remodeling this life

Tonight we had homemade pizza for dinner. I think it might be the first time ever that pizza night was on a Tuesday. I’m wild and crazy like that. We almost always do it on Friday or Saturday depending on what’s going on. This past weekend was busy though so I didn’t get a chance. Since every time I have to make a meal now, I try to come up with something that I can use my new toy for, pizza was perfect tonight.

That’s right. I finally got my red kitchenaid mixer last week. As usual, my birthday gift didn’t make it to my birthday. Thank you, hubby! I would be remiss not to mention he got a fantastic deal on it too.

On with the pizza I make on pizza nights.

I use the Moosewood Cookbook calzone recipe for my dough, with modifications.

What you’ll need
(I double the amounts to make two pizzas)
1 cup water, wrist-temperature
3 cups flour **sometimes I do half whole wheat, half white other times I use all white depending on what I have at the time
Olive Oil, 1 tsp
3 tsp honey
Salt 1 1/2 tsp
Dry yeast 1 1/2 tsp

What to do
Place water in a medium bowl, add yeast, honey; stir until everything dissolves. Whisk in salt and flour, and when it gets too thick, stir with hand. Knead in bowl 5 min. Brush 1 tsp olive oil over dough, cover, let rise until doubled.

Go outside and play for an hour or so while your dough does it’s thing.

When the dough is ready, punch it down and knead it for a little while, then split it into two sections and place each one on a sprayed baking sheet, let rest.

Over the next 10 minutes or so, I get my toppings ready and stop to spread the dough flat. It takes a few times of spreading and resting before it is all out on the sheet evenly with no holes. At least for me it does.

Once the dough is ready, I put my toppings on. I do one white pizza and one red pizza. The red one is just pizza sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni usually. For the white one, I start by cracking black pepper on the dough, then spreading olive oil on top. Top that with sauteed onion and garlic, then kalamata olives, artichoke hearts and feta cheese.

Bake at 450 for 18 minutes, switching the pizzas on their racks every 6 minutes.

Let cool, eat and enjoy!

Added to Kimba’s DIY Day.

I posted this photo and a few of you asked for me to share the recipe. Today is the day. I made it yesterday for hubby’s birthday and was reminded to blog it.

What you’ll need:
1 – 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed ** I use 2 cans
1 – 28 oz can crushed tomatoes, undrained
3/4 cup chopped onions (optional) – I don’t use them because they’re one of the few things my daughter won’t eat. I personally love them in this dish, though.
1/2 cup salsa (optional) ** I use 1 cup
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1 cup light ricotta cheese ** I use 2 cups
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1 egg
10 uncooked lasagna noodles
6 oz shredded cheddar cheese ** I use 8-12 oz

What to do:
Heat oven to 350. Spray 13×9 inch baking dish.
In large bowl, mash beans slightly. Stir in tomatoes, onions, salsa, chili powder and cumin; mix well.

In small bowl, combine ricotta cheese, garlic powder and egg; blend well.

Spread 1 cup of the tomato mixture over bottom of sprayed baking dish. Top with half of the noodles, overlapping slightly. Top with half of the remaining tomato mixture. Spoon ricotta mixture over top; spread carefully. Top wtih half of the cheddar cheese, then with remaining noodles, tomato mixture and the last of the cheddar cheese. Spray sheet of foil with cooking spray; cover baking dish with foil, sprayed side down.

bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until noodles are tender. Uncover; let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

If I can keep tiny hands from picking all my strawberries and then popping them in tiny mouths, I am dreaming of making myself a strawberry spritzer. Doesn’t that sound so refreshing? And really simple – my kind of summertime drink.

Smash hulled strawberries, sugar, and fresh lime (hopefully I can pick some from our tree this year too) juice in a glass and top with seltzer.

What is your favorite hot sunny day drink?