Apple Crisp Muffins

Hello Everyone! I have found another great recipe that I wanted to share. These apple crisp muffins may be the best vegan muffins I have tried outside of a restaurant. They are SO easy, very delicious, vegan, and of course healthy. I used gala apples because it's what we had. Another note, this is adapted from one of my favorite sites (again), Happy Herbivore. She makes the suggestions to add the "streusel" topping but let me tell you now it's a necessity. You can thank me later :). Oh and don't worry if you don't have whole wheat pastry flour. Once again I used regular whole wheat flour (really need to get some pastry flour!) and they came out delicious! Enjoy!

Apple Crisp Muffins
adapted from Here. 

1½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup rolled oats
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ cup raw sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground ginger
a dash of nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup apple, diced
¼ cup pure maple syrup


Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl whisk: flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices together. Add applesauce, sugars, maple, then stir until almost combined. Chop and add apples and combine. Fill muffin cups and sprinkle additional oats and brown sugar on top. Bake for 18-25 minutes (mine took 23). Enjoy! 

Welcome back Fall- Whole wheat pumpkin cranberry scones (of course healthy!!)

Longest title ever? Maybe but I think it covered everything :) These scones are really, really good. They are vegan and delicious. I adapted the recipe from Happy Herbivore. Have you been there? Amazing website with delicious recipes. Well I stumbled across this jewel earlier this week and knew I had to make it this weekend! I made them last night and it took me approximately 10 minutes. Super easy. I enjoyed one this morning after my run with my coffee-all the while pretending it wasn't like a sauna outside. Good morning. 

A couple of adaptions: I used agave syrup instead of maple (we didn't have any) and regular whole wheat flour instead of pastry flour. They were still delicious with both these changes! 

Whole wheat pumpkin scone 

adapted from here

1.5 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 tbsp baking powder

pinch of salt

3.5 maple syrup

1/2 cup pumpkin (pureed, not pumpkin pie filling)

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 tbsp non-dairy milk (optional)

1/2 cup cranberries (if using dry just soak in hot water for 10-15 mins)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a cookie sheet.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin spice and whisk together to ensure even distribution of the ingredients.

Add wet ingredients: pumpkin, maple syrup, cranberries. Stir together to make dough. They make a dry dough (like biscuits but if you think it's too dry add milk one tablespoon at a time). You can make drop scones (like I did) or you can cut them like triangle by rolling the dough into one large ball and flattening slightly. Cut like you would a pizza into 'slices". 

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until firm. Enjoy!

Hope you like these. Hopefully soon I will get up my courage to make homemade falafel. I've been wanting to for a while but it always seems so daunting!! I did this same thing with lentils until one day I just made them and they are so easy! I saw a falafel mix at CM last night. Maybe I should start there. I'll keep you updated!! 

- Hillary

Carrot Cake

This may be the best carrot cake recipe. Ever. It's not vegan but it is a cake with veggies in it so of course it should make the blog. Things I love: it's healthy, it has minimal animal products (egg whites and egg substitute, cream cheese), it has carrots!! I stumbled upon this healthy recipe on Pinterest. I adapted to use fat free cream cheese for the icing and left out the marshmallow creme(tricky non-vegetarian item), and I added walnuts to the batter and topping. Kevin said it's the best carrot cake he's ever had so I'd chalk that up to a success! 

Healthy Carrot Cake
adapted from here


Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup egg substitute
- 2 egg whites
- 2 1/2 cups shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 12 oz fat free cream cheese
- 3 tbsp hot water
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with non-fat cooking spray (I used butter flavored Pam), line the bottoms with parchment or wax paper, and spray the paper with the nonstick spray.
Combine the flour, both kinds of sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
Whisk the egg substitute and egg whites in a large bowl. Add the carrots, applesauce, oil, and raisins, and hot water stirring until blended. With a rubber spatula, add the flour mixture to the carrot mixture, and stir until blended. Spread the batter evenly in the cake pans. Bake until the cakes are nicely browned and the center of each one bounces back when lightly pressed with a fingertip, approx 30-32 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans, peel off the paper, and cool completely on racks.
To make the frosting, with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the remaining ingredients until smooth.
Place on layer of cake on a cake plate, and using 1/2 cup of frosting, frost evenly out to edges. Place other layer of cake on top, and spread remaining frosting on top and on sides. Slice into 16 servings.


