal, $1.39
- Libby sliced mango, $1.29/can
- 2 cans wegmans tomato sauce, 55 cents each
- rigatoni and rotini, 89 cents each
- V8 cream of broccoli soup, $2.49 minus manufacturers coupon
- fruit cocktail, small can in juice, 99 cents
- 2/ 32-ounce containers of Wegmans vegetable broth, plus one of the thai culinary broth, at $2.99 each
- 2 cans of large pitted black olives, $1.29
- Libby's mandarin oranges, one can, 79 cents
- sliced peaches packed in juice, 99 cents
- 2 small cans of wegmans chicken broth, low sodium, 69 cents each
- 2 small cans of wegmans beef broth, 64 cents each
- Dawn dish detergent, $1.79 minus coupon
- Terra vegetable chips, $3.99
- 2 bags of Goya dry black beans, $1.29 each, to which my six-year-old said, "YUM!"
- 20 ounces of ketchup, 99 cents
- 2 liter of wegman's mountain, 79 cents (for him)
- 6-pack of 20-ounce bottles of Wegmans Zero, $1.50 (for her)
- 2 boxes of Quaker Goya Farina, $2.29 each
- 12 pack of liter bottles of plain seltzer, $5.99
- stew beef, $5.03 minus $1 wegmans coupon
- Extra sharp provolone, $5.03 minus $1 wegmans coupon
- 8 eel rolls from the sushi bar, $5.49 minus $1 wegmans coupon
- 2 bags of wegmans bagged salad blends, 2/$5
- broccoli crowns, $2.12
- red seedless grapes, $4.12
- broccoli slaw, $2
- apples, $2.37
- organic carrots, 1 pound, 99 cents
- 10 bounds of potatoes, $6.89
- Israeli couscous, $1.61

Bruschetta pizza

While anemia and a heat wave do not make prime conditions for cooking, herbs and tomatoes ripening in the garden demand attention. And good food.

My garden has yielded five more tomatoes since I made bruschetta last week and my mother decided I needed the first two tomatoes from her garden.

So today my daughter and I made homemade pizza dough. We started with a cup of warm water, two tablespoons of yeast, a dollop of honey and a dollop of blackstrap molasses. We added 1.5 cups unbleached white flour, 3/4 cup wheat flour, and 1/4 cup rye flour. I stirred and kneaded as she went to the garden for a heap of basil. I shredded about six leaves of basil, probably about three tablespoons and we kneaded that into the dough.

While that rose (about an hour), I made about three cups of bruschetta. This required close to 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, six small tomatoes chopped, about 1/3 cup chopped basil leaves, 2/3 teaspoon four color peppercorns, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt and about 1/4 cup grated romano cheese.

When the dough was done, I sprinkled a long jelly roll pan with cornmeal. I rolled out the dough on my dishwasher and coated the bottom lightly with cornmeal. Then I dampened my hands with olive oil and patted the bottom of the dough before I put it in the pan and finished spreading it out.

I dumped the bruschetta on, added bites of broccoli, covered with 8 ounces of mozzerella and added some more basil on top for pretty.

It's baking and I'm STARVED.

Skillet pizza

My daughter and I made a pizza crust after school. I think this is what we did:

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon yeast
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1.5 cups white flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  
• 1/3 cup rye flour
• 3/4 teaspoon iodized sea salt
• 1 packet Papa John's pizza seasoning
  
• 1/3 cup corn meal
• 3/4 cup oats
• 1/4 cup flax seed

Mix and set in a warm dark place. Could take an hour to rise. (Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes)

Toppings:

• Wegmans extra chunky pizza sauce
• monterey jack cheese
• cheddar
• asiago
• parmesan
• black olives
• four color organic peppercorns
• Pasta and pizza seasoning
• Garlic powder
  

Method:
Here's the plan.
I hope heat my Le Creuset skillet on the stove over medium high with a thorough greasing of extra virgin olive oil. Then, I plan to carefully arrange the pizza dough inside and put the toppings on and bake in the skillet.

Will it work? I hope it will. I thought it was a cool idea but now I realize, it's PAN PIZZA.