Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough

Before I had 4 kids running through the house, I practically never used refrigerated pizza dough. I loved making it from scratch, and it was therapeutic to knead dough. Once we had Christina though, I really didn't have time to make pizza dough anymore.

The last issue of Everyday Food I got was full of healthy recipes, including one for whole-wheat pizza dough. I was thrilled because not only would it be homemade, but using whole-wheat flour would make it healthier, and it would cost less that buying it premade.

So I tried it out and made calzones one night last week. It worked GREAT...the dough was soft and elastic, but sturdy enough to hold up to the calzone filling, and it only needed one hour of rising time. I just posted the dough recipe here and I promise to post the calzone recipe later this week. Some people might think a whole-wheat dough would be tougher...but that wasn't the case at all. The dough baked up beautifully, and it tasted much better that the refrigerated dough. My kids scarfed down their calzones in 30 seconds flat. Okay...maybe not that fast, but I could tell they liked it....I was in bed with a lovely cold that knocked me out by dinnertime, but I didn't hear any complains coming from the kitchen.

Go buy yourself a bag of whole-wheat flour and try this one out...once you do, you'll see how easy it is, and I'll be you won't every buy the pizza dough in a tube again.

Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

2 packets (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast

1/4 cup olive oil, plus a little more for greasing the bowl

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus a little more for kneading

2 cups whole-wheat flour

Combine the yeast and warm water in a measuring cup or small bowl, along with a pinch of sugar (yeast "eats" the sugar and helps it get going). I keep my yeast packets in the fridge--they last longer that way. Make sure your water is warm, not hot. You should see the yeast get foamy and bubbly at the surface. If it doesn't look like the picture below after 5 minutes, then either your water was too hot (and you killed the yeast), or the yeast was too old. You'll need to dump the mixture and start over again.

Don't use a sugar substitute here...it won't work, sorry. You'll notice I used 2 cups of water; I wasn't paying attention, but I just compensated by adding more flour later on. But do as I say, not as I do!

Anyway, whisk the sugar, salt, and flours together in a large bowl.

Make a well in the middle of the bowl and add the yeast mixture and olive oil.




Stir this all together gently with a large spoon until a sticky dough forms.

Remove from the bowl, and have your hubby pour about 1 tablespoon of olive oil into the bowl (or dump it out on the counter for a minute and oil your bowl). Spread the olive oil around, and put the dough back in, turning to coat. I did it this way because I was lazy and didn't want to wash 2 big mixing bowls ;-).

Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and set aside in a draft-free place for about 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

This is what it should look like after the rising time is up.

Sprinkle a little flour on your work surface. Turn the dough out, and knead it about 6-8 times. Kneading is easy...just fold the dough in half and push it away from you with both hands, turn it 45 degrees, and repeat. It should only take about a minute. Here's the dough ready to go.

This is enough to make 2 large pizzas (about 10 inches across), 8 individual sized pizzas, (about 5 inches across), or 8 calzones. To freeze the dough, divide it in half, and place in the freezer until firm. Thaw in the fridge overnight before using.
You can also form the dough into circles and freeze them flat on a cookie sheet. Once they're frozen, you can stack them with some wax paper in between the layers and freeze in a zip-top storage bag. They'll last about 3 months.
When you're ready to make pizza, you don't have to thaw the dough out. Just take it right from the freezer, spread with pizza sauce, top with your favorite toppings, and bake at 450 degrees for about 18-20 minutes.

Now you can have pizza anytime you want, and save money too. God bless your table tonight!

Dinner for Two

David and I like to go out to dinner, but we usually never do around Valentine's Day...the restaurants are too crowded, and my wonderful hubby loves it when I cook a special meal for him. We don't have a lovely balcony, or a goreous view like the picture above, but that's okay.

So I plan to make him an awesome meal Saturday night...and I'm not cooking anything even remotely healthy. After all, I can't think of any man who would get excited over a plate of vegetables, salad, or tofu.

