All-Natural Meat Lover's Pizza

Fast Food pizza is probably the most disgusting, awful stuff you can eat, when it comes to pizza. The crust is made from refined and bleached grains, the sauce is loaded with sugar, the cheese is poor quality and loaded with fats; not to mention the meat toppings are processed, made from industry, and are full of fats as flavor-fillers. It is nothing but refined, nutritionally-empty calories.

And we all love it. 

My husband and son especially love pizza. I'm pretty sure my boys were Ninja Turtles in a previous life. But I refuse to chock up the cash for expensive, un-healthy pies. I wanted to learn to make my own. It took me a while to tweak a good crust recipe, but in the end I discovered a quick and whole grain crust that does phenomenally for my boys' appetites! I pair the crust with homemade tomato sauce (sans sugar) and fresh mozzarella, homemade if possible. For toppings we use local, all natural pork sausage, pastured all-natural beef, and if I'm able to find it, all natural pork bacon. Fridays are always a treat at our house!

PIZZA CRUST

2 1/2 - 3 Cups Whole Wheat Flour  (You can use White Whole Wheat or Regular Whole Wheat)
1 Tbsp Raw Demerera
1 tsp sea salt
2 1/4 tsp yeast
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Cup very warm water

Mix 1 cup of flour, salt, and yeast. Dissolve Demerera in warm water. Add oil and water to bowl, mixing thoroughly. Stir in enough remaining flour that dough leaves sides of bowl. Knead 8 mins. Place in olive oil greased bowl and rise 30 mins. 

Preheat Oven to 425° Punch down risen dough. Roll out pizza crusts on two 12 inch pizza pie pans. Partially bake for 7 minutes. Remove from oven and add sauce, cheese, and toppings. Return to oven for 8-10 minutes. Cut into slices. Serve.

Whole Wheat Bread

Homemade bread is a must have comfort of tradition! No sandwich tastes better than those with homemade slices holding it together!

The benefits of whole grain are well known and in-disputable. But did you know that your 100% whole grain loaf from the supermarket likely is made with High Fructose Corn Syrup and other additives? Not to mention the high cost of purchasing whole wheat. Its like my mother always says, "Homemade is just better."

This recipe I use with my 14 inch Pan de Mie bread pan. I simply just allow the bread to rise above the top of the pan and bake without the lid. 


WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

6 to 7 cups Whole Wheat Flour
3 Tbsp Raw Demerera Sugar
1 Tbsp Sea Salt
2 Tbsp Butter, softened
5 tsp Yeast
2 1/4 cups very warm water (120° to 130° F)
Olive Oil for greasing**


In large mixing bowl, stir 31/2 cups of flour, salt, yeast, and butter until well mixed. Stir raw demerera into warm water until dissolved. Pour water into mixing bowl. Stir with spoon or whisk until well mixed. 


Add remaining flour one cup at a time until dough pulls from the side of the bowl and is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly dusted surface for 8 mins. Place dough into lightly oiled bowl and allow to rise 60 mins or until doubled in size. Punch down, shape into loaf(ves) and place into bread pan. Cover and let rise 50 min or until doubled in size. Bake at 425° for 25-30 minutes. Remove bread from pan immediately and let cool on rack.


** I like to grease my hands with a drop of olive oil for kneading rather than using flour. This ensures that when working my dough, it doesn't become too dry from over flouring and remains soft.

Comforting Mac & Cheese

Comforting Mac & Cheese

Who doesn't love a good, homemade mac and cheese? And for just 3$ in cost, you could make a homemade mac in the same amount of time it would take you to bake that expensive, frozen one. Not to mention that by baking homemade, you are able to not just control the ingredients, but the quality of those ingredients as well.

Mac and Cheese is one of my son's favorite dishes. We always use 100% whole wheat noodles, fresh blocked cheese (Shredded cheese has added ingredients to prevent caking- and my son is allergic to some of these chemical and/or artificial preservatives.) and organic cream line milk. Our milk is pasteurized but not homogenized, and so we allow the milk to settle and scoop the cream off the top. This gives us light cream and 2% milk for cooking and consumption. For those of you who are not able to purchase cream line milk, you can use whole milk and cream for a full flavor, or a lesser fat milk for a lighter meal.  I like to serve my hot mac & cheese on its own for dinner, paired with a bowl of raw veggies, such as my "raw-slaw" that's pictured.

COMFORTING MAC & CHEESE

1 Standard Sized Box Whole Wheat Rotini
8 oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese
2 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tbsp Worchestershire
1 Tbsp Mustard (I prefer Lars' Own Swedish Style Mustard.)
1 cup Light Cream
1 Cup Milk
Salt and Pepper


Preheat Oven to 375°

Shred Cheddar and set aside. Bring enough water to cook whole wheat rotini 7 mins or until al-dente. Drain. (I always toss in a swirl of Organic EVOO and a dash of dried chilies to the boiling water to boost pasta flavor.) Meanwhile, melt butter over medium heat in a 2 quart saucepan. Add Flour, Worcestershire, and mustard to make a roux. Stir in cream and milk. Whisk to combine well. Cook on medium until mixture thickens. Remove from heat. Stir in shredded cheese. Salt and Pepper to taste.  Pour rotini and cheese sauce into baking dish. Bake 375° for 25 mins. Serve hot. 

