Homemade Pizza

PIZZA, PIZZA!

Yum! We LOVE to make homemade pizza in our house and it is so much fun to put whatever YOU want on your pizza and make it personalized to you. My favorite is black olives, pineapple, Canadian bacon, and mushrooms. I also like to add green bell pepper but we didn't have any. We make our own pie crust as well. I use Bobby Flay's recipe for pizza crust. Once the dough has risen and I have split it for us, here's what I do:

First roll out pizza dough to whatever thickness you like (I like thin crust)

Top the crust with pizza sauce. I like Classico's line of pizza sauces.

Then I like to add a light layer of cheese (I add more after toppings are on)

Then comes your toppings! Here I've added Canadian bacon.

Then fresh mushrooms

Then pineapple slices and black olives and sprinkle a bit of Italian seasonings (and a bit of garlic powder if you like garlic)

Finally, top pizza with more mozzarella!

We have this AMAZING contraption that peels your pizza off of the counter and onto your pizza stone. Seriously, without this thing, we would be stuck with pizza on the counter instead of in our bellies ;) 

You can order one here.

We then cook our pizza on a pizza stone on our bbq grill. Let the stone warm up before you put your pizza on it (about 5 mins over med-high heat). Then put your pizza on the stone and let cook (oh, add corn meal to the stone just before you place your pizza on it. This will prevent it from sticking). There is no time here, just keep an eye on it and pull it off when it starts bubbling and edges get a bit brown. Take it off the stone with a large stainless steel spatula and place on a cutting board to slice. 

Enjoy your pizza!! Happy cooking!

Penne Pasta with Portobello Mushrooms

This dish is light, flavorful, and just downright delicious! My 2.5 year old liked it and so did my hubby....so that's saying a lot! ;)
My goal the last few weeks have been to incorporate new and different foods and keep everything "clean." I have three cookbooks that I am pulling from and some of them I am adjusting and making it work for our family (and budget!). 

Here's the link for the recipe. Also listed below:

Ingredients:
4 quarts water
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup shelled frozen edamame
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 cups brown rice penne or macaroni
2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
2 to 3 large Portobello mushrooms
4 cloves garlic, passed through a garlic press
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 cup Roma tomatoes, chopped and drained
1/2 cup fresh chopped basil
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro

Directions:

1. Mushrooms are easy to clean. Simply remove the stalk and lift the outer skin from the cap using a small paring knife. It peels off readily. Slice the caps into quarter-inch pieces.
2. In a large saucepan bring about 4 cups of water to a full boil. Add a pinch of salt. Drop he frozen edamame into the boiling water and cook until the beans turn bright green. Immediately life them out of the boiling water with slotted spoon. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
3. In the still-boiling water add 2 Tbsp olive oil and the penne and cook al dente. Drain the penne, leaving behind about 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Put the penne back into the saucepan and cover.
4. Toast the sesame seeds by placing in a small skillet and cooking until fragrant. 
5. In a large nonstick skillet heat remaining olive oil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté until they become soft. Add the minced garlic and rice wine vinegar. Stir. Cover and let cook over low heat for about 5 minutes. 
6. Place edamame in skillet along with tomatoes and herbs. Heat through. Pour mushroom mixture in a pot with penne. Add sea salt and black pepper. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Place pasted in heated serving dish.

Now I changed this up a bit. First off, I swapped the edamame for peas and steamed those in a separate small pot while the pasta was cooking (time saver!). I also used gluten-free quinoa pasta instead of brown rice pasta. I LOVE the flavor of the quinoa pasta! I also didn't have any sesame seeds, so I omitted that. I added chicken as well, marinated in Italian dressing. I topped our dishes with a bit of parmesan cheese as well. It was so delicious!!! I hope you enjoy! 

*Note...when cooking, turn on 'Italian Cooking Music' on Pandora...soooo much more fun!! ;) 

Source:The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook