Homemade Lifestyle

 

the honey baking in the awesomely healthy and hopefully yummy granola bars is giving me a sweet sugar high! i forgot the gloves when mixing the sticky wet with the crumbled dry mix.
then I put it in a pan way too big and couldn't find one the right size and settled on two small square pans {9X9}. I set it to cook for 20 min. instead of 25-30 due to the pan sizes. I pulled them out and they were more brown than golden as it is supposed to be. *sigh* they don't look burnt so we'll see . . . days later . . . they turned out wonderfully. they were not burnt and more importantly my son loves them! I've since bought more goodies to put into his granola bars, well, I can only think of the golden raisins I bought the other day but I did buy dates too (pitted) oh and coconut flakes, LOTS of coconut flakes. they were on sell $10 for 10.

walking down the isle's I was surprised at how little I needed to buy now that I make most things from scratch. I didn't need to buy any snakes like granola bars, cookies, Little Debbie's, etc. I make them at home with love which tastes MUCH better than anything Bette Crocker or Little Debbie could ever dream up. my son seems to think so. he never asks for them, he wants to know what I have baked! I walked past the frozen section and was going to buy a pizza and realized I had everything I needed at home to make it for myself. I hand more than enough cheese, plenty of spices and tomato pastes, sauces, and so on. all I needed was the pepperoni and that is all I got. I could have done without that too but I didn't want to defrost anything.

I've made a bigger lifestyle change than I had planned. I just wanted to use more 'sneaky chef' recipes and use her tactics in my other creations but all of a sudden I'm wanting to make EVERYTHING from scratch, and I am. I have some tv dinners my uncle gave in the freezer for back up but i'm all in. even though I was sick yesterday I managed to make that pizza and the banana muffins my son loved so much! I feel great about myself. accomplished. I know what is going into all the food we eat and I'm connecting to all the woman before me, my kin, my ancestors who cared for their families and made everything from scratch from beer to butter! {yep, true story and that's only going back to my great grandmothers}… although I may not go that far.

Rapid Rise Pizza Dough

3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour {I used my half&half white & wheat flour mix and a 1/2 tablespoon of each ground flax seed, wheat germ, & wheat bran}

1 package rapid rise yeast

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup very warm water (120 - 130 degrees F)

2 tablespoons olive oil (vegetable oil if must)

cornmeal

makes 1(14-inch) thick pizza or 2(12-inch) thin pizzas

In large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, undissolved yeast and salt. {at this point I chose to add a tablespoon of italian spices and a 1/2 ton of garlic and whisked together} Stir in enough remaining flour to make soft dough. {oil your hands and wrists so that the dough doesn't stick to your hands. you have to get your hands into it if you don't have a $300 machine to do it for you, which is going on my wish list!} Knead dough on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 4 to 6 minutes. Cover, let rest on floured surface for 10 minutes.

Lightly oil 1(14-inch) or 2(12-inch) round pizza pans. sprinkle with cornmeal. Form dough into smooth ball. Roll dough to fit pan(s).

Try our Quick Tomato Sauce or use your favorite homemade or prepared sauce. {I used spaghetti sauce and added spices [italian spice mix, cumin, cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, crushed red peppers] and garlic(of course)} Then add your favorite combination of sliced meats, grated cheeses, sliced vegetables and other ingredients, Slice raw vegetables thinly to prevent a soggy pizza. {mistake I made was putting on too much sauce and too close to the edges. there needs to be a little room where the cheese is directly on the dough so it has something to hang onto when you chomp on it!}

Bake in preheated 400 degree F oven for 20-30 minutes or until done. Time depends on size and thickness of crust and selected toppings.

{It turned out tasting great and very filling with all the loads of cheese and the wheat flour. had one delicious slice after another all night. it was so filling I had to digest one slice before I added another. by the next day however the dough seemed too dense. but I would do it again the same way if eaten the same day.}

(an adaptation of a Fleischmann's recipe found in a magazine some years ago that I never let go of)