Sweet and Spicy BBQ

While I come from unique stock in that we were always taught how to "do our own" growing up, my husband by nature is much more the American Norm. And with Super Bowl Sunday approaching he was determined to serve wings at his party. For me, wings seemed to be too high a cost with little reward. An entire pint (16 oz) of my sauce is approximately 400 calories vs 900 cal of one bottle (18 oz) of a particular well known brand, not to mention big box companies do not care about quality. We compromised, and he allowed me to quarter two of our pastured hens in lieu of frying a bag of wings.

When it came time to slough on the BBQ, he was very nervous when I pulled a simmering pot from the stove top rather than a bottle from the pantry. "Where's the sauce?" he kept asking me, even as I was painting the chicken. But in the end, his and his friends' eyes lit up with excitement from the first bite! "Who knew something so healthy could taste so good?" his friend complimented.

SWEET AND SPICY BBQ

32oz/1 qt jar Home-grown Home-canned Tomatoes
6 Tbsp Raw Demerera Sugar***
4 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
4 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp Mustard (I prefer Lars' Own Swedish Style Mustard)
1 clove Garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
Dried Chilli to taste
Red Pepper to taste


Sauce Tomatoes. (I run them through my magic bullet.) Combine ingredients in saucepan. Simmer 45 minutes until reduced by half.

**If you prefer to use honey, substitute 1/4 cup raw local honey for Raw Demerera.

Perfect Roast Beef

If you're like me, it can sometimes feel intimidating to plate up a perfect roast, especially when your mother-in-law's in town! After years of roasting misfortune, I'd almost given up, until I overheard a terrific roasting secret and I've never balked at doing another roast since!

To get the perfect roast, first heat your oven to 500° F. Prepare your roast in a roasting pan or tightly covered oven dish. Bake 5 min/ lb for rare, 6 min/lb for medium, and 7 min/lb for well. Then, turn off the oven and make sure the door is shut. Keep the door closed without opening for two hours. Your roast is perfect, every time! I like to toss in whole potatoes and carrots and serve up slices with some home-canned green beans from the summer harvest.

Organically, Me. 



PERFECT ROAST BEEF
Preheat oven to 500° F

Free Range Pasture Grazed Beef Roast
2 medium  organic onions
4 medium organic potatoes
5 organic carrots
1 cup tomato or beef stock (water can be used if no stock is available)
1 cup dry red wine (I prefer Shiraz by Yellow Tail)
2 Tbsp Raw Demerera Sugar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic
Smoked Paprika
Dried Marjoram


Trim excess fat if necessary from beef roast. Place beef roast in baking dish. Season well with Paprika. Slice onions, peel potatoes, and place in baking dish with whole carrots. On stove top, combine stock, wine, sugar, worcestershire, salt, and garlic. Stir well until heated. Pour into roasting pan. Sprinkle generously with Marjoram. 

Place roasting pan in oven and bake 5 min/lb for rare, 6 min/lb for medium, or 7 min/lb for well at 500° F. Turn off oven and keep door closed for 2 hours. DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR. After 2 hours: slice, plate, and serve.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mmmm.... Organically, me.

Who doesn't love homebaked cookies? Warm off the rack! I love how the chocolate, still soft from the oven, melts in your mouth as you bite in! But what I don't like about cookies, are all the refined sugars and grains that are called for in the ingredients.

It was hard to find the right recipe for a whole wheat cookie. I tried running some wheat berries through my mill, but it came out too grainy. I finally settled on King Arthur's White Whole Wheat Flour. Its fresh, whole grain flour milled from White Winter Wheat. Its lighter than the red winter berries we're used to using in our whole grain baking, so its better for cakes and cookies.

The idea was simple: I took a basic Chip Cookie Recipe and simply substituted for the ingredients I felt were more fresh and wholesome: wheat flour for all purpose, raw demerera for granulated and brown sugars, and fresh free range pastured eggs instead of conventional. I use organic chips and real vanilla, and in the end you have a very tasty morsel to snack on! These cookies are by no means "good" for you and all sweets should be consumed in moderation, but by changing out poor ingredients for smarter, healthier ones, you can feel a little less guilty about that extra bite!

2 1/4 cups White Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sea salt

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups Raw Demerera Sugar**

1 tsp Vanilla

2 large fresh eggs

2 cups Organic chocolate chips

PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees

COMBINE flour, baking soda, salt- set aside. Cream butter, sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Stir in chips. Drop rounded tablespoons on baking sheet. 

BAKE 9-11 minutes until golden brown. Cool 2 minutes on sheet and transfer to rack.

** Sometimes Demerera can be a little coarse for baking. I run the measured amount of sugar through my Magic Bullet until it becomes the consistency of conventional refined white sugar.

Apple Roasted Chicken

We raise our own chickens. We find that by raising healthy, happy birds the quality of our family meals are better, not to mention there is a better appreciation for where your family meal came from.

This time of year, with the Apples in season, I love to roast a free range pastured chicken stuffed with onions, celery, carrots, and apples! The sweetness of the apples carries over to the meat, making a tasty and seasonally fragrant dish.

Simply season your bird with garlic and herbs. Stuff her full of chopped organic or backyard onions, celery, carrots, and apples. Roast her for 20 minutes per pound. Serve hot with a light gravy prepared from roasted drippings