Homemade Pizza

As most of my readers know, I am the mom of seven amazing children.  I will admit that I haven't always been the naturally homemade mom you see today.   16 1/2 years ago I was a macaroni and cheese and chicken nugget kind of mom!  I'm not saying that's horrible,  I'm just saying deep down I always wanted to feed my kids healthy foods without being dependent on the box aisle or freezer section at the grocery store.  Add six more children and a decade (plus) of experience and I have slowly become the kind of 'from scratch mama' I hoped to become!  Tonight I was making homemade pizza with the kids and I overheard my five-year-old ask my seven-year-old why we couldn't just order pizza.  He told her that everything homemade is always better than anything store bought.  I did a little jig in my brain :). 

As soon as they noticed I was kneading dough, the twins came over to the kitchen island yelling "zi-za!!!!" After making two homemade pizzas I had the third lump of dough left, so I let the 2 year old twins make their own pizza.  They beat the heck out of that dough...it was as flat as it could get!  There was flour all over the kitchen, sauce all over the counter, and smiles everywhere I could see. 

" Yes," I thought, "this is the kind of mom I want to be."Enjoy!

Homemade pizza dough (makes 4 large so half it if you don't need to feed an army!) 

6 cups warm water

1 stick butter,melted

2 tbsp yeast

1/2 tsp salt

10-12 cups flour

2 tsp olive oil

Melt butter and add warm water into a bowl.  Sprinkle in yeast and stir.  Let sit until dissolved and bubbly, about 5 minutes.  Dump in the salt, add flour several cups at a time, stir well.  When the dough is starting to stick together dump a cup of the flour onto a clean counter or surface.  Knead the dough into a smooth ball adding flour a Tbsp at a time if too sticky.  Split into 4 equal sized lumps.  Let rest 10 minutes.  

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Put each lump of dough onto pizza pan and press flat with your hands (or let your kids go to town :)  Top with pizza sauce, your favorite toppings and cheese.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.  

Now, before you discount this blog as too much work and 'that family is so perfect'.....I'm adding this final picture of my son who got into the lipstick in my purse while I was blogging this post.  Yeah, I'm that kind of mom :)

 

Paleo Italian 3 Squash Casserole

I have been filling my freezer with as many healthy and quick meals as I can.  The other night I was tempted to eat the kids spaghetti noodles, but was able to resist by pulling out a two serving bag of chicken chili instead!  Worked like a charm.  This morning I got up and started making the kids breakfast.  I decided if I was going to be stuck at the stove cooking anyway, I should whip out a freezer meal too.  I love multitasking.  The result of my 'impromptu' recipe was wonderful.  I put 2 small casseroles In the fridge and ate a plate of the leftovers for breakfast too!

Here's what I did:

Brown 1/2 lb. Italian sausage

Chop one onion, small eggplant, yellow squash, zucchini and slice 1/2 cup cabbage.  Add to skillet and sauté.  Add 2-3 cups spaghetti sauce (I use marinara, because it is all I can find without added sugar and I love the taste).  Add 1-2 cups of water and cover.  Simmer for 20 minutes.  

Prepare your pans for the freezer.  I use 2 bread loaf pans.  They are perfect for two one serving meals.  Take aluminum foil and line the pans, with extra foil peaking out to cover the top when you close it.  Cross-cross the foil.  

Spoon the casserole mixture into the pans.  Let cool.  

Top with mozzarella cheese.  Cover with foil tabs and freeze in your freezer.  

After they are frozen, remove from freezer, and loaf pans.  Slip each foil packet casserole into a freezer storage bag and be sure to label it so you won't be playing a mystery meal game a few weeks from now!  Put back into the freezer.

When you are ready to eat it, remove from freezer, pop back into the loaf pan you made your mold from, and bake at 375 until bubbly.  Cook times will vary depending on much you fill your pan and if you cook from frozen or thawed.  Enjoy, you are planning ahead for your success!

Paleo Eggplant Pizza

One of ideas food gurus suggest to instill healthy eating habits in your kids is to let them pick our a few 'exotic' new foods to try each week while you're at the store.  Today's trip to Woodman's resulted in imitation cherry chocolate chips from my teenager and eggplant and Chinese cabbage from my 5 yr old.  I did a quick search on recipes for the eggplant and decided on mini eggplant pizzas. the 5 year old  helped me slice them, bake them, top them and then she tried it!   

Bottom line?  She was interested, involved and adventurous???? And I have an entire plate of eggplant Parmesan pizzas to eat tonight, but it's progress right????  Look at the Mother's Day Card in her hand.  It says in her handwriting, "thank you mommy for taking good care of me!"  I'll keep trying. ;)

Here's what we did:

Slice eggplant into 1/4 inch slices.  Lightly coat with olive oil.  Bake at 350 for 5 minutes.  Remove from oven, top each slice with sauce (I used marinara) and mozzarella.  Sprinkle on Parmesan cheese and bake or broil until cheese is toasted and bubbly.  Serve warm.