**To make vegan you could probably use fake eggs and soy cream cheese!**

Even Better Whole Wheat Pizza Crust!

Hello! You're thinking another pizza recipe?? Yawn...Well stop doing that because this one is much better!! The taste is gentler because I mixed in regular flour and the consistency is a lot better. You can find, what I call number 2 best here, along with our homemade pizza sauce. 

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

via here

1 tsp. white sugar

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tbsp. active dry yeast

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. salt 

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.

Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

2.When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust. Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.

3.Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a well oiled pizza pan. Top pizza with your favorite toppings, such as sauce, cheese, meats, or vegetables.

Bake for 16 to 20 minutes (depending on thickness) in the preheated oven, until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges, and cheese is melted on the top.

Yumo!! I think we'll have this tonight except on the grill. You know because we're not supposed to run major appliances during peak hours due to the desert like temperatures outside. Enjoy! 

4 Bean Vegan Chipotle Chili

So nothing says Summer dish... check that, 100 degree Summer in Texas... like-- chili?


Yeah, we've been eating Chili. Strange, but recently Hillary had a craving for chili so I put together a little of this and a little of that and made a pretty tasty vegan chili. So we brought it back tonight to make sure it wasn't a fluke. It wasn't. Despite the lack of meat it is hearty and filling.

Here's how you make it (though we understand if you want to wait for cooler weather to try it yourself):


- 2 green bell peppers
- 2 medium yellow onions
- 3 carrots




Dice these in small, same-sized pieces and heat in a soup pot with a splash of olive oil. While the peppers, onions, and carrots are heating add the following:


- 4 tsp garlic powder
- 4 tsp chili powder
- 3 tsp chipotle pepper flakes
- fresh ground pepper


The spice measurements are only approximate. You can do it to taste-- you like spicy, add more chili powder; you like smokier, add more chipotle; you like salty, add some salt; etc. I like to add the spices as the onions, peppers, and carrots are cooking so the oils and flavors in the dried spices get released. It's ok if the mixture browns or gets a very dark color, you just don't want it to burn.


Once the onions, peppers, and carrots are almost cooked through, add this:


- kernels from 2 ears of corn, cut off the cob


You want to add this late so that the corn doesn't overcook. The corn adds a really nice natural sweetness and a different texture as well. Next, add the following in no meaningful order:


- 2 15oz cans pinto beans, drained
- 2 15 oz cans chili beans, drained
- 2 15 oz cans dark kidney beans, drained
- 2 15 oz cans black beans, drained
- 2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes, drained
- 2 small cans plain tomato sauce (15oz total)


Bring everything to a simmer, let it go for about 10 min then add this:


- 2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste


Like with the spices, there's room for discretion here. You want a thick, tightened-up chili? Add a little more tomato paste. You want a soupier, runnier chili? Put less. Once the tomato paste is in, let the chili simmer for about 25 min.


This makes plenty of chili. Probably 10-12 servings depending on how big you consider a "serving." You can always half it, or double it if you plan on feeding the red army.


One word of advice, particularly if you are feeding more than one person-- it's best to make the chili on the mild side and then add hot sauce to your individual bowl to add heat. You can always add spiciness, you cannot take it away.


The other great thing about this meal is how cost effective it is. Here are the ingredients and my best approximate price breakdown for each. Keep in mind, buying in bulk, on sale, or dried beans instead of canned will bring down the per serving cost even further.

