Pizza Night

 

Thursday’s are one of my busiest days of the week.  It is a day of rushing around in the morning and getting out to see lots of bread customers in the afternoon. Sometimes it’s hard going in and out of pizzerias and restaurants and not coming home with any of that delicious looking food.  If I was not vegan, taking home food would probably happen more often.  Since I like to make everything myself, I sufficed with just bringing home some pizza dough from Tosco’s in Pennsburg, Thanks Anthony!

I have made dough plenty of times at home and I have purchased it at the grocery store in every variety, but nothing compares to a true Italian pizza dough straight from the restaurant kitchen.  The technique they use makes all the difference.  The dough is more pliable and has a perfect texture when cooked.  Whether you prefer the crust thick or thin, crispy or soft, this dough makes it perfect every time.

I let my dough sit out on the counter for about 40 minutes while my pizza stone heated at 475 in the oven.   I love veggies on top of my pizza, no surprise there!   I took inventory, and we had some portabella mushrooms, onions, frozen peppers and some veggie pepperoni leftover from last week.  While my oven continued to heat, I sliced and partially cooked the portabella for a few minutes until they were soft.  The fresh dough only takes 10 minutes to cook, and I like my mushrooms cooked longer.

Since I do not have a pizza peel, I spread some coarse corn meal onto a large wood cutting board then stretched my dough.   I like a thick crust when I use fresh dough.  Next, I topped it with some pizza sauce.  Then, I shredded some Follow Your Heart Mozzarella right onto the sauce.  The toppings were spread generously on the cheese, one section with just pepperoni and limited veggies designated for Mya. 

I then slid the pizza dough straight onto the pre-heated stone and cooked it about 10 minutes until golden brown with melted cheese.

We ate the WHOLE pie!  It was delicious.  My parents always made pizza or stromboli on Saturday nights.  We always had fun sitting around talking and laughing and sharing a homemade pizza.  I hope Mya remembers our pizzas someday.

Have a great weekend!

What I Ate Wednesday #16

 

 Welcome to another addition of What I Ate Wednesday.  The holiday had me a little off when it came to what day of the week it was!

Yesterday, I actually missed my breakfast pics, but, it was nothing exciting, after a weekend of bbq food, I had a simple protein shake and 1/2 of a whole wheat English Muffin with a cup of coffee.

Here is a recycled picture of one of my favorite protein shakes. 

Lunch was also pretty simple.  Leftovers. Over the weekend, I made tons of these awesome vegetable skewers with a couple of pieces of Gardein Beefless tips mixed in.  I had enough to make both Andy and I lunch from the leftovers, served on a bed of steamed brown rice.  I prefer them fresh off the grill, but as hot and humid as it was yesterday, I was glad not to have to be in front of the grill.

I made these with par-baked quartered potatoes, yellow and green zucchini, beefless tips, mushrooms, onions, peppers, and a cherry tomato on the end! I made a quick basting marinade out a little bit of olive oil, water, lemon juice, vegan Worcestershire sauce, and some Mrs. Dash steak seasoning.  I cooked them on the grill about 10 minutes, flipped another 10 minutes, until they were cooked through. After being in the refrigerator for two days, I reheated them on the stovetop in a griddle pan. 

After lunch, I had another coffee, did some running around, worked in my office and then prepared an early dinner before Andy had to run to a game.

Dinner was BBQ Chik’n & Slaw Wraps.  I made a quick slaw from a 1/2 bag of slaw mix, 1/2 bag of shredded red cabbage, 1 small red onion thinly sliced, 1 large carrot grated, and slaw dressing.  My dressing was Vegan mayo, Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, agave nectar, celery seed, sea salt and pepper.  I let the slaw sit in the fridge for an hour before making my wraps.  I used carb balance whole wheat tortillas as my base.  Then added slaw and then pieces of Gardein Chick’n coated with a sweet and spicy bbq sauce on top.  I rolled them and served with some baked sea salt and vinegar chips.

An hour after dinner I had a decaf coffee and a small piece of a black bean brownie.

I was still hungry at 8pm, and although, I detest eating at night, I caved and had a small bowl of Uncle Sam’s cereal in coconut milk.

So, there you have it, what I ate Tuesday on Wednesday.  I look forward to posting lots of my favorite summer meals whether at home, or on the go.  Only two and a half weeks of school left, yay!  I can’t wait until Mya is home for the summer and the fun can begin. Hopefully I can blog from the campground or by the poolside, where I hope to be spending a great deal of summer.