This is what's on the menu:

The Pioneer Woman's Favorite Burger

Spicy Oven Baked Fries

Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

I thought about making a side of asparagus, but then I said, "Naw!" David's been good since the year started, (and he's lost some weight) but he really misses burgers. And he loves chocolate and peanut butter together. I'm hoping I can cajole him into getting a couple of projects done around the house in the next few weeks, so giving him one of his favorite meals can't hurt, right? I'm telling you girls, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach!

Here's a pic of the burger and fries. Oh my gracious...that burger was TO DIE FOR! Talk about man food girls...this is what they really want to eat!

The cake was crazy good too...the peanut butter frosting was perfect, not too sweet, and it complemented the cake so well. I will definitely be making it again (thanks Suzie for the recipe!)

I may post the recipe for the oven fries later, but for right now...just cut up a couple of potatoes into wedges, sprinkle with olive oil, spicy seasoned salt, paprika, and black pepper. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or so, turning the wedges over halfway through. That's it!

Let me know if you try any of these recipes out! I'll post some pics later.

God bless your table tonight!

Whole Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies

About 2 years ago, my uncle brought these cookies to a family get-together. They were so good...I just had to have the recipe. I have been making chocolate chip cookies using only this recipe ever since.

These cookies do not contain any white, all-purpose flour. Instead, they contain whole-wheat and whole-barley flour. This gives the cookies a bit more of a chew, but they still have plenty of butter, sugar, and chocolate chips in them, so these are not healthy cookies by any means! It just makes me feel better knowing I am giving the kids some whole grains in their diet (about 6 grams per cookie). And you can bet I eat these too...more than I should, but what the heck!

If you cannot find whole-barley flour at your local grocery store, you can substitute white all-purpose flour. Do not use whole-wheat flour for the entire recipe, or your cookies will be dense and hard. So far, I have not found whole-barley flour anywhere close to me (David found some for me at a whole-foods market one day not too far from his office). And I know espresso powder and cider vinegar are unusual ingredients in cookies, but the espresso powder brings out out the flavor of the chocolate, and the vinegar contributes a "barely there" tang.

All righty...are you ready? If you start the dough in the morning, you can bake these up in the afternoon, and make the house smell great. Better yet, bake some just as the kiddos are getting off the bus like I did, and you will be a hero--at least for the day!

Whole Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup whole-barley flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)

3/4 cup dark brown sugar, or light brown sugar and 1 tablespoon molasses

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 large egg

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

*NOTE: I made a double batch, so it will look like more ingredients in the pictures. But I had to make enough to send to my brother who now in flight school with the Texas Army National Guard. My kids can scarf down cookies like nobody's business...so I needed to make more than 4 dozen.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, sugars, and espresso powder. (You'll see I used the light brown sugar and molasses; I don't buy dark brown sugar very often.)

Cream together on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture in the mixer in about 4 increments, and mix until the flour is all incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.

Angel Boy must have smelled the chocolate because the minute I opened the bag, he came running. So of course I gave him a few chocolate chips :-).

Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for about 2 hours. This will make it easier to scoop out the cookies later. You can bake the cookies right away if you are pressed for time.

Now, take a small ice cream scoop (a must-have tool if you're making drop cookies), and scoop out the dough, placing the balls about 3 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for about 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees. Rotate your cookies halfway through. Once your oven gets nice and hot, you'll likely need to bake the cookies for about 12 minutes (and maybe even only 11 minutes. Oven temps vary greatly, so just keep an eye on them).

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 1 minute, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Serve these with a cold glass of milk, and you might feel like the world's greatest mom! My kids think so, (even after I taught Joshua how to clean his bathroom yesterday). Enjoy!

God bless your table tonight!

Chinese Dumplings

I was watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay one night last week. This particular episode featured Chinese dumplings. As I was watching, I said to myself, "You know, I can do that!" I was glued to the TV...I have a DVR, so I made sure to record the show, and replayed it about 3 times so I could write down all the ingredients.

I know I've told y'all before...I am sorely lacking in the Chinese cooking department, and I'm really trying to remedy that. I made dumplings with my mom all the time growing up, and I've always wanted to try making them myself. At one time, my mom would make the filling and the dumpling wrappers from scratch. Later on, she'd use the premade wrappers because it took far less time.

