Meal Monday: Not So Chunky Monkey Smoothie

I discovered something this morning that might be my new favorite thing ever.  

PB2 - powdered peanut butter!

At only 45 calories for 2 TBSP, it comes in a couple hundred less than the alternative natural peanut butter or nut butter.  I'm not sure how healthy it is but the only ingredients are peanuts, sugar and salt, so I'm going to keep trying to find ways to use it.

Today, I made a *not so* Chunky Monkey smoothie in my Ninja.

1 frozen banana

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

2 Tbsp PB2

a dash or so of cinnamon

Throw it all in the Ninja or blender of your choice and enjoy.  

Calories: 171

Fat: 4g

Carbs: 27g

Protein: 7g

I could probably add some protein powder to up the protein but today I just paired it with a scrambled egg and my usual coffee with SF Coffeemate.  I'm afraid the protein powder might make it too sweet, but I'm definitely going to give it a try sometime.  Total calories for breakfast came in around 270.

So far, aside from my yummy smoothie, Monday has kicked my ass.  I missed my workout because I just couldn't get up so now I need 3 workouts tonight instead of the 2 I already had planned and my van keeps finding ways to break and ruin any plans I may have because I keep having to sink money into the dumb thing. 

I know they say that your day is determined by your attitude, but I'm having a hard time being positive and not giving up.  Tell me something good that has happened to you recently and maybe I can live vicariously through you for awhile.

WIAW: A @ninjakitchen Nutri Ninja Pro #review

Way back in June when I attended the FitBloggin 14 conference in Savannah, I chatted with the good folks at Ninja Kitchen about their great blenders.  They had samples everyday and OMG they were so tasty.  (Now, if I can only find the recipe cards they handed out!) A couple weeks later, one of their reps reached out to me to see if I'd be interested in reviewing a Ninja Pro.  Of course I say "YES!!!"

Long story short - it took a lot longer to get one into my hands, but here it is!  The Ninja Kitchen social media person on Twitter was very responsive in figuring out the hold up on my Ninja.

I couldn't wait to start trying it out, so my girl and I tried a couple experimental smoothies with stuff we had in the house.  It's going to take some more experimenting before I'm ready to Ninja all the things because the first couple tries were sorta flops from a flavor standpoint.

After hitting up the store for ingredients - we had a little more success.  The Pro comes with a small recipe booklet and so far so good!  Yesterday morning I made the Bright Side Mocha Shake and at only about 200 calories for a HUGE serving, this was a winner.  I only used coffee that I pulled out of my regular cup of morning joe in the recipe and there wasn't a ton of coffee flavor, so I'm thinking next time some espresso might work better.  Even so, it was still delish.

So yummy and FILLING

The Top 'O the Morning Smoothie was FANTASTIC.  It made a huge amount with a big calorie punch (at about 370 calories) so my girl and I split this one.  Please ignore the super messy counter top.  Just keeping it real, folks.

Breakfast Success! 

My next attempt did not go as well.  I tried the Tabbouleh and instead of the nice dip pictured, I basically ended up with parsley soup. Kind of reminded me of those Pinterest Fail pictures - Nailed It! The recipe said to blend for 15 seconds and mine was liquid in about 5 seconds.  They aren't kidding when they say the blades will crush through ice and frozen fruit.  It also pulverizes anything else in the container.

Epic Lunch Fail

A few product details:

• 900 Watts Professional Power
• #1 Most Powerful Nutrient & Vitamin Extraction the power to unlock the natural benefits of fruits & veggies
• Ninja® Pro Extractor Blades crush through ice, seeds, skins and stems for a smooth, even consistency
• Sip& Seal™ Lids for healthy, personalized drinks on the go
• Frozen Blending crush through ice and frozen fruit for cold, healthy drinks and smoothies
• 18 and 24 oz blender cups with 2 sip and seal lids.  The lids are awesome but the cups are probably a little big to use with a straw - mine didn't quite reach to the bottom.

I was impressed with how smooth my drinks got in only a matter of seconds, even with using the entire fruit like the orange in the breakfast smoothie.  The husband has also started using it to blend his protein shakes after the gym.  I'm not sure this will replace my other blender or my food processor, but it's definitely a nice addition to my gadget lineup.  