- 2 green bell peppers ($2.00)

- 2 medium yellow onions ($.80)

- 3 carrots ($.22)

- kernels from 2 ears of corn, cut off the cob ($.50)

- 2 15oz cans pinto beans ($1.50)

- 2 15 oz cans chili beans ($1.50)

- 2 15 oz cans dark kidney beans ($1.50)

- 2 15 oz cans black beans ($1.50)

- 2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes ($1.20)

- 2 small cans plain tomato sauce (15 oz total) ($1.00)

- 2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste ($.66)

- Garlic powder, pepper, chili powder, chipotle flakes (about $.75 total)

- Olive oil (about $.15 total)

Total Cost of Ingredients: $13.28

Servings: 12

Total Cost per Serving: $1.10

Makes it taste even better!

Curried Zucchini Soup

*This is the second post today so don't forget to scroll down and see even more soup goodness!*Now onto zucchini soup- Kevin made this for me a couple of weeks ago and it knocked my socks off (I know I have the best hubby ever :))!  I ate almost all of it myself and then made it the next week. It is so light and delicious but still savory with the curry. It is good hot or cold which is great for summer. It's also REALLY easy to throw together. One thing I will say is an immersion blender would be clutch with this recipe. Seeing as we do not have one it got a little messy around the kitchen. It may have been the fact that I was salivating while making it and did not let it cool completely before putting it in the blender. But nevertheless I informed Kevin right away that it is a necessity we have an immersion blender. He as you can imagine did not see the emergency of the situation i.e. just so soup can go from the pot into my mouth faster- and we still do not have one. So that being said you can make it with a regular blender just let it cool- trust me. 


From our kitchen to yours :)

Curried Zucchini Soup
adapted from here


cooking spray
1 large onion
1 tablespoon curry powder
salt to taste
4 small zucchini (organic if possible)
1 quart veggie stock

Heat the pot and spray with cooking spray. Stir in the onion and season with curry powder and salt. Cook until tender. Stir in zucchini and cook until tender. Pour in veggie stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes. If your lucky enough to have a hand blender you can remove from heat and blend until smooth.  If not, remove from heat, COOL and blend until smooth. 




Until next time! 

Chickpea and Kale Soup

First of all, sorry for the month long hiatus. I have been super busy with the end of school, a wedding, two bachelorette parties, another wedding this weekend, getting ready to start grad school (!), two hs graduations, a preschool graduation, etc. Kevin has since started a new internship and started summer school. Soo we have been busy which means the blog took a back seat. But don't you worry- while all this craziness was going on I was eating delicious vegan/vegetarian meals. I haven't been able to prepare as many thoughtful vegan meals so we kept it simple- which is sometimes better. For example, over memorial day we had a delicious simple vegan feast: vegan hot dogs with homemade sauerkraut (made by Kevin), sweet potato fries, and roasted corn. Who wouldn't love that meal?! Yesterday we grilled out again at the lake and we had portabella mushroom burgers, beans, and roasted corn. Kevin has a wonderful trick with the corn that keeps it so moist without any butter. Maybe he'll share that with you. 


One thing I do when we are so busy (to avoid eating out) is make soups. Also, a couple of weeks ago I was having a break down of eating too many carbs. I realized I needed more soups (not to be confused with more cow bell). So I found this recipe just in time. It's delicious and so good for you. Kale is a superfood that I definitely need to eat more of. 

from our kitchen to yours :)


Chickpea and Kale Soup
adapted from fat free vegan


1 large onion diced
2 carrots
4 large garlic cloves
spices:
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8-1/4 teaspoon chilli powder or cayenne
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 bay leaves
2 3-inch cinnamon stick
3 cups cooked chickpeas (or 2 cans, drained and rinsed)
8 cups vegetable broth (or water plus bouillon)
1 large bunch kale, thick center ribs removed and chopped (at least 8 cups)
about 2 cups water
salt to taste


Add the carrots and onions. Cook until brown. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute. Next add the spices and cook for another minute. Add the chickpeas and coat in the spice mixture. Pour in the veggie stock, bring to a boil, reduce and simmer for 20 minutes. I did this part ahead of time and left to simmer until I was ready to add the kale. Add the kale and cook until desired tenderness is achieved. Enjoy :) 


This recipe has wonderful taste from the cinnamon and spices. It's super healthy because the nutrients in the kale are cooked into the broth. Can't beat it!


