Pizza

I never go out for pizza. There really isn't any pizza I can get in my town that tastes as good as homemade. I think there's this myth about pizza that in order for it to be any good, you have to have a pizza oven and a pizza stone, etc etc. Well, that just isn't true; I don't have either and mine turn out pretty well. Pizza stones are pretty cool, but they cost money and take up space, and I have neither, so I make my pizza on a baking sheet. I know that authentic pizza dough is supposed to be thrown up in the air until it forms enchanting and perfectly even circles, but I'm terrible at this, so I use a rolling pin. If any Italian nonnas are scandalized by this, they are welcome to come to my house and make my pizza for me. Until then, I am totally unrepentant.

Making pizza dough is really much easier than you think it is. I use a half recipe of my basic bread dough, top it with a simple sauce and whatever vegetables and meats you like, and some grated cheese. It doesn't take that long. If you want, you can make the dough ahead of time and freeze it, provided you have room in your freezer. (Mine is tiny, so I wouldn't.)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Dough:

1 teaspoon instant yeast granules

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup warm water

1 1/2 cups bread flour (plain will work if you don't have bread flour)

Sauce:

2 tablespoons tomato paste

4 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon (freshly) ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Toppings of your choice: some suggestions--1) thinly sliced cooked potato, rosemary, and roasted garlic; 2) cubed cooked chicken and sliced tomatoes; 3) sliced cooked ham with sliced mushrooms and shredded raw spinach (make sure it's dry)....

plus a couple of handfuls of freshly grated mozzarella, and, if you like, freshly grated parmesan

First, make your dough. Mix the ingredients together in a large bowl to form a dough, and knead it for 2-3 minutes, adding more flour if the dough seems sticky. Leave to rise in a warm place until the dough has risen to twice its original size. (It doesn't matter if you don't let it rise this long. 30-40 minutes should do the trick.)

While the dough is rising, make your sauce. Mix the ingredients in a small bowl, stirring until smooth.

Now preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a 9x13 baking sheet by lining it with baking paper. Knead your dough briefly to get the air out of it, then roll it out into a rectangle with a rolling pin and place it on the baking sheet.

Spread the sauce evenly over the crust, then your toppings, then your cheese. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the underside of the crust is lightly golden. Leave for 5 minutes before cutting into slices.

Variation: if you are feeling particularly gloomy and want to indulge yourself, you can make stuffed crust pizza. Just roll mozzarella string cheese sticks into the edges of the crust, and pinch the edges to seal. Then add the sauce, toppings, and cheese and bake as normal.

Healthier variation: replace half the flour with whole wheat flour and a teaspoon of baking powder (to reduce any possible heaviness to the texture).

Recipe review: Crock pot balsamic pork roast from Skinnytaste.com

Recipe here.

So, I bought two large hunks of pork last week. The first week, I made the Slow Cooker Filipino Adobo Pulled Pork from Skinnytaste.com. That was good. Oh, my goodness, it was good.

That left one of the hunks of pork in my freezer, so this week I pulled it out to make the balsamic version. This was, I think, very nearly almost as good as the Filipino Adobo version. The great advantage is that all the ingredients apart from the pork were things I tend to have in my cupboards anyway: balsamic vinegar (I always have it on hand to make salad dressings and things, but it takes me about 3 years to use up a bottle), Worcestershire sauce, etc. I don't usually have honey, because I find it too sweet for pretty much anything, really, but a friend had given me some locally-made stuff and I was eager to find uses for it.

The only criticism I have of this is that it came out a little dry. I think next time I might try to find a cut of pork that's more suitable for the crock pot, i.e. a tough old thing full of connective tissue or something. My idea of perfect meat is the kind that falls off the bones in impossibly tender pieces. The sauce for this recipe, however, was perfectly delicious--the right combination of sweet, salty, and acidic. We served it over white basmati rice, with a side of coleslaw.

Whole wheat, cranberry and pecan pancakes

Sometimes I crave pancakes. And then I remind myself that this couldn't possibly be healthy. And then I remind myself that I could make whole grain ones, and everyone knows that whole grains are healthy. (Let's not talk about all the maple syrup I want to put on top, shall we?)

This morning, I considered making my whole grain apple pancakes, but the thought of all the preparation and apple-grating made me feel very apathetic. So I invented a new recipe, and it came out wonderfully. I've figured out that the trick to making baked goods with 100% whole wheat flour (rather than a mixture of whole wheat and white) is to put yogurt or buttermilk in them to lighten the texture. So many whole wheat baked goods end up dense, heavy, and leaden, with a nasty taste. Yogurt fixes all that--it makes things fluffy and gives them a delicious tang of acidity.These pancakes aren't really sweet, but the cranberries and pecans give them a wonderful flavor. Next time, to add to the complexity of flavor, I might halve the cinnamon and add 1/4 teaspoon each of ground cardamom and ground ginger, and a pinch of ground cloves.

This recipe makes 10 pancakes, which was more than enough for two adults and one toddler.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder (I prefer no-aluminum baking powders)
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup plain unsweetened yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
About 1/4 cup dried cranberries
About 1/4 cup small pecan pieces

In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In another, larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, yogurt, and vanilla. Tip the dry ingredients into the wet ones and whisk until just combined.