Do you have a favorite smoothie or Nutri Ninja recipe?  I think my next experiment is going to be making my own almond butter - maybe with some honey or apple.  

You can find Ninja Kitchen on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube!

(Ninja Kitchen provided me with a Nutri Ninja Pro without charge in exchange for a product review.  As always, the opinions are all my own.)

Meal Monday: salsa!

What do you do when your garden explodes and does this...

You scour Pinterest for salsa recipes and make this...

This was probably the easiest salsa recipe I've ever made.  Normally, I do a pico de gallo type salsa but I just didn't feel like chopping all the ingredients.  For this one, you cut the tops off the veggies, maybe cut them in to big chunks, and if you are like me, squeeze some of the seeds out of the tomatoes.  Throw it all in a blender and pulse to your desired consistency.  I like my salsa with a little more of a kick, so I used two whole jalapenos (minus most of the seeds).  Next batch, I'll probably leave more seeds in because this one didn't get quite hot enough.  I also used a cilantro paste I picked up at the store the other day instead of fresh cilantro.  I won't do that again because there wasn't enough cilantro flavor.  The rest of the recipe I pretty much followed as written.

You can find the recipe here!

Do you like your salsa chunky or smooth?

PS: Nancy was the winner of my birthday giveaway and will be getting a little something from me.

WIAW: Gluten Free Pancakes!

One of the hardest things for me since going paleo-ish is the lack of variety at breakfast.  I've never been a huge fan of pancakes but on the weekends, my son always makes them for him and his sister. (I know, right?!?!)  

My friend, Susan, tagged me in a FB post the other day with a recipe for mug cake that used Gluten Free Bisquick.  I never even knew they made the stuff, but lo and behold, our Meijer carries it!  (For the record - the mug cake was really good too.)

I decided yesterday that I wanted blueberry pancakes.  July in Michigan means we have blueberries coming out the wazoo, so yes, blueberry pancakes it had to be.  Since the recipe on the box makes 10, I cut it in half in case they were really gross.  I didn't want to waste a ton of this kind of expensive mix.  Also, the recipe called for vegetable oil, which I no longer use since doing the paleo-ish thing, so I subbed melted coconut oil and I subbed almond milk for regular.

Blueberry Gluten Free Pancakes made paleo-ish

1/2 cup Bisquick Gluten Free mix (it looks totally different than regular Bisquick so don't freak out)

1/2 cup milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)

1 Tbsp melted coconut oil

1 egg white

a little bit of water to thin the batter - mine was super thick I think because of my substitutions

As many blueberries as you can fit in the batter :)

As you can see, the batter doesn't look like regular pancake batter.  I think because I didn't have egg yolk and because this is rice flour was why the color is so white.  It thickened up a ton so I added a little water to thin it down.

Use a 1/4 measuring cup to ladle batter onto a hot griddle.  

Cook like regular pancakes.  I think they maybe took a bit longer - they are VERY fluffy - and watch that they don't stick.

This made 6 probably 2-3" diameter pancakes that MFP calculated the calories at about 55 per pancake.  Not too shabby at all!  I ate 3 yesterday and threw the other 3 in the freezer. This morning, I nuked them for about 90 seconds and they were amazing.  I'm not a huge fan of pancake syrup, so I had mine with raspberry jam.

This entire breakfast was about 340 calories.  

There's a recipe on the box for GF pizza crust. I can't wait to give it a try.  I haven't made pizza at home since going paleo-ish because we have some great restaurants that do GF pizza very well.  It would just be nice to have a pizza that's less than $20.

What did you eat for breakfast today? 

Meal Monday: Mug Quiche

One of my friends suggested this to me and while it's not totally paleo it probably could be with some tweaks. The best part? It's quick for a breakfast on the go.

Mug Quiche

This was a huge mug so there's
a lot more in there than appears.

First you need a coffee cup.

Break one egg into the cup and add a couple tbsp of milk. Scramble.

Add a slice of bread ripped up (I used half a gluten free hamburger bun).

Add any veggies or cooked meat you'd like. Mine had mushrooms, green pepper, jalapeño, and a slice of cooked bacon. You could also add cheese if you wanted.

Stir it all together. Nuke on high for 90 seconds.


