Sunday, March 16, 2008

No its not delivery


The perfect pizza dough recipe! 







1 cup warm water
2 1/4 tsp yeast (I use instant or quick)
2 Tbsp Vegetable oil
1 Tbsp Honey
2 1/2 cup Flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp Basil
1 tbsp Oregano







1. Add all ingredients into a stand mixer with the dough hook attached.  Mix together until a ball starts to form.  If you find the dough isn't coming together you can add 1 tsp of water.  
2. Kneed by hand for 1-2 minutes then place in a greased bowl and let rise (when using instant yeast you don't have to wait too long.
3. Roll dough out with a rolling pin.  Using parchment paper makes this step WAY easier.

There are 2 ways I cook pizza. 
1.  you can bake the dough at 350 for 10-15 minutes then add the toppings and bake for another 10 minutes
2.  Top the pizza with all ingredients and bake at 425 for 20 -25 minutes.


This pizza is a stuffed crust!  I freeze cheese strings (the all mozzarella work best) and wrap them up in the edges of the pizza dough.  It was deliciously gooey and turned out perfect.






The sky is the limit with pizza here are some toppings to try:

Chicken, salsa (instead of tomato sauce) lots of veggies
Chicken, BBQ sauce (instead of tomato sauce)
Ground Pork
Tomatoes, basil and feta cheese
Ham chunks with pineapple
Black beans with coconut
Steak and BBQ sauce
Spinach, tomatoes and feta cheese
Everything pizza....


























Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Nutrtion Month is here!!

Happy Nutrition month!! This year the theme is

Spotlight on Food and Nutrition Dietitians Top 10 list what you need to know...


You can find out these top 10 by checking out The Dietitians of Canada website. I really enjoy how this years theme focuses on healthy food choices as a life style (and not just a quick fix) and physical activity. My favorite focus on the top 10 is making meal time a family affair. I think that in order for our children to become healthy eaters and physically active we as parents are the ones who need to be setting the standard. As a stay at home mom I find it very rewarding to have the privilege to serve my family with healthy foods. Now don't get me wrong what kind of Dietitian would I be if I didn't believe in moderation!!! Of course there is a place for foods with less nutrition to enter our home once in a while. However our convenience culture where everything is pre-made and packaged is harming our children more then we know it. Our children are the ones who are suffering from our fast past society where meal time and meal preparation is not of importance anymore. I am happy to be part of a profession that knows when we get back to work by planing out meals and doing a little bit of prep work we will begin to see a positive effect in not only our children's weight but also their over all well being. One thing that helps me to be a better meal planner is by printing off these monthly menus so I can make up a meal plan for our family. Its also great as we are trying to eat more lentils and beans instead of always having to have meat...when the meat free nights are written on the menu it allows Micah to prepare himself through out the day! hehe...


The website also has lots of fun things that you can check out while you are there. My new favorite addition to the site is their recipe analyzer. Its a great new feature that allows you to enter in your favorite recipes to see how healthy (or not) they are. I have been using it a lot for recipes that I change around to see if I am improving their nutritional value.

So this month why not make your own list of goals that you and your family can do to eat better and get active this year!! If you have some I would love to hear them!!