Today was all about prepping for the work week. Here’s what I’ve been up to.
I made homemade pizza dough.
Basic Pizza Dough
(I apologize for not remembering where I found this–somewhere online.)
Ingredients
3-3/4 cups (500 grams) bread flour
2-1/2 teaspoons (10 grams) instant or active dry yeast
3/4 teaspoon (5 grams) salt
3/4 teaspoon plus pinch (3 grams) sugar
1-1/3 cups (300 grams) water
Extra virgin olive oil for pan
Directions
In a bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Add the water, and using a spoon, your hand, or a baker’s plastic bench scraper, mix together until blended–about a minute. You don’t want to mix or knead this dough too much, or else the gluten will develop and you won’t be able to shape it in the pan. But you want to mix in all the lumps of flour. In the end, you’ll arrive at a stiff dough.
Cover the dough and let rise at room temperature for about 2 hours. (If your room is cold, put it in the oven with a pilot light to warm up a bit or in a closed cabinet.)
Dump out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut it in half. Use both pieces, or save on in the refrigerator (I used a zip-lock bag.) for up to one day. Oil a 13 x 18 inch rimmed baking sheet liberally with good extra virgin olive oil. (Yes, pour it on.) Then gently plop the dough on the pan and stretch and press it out to the edges. If it springs back (that’s the gluten working) wait five minutes and then proceed. I found the gluten weak enough to spread it fully over the pan. The dough is very thin. If it tears, piece it back together.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees with a rack in the middle.
Add toppings.
Bake until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.
I made homemade pizza sauce.
Homemade Pizza Sauce
(Recipe from The Pajama Chef.)
Ingredients
28 ounces tomato puree
1 1/2-3/4 cups water
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
Combine all ingredients except salt in a bowl and whisk together. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, taste, and add more salt if needed. Store in the refrigerator until use or up to 1 week. Can also be frozen.
I made homemade Larabars.
I didn’t use a specific recipe for this. I was going to but instead decided to wing it by looking at one of my favorite flavors and adding those ingredients to the food processor.
Chocolate Coconut Larabar
– dates
– cashews
– almonds
– dried, unsweetened coconut
– cocoa powder
– tiny bit of oil
In a future post, I would like to give specific portions for these after I experiment a little more and try to perfect my recipe. I snagged a little bite, though, and they tasted very similar to Larabars!
I made Pumpkin Muffins.
Pumpkin Muffins
(This recipe was originally for two loaves of Pumpkin Nut Bread. I’ve adapted the recipe for twelve muffins. Recipe adapted from October/November 2009 issue of Taste of Home Healthy Cooking magazine.)
Ingredients
7.5 oz. solid-pack pumpkin (half of a 15 oz. can)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup fat-free milk
2 egg whites (or 1 egg)
1/6 cup canola oil
1/6 cup unsweetened applesauce
1-1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons whole wheat flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour.)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon (heaping) ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
Directions
1. In a large bowl, beat the pumpkin, sugar, milk, egg whites, oil, and applesauce until well blended. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, allspice, and salt; gradually beat into pumpkin mixture until blended. Stir in pecans.
2. Line muffin tin with muffin liners or oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool.
I made iced tea for Craig.
This iced tea maker from Bodum saves us so much money. Craig will drink all of this pitcher in a day.
Hopefully all of this preparation will allow my weak to be a little less stressful. 🙂
its already gone