I realize this looks complicated and time-consuming, but it really isn't. If you're worried about folding the dumplings, I'll show you a really easy way to do it (or you can come to my house for a lesson :-). And the filling is only 7 ingredients, so don't be scared.

Break out those chopsticks...and let's make dumplings!

Chinese Dumplings

2 pounds ground pork (you can ask a butcher to grind some for you, or get it at an Asian market like I did. Whatever you do, don't buy the bulk pork breakfast sausage!)

1 package silken/soft tofu (don't worry, you won't even taste it)

1 package (4 ounces) flat Chinese chives (look for them at an Asian market or just use regular chives)

2 medium onions, finely diced

5 cloves of garlic, minced

3 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced

salt and black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce (available in the Asian section of the grocery store)

1 package (about 60 count) round dumpling wrappers

1 large egg, beaten

4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/8 cup rice wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

Let's start with the filling. I had never heard of flat Chinese chives, but I had no trouble finding them at my local Asian market. They smell just like regular chives, but they're bigger and flat instead of small and round.

Chop the chives, along with the onions and garlic.

I used my microplane grater to grate the ginger. When I buy fresh ginger, I peel it, and stash it in the freezer so it keeps longer. Then I just grate what I need. It looks like a lot more that 3 tablespoons, but that's because it was frozen.

Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. When it's hot, add the onions, flat chives, garlic, and ginger. Season with salt and pepper, and saute for 6-8 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.

Remove from the heat and set aside.

Drain the tofu in a colander and pat dry with a paper towel.

In a large bowl, combine the pork, tofu, vegetables, and hoisin sauce.

Mix together well with your hands, but do it gently, you don't want to overwork the pork. The tofu should be well incorporated (a few small bits here and there is fine).

Now we're ready to fill the wrappers. Take out your dumpling wrappers and let them come to room temperature for about 10 minutes. Once you open the package, cover them with a damp paper towel so they don't dry out.

Take one wrapper in your hand, or work surface. Use your index finger to brush the edges with a little of the beaten egg. Place a small spoonful of the filling in the middle. It looks like more than a tablespoon in the picture, but it's just because I took a close-up.

Different cultures fold their dumplings in different ways. This is the way my mom taught me. I can't really show you...but basically the front of the wrapper is pleated, and the back is left alone.

The egg wash keeps the filling sealed in. It is important to gently press out any excess air so the dumplings cook properly later on.

Here's another pic of a filled dumpling.

Now before you start panicking and think, "There's NO WAY I can do that," relax! You don't have to fold it this way. You can simply close the wrapper without any pleating at all, like this:

And if you want to try it this way, with 2 simple pleats, watch this video clip:

http://www.5min.com/Video/how-to-fold-dumplings-3921

Line up the finished dumplings on a baking sheet.

At this point, you can freeze the dumplings. Make sure to leave a little space in between each one.

Pop the sheet into the freezer for 2-3 hours. Once they're frozen, transfer to a zip-top plastic storage bag for up to 3 months. They're ready to cook whenever you want to.

I ended up making 94 dumplings and it took me 2 days. I could have made them all at once, but I didn't want to totally neglect my chittlins. So I made 1/2 one day, and 1/2 the next, and froze nearly all of them. I filled wrappers for about 1 hour each day.

I am SO ready to eat! Let's cook some up!

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a non-stick skillet. Make sure to use your best non-stick skillet. These took time to make, so you don't want 'em to stick to the pan...that would not be good! When the oil is hot, place the dumplings in bottom side down and pleated/folded side up.

Brown for about 3-4 minutes...this is what they should look like.

Add 1/3 cup water to the pan, cover with a lid, and steam the dumplings for about 4-5 minutes, NO PEEKING! (The steam will cook the pork.)

Remove the lid and let them get crispy on the bottom again for about 4-5 minutes. Nearly all the water should have evaporated.

(*If you froze your dumplings, cook them directly from the freezer--no thawing is necessary. Add 2-3 extra minutes of steaming time so the pork cooks through).

While the dumplings are cooking, I made a very easy dipping sauce. All you need is soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and sesame oil.