Do you have any great summer plans?

Have a great Wednesday!

What I Ate Wednesday #15

 

Hi everyone, I hope you have had a great week and got out to enjoy some of the fantastic Spring weather.  Lots of outdoor activities are taking place around our house. Yard clean up, camping, gardening, walking home from school instead of driving, eating our meals on the porch and watching all the new baby wildlife that graces our backyard.  We have baby groundhogs, rabbits, fuzzy geese, deer, tiny squirrels and lots of baby birds singing away.  I love spring!

My meals today were pretty simple with lots of flavor and color.  Yesterday, I had overnight oats for breakfast, they are super healthy, but I am starving two hours later.  So today, I opted for my classic Tofu Egg, “ham”, and Dayia Cheese on a whole wheat bagel thin. 

Andy, Mya and myself each had one for breakfast.  The protein and complex carbs keep me full until lunch.

This lovely breakfast was just 315 calories and packed in 24 grams of protein!

Since it is a holiday weekend and bathing suits are eminent, and salad is a must have lunch for me this week.  Lots of greens, brightened up with colorful vegetables.  I dressed mine with a light Blush Vinaigrette and a few small leftover meatless meatballs.

After school snack was my new obsession, Drunken Strawberries with Sweet Vanilla Tofu Ricotta and topped with homemade chocolate sauce and chopped nuts.

The strawberries for me and Andy were soaked in Amaretto, while Mya’s were tossed in a tiny bit of agave.  I lightly sweetened the tofu  and made my chocolate sauce from equal parts agave and chocolate.  You can find the whole recipe here on my recipage, I will be posting it today.

Layer of ricotta, layer of strawberries, drizzle of chocolate, sprinkle of nuts, drop of ricotta, top with berry!

Pizza was on the menu for dinner.  But not just any ol’ pizza, a polenta crust and veggies on top.  I made a huge batch of polenta, enough to make a crust for a half baking sheet.  While the polenta cooked, I seasoned it with sea salt and Italian seasoning.  When it was rich and creamy, I spread it evenly onto a foil lined baking sheet that had a tiny bit of olive oil on it.  Once it covered the sheet, I placed it in the freezer to cool down and get solid.  I preheated the oven to 450 and cooked my veggies while the polenta cooled.  Once the oven was ready and the polenta was solid, it was placed in the oven to start to crisp.

Then, add sauce and Dayia cheese.

Next, the veggies, we had mushrooms, zucchini, onions and vegan pepperoni.

Slice and serve!

WHAT DID YOU EAT WEDNESDAY?

If you enjoyed this post, please check back soon.  I am recommitting myself to post daily if I can.  Quick meals and interesting things I learn that I would like to share will be featured, along with workouts and vegan family updates…and some recipes too!

Enjoy your Wednesday!

What I Ate Wednesday #14

 

Fourteen weeks of sharing a day’s worth of meals with all of you, thank you for reading!

Breakfast was a tofu scramble with a mixture of fresh veggies and some leftovers from last night dinner.  I cooked up peppers, onions, potatoes, 1/2 apple sage Field Roast sausage, baby spinach, seasoned tofu, and a few slices of leftover polenta on the side.

Lunch was grilled corn tortillas topped with a black bean salad, a small dollop of sour cream, and shredded spring mix.  The black bean salad was a combination of black beans, rinsed and drained, chopped sweet onions, diced jalapeno peppers,  diced mixed color baby bell peppers, chopped avocados, diced tomatoes, roasted corn kernels, and seasoned with Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning.  This was a delicious lunch that was rich in vitamins and antioxidants.

Apple Cinnamon Protein Bars were a mid morning project of recipe testing.  This was my best batch to date.  I topped them with a crispy cinnamon oat crumble.  I also mixed in fresh apples, raisins and walnuts. 

Since a grocery trip is planned tomorrow, I decided to use up some of the veggies so I can replenish.  I made a simple dinner of stove grilled portabella mushrooms, green zucchini, asparagus, and steamed cauliflower.  I served the vegetables with quinoa and a few Gardein Chik’n Tenders.

For dessert it was a cup of decaf Dark Magic and a small bite of an apple bar.

Off to do my bread orders, have a great Wednesday.