Heat a large cast-iron or non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Brush the surface with oil or melted butter. Using a 1/4 cup measure, place scoops of the mixture into the pan, 3 or 4 at a time. Wait until little bubbles start bursting on the top of the pancakes. Sprinkle a few cranberries and pecan pieces on the pancakes, then quickly flip the pancakes over. Cook until the pancakes are golden on both sides and cooked on the inside.

Serve topped with maple syrup. And sliced fresh fruit, if you are still clinging to any pretense of a healthy breakfast.

Week's meal plan, January 24, 2014.

And...we ran out of money again. This time it wasn't really our fault; there was a mistake with paychecks and we'll get the money eventually, but for now, we have run out of money. Which means that I have to shop with a credit card (boooo!). Which means that I can't shop at WinCo, because they don't accept credit cards. My only other choices are Walmart and Safeway. I despise Walmart, so I picked Safeway.

Not everything at Safeway is expensive, but on the whole, it's a lot more than a budget store. I spent more than I usually do, and I really didn't buy that much, because I didn't need to (I already had plenty of staples such as oats, a large hunk of pork sirloin in the freezer, rice, yeast, balsamic vinegar, tortillas, frozen strawberries, etc).

Week's meal plan:

Breakfasts: steel cut oats with plain unsweetened yogurt and frozen strawberries OR eggs on toast

Lunches: peanut butter sandwiches, apples, carrots, celery, cheese. Leftovers, if we have them.

Snacks/desserts: grapes, oranges, cheese

Dinners:
1) Crock pot balsamic pork roast from Skinnytaste.com, sides of basmati rice and coleslaw
2) Leftover pork and coleslaw wraps
3) Almost-Foolproof Roast Chicken with baked potatoes and a side of coleslaw and/or frozen peas (and will make the chicken carcass into stock in my slow cooker)
4) Chicken pot pie soup from Skinnytaste.com, side of Easy White Bread made into buns (I'm going to make 9 and freeze them so I have enough for 3 meals).
5) Leftover soup and buns.
6) Cheese and tomato pasta bake, side of frozen vegetables
7) Carrot, cumin and kidney bean burgers from A Girl Called Jack (one of my absolute heroes!) with more of the homemade buns and a side of frozen vegetables.

This week's groceries:

Fruits and vegetables:
1.77lb navel oranges 1.75
1.21lb cabbage 0.83
1.75 lb celery 1.73
4.04 lb russet potatoes 2.79
3.84 lb Fuji apples 6.87
1 onion 0.58
1.66 lb carrots 0.81
8 oz white mushrooms 1.99
1 head of garlic 0.50
2.5 lbs red grapes 7.48

Dairy/eggs
Lucerne large eggs (12) 2.09
1 lb Lucerne medium cheddar (block) 3.99
Mountain High plain unsweetened yogurt 2.79
2 x Safeway Organics half gallons of milk 7.18

Meat:
1 whole chicken, reduced a lot because it had reached its sell-by date: 5.85

Frozen:
Pantry Essentials 12 oz mixed frozen vegetables 0.79

Misc:
1 can Safeway brand red kidney beans 0.89
1 lb Safeway brand macaroni elbows 0.99
5 lbs Safeway brand unbleached flour 2.39
Safeway Organics crunchy peanut butter 3.79
Safeway brand 100% whole wheat bread 1.99
2 cans Safeway brand diced tomatoes 1.38

Total: 59.45

Observations: I was so annoyed about having to use a credit card that I was in a bad mood for the entire time I was shopping, until Baby B decided to entertain me by singing a song of her own invention about our dog's bathroom habits. I was secretly worried that someone was going to call me to the front of the store to collect my Worst Mother of the Year 2014 award.

Some things at Safeway really are cheap. I have no problem with spending a dollar for a pound of macaroni. They have the best peanut butter in town (I refuse to eat peanut butter that's full of hydrogenated oils, or contains palm oil). But some of their produce really is more expensive. $7.48 for a bunch of grapes that don't look half as fresh or as nice as the WinCo ones! And their organic milk costs more than the organic milk I get at WinCo. And I really don't like the Lucerne brand for eggs and dairy. Their store-brand canned beans are vastly more expensive than WinCo's. I felt that I bought fewer groceries than I normally do, but it cost more. I'm not saying Safeway is a rip-off. It's a good store, and I like many things about it, such as its really good butcher/fishmonger department. And I know that WinCo only doesn't allow credit cards so it can keep its prices cheaper. But I'm still grouchy.

Cheese and tomato pasta bake

This is a very simple, very convenient vegetarian dish that is popular even with small, picky people. And very comforting and filling when you're tired and hungry and cold. The topping is a cross between a quiche and a cheese sauce, and is far more satisfying than the usual baked pasta topping of grated cheese only.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb pasta (rotelle, farfalle, penne, macaroni elbows, etc)
1/2 a recipe tomato pasta sauce (if you don't want to make your own, buy it, but get a good one)
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup grated cheddar
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Boil the pasta in a large pot of boiling water to which you've added at least a tablespoon of salt. (This is to flavor the pasta. Don't worry that it will be too salty. It won't.)

While the pasta is cooking, whisk the eggs, milk, grated cheddar, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl.

Drain the pasta and mix it with the tomato sauce. Decant the whole thing into a large baking dish. (I used an 8x8 square one with tallish sides.) Spread the egg/cheese mixture over the top.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or longer, until the egg mixture is cooked and golden. Leave the dish to rest for 5 minutes before cutting into it.

Serves 4-6.

Toaster-baked whole wheat flatbreads

Some of my best recipes come from flops.

This week, my meal plan included homemade whole wheat hamburger buns. Inspired by something I read on the internet about freezer cooking and baking, I decided to make the dough up until the second rise, and when the buns were the size I wanted them, freeze them for later baking.

Big mistake.

When I got three of them out of the freezer, they already looked a bit sad. Baking made them deflate altogether, leaving us with hamburger buns that looked more like large chips. My loyal husband may even have laughed at how silly they looked. My pride was greatly dented.

Loath as I am to throw anything out, however, I decided to see what would happen if I dropped one of the remaining buns frozen into the toaster on a high setting. That's right, the toaster--I don't have a toaster oven.

Well, it was amazing. It baked right there in the toaster, coming out deliciously golden on both sides, with a moist, tender center and a texture rather like pita bread. It didn't even deflate as much as the ones I'd put in the oven. Now how's THAT for a budget recipe? You don't even have to heat up your oven! A couple of minutes in a hot toaster, and you have lovely fresh bread for dinner. Yum!

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons active dried yeast
2 teaspoons sugar or honey
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (or any other kind of oil; olive tastes best)
1 1/2 cups white bread flour (bread flour has a higher gluten content, but plain all-purpose will work too)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Whisk the first three ingredients together in a large bowl. Leave for ten minutes in a warm-ish place, or at least a place where there aren't any cold drafts, until the yeast starts going into fluffy bubbles.

Sprinkle the salt over the mixture and add the olive oil. Give it a stir.

Whisk the two flours together in a medium bowl.

Add 2 1/2 cups of the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon to form a ball of sticky dough.

Turn the dough out onto a generously floured counter top and knead the dough for around 5 minutes, adding the extra half-cup of flour little by little to stop it sticking to the counter. You know you've kneaded it enough when the dough is smooth and satiny-textured and doesn't stick to the counter or your hands. (You can also use a standing mixer with a dough hook for this.)

Wash and dry your bowl, then coat the inside with a little oil. Place your dough in the bowl, cover the bowl with a clean towel, and leave it in a warm place until the dough has roughly doubled in size. Depending on how warm the warm place is, this can take as little as 30 and as many as 120 minutes. If your oven has a bread proof setting, you can put it in there. Make sure, obviously, that you use a metal or glass bowl if you do this.

When the dough is risen, knead it again briefly to get some of the air out. (It will make a satisfying whoosh.) Divide the dough into 9 equal pieces and shape the into rather flat buns. Place them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Let the buns rise in a warm place for a little while, but keep an eye on them, because you don't want them to be so thick you can't get them in the toaster.

Now put the baking sheet in the freezer and let the flatbreads freeze through. When they seem completely frozen, place them in an airtight bag or container, and put them back in the freezer. They will keep perfectly well in there for a couple of weeks.

When you need them, take out a couple of flatbreads and place them in the toaster (don't defrost them first--you don't want a sticky mess of dough baking onto the insides of your toaster). Put your toaster on a medium-high setting, and toast/bake the flatbreads that way. Keep close watch on the toaster--you don't want this to burn. You'll figure out pretty quickly what setting you need to have the toaster on for this to work.

Slather the freshly-baked, freshly-toasted flatbreads with the toppings of your choice--butter, cottage cheese, hummus, whatever! Not to blow my own trumpet, but this is seriously one of the best inventions I have ever made.

Recipe review: Nigella Lawson's peanut butter hummus

Recipe here.

I was about to junk Ms. Lawson altogether, because too many of her recipes don't work. This one, however, works brilliantly. Seriously, it's the best homemade hummus I've ever had. I like hummus well enough, but I'm not going to buy the ready-made stuff (too expensive) and I'm not going to make my own using tahini, a foodstuff that costs a lot of money and which is, I think, detestable. It's so...oily and nasty and evil-tasting. I understand that hummus needs something oily and nasty in it, but tahini is so expensive and I'm so broke and and and and...

..and then I discovered this recipe that subs creamy peanut butter for tahini, and adds Greek yogurt--genius!--for a texture and taste that are at once comforting and milder-flavored. (I used plain, not Greek yogurt, because I don't care for it. It was still delicious.) I don't like huge amounts of raw garlic, but the amount in this recipe is perfect. This tastes wonderful on toast and sandwiches. Even Baby B ate some.

In short, Nigella and I are friends again. I'm not going to do any more of her pastas or her baking, but I'll trust her on spreads and dips.