Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

I'm glad you all enjoyed the pizza!  The dough is super easy to make and freezes really well.  I got it from a Martha Stewart magazine:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm (115 degrees) water*
2 packets ( ounce each) active dry yeast
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for bowl
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for kneading
2 cups whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)

*I usually add a tiny bit more water when I'm mixing because it's so dry here.

Directions:

1. Place water in a large bowl; sprinkle with yeast. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Brush another large bowl with oil.

2. In bowl with yeast, whisk sugar, oil, and salt. Stir in flours with a wooden spoon until a sticky dough forms. Transfer to oiled bowl; brush top of dough with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; let stand in a warm spot until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

3. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface. With floured hands, knead until smooth, about 15 seconds; divide into two balls. It can make two large pizzas or up to 8 individual pizzas.  I usually bake the large pizzas on a stone pizza pan.

4. If you're not going to use the dough right away, set balls on a plate (they should not touch); freeze until firm, about 1 hour. Then freeze in a freezer bag up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in refrigerator.

5. Divide each ball of dough into 4 pieces. Using your hands, stretch each piece into a 5-inch disk (if dough becomes too elastic to work with, let it rest a few minutes). Freeze shells on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Stack frozen shells between layers of parchment paper. Freeze in a freezer bag up to 3 months. Bake from frozen.

Six O'Clock Scramble video

Hey all... just want you to see the kind of meals Aviva Goldfarb will send you recipes and grocery lists for in her awesome blog, the Six O'Clock Scramble (www.thescramble.com ~ $5/mo. subscription)... she makes it sooooo easy to shop, cook and eat quick and healthy!! Love her... (just click the title to see how cool she is-)

Who wants some pizza?

I know you're probably thinking, um...that's not healthy. Well it can be!  Combine some whole wheat crust and tons of veggies, you've got yourself a healthy pizza.  I'll have the personal sized crusts ready along with sauce and some cheese to choose from (Fat free or low fat of course).  Bring your favorite healthy toppings to create your very own pizza.  Just comment below to let me know if you're coming and what you're bringing so that we have all of our favs covered and enough crusts to go around.  I'll shoot out an email with directions to my house shortly.

A few pizza ideas for inspiration:

Mediterranean-olives, feta, onions, chicken, spinach, artichokes
Hawaiian-pineapple and canadian bacon with green peppers and onions
Fall Harvest-put a little bit of all fall veggies
Mexican Pizza-chicken, salsa, bell peppers, beans, cheese

Pumpkin French Toast

Hi All~
Just wanted to share a seasonal favorite in our house- make a giant batch (this recipe makes about 8 slices with Orowheat-sized bread-) and freeze for use throughout the week. They are a great pre- or post-workout meal and toast up quickly in the toaster or toaster oven. Top with berries, applesauce, cinnamon yogurt or good ol' maple syrup and pair with half a grapefruit ( the Ruby Reds are in stores now! yum!)...

Pumpkin French Toast

eight slices whole wheat bread
six large eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 tsp each, cinnamon and ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp clove

Beat together eggs, milk, pumpkin and spices in a shallow bowl (I use a shallow square tupperware, just big enough to accommodate a slice of bread) with an electric mixer. Dip one slice of bread at a time, turning quickly so as not to completely SOAK with liquid. Remove directly to a medium hot nonstick pan or griddle. It's a little tricky to get just the right heat so that the toast cooks through before the sides darken too much, start with the heat lower and work up to just right! Keep cooked slices warm in a 200 degree oven while you finish the rest. Start to finish, about 20 mins. Freeze cooled slices, separated by waxed paper, in a ziploc bag.

Mediterranean Style Burgers with Portobello buns!

Sooooo.... I'm thinking you won't want to miss the Biggest Loser gathering THIS tuesday (at Sandi's house in Westminster-) as we'll be trying out Curtis Stone's sweet recipe from last week's episode... How to make a bad burger-and-fries hankering nice and healthy?, we wondered over goodbyes at Tawsha's place... baked sweet potato fries, of course, of course, but... the burger?? Oh yeah!! Curtis whipped them up before our very eyes (full of tears most of the night, maybe why we forgot about the burgers...)- so click the title to find the recipe on TBL's official site, and RSVP with what you'll bring to make this delicious meal happen... see you Tuesday!!

Salad Night!

Hi there, Losers! Here are just a couple of nice salad recipes I thought you all might enjoy. I ran across them in researching salads for our upcoming Loser meeting at Tawsha's house on the 27th. I like the grapefruit, as the Ruby reds will be in season in short order. The pasta salad is a nice, lighter version that is still packed with crunchy, colorful veggies and includes a great dressing recipe that could be used elsewhere. You could easily sub in chopped roast chicken and other crunchy vegetables like snap peas, carrots, jicama to switch it up!


Spinach and Pink Grapefruit Salad

(Tuesday I'll give you a recipe for fruit vinaigrette dressing that will be perfect on this salad!)

Ingredients:

• 6 cups baby spinach leaves
• 1 small pink grapefruit, peeled, pith removed, segmented, and sliced
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh raspberries
• 2 tbsp walnut pieces, chopped

Per Serving (without dressing): Calories 98, Calories from Fat 25, Total Fat 2.8g (Sat 0.2g), Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 40mg, Carbohydrate 15g, Fiber 3.5g, Protein 3g

Preparation:

Rinse, drain and dry baby spinach leaves; arrange on 4 salad plates. Arrange grapefruit pieces on top, followed by onion slivers and mushroom slices. Scatter raspberries and walnut pieces on top.

Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of your favorite low fat or fat free citrus or raspberry vinaigrette. Or make your own dressing using 1 part good-quality olive oil to three parts orange, lemon or grapefruit juice. Place in a small screw-top jar and shake vigorously.

Serves 4 as an appetizer- add garbanzo beans or chicken to make this a meal.

Tuna and Shell Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces medium shell whole wheat pasta
• 7-ounce pouch chunk light tuna
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
• 3/4 cup yellow pepper, chopped
• 1 6-ounce can or jar artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed and chopped
• 1/2 dry pint cherry tomatoes, halved

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup fat-free, reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• Black pepper
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano

Preparation:

Cook pasta according to instructions on package. Drain and cool. Combine tuna, celery, onion, pepper, artichoke hearts and tomatoes in a large bowl with cooled pasta. Whisk dressing ingredients together and drizzle over tuna and pasta. Toss well, and chill until ready to serve.

Serves 4-6.

Per Serving: Calories 320, Calories from fat 25, Total Fat 2.8g (sat 0.4g), cholesterol 15mg, Sodium 248mg, Carbohydrate 51.9g, Fiber 5.3g, Protein 21.8g

Denver 1/2 Marathon Conquered

I made it through my first 1/2 Marathon yesterday. Looking back the smart thing would have definitely been to do a 1/2 before I tackled the full last summer. Eh, I don't always do things in order anyway.

It was perfect running weather Sunday morning and the course was awesome. No highway running Tawsha...probably the best part! Though my iPod was dead as soon as I crossed the finish line and I was nearly trampled, tripped and elbowed during the start (I mean really, no wave start? Come on Denver.) I finished in 2 hours and 13 minutes...all 13.24 miles! I was hoping to finish in 2:10 but am so proud of myself for the time I did get. Even better, I'm still mobile! My knees don't hate me and even though I have some tired and sore muscles, I think I'll be ready to run again later next week. Woohoo.

Can't wait for the next TNT season to begin!