Voila! Quiche in a cup!  This was a nice change of pace from my usual scrambled or over easy eggs.

What would you put in your quiche?

#WIAW Good Paleo-ish Substitutes

In my effort to be paleo-ish, I'm definitely missing some foods.  Thanks to some friends and the wonders of the interwebs, I've found some nice substitutions.

This weekend, I was introduced to these amazing gluten free pretzels.  They are available on Amazon but my friends who brought them over said you can find them in some stores as well.  Not paleo, but good for a snack and the calories aren't crazy high like some gluten free snacks I've found (like a cookie I got that was 320 calories for one cookie!).  I even think they taste better than regular pretzels.  Plus, I finally have something to dunk in that Dirty Bastard Stone Ground Mustard from Founder's Brewing.

I can't remember if I've posted about these Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chip Strussel Topping before.  Danielle Walker is the blogger behind Against All Grain and her recipes are so good.  These muffins are moist and delicious, plus they are gluten free, grain free, and paleo if you use paleo chocolate chips (I don't go quite that far).  My family even loves these.

As for my weigh-in this week, it was fine.  I'm trying to switch my focus to training and eating to train, so I won't be posting weigh-ins here for awhile.  If you are friends with me on My Fitness Pal, you'll still see me logging my food most days and tracking my weight because while I know losing while marathon training is becoming unrealistic, I also don't want to swing back the other way and end up gaining again.  

Do you have a favorite gluten free or grain free baked good?

Meal Monday: Cranberry and Kale Turkey Burgers #recipe

This is another great recipe I found on Ziplist.  You can find the original recipe from Love and Zest here.

Since I didn't really change the recipe at all, other than leaving out the shallot because I didn't have it, I'm not going to reproduce the whole thing.

I cooked our turkey burgers on the grill and they definitely took a good 8 minutes per side.  I'm fine with a medium rare hamburger, but for turkey I wanted it cooked through.  They might have been a touch overdone though.  Maybe next time I should use a thermometer.

Since I'm still not eating breads, I had mine plain with a knife and fork, but Mike put his on a bun.  The kids wouldn't touch them so the first picture shows basically 1/2 a batch.  The original recipe says 6 burgers but I ended up making 4 with a 1.25 pound package of ground turkey.  If you make it into 4 burgers, they are around 300 calories each. I served the burgers with a side of roasted sweet potatoes (cube and roll in coconut oil and minced garlic and roast at 350* for about 30 min turning a few times) and kale chips (not pictured).  Yummy and healthy.  If you are trying to stay more paleo, you could leave out the blue cheese and I think they would turn out fine.  The cheese definitely added a nice flavor though.

Do you have a great turkey burger recipe?

Meal Monday: Spaghetti Squash with Italian Chicken Sausage

I bought a spaghetti squash last week at the grocery store not knowing what I was going to do with it.  Pinterest came to the rescue with a few ideas that I combined into this one recipe.  It was so incredibly easy that I ended up throwing together another batch for lunch with leftover squash the next day.

Spaghetti Squash with Italian Chicken Sausage
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash, cooked and "spaghetti'd" (I think I did mine cut in half and cooked for about 12 minutes in the nuker)

2 Italian Chicken sausages (I like al fresco sweet Italian with red and green peppers because it doesn't have cheese in it)

Sliced red bell pepper

Fresh baby spinach

Minced garlic

Olive oil

1/2 to 1 cup Marinara Sauce (I like Rao's Marinara)

Fresh basil

Directions:

1. Slice the chicken sausage into pieces and saute in large skillet with olive oil and minced garlic. After a few minutes, add the red pepper slices and saute until crisp but tender.  When it's almost done, add the spinach and saute until slightly wilted.
2. Add about 2 heaping cups of spaghetti squash and 1/2-1 cup marinara sauce.
3. Mix until combined and heated through.  Top with basil to serve.
4. Devour

This is probably one of the easiest recipes EVER and it was so yummy.  You could really change it up by using different flavors of sausage, adding other veggies, etc.  You will probably have leftover squash so feel free to experiment!

Have you ever had spaghetti squash?  What ingredients do you think would make this even better?

Meal Monday: Chicken Fried "rice" - a winner!

