my new favorite pizza.

you know jenny from dinner: a love story? the lady who makes making dinner for her family seem effortless? {which i know that if she read this would roll her eyes right now.} she professes many a time that she is not the GURU we are all making her out to be but simply a mom trying to feed her family and enjoy their company at the same time.

something i think we all aspire to do ourselves.

for my birthday i was fortunate to get her book which i then preceded to devour page by page like it was a novel, not a cookbook. but it really is a novel but also a cookbook. maybe more of a biography....i guess what i am trying to say is that it's relateble.
yes...that's the word.
completely relateble.{is that even a word?...hmm...}

she shares her family experiences with her recipes woven through them that makes you want to make that one thing then and there.

when i hit the pizza section i knew i was going to try them all. i never knew, though, that i was going to stop at one and make that one over and over - changing it slightly as i go. it's so delicious that i can proudly say it's my new favorite. a hawaiian lover right to the ground since forever, my tastes have evolved over the years slightly to accommodate others but now...never having another slice - other than this one - suits me just fine.
this, coming from a former cooked mushroom hater, is a pretty big endorsement.

just sayin'.

my new favorite pizza
now this is a hybrid of my wants and jenny's original recipe. i'm not going to tell you which is which though...you have to buy the book and figure that one out yourself. ;)

one recipe whole wheat pizza dough
1 cup of your favorite tomato sauce {optional}
4 tablespoons of olive oil plus more for brushing
1 medium onion, sliced
1 1/2 cups mushrooms, halved and sliced
leaves from two sprigs of fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
a good pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
1 8 ounce ball of fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced or at least 2 cups of freshly grated mozzarella {i like a little more} - not from a bag please!!! it really doesn't take too much time to shred your own!
freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 to 2 cups chopped ham {optional}
chopped bacon {optional}

preheat oven to 425 degrees.

brush your pan with a tablespoon of the olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. now start stretching your dough. this will take a little bit. just keep working it out slowly and you will be amazed that it will fill the pan.

in a medium bowl, toss together the onion, mushrooms, thyme, pepper flakes, nutmeg, and salt and pepper with the remaining oil.

top the dough with either: the tomato sauce or a brushing of olive oil - depending on your mood and what you have on hand. top this with your cheese, covering as much of the surface as possible. top with the ham and/or bacon, if using {i do this sometimes and if i don't have any meat or leftover bacon on hand i will make it without - just as amazing!} brush your outer exposed crust with olive oil, stolen from the bottom of the pan, to achieve a beautiful golden crust. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until cheese is bubbling and golden.

Add parmesan cheese just after it comes out, just before serving.
enjoy with your favorite movie and an ice cold beer.
perfect friday night.


{above is the non-tomato sauce version.}

two new dinners this week.

so i keeping with the these of my goal list - side note: i have actually liked this project! i have referenced the list many a time when i find a moment and re-focus on the tasks i have laid out..although we are tackling a task that was marked down for next month but oh well, starting off february with a red line through something will be good for moral! and today i am doing number 4 on the list so that is refreshing!

anyways, one of our goals was to try two new dinners a week. i have been noticing a trend on this in the last couple of weeks. dinner:a love story conducted her own experiment - 7 new dinners over 14 days - and donuts, dresses and dirt are starting a mealtime bootcamp.
this here is my contribution.

last week we were successful in trying two new dinners and this week we did not fall short.

i made a crock pot chicken teriyaki and tonight we are having stromboli. also we had a new-ingredient-to-us side dish of soba noodles. i was hoping to share the recipe on that one with you but the recipe site i had pinned was momentarily down, so...no recipe. i ended up just sauteing the cooked noodles with green onion and thinly shaved celery with dashes of soy sauce and rice vinegar. sesame oil would have been brilliant drizzled over top but we were out. bummer. i paired it with our asian pork - perfect match.

