Pizza dough 101

My husband and I are on a tight budget these days as is probably most of the country. So, I thought I would share my pizza dough recipe with you. It's really inexpensive to make pizza dough and it keeps for about 3 months in the freezer after you make it. The dough can be used from everything to breadsticks to calzones. It's super easy and here is the recipe.


Ingredients:
3 cups of warm water
1 tbsp. active dry yeast
1 tsp. honey
4 cups unbleached flour (all purpose)
1/2 tsp. salt


Instructions:
In a stand mixer combine the water, yeast, honey and 4 teaspoons of the flour. Stir it gently to combine. Cover with a damp towel and let stand for 30 minutes in a warm place until foamy.-- this is also testing the yeast if it does not foam your yeast may not be fresh or good anymore.


Add the remaining flour and salt then with the dough hook knead for about 10 minutes until dough is well combined and smooth. You may need to add small amounts of flour if the dough is sticky. Transfer  dough to a large bowl and cover with a damp towel and let rise (45 minutes) dough should double in volume. Punch dough down and cut into 2 or 4 sections depending on how big you'd like your pizzas. I usually cut my dough into 4 sections because we make smaller pizzas with very thin crusts. At this time you can proceed to making pizzas or whatever you'd like or put the dough in air tight baggies and freeze them until you need to use. I usually freeze a good bit of them and if I need to make pizza I pull out the dough and defrost on the counter. Dough should be room temperature when you use it.

You can buy yeast in bulk at the grocery store. It comes in freeze dried packs -- they look like a small brick. Once you've opened the yeast it will keep in the freezer for quite a long long time. 


If you'd like to make whole wheat dough simply change the flour measurement to 2 cups white flour and 1 & 1/2 cups wheat flour.

Lemon pasta with roasted shrimp

This is a Barefoot Contessa recipe that has been leaned up a bit. Simple ingredients and very light and fresh. Enjoy.


Ingredients:
about 18 shrimp
3 tbsp. olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
12 oz. of whole wheat pasta (angel hair preferred but you can use spaghetti or linguini)
4 tbsp (1/2 stick light butter)
2 lemons, zested and juiced


Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix shrimp with 1 tbsp olive oil and salt and pepper to season-- mix and spread out on cookie sheet.
Roasted shrimp for about 6-8 min or until pink- cooked through.
Meanwhile cook pasta according to directions save some of the pasta water before draining. Toss together pasta, 2 tbsp olive oil, lemon zest and lemon juice-- salt and pepper to taste. Add reserved pasta water (if needed) to make more of a sauce for pasta... cook slighty... and then add roasted shrimp. 


I usually chop some fresh parsley and sprinkle on top before serving.


makes about six servings

Grilltastic asparagus.

I've been grilling up asparagus for awhile in my grill pan but never really got those great grill marks that can make them not only look good but have that nice smoky taste. I've found a solution: grill press it!

Faux risotto.

My husband is allergic to rice so I can't necessarily make risotto the traditional way. So I decided to try out a new dish. This fake-out risotto is made with quick cooking pearl barley, asparagus and balsamic vinegar. It's not as labor intensive as making risotto the proper way and it's not half bad either! This Weight Watcher recipe counts for 3 pts per cup.

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion(s), minced
1 cup(s) uncooked barley, use quick-cooking pearl variety
3 cup(s) fat-free chicken broth, or vegetable broth
3 cup(s) fat-free chicken broth, or vegetable broth
1/2 pound(s) asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1/4 cup(s) chives, fresh, sliced
1 1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese Instructions: Warm oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until onion is tender, about 6 minutes. Stir in barley and cook, stirring, about 1 minute more. Add broth, cover and simmer over low heat for 8 minutes; stir in asparagus and simmer 2 minutes more. Remove from heat, stir in chives and vinegar; season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with cheese and serve. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

Cool crochet rug.

I came across this wonderful hand crocheted rug from ladiesandgentlemenstudio.com. Artist Jean Lee calls it the "megadoily". It's made from cotton rope. I just think it's the neatest thing! Wondering to myself how I could perhaps stitch one of these babies up? Of course, I need to learn to crochet first. haha They sell them online through their shop at etsy.com or you can order a custom made version through their website.


I love this rug!

Drink it up!

I've recently discovered the Dr. Oz Green Drink. It actually looks worse than it tastes. Loaded with vitamins and fiber this drink can get a ton of veggies in your body in very little time. And they're not cooked or processed in any way so it's completely natural. When picking out produce for this mixture I usually go with fresh produce --whatever is cheapest at the farmer's market. No need for special cucumbers or fancy apples... it's whatever is on sale because it's all pulverized in the juicer. I've made adjustments to the original recipe to accommodate just one glass/one serving. Enjoy!


Ingredients:


1 bunch spinach
1 cucumber
3-4 stalks celery
1/2 inch ginger root
1/4 bunch parsley
1 apple
1/2 lime
1/4 lemon

I'm here!

Hello all: this is my second blog strictly dedicated to fun artsy things that intrigue me and peak my creative juices. Right now I'm trying to edit HTML so I can design the layout more to my liking. It's not as easy as it seems --I'm not a computer geek by any means-- but I'm determined. Hopefully I will have the final blog finished soon.