Pizza Friday!

Growing up, Friday night was always pizza night. Sometimes we got take out, but mostly I remember sitting at the kitchen table grating the cheese (and stealing bites!) while my Mom and Dad made the pizza dough. My Mom was ahead of her time and was making whole wheat pizza dough when no one else I knew did it. To this day, I still love pizza on a Friday night. The kids love to get involved with the toppings and we are lucky if there are leftovers for a midnight cold pizza craving!

Easy Peasy Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups purpose flour
1 1/2 cups 100% whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon cornmeal

Directions:
(I make this with my kitchen aid standing mixer)

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add salt, olive oil and 2 cups of flour. Attach dough hook to mix and mix for about a minute on speed 2. Gradually add the remaining flour and mix until dough clings to hook and cleans the sides of the bowl. Knead on speed 2 for 2 minutes longer.

Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease the top. Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm spot until double in bulk, about an hour. Then punch dough down and divide into two parts, I was able to cover two small baking sheets with the dough- I like my crust thin so if you want a thick crust you could just use all the dough on one baking sheet or pizza pan. Be sure to sprinkle the cornmeal on the pan before putting the dough down.

Top with your favorite toppings and bake at 450 for about 15 minutes.

TIP: I like to pre-bake my crust before I add my toppings. Just for about 5 minutes, otherwise I find that the top looks done but the dough is a little undercooked.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Almond Chocolate Cups for Heidi

My dear friend Heidi has many a food intolerance. It's easier to write a list of what she CAN eat rather than what she cannot. When we get together, I never want her to feel to left out, so I put on my big girl pants and my thinking hat and accept the challenge! These are based on Alicia Silverstone's peanut butter cups- which are excellent!

These delicious little cups of goodness are gluten free, dairy free and peanut free and stress free!


Makes SIX (but serves one- who are we kidding?)

Ingredients:
1 cup almonds
1/4 cup earth balance coconut spread
3/4 cup non dairy/ gluten free chocolate chips (Rice Dream make the best)
1/8 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Directions:

Line a muffin tin with 6 paper liners.

Put almonds in your food processor and grind to a fine meal.

In a small pot, heat the coconut spread until melted. Remove from heat and stir in almonds. Then divide the almond mixture into each of the paper lined muffin tins. (about 1 tbsp)

In a clean pot, melt the chocolate chips with the almond milk until runny and smooth. Spoon evenly over each of the almond cups. Chop some almonds or walnuts and sprinkle on top.
Refrigerate for 2 hours to set. If you are in the middle of a wicked craving, put them in the freezer and check them every 5 minutes to see of they harden. Sometimes you won't be able to wait and you'll eat one that's soft. It's okay. No one will know. None of this is from experience by the way.

Non Dairy All Fruit Smoothie

I've read over and over that it's best for your digestion to eat fruit alone. It's ideal to just eat fruit as your first meal, then wait 30 minutes and eat your breakfast. I prefer to sip a smoothie and thought there was no way I would like one without yogurt, but here it is. Easy too!

Ingredients:
frozen blueberries
2 peaches
1 cup of all natural juice (guava or mango)
1/2 cup of water for consistency

Directions:

Slice the peaches and add them, along with everything else into your blender. Voila!

No bake dessert! Kahlua Tiramisu

I'm on a detox and this is the last dessert I will have for awhile. It was pretty darn good and easy to make and during these last of the hot summer days, it's great to not have to turn on the oven.
I used the Barefoot Contessa rum raisin tiramisu recipe as a guideline, but I made some swaps and changes. I mean, do raisins belong in a tiramisu?





Ingredients:

1 cup kahlua
6 egg yolks (room temp)
1/2 cup superfine sugar
16 oz. Mascarpone
3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
24-30 ladyfingers
dark chocolate bar (at least 70% cocoa)
heavy whipping cream

Directions:

Beat the egg yolks and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 5 minutes, until very thick and light yellow. Lower the speed to low and mix in the mascarpone until smooth. With the mixer still on low, add ½ cup of kahlua, ¼ cup of orange juice, and the vanilla extract. Stir until combined.

Pour the remaining ½ cup of kahlua and remaining ½ cup of orange juice in a shallow bowl. Dip one side of each ladyfinger quickly in the rum mixture and place them in one layer in a 9 x 11 x 2 inch rectangular or oval dish. Break the ladyfingers in smaller pieces and dip them in the kahlua mixture to fill the spaces. Pour half the mascarpone mixture over and spread evenly. Grate dark chocolate over the top (I used my microplane). Repeat the layers of dipped ladyfingers, mascarpone mixture, and grated chocolate. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, but preferably overnight. Do not sneak tastes in the middle of the night. It will show. I'm not speaking from experience, honest.

Before serving, whip the cream with a teaspoon of vanilla and spread over the top. Grate chocolate on top and serve cold.

Slow cooked beef short ribs. Holla!

I made this for guests recently and it was a hit! I served it with some baked beans, corn, and grilled veggies. There were zero leftovers.

Ingredients

• 4 pounds (or so) boneless beef short ribs
  
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried ground thyme
• 2/3 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Arrange the short ribs in a 13 by 9-inch baking dish and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

In a small bowl, combine all the remaining ingredients and stir to incorporate. Pour the sauce over ribs and toss well, coating all the pieces. Cover with aluminum foil and roast until cooked through and tender, about 3 hours. Remove the foil during the last 30 minutes of cooking to brown the top. The met should fall apart when you pull on it with a fork. Transfer to a serving platter and serve.

3 minute lunch! Toasted Tomato Sandwich

This easy peasy sandwich reminds me of my dear Dad. I can just picture him at our kitchen table eating one.


Easy Ingredients:
2 slices of your favorite bread (I love sourdough for this one)
Mayonnaise
Sliced tomatoes
Salt and pepper

Easy Directions:
Toast the bread (lightly). Slice the tomatoes (medium-thick).

Butter the toast if you wish and then smear each side with a layer of mayo. Add the tomatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. And that's your sandwich.

It goes best with a cup of black tea, with a bit of honey and milk added to it.
Takes me right back to my childhood!

Variations:
I've messed with this sandwich over the years, sometimes I add cheese, or basil, but it's perfect as is.

Blueberry Bake!

Spent the morning blueberry picking and thought what's a girl to do with all those berries? Instead of a calorie-fest filled pie, I opted for a simple baked blueberry dessert.

15 graham crackers
1 lemon
1/2 stick of butter
fresh grated ginger (optional)
4 cups of blueberries (you could use mixed berries or whatever fruit you have on hand)
1/4 cup of sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Crush graham crackers in a food processor or put them in a ziplock bag and smash them to pieces. Melt the butter and add to graham crackers, mix well and press into a 8x8 square inch pan.

In a large bowl, combine blueberries, sugar, 1 tsp of grated ginger, the zest of one lemon as well as the juice and toss.

Pour berries on top of the graham cracker crust (option: add some small pieces of butter on top if you wish) and put in the oven for about 35 minutes, until berries are bubbly. After you remove it from the oven, let it sit for awhile to cool, but serve warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Yum! The ginger and lemon add a little zing!