Oh and the original recipe called for saffron. I'm sure this would be a welcome addition but we didn't miss it one bit. Ok next post will be another soup (I wasn't kidding about soups!) that you HAVE to try! 

if you can't decide between Italian or Mexican...

Might I suggest taco fettucini?

Hillary found this wonderful whole wheat, taco flavored pasta while galavanting around the Texas Hill Country this weekend. We then used our friend Google to see if there was a Mexicanish pasta sauce we could make with the taco fettucini. Sure enough, others have braved the challenge of taco pasta. We used the sauce from this recipe in constructing the dish. 


It came out really good. If you can get past the oddity of Mexican flavors and fettucini together, it really is uniquely delicious. It reminded me a bit of a bolognese sauce because of the heartiness of it. It also reminded me of areas of the country which serve chili over spaghetti (here's looking at you, Cincinnati). And once the flavors melded in your mouth, it is very reminiscent of the taste of enchiladas-- with the pasta replacing the corn tortilla as that soft carby element. And, it is a vegan dish as well!


Taco Fettucini
- 1/2 pound pasta, preferably our delicious taco fettucini

- dash of olive oil
- 2 onions, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 cup sweet corn kernels
- 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes
- 1/4 cup salsa
- 1/4 cup sliced black olives
- 1 1/2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix
- salt and pepper to taste

1. Dice up the pepper and onion and saute in oil in a pan on medium for about 10 min.

2. Add corn, drained beans, diced tomatoes and juice from can, salsa, black olives, taco seasoning, and salt and pepper. Simmer on low for 5-10 min.

3. Prepare pasta according to directions. Drain. Toss with sauce and serve.

Enjoy this Italian-Mexican mash-up!

adventures in vegan birthday cake

Hillary's birthday was this week and after some investigation, I found out the only bakery in town that specialized in vegan/gluten-free type items was not a walk-in bakery but a call-ahead only place. So lots of help that was. This put me in a position where I had take the burden of preparing Hillary's birthday cake on my shoulders. Thanks to Google, I found a promising looking vegan lemon cake recipe and decided to put my own spin on the icing (which is more accurately, a "glaze"). That was the manliest sentence I've ever written. I was excited to find this recipe because lemon is one of Hillary's favorites. There was also some room to tinker with the recipe, which I did, making it a lemon cake with a blueberry-lemon-vanilla glaze. 

So with my recipe, my itunes playlist, and our dogs, I got to work.

The cake itself was very easy to make. I made 2 sheet cakes out of doubling the recipe. I had ambitions to layer the sheets and make a very impressive cake, but the icing turning out to be more of a glaze and time constraints but a lid on that plan. The icing/glaze was a different story. It never got creamy like icing should. No matter. I consulted with Hillary and after I described the consistency of the would-be icing, she said that sounded more like a glaze. Excellent! I took the glaze and we poured it over the warm cakes. Be sure to poke some hole in the cake to allow the glazey goodness to seep deep down into the cake.

Below is the lemon cake recipe taken from the website credited below and the glaze which is an adaption of what they originally suggest. A third twist to the cake is to add lemon-curd as a middle layer. I must say it sounds delicious, but the cake is great without it, and it significantly adds to the prep time.

And remember kids, the cake is totally vegan. We brought the 2nd cake, which was not consumed at the birthday festivities over to Hillary's dad and grandma without telling them it was vegan. They were surprised to learn it was, and this is not the first time we have tricked Hillary's dad into eating vegan. I think he would stop trusting us if he didn't enjoy eating our food so much.