two out of four enjoyed the chicken - i thought maybe it was a bit salty and i would have liked the sauce to be thicker but tony loved it and cooper said he did like it he just wasn't in the mood for it, aydan no way. tonight as it is friday and we all know what that means..PIZZA NIGHT!!...i am going to put a twist on mine and tony's a whip up a stromboli. cooper might have some of ours - who knows, he is a funny egg sometimes that one. i tried to convince aydan to let me do it to her cheese one but she said no thanks. maybe if this turns out well i will just do it for her next week...shhh!!!

so there you go - another week, another two dinners. for sunday i am going to do a twist on chicken and stuffing via everyday food. it's not really a "new" dinner to us but...it's a new cooking method.
would that count? hhmmm.....

did you do any new dinners this week? i would love to hear.
happy cooking!


picture #1 via lake lure cottage kitchen, picture #2 via dinner: a love story

friday night pizza party!

i don't know how it happened.
i guess in the grand scheme of things it seemed like the perfect night for it.
a sort of end of the week beginning of the weekend hooray.
friday night is pizza night.

yes, i have been known on occasion to break down and order delivery.
yes, sometimes you might find costco take & bake pizza in my freezer which i jazz up to serve.
but more likely than not i make big sheet pizza's with sections mapped out for everyone's "special" taste buds.

aydan get's just cheese. this is a victory of it's own.
coop likes cheese with a meat {always bacon if he had his way}.
for the husband and me it's some meat, loads of veggies and a little cheese.

but the thing that makes it, that really makes it for us, is the whole wheat crust.
love it.

one of the challenges i have found out here in the east - compared to whole grain vancouver - is the lack of whole grains in foods. it's getting there but it's not there.
not enough for me.
so i improvise and this is one of those.

and of course we celebrated with chocolate cake. yeah for fridays!!

and as coop always quotes from the immortal words of yo gabba gabba "try it - you'll like it."

whole wheat pizza dough.

3/4 cups warm water.
2 1/4 teaspoons of active dry yeast {or two packets}
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for bowl
1 teaspoon honey {or sugar}
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour - lightened {or spooned and leveled} plus extra & more for kneading
1 cup whole wheat flour - lightened {or spooned and leveled}

place the water in a large mixing bowl. sprinkle the yeast over top and let sit for 5 minutes so it can get all foamy. once that is ready whisk in the olive oil, sugar and salt. then add the flour and mix with a wooden spoon or dough hook until incorporated - you will have a sticky dough. add a bit more flour...a little at a time...so your dough is not too sticky.

brush another large bowl with oil {psst...i use the same bowl!} then place your dough in and turn a time or two to coat in oil. cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to allow the dough to rise - double in size - for about 45 minutes to an hour. go do your toe nails or finish that book you have been wanting to. or do the laundry - your choice.

once the dough has risen, punch it down and turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. knead for about 15 to 30 seconds till smooth......and there you have it!

makes enough for one pizza.

to assemble the pizza: brush your pan with olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. now start stretching your dough. this will take a little bit. just keep working it out slowly and you will be amazed that it will fill the pan. place your topping on top. place in a 400 degree pre-heated oven and {depending on your topping and the amount of them} cook for about 30 minutes but do keep an eye on it after 15 minutes. things can go south real quick!

for my pan above- which is a half sheet pan - i use a ball.

they changed picture on me again. i'm going to be late.

famous last words. overtime strikes again. this means i get a lazy night. as you can rightly tell i love to cook and bake. passionately. but sometimes after everyone has gone, i just can't bring myself to make a chicken dinner or beautiful roast with all the fixings. if the husband will be home there is no question that a proper meal is in order but if he's not coming and eating at work, i take the night off. on these nights i try to be creative with the kids food to allow myself to enjoy it as well. as we have recently found a liking for cheese pizza i am taking the cue and running with it. here we have a pizza base - one part cheese (aydan), one part cheese & ham (coop) and one part asparagus, chicken & banana peppers (mine).

how do you jazz up a kids meal for to be enjoyed by yourself as well?