In my quest for paleo-ish, healthier dishes, I stumbled upon this recipe from The Lemon Bowl, Sriracha Chicken Cauliflower "Fried Rice".  

I'm not going to repost the whole recipe - if you want it, you should go give Liz some blog love, because this isn't the first of her recipes that has been a real winner.

I did make a few changes - no white onion because they bother my stomach and no sriracha because we didn't have any well, we did but it expired 2 years ago #fail.  Instead of chopping up carrots, I bought a bag of the frozen peas and carrots and used 2 cups. This was perfect.

I loved this meal.  It really tasted just like fried rice.  I can't explain it.  Maybe it was the sesame oil or something but this dish will definitely making another appearance.

A note about the cauliflower rice.  There is a video in the link that shows how it's done.  Cut it up, throw it in a blender, fill the blender with water, blend and drain. DONE.  I might have tried to squeeze more of the water out because it didn't crisp up quite enough, but for my first attempt, it worked for me.  This also made excellent leftovers the next day.
Have you ever had cauliflower rice?

Meal Monday: Best Chicken Strips EVER #recipe

This is yet another recipe I found using Ziplist and it was published by The Lemon Bowl.  I was a bit worried that my kids would detect the Dijon mustard but they ate them up and this has now entered our usual rotation.  It's super fast, easy, and really is delish.

Baked Chicken Fingers with Panko and Dijon

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breast cut into strips
1/4 cup dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, grated (I used jarred, minced garlic and that worked great)
2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil (maybe a little more)
1 Tbsp paprika

1. Preheat oven to 475* and lay a metal cooling rack on top of a baking sheet lined with foil (the foil is optional but makes cleanup easier).  Spray with non-stick spray.

2. In a small bowl, combine mustard and garlic.  Using a small brush, gently "paste" the chicken strips with the garlic mustard.

3.  In a shallow bowl or on a plate, use a fork to combine panko, salt, pepper, oil and paprika.  Add mustard coated chicken to crumbs one at a time and press evenly to coat all sides.

4.  Place panko coated chicken on metal rack lined baking sheet.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until browned, turning once about halfway through cooking time.

5.  Serve with the dipping sauce of your choice.  I thought these were great with honey mustard.

We eat a lot of chicken breast at our house and I'm always trying to find quick, yummy ways to cook it.  What's your favorite way to serve chicken?

Meal Monday: German Soup

It just keeps snowing and snowing and snowing.

When the weather looks like this outside, all I want is a yummy, warm soup.

Today, I give you German Soup!  This recipe came from an authentic German at one of our Lutheran Church potlucks, so you know it's going to be good.

Ingredients:

5 cups chicken broth

1 can (16oz) sauerkraut, rinsed and drained

2 medium carrots, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 tsp dried dill

8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 medium potato, cubed

1 medium onion, chopped

3/4 lbs fresh kielbasa, removed from casing and crumbled (I actually use the Hillshire Farm kielbasa and just slice it)

1-2 tbsp vinegar

1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and simmer until sausage and vegetables are cooked.  The hardest part of this recipe is chopping all the vegetables.  You can also make this in a crock pot if you have more time.  This recipe serves about 8 people and the leftovers heat up very well.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Meal Monday: Broccoli Beer Cheese Soup

I found this recipe on Ziplist and it was incredible. I went with a Michigan Beer - Bellaire Brown from Shorts Brewing and I recommend any local brown ale when you try it. I'd avoid any hoppy beer, like an IPA, because it will be too bitter and overpower the soup.


The recipe came from Taste of Home according to Ziplist, so I'm not going to duplicate it here.  Go to this link on Ziplist for the recipe.

I did make one small change when I made the soup.  I cut the recipe in half and used a little bit more chicken broth than called for and only about 3 or 4 ounces of beer.  It was perfect.  I think I still ended up with 6 or 7 servings and it was great for lunches for a couple days.  The original recipe has some tips for freezing the soup, which you could definitely do if you made a full batch.


Now that fall has arrived in Michigan, I'm sure many more soups will be making it into the rotation. Do you have a favorite fall soup?

Meal Monday: I need ideas!

So, it would appear that I've gotten into a dinner time rut.  This frequently happens this time of year because the kids are busy with activities and most dinners need to be fast and easy.  I have a whole bunch of ideas on my RECIPES page up there ^ and I should probably break out the crock pot more often.