So, with no further delay, the recipe (it seems like a lot to do, but it really doesn't take long):

Vegan Lemon Cake with Blueberry-Lemon-Vanilla Glaze*   

Lemon Cake Ingredients:

- 2/3 cup vegan margarine

- 1 cup sugar

- 3 1/2 cups white flour

- 3 1/2 Tblsp cornstarch

- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1 1/2 cup almond milk or other non-dairy milk

- Dash of vanilla

- 1/2 cup lemon juice

- Zest from 1 lemon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Butter and flour a 9 x 12” pan or 2 9” round cake pans

3. Mix almond milk and lemon juice and set aside to curdle

4. Cream butter and sugar

5. Combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt

6. Add dry ingredients, almond milk mixture, and lemon zest to butter mixture

7. Mix all ingredients together until just blended

8. Spread the batter evenly in the pan(s) and bake 35 to 45 minutes until slightly golden in color and firm in the center. The 9 x 12 pan will take longer to bake than the 9” rounds

9. Remove from pans and cool on racks. Chill cake and all ingredients

(optional) 10. Spread lemon curd between the 2 layers, then drizzle with the glaze

Blueberry-Lemon-Vanilla Glaze Ingredients:

(Makes enough for one cake)

- 1 cup vegan margarine

- 1 lb powdered sugar

- Zest from 2 lemons

- 1 tsp lemon extract

- 3-4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

- 1 cup frozen blueberries, defrosted in microwave but cooled off

Lemon-Blueberry Frosting Directions:

1. Using a hand-held mixer cream together margarine, sugar, and zest until smooth

2. Gradually beat in lemon juice 1 Tbsp at a time

3. Add blueberries in same manner

Refrigerate in an air tight container until needed

Lemon Curd Ingredients (optional):

Makes 1 cup

- 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

- 1/4 cup water

- 3/4 cup white sugar

- 2 Tblsp cornstarch

- Zest of 1 lemon

- 6 Tbsp unflavored almond milk

- 1 Tbsp vegan margarine

Lemon Curd Directions (optional):

1. Whisk together lemon juice, water, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon zest in a saucepan

2. Place on the stove on medium heat and continue to whisk until the mixture comes to a boil

3. Allow mixture to boil for 1 minute without stirring

4. Remove saucepan from heat and stir in almond milk and margarine

5. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate in an airtight container for 8 hours or overnight before using


(*Recipe taken from and adapted from savvy vegetarian)

easy weeknight veggie meals

Here are some easy meals that can be thrown together in no time. The first one is a traditional stir fry recipe. At Costco this past weekend I bought a big bag of stir fry vegetables. One night this weekend we were running around like crazy and it was easy to throw everything in the pan and cook it. The thing that took the longest was the brown rice. We buy ours in bulk so I'm sure the heat up bag kind would be much faster. 

From our kitchen to yours :)


Vegetable Stir Fry
adapted from veggie stir fry


1 bag of stir fry frozen vegetables
brown rice
STIR FRY SAUCE:
1/3 cup veggie stock
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. lime juice
5-7 cloves of garlic
1 tsp. liquid honey
2 tsp. corn starch dissolved in 4 tbsp. water
1 tsp. chili sauce


Start by making the stir fry sauce. Place all ingredients in a sauce pan over medium-high heat- except garlic and cornstarch. When sauce begins to bubble, reduce heat to medium-low. Now add the garlic and cornstarch(dissolved in water). Stir until sauce thickens- about 30 secs to 1 min. 


Saute frozen or fresh veggies over medium heat. Adding stock as necessary. When cooking almost thoroughly add stir fry sauce. Serve over cooked brown rice. Enjoy :)


Spinach with Chickpeas and Fresh Dill

When I think of dill I usually think of potato salad. However, since it has taken over our garden (who knew it was a weed!?) I wanted to find or come up with some main dishes that used it. I stumbled across this recipe and thought it looked interesting. I had never had dill with spinach before but I have to say it was a nice party in my mouth :). The dill with the lemon juice, spinach, and earthiness of the chickpeas all worked well together. It also is a great low carb vegetarian meal. I am finding that when traditional protein is not an option we tend to fall back on carbs. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as we should eat many whole grains, but it can get old. One of the books I read on my turning vegetarian path is Alicia Silverstone's book The Kind Diet. I know what your thinking...the girl from Clueless is probably not the smartest cookie in the jar and doesn't need to be giving any sort of eating advice. But upon further research (thank you wikipedia) Alicia didn't write most of the book, a ghostwriter nutritionist did. This made me feel much better about liking it so much. Any who, in the book Alicia (or nutritionist) says to try to eat three key ingredients at ever meal: whole grains (quiona, brown rice, rolled oats, etc.), protein (lentils, black beans, chick peas, etc.), and veggies (preferably green veggies i.e. green cabbage, bok choy, etc.). We try to follow this as much as we can, at least for dinner. She is a super vegan who eats green vegetables for breakfast. I'm just not there yet. But here is a easy weeknight meal that can be served with quinoa or brown rice. We ate ours with whole wheat pita bread. Enjoy!

Spinach with Chickpeas and Fresh Dill

Olive oil for pan

1 large onion thinly sliced

1-2 cans of chickpeas, drained and washed

1 pound of fresh spinach

1/2 cup fresh dill

2 lemons, juiced or 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste 

In a large skillet heat olive oil or cooking spray over medium heat. Saute onions until soft. Add chickpeas and coat in oil. Add dill and spinach. Cook until tender. Stir in lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Serve warm. 

homemade "pizza"

One of my new found favorite meals is homemade pizza. I didn't realize how delicious crust could be until I made it myself. I had always thought of homemade pizza crust being some impossible thing that had to rise and would take forever. However, when we were snowed in for a week I made a couple of batches and it turned out so delicious and was SUPER easy! I have combined a couple of recipes that I have found around the internet and in some of my cookbooks. Here is the recipe that works for me:


Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
(Vegetarian)


1 tsp. yeast
1 cup warm water
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 tsp. salt
1 tablespoon honey


Pre-heat oven to 350. Combine the yeast and warm water and let sit for about 10 minutes or until creamy/foamy. Meanwhile, mix flour, wheat germ, and salt. When the yeast mixture is ready mix in honey. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and add the wet mixture. Stir to combine until dough starts to form (sometimes I did it in my mixer with a dough hook attached but stirring works fine.) Cover and set in a warm place to rise.* Roll dough onto pizza pan and poke with a fork. Allow to rest a couple more minutes if time allows(if not pizza will still turn out fine). Bake without toppings for approximately 10-15 minutes until it starts to pull away from pan. Take it out and put on toppings. Bake a few more minutes until toppings are hot. Enjoy!


* I usually put a bowl of water in the microwave and heat it up to boiling. I then take it out and put the dough mixture in the microwave to rise. 

So Friday we had planned on having pizza. Kevin made the pizza sauce (recipe at bottom of post) during the day so all we needed were the toppings! Now I put pizza in quotes above because I'm not 100% sure it's OK to call it pizza if it doesn't have cheese but we make ours without cheese. We could make it with soy cheese but Kevin says he would rather have it without. We loaded ours with so much we didn't miss the cheese for a second! Here is what we topped ours with but the possibilities are endless.


-zucchini 
-onions
-peppers
-mushrooms
-olives
-sun-dried tomato 
-artichoke heart
-pepperoncini
-fresh herbs from our garden: basil and parsley

Homemade Pizza Sauce (quick and easy)

You want your pizza sauce to be smoother and thicker than normal tomato sauce or marinara sauce.

-3 small cans hunts tomato sauce

-1 can tomato paste

-Oregano, garlic powder, basil, 2 teaspoons each 

-1/3 onion, very small chop

-2 teaspoons minced garlic

Spray pam in small saucepan, brown onion and add garlic in last minute of browning. Add the 3 cans of tomato sauce and spices, simmer for 15 minutes. Add tomato paste, simmer for 10 more minutes.

From our kitchen to yours :-)