In a small dish, combine the 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/8 cup rice wine vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil.

When the dumplings are done, remove to a plate and let them cool for a few minutes before serving...these babies are hot!

My stomach was growling so bad by the time I sat down to eat...if anything had interrupted me at this point...oh my...I can't even imagine what I would have done (probably something highly uncharitable).

It took me exactly 11 bites to devour this plate, lol! I meant to make 12...

In our house, on the occasion I do make Chinese food, we use chopsticks. Here's some information about chopsticks, just for fun :-). I will say proper etiquette concerning chopstick usage was important as a child in our house...my mom was pretty strict about it. And if my grandma visited from Taiwan, you can bet we were all on our toes at the dinner table!

Even if you don't try these, I had a great time making and sharing them with you!

God bless your table tonight!

Broccoli Quiche

Now that we have so much lovely broccoli in the garden, I wanted to try and sneak it into a recipe, and hope the kids wouldn't notice. Here is the end result.

This is also the dish to make for a nice brunch, bridal shower, baby shower or girls event...it looks complicated, but it's so easy...truly. I've make this 3 times before, and all the ladies raved over it. You can make 1 1/2 times the recipe and bake it in a deep-dish pie pan.

I found the original recipe on the internet, and make a few changes so it would be a little bit healthier...but it still has butter, eggs and cheese in it. I couldn't alter it too much, otherwise the filling will be runny. Feel free to use four real eggs and regular cheese if you'd like.

Even if you're not a big fan of broccoli, I dare you to try this!

Broccoli Quiche

2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 2-3 cloves)
2 cups chopped fresh broccoli (don't use frozen, it'll be too wet)
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
1 1/2 cups shredded reduced fat mozzarella cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup liquid eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

I forgot to show you how to dice an onion really fine...here's a tutorial. I have just recently started dicing onions like this, and it really works, especially if your kids cringe at the sight of onions (one of mine has this syndrome).

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/videos/1059/chopping-an-onion

And here's a video on making a pie crust from scratch...I have done this many times, and it's very easy....but takes more time, so feel free to cheat and use a premade pie crust (like I did ;-).

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-make-pie-crust-dough-234401/

One more on how to get the pie crust in the pan and flute the edge:

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-roll-out-and-shape-a-pie-crust-234417/

Whether you use a premade or homemade crust, get it done first and put it in the fridge while you prepare the filling. Keeping it cold will keep the crust from shrinking while it's baking later on.

If you're using fresh broccoli straight from the plant, you have to remove all the leaves first.

Next, peel the stalks with a vegetable peeler; the thin skin can be a little fibrous. Chop up the broccoli with a knife, or you can break it into very small florets by hand. You want the pieces to be about the size of a goldfish cracker (sorry, it's the only thing I could think of!). And use the stalks too, they'll add some nice texture to the quiche.

Heat the butter in a large pan over medium heat. When it's ready, toss in the chopped onion, garlic, and broccoli. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Saute for about 6-8 minutes or until the onion is soft, and the broccoli is tender (don't overcook it to the point of mush).

Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove the pie crust from the fridge. Take the mixture of cooked broccoli, onion, and garlic and spread gently into the bottom of the crust. Layer the mozzarella cheese on top.

Slowly and carefully pour the eggs over the broccoli and cheese. You don't want to disturb the filling, so easy does it.

Gently slid the quiche into the oven, and bake the quiche at 350 degrees for about 45-50 minutes, or until the center is set. If the edges of the crust start to brown too quickly, cover it with strips of foil. I have this fabulous gadget that covers the edges for you.

It's called a pie crust shield, and if you like to bake pies, you must go get yourself one...you will love it! I like to put it on first thing so I don't have to worry about a thing after the quiche goes in the oven.

Remove the quiche from the oven and let cool for about 15 minutes before serving.

Serve with some fresh fruit or a light salad.

Joshua cannot stand broccoli, but he ate this up and told me it was okay. Christina didn't touch hers, so I gave it to Gabriel, who had 3 helpings! (I just love that kid). Rebecca of course ate hers too--she loves broccoli.

I hope you give this one a try. God bless your table tonight!