I like Pinterest for menu ideas.  If you look at my recipe board on Pinterest, you'll mostly find desserts and booze, so I need some better ideas.

source

I did find this pin for 52 uses for rotisserie chicken and I have to say it has some promise, but I HATE touching the chicken to take it off the bones.  Weird, but true.  Do you have a good recipe for using a rotisserie chicken?  How do you get the chicken apart without getting grossed out?

Meal Monday: Taco Stuffed Shells #recipe

Someone posted this recipe to Facebook last week so I thought I'd give it a shot.  We eat tacos almost every week at my house and this sounded like a nice change of pace.

Taco Stuffed Shells

1 lb ground beef (I used ground turkey)
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 4-oz pkg cream cheese
12 large pasta shells
1 cup salsa
1 cup taco sauce
2 cups shredded cheese (I used co-jack)
1 1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips
Any other taco "stuff" you like for serving - lettuce, pico, tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole, etc

Cook up meat and mix in taco seasoning as usual.  Then add in cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted.  Stir until combined.  Let it cool while you cook the shells.  After shells are cooked, drain and toss with a little butter.

Pour salsa into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Stuff each with the meat mixture.  Place shells on top of the salsa.

Pour taco sauce over each shell.

Cover and bake inthe oven at 350* for about 30 minutes.  Then, uncover and top each shell with some crushed tortilla chips and cover with cheese.


Put back into the oven for about 15 more minutes or until the cheese is melted and the shells are heated through.


Serve with whatever you normally like on your tacos.


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Meal Monday: Pinterest Ideas

I never had the chance to make something this weekend that was blog-worthy, so I thought I'd put some links to a few of my favorite Pinterest recipes on here instead.

Vanilla Walnut Overnight Oats

source

This is by far one of my favorite overnight oat recipes and I eat it just like in the picture, with raspberries and walnuts on top.  The recipe makes a HUGE bowl, so I usually cut it in half - or save half for the next day.

Microwave Baked Apples

source

Yes, I've made these apples.  No, I'm not ashamed.

Petite Turkey Meatloaves

source

These meatloaves have gone into our regular rotation.  I think we eat them at least every other week - they're fast, easy and healthy.  I don't have the fancy mini loaf pan, so I just form them into loaves and put them on a foil-lined cookie sheet with sides.  I also make a slightly different topping - ketchup, mustard, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce (I have no recipe - it's mostly ketchup with a little bit of everything else).

Do you have a favorite Pinterest recipe?  Leave me a link in the comments if you do - I'm always looking for fun, new recipes.

Meal Monday: Lasagna Cups #recipe

I wanted to grill out Saturday night, but the thought of standing in 8 inches of snow to grill didn't appeal to me.


The husband wanted lasagna and I remembered seeing a recipe on Pinterest for Lasagna Cups, so I thought I'd give those a whirl.  If you go to the link, you'll get a recipe for the sauce, cheese filling and everything, but I went the easy route and just made them like we would've made regular lasagna.  You can use whatever your family likes.

I used the following:
1 package Barilla lasagna noodles - cooked about 2 minutes less than the recipe called for. Keep 12 of them whole and then cut the remaining ones into fourths.

For the sauce:
2 jars Ragu chunky tomato, garlic and onion sauce
About 3/4 lb cooked up ground beef that was in the freezer
(plus I left out some plain sauce for 2 of the cups for the girl who doesn't like meat in her sauce)

Cheese filling:
1/2 of an 8oz package shredded mozzarella
1 container lowfat ricotta cheese
About 1/2 cup parmesean cheese
1 egg
Some Italian seasoning

Directions:
1. Line jumbo sized muffin cups with parchment paper. They will not want to stay in there, but once you start assembling the cups it gets a little better.  But not much. Just saying.
2. Put one cooked noodle in the cup, overlapping the edge a little bit.  Warning - between trying to get the papers in the cups and this step, I was ready to dump the whole lot. It was a PITA.
3. Put a spoonful of sauce in the bottom, then a noodle slice, then cheese mixture, then more sauce, then a noodle slice, then cheese mixture, more sauce, noodle slice, sauce, and the remaining mozzarella cheese.


