Pizza Pie

Hi friends

I hope everyone’s Monday has been going well. This afternoon definitely called for juice. I had a dull headache and this cured it—

MUCH better than Bud Light….this was carrot, celery, ginger, beet, kale and apple juice! I actually picked this beet and kale myself from the community garden at the yoga studio yesterday! How much fresher can you possibly get?!

I also had yet another peanut butter mousse!

This time, I used a serving of chocolate PB2 mixed with 1/2 cup 2% Fage and topped with cacao nibs. All I can say is heaven. Where has this concoction been all my life?! Today alone I ate up all the samples that Bell Plantation generously sent me so I had to take things in my own hands and go hunting for more. Asap.

I guess this stuff is pretty hard to find but you can go to the Bell Plantation website and there’s a store locater there, as well as an online store so you can order yours today! Trust me, it’s worth it just for this “mousse”. I would sub this for cheesecake any day! As for me, I found it at D’Lites, a froyo place near my parent’s house. I’ve seen it there before so I knew exactly where to go today.

I went to my parent’s house to watch Oprah with my mom and then I came home and started dinner….I texted Ryan to tell him I was making a surprise tonight and to not be home late. What was the surprise, you ask?! What do you think??

Yep, the first meal in the new oven should obviously be pizza, since that was the last meal we attempted three weeks ago! Tonight I made Ryan a big pizza and made myself a mini individual pizza, using the below recipe for dough. I’ve tweaked and tweaked this half whole wheat pizza dough countless times and feel like it finally has reached perfection!  I don’t like to use ALL whole wheat flour in my doughs because it typically yields a very dense product since whole wheat flour lacks gluten and protein. Using a ratio of all purpose to whole wheat makes the dough light and chewy but still gives you the benefit of the whole wheat. Its the best of both worlds and a very favorite of mine

The Best Pizza Crust

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/3 cup warm water
• 1 packet yeast
• 1.5 tsp sea salt

In a mixing bowl, combine the warm water and yeast. Stir in the salt and flour and mix on medium high speed on your KitchenAid for 5 minutes. While the mixer is going, drizzle in the olive oil. When the dough is soft and elastic, take out of the bowl, rub with olive oil and then place back in the bowl, cover with a dish towel and let rise for one hour. After the dough has doubled in size, cut in half to make two large pizza doughs or make mini doughs. You could also do what I like to do and freeze the dough in a plastic baggie for another time! When you are ready for your pizza, roll out the dough, cover with your toppings and bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes.

You could also make this dough without an electric mixer…..just knead by hand for about 8 minutes and then follow above steps! I’ve made it by hand many, many times and it always comes out right.

So, for Ryan’s pizza I did the traditional pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni (he’s a guy!)….but for MINE I did something a little different! I made the “Thai Chick-Un” sauce from Dreena Burton’s Eat, Drink and Be Vegan and used this very special peanut butter in it that I’ve been dying to test out:

Wowza this stuff is s-p-i-c-y! Even for a girl that loves spice, this stuff is a kick in the mouth. Love it though, but it sure is fire! This peanut butter would be killer with raw veggies but not so good with jam for a sammie. I see it more as dips or as an awesome ingredient in a peanut soba noodle dish.

So, I spread that deliciously spicy peanut buttery sauce on my mini pizza and then layered on yummy bell pepper strips, fresh pineapple chunks, chickpeas and bean sprouts! It came out divine!

Every chef gets a glass of wine in this house!

And froyo for dessert!

Ryan LOVED the surprise, of course! He’s practicing his guitar right now (slowly learning how to serenade me) and I’m about to hit my book and call it a night.

Click here for $2 off yummy Quaker pancake mix! I have it and love it

Tagged as: froyo, homemade pizza, juice, Product Reviews, recipes, Snack, wine