Wow! The Best Chocolate Chip Paleo Cookie, EVER!

One of the best ways I've found of staying on the path of sugar free - wheat free is finding ways to recreate your favorite foods Paleo style. This cookie is so very very good, I can't even do it justice in a description! I have made my friend Michele's recipe from HillBunkerFarms.com a few times now and it's perfect as is, but as I do with every recipe, I also add to it and mix it up a bit, too. I will share both recipes and promise you no matter which one you try, you will love it!

Michele's Original Heavenly Paleo Cookie:

1 cup natural almond butter
1/4 cup raw honey (Hillbunker Farm honey is the best :)
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup chocolate chops or nibs

Mix all the ingredients together, then fold in the chocolate chips. Drop on baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand 10 more minutes on the baking sheet to set. Enjoy!

Shelli's 'I have trouble following directions' peanut and almond butter cookies:

1 cup natural almond butter
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup raw honey (Hillbunker Wild Honey of course :)
1/4 cup milled flax seed
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Follow Michele's directions adding the extra ingredients and enjoy!

21 day Sugar and Wheat Detox: results...

As most of my family and friends know I have tried a low carb and all natural diet for 13 weeks now. I decided to try it to see if it would help with my pain and inflammation from a chronic back issue and degenerating disks. I have been asked recently to describe the difference in my health, so here it is.

The first thing I noticed was I was totally addicted to carbs/sugar. If it wasn't for my husband supporting me by doing the detox with me, I never would have made it past day 3.

After 5 days, I was past the sugar cravings and started sleeping better. We both stopped needing daily heartburn medicine. I felt clearer in my head and a fog lifted. I didn't even realize I was in a fog until it was gone!

At the 1 week point noticed my tummy was shrinking. I noticed my swollen joints were feeling less bloated.

After 3 weeks I started my first female 'cycle'. It was shockingly short compared to my usual 9-20 day monster cycles. I was thrilled!

Now at almost 3 months, I am on half the pain medicine I was before. My monthly cycle is down to 4 days a month, no heartburn at all, sleep solid through the night and I've lost 21 pounds!

The secret????? Eat whole, unprocessed foods as natural as possible and avoid sugar. That's it. No crazy pills, tricks, binges or fads. I didn't count calories or watch fat intake. Eat the way God intended you to eat and the body will naturally heal itself.

Try it and see for yourself......

Broccoli and Cauliflower pizza crust

I have been looking at many ideas, blogs and recipes on making gluten free pizza crust. My dilemma is that I cannot have any flour so replacing wheat flour with bean flour isn't an option. I decided to try vegetable crust, after all I love the veggie used in it, so I should like it, right?

Here's what I did:

Take 1/4 head of cauliflower and stick it in a food processor to 'rice' it. Do the same with 2 large broccoli crowns. Microwave them for 5 minutes, stirring every 1.5 minutes or so to release and evaporate as much water as possible.

Purée 1/4 cup whole almonds in food processor and then add to the cooked veggies. Let cool slightly and then add 1 beaten egg and 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese.

Press 'dough' into a baking stone or pizza pan. Bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes or until sides start to look toasted. Remove from oven. Top with pizza sauce and your favorite toppings. Bake as usual and enjoy!

It isn't the same as flour crust, but for those of us who want to eliminate flours from our diet, it's pretty dang good! If you hate the texture of 'Cream of Wheat', you won't like this either.

I recommend going all out on your toppings and picking veggies you love. I doubt my hubby will even try it, but I am thankful to have pizza without just eating the top for a change, so I covered it in mushrooms to ensure it all to myself ;)

Let me know what you think!

Sausage Breakfast Casserole

My son asked me today (he's 9) if I would teach him to make this recipe, because it is the best in the whole world! I love him!!!!! I have been making this recipe since before he was ever born (10 years before to be exact ) but who's counting? It is excellent on Christmas morning :)

10 slices bread (cubed)
10 eggs
1 cup milk of your choice
1 lb breakfast sausage
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 cup shredded cheese
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Brown the sausage in skillet, I don't drain the grease off, but you can if you want to. Cube the bread and place loosely in a greased casserole dish. Crack the eggs, scramble with the milk, vanilla and spices. Spoon sausage onto the bread, pour over the egg mixture, sprinkle the sugar and cheese. Bake at 325 for 45 minutes or until top is toasted. It is also great topped with maple syrup or ice cream!