4.  Bake at 350* for about 25-30 minutes or until they are hot and bubbly.  They can sit for a few minutes while you make garlic bread and a salad.
5.  Remove from the muffin tin by pulling up on the paper.  You can then slide a cup onto your plate and it will stay together.
The verdict?  Kind of a Pinterest flop.  These were tasty but didn't get as hot and bubbly as baking a pan of lasagna. Also, we decided the outer noodle was not edible because it got really crispy in the oven, so basically we just ate the insides.  Kind of a waste if you ask me, but I guess I saved a few calories by not eating the main noodle.  Overall, I didn't think this was really worth all the prep, but it was something different.  I think it would be good if you have people in the family who like different lasagna fillings, too.  Maybe make some with red sauce, some white, with and without meat, etc.  You get the idea.

Have you ever attempted a recipe from Pinterest that didn't work as you'd planned?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Meal Monday: Cinnamon Rolls

Yep, these have happened a couple times in the past few weeks (yes, I work out so I can eat). Not the healthiest of meals but fast for a yeast bread & really yummy. I found the original recipe on Pinterest but didn't like the frosting posted so that creation came from the web. I also don't own a stand mixer so I mix this with my hand mixer. A PITA but it's not worth the $300+ or taking more counter space so I make do.  This recipe makes 24 big cinnamon rolls, but I always cut it in half because I really don't need 2 dozen calorie bombs in my house.

Here's what you do:

Mix and let sit for 15 minutes:
3 1/2 cups warm water
2/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup oil
6 Tbsp yeast

Then add:
1 Tbsp salt
3 eggs
10 1/2 cups flour

Mix together for 10 minutes, then sit for 10 minutes.

using my hand mixer - you need to stop frequently and clear the blades.

Oil cupboard (don't use flour), dump out dough.  Divide in half.  Roll one half out into a rectangle. I just use my hands.
Spread with 1/4 cup melted butter and then with cinnamon-sugar mixture.
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Roll up tight, but not too tight.  Divide into 12 rolls and place on greased cookie sheet (I use a piece of parchment paper, too, which makes clean up much easier).  If you make sure the edges are all near the middle, you won't have dry pieces.  Repeat with other half of the dough.  Let it rise for a few minutes - it won't take long.

Bake for 12-15 minutes at 400 degrees or until the tops are golden brown.

Allow to cool - if you frost them too soon the frosting will just melt.  I'm a sucker for cream cheese frosting and this is what I use:
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup softened cream cheese
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract


I actually plugged this into My Fitness Pal, and each roll with cream cheese frosting is about 450 calories.  Sometimes you just have to splurge.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Meal Monday: Homemade Pizza!

This is, by far, my favorite pizza dough recipe. If you have a bread machine, you can probably have pizza on the table in about 2 hours. I've never made it without my machine, but I'm going to give you both versions.

This makes 2 12-inch crusts or 1 deep dish.

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1-2 Tbsp Italian seasoning
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp sugar
1 (1/4 oz) package yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp from the jar)
1 cup warm water

1. Combine sugar, water & yeast in a measuring cup or small bowl.
2. Combine flour, salt & Italian seasoning in a large bowl & make a well in the center.
3. Pour yeast mixture & oil in well & stir into dry ingredients until you have a soft dough. If too sticky, add a little more flour.
4. Knead until smooth on a lightly floured surface.
5. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with a towel & let rise until doubled.
6. IF YOU HAVE A BREAD MACHINE skip the above steps & put the ingredients in the machine according to the instructions for the "dough" setting (usually water & oil, then dry, then well in center for yeast). Once the dough is done, put in a well oiled bowl.



7. Punch down and let rest for 10 minutes.
8. Makes 1 deep-dish or 2 12-inch pizza crusts. Spread out on an oiled pizza pan.



9. Top with your favorite sauce, cheese, etc and bake at 450* for 12-15 min or until crispy and cheese is bubbly.

The kids had 1/2 sausage, 1/2 pepperoni and black olives.



The grown-ups had sausage, mushroom, a little mozzarella, goat cheese (if you've never tried this...you MUST) and fresh basil.






This time I put the basil on the pizza before baking & I should've waited and added it right before we ate. Fresh herbs lose something when they cook that long.

What's your favorite topping on pizza?

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