Bread

I made the bestest lunch creation! With my sourdough bread dough, I made a braid filled with acorn squash, some spices and brie cheese. OMG it's so good!!!!!

I also made english muffins and a loaf of bread... I made entirely too much dough.

Conquering Binge Foods

In my last meeting with my nutritionist, we talked about some of my binge foods. I was at a loss about how to be able to eat these foods, which I love, without them being a binge food. My biggest binge foods are pasta, pizza, Chinese food and wings. Pasta I've got figured out. I only buy whole wheat pasta... and it's easy to make a single serving, and I try to make a veggie rich sauce, so I'm really making it a meal rather than a snack (I know, sad but it was a VERY LARGE snack...).

Pizza: I thought I had it figured out. Put a serving of the pizza on my plate, put the rest away. Not so much. It sets me up to fail - having the temptation of "just one more piece" 1 minute in the microwave away. The nutritionist suggested that I have only single servings in the house - personal sized pizzas. Also, only eat pizza if it is accompanied by a side vegetable - thus making it a complete healthy meal. I decided to add on to that and do away with my habit of ordering pizza. Not only does it "set me up for failure", it's an expensive habit. I decided to make my own crust, and freeze it in personal pizza sized balls... taking one out when I feel the need for pizza. I get more satisfaction from making my own food anyway, and tend to savor each bite more than I would if Papa Johns made the pizza.

I think I've also mastered my pizza crust recipe (AWESOME!). Makes 1 large pizza or 4-6 personal pizzas (depending on how big you want them).

2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast

• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 
  
• 1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
  2. Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.
  3. Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. Use for your favorite pizza recipe.
  4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough, and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.
  5. If freezing, cut dough into 4-6 balls, and individually wrap each in Saran wrap. Place in freezer. To defrost, take out of freezer the night before using and place in refrigerator. Allow 30 min-1 hour for dough to do a final rise before making pizza.
  6. Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Adventures in Yogurt

Inspired by Anne Marie, I decided to try to make my own yogurt. The first attempt failed miserably, and all I got was 3 jars full of stinky watery milk. After re reading Anne Marie's instructions, I realized where I messed up.... I forgot to heat the milk up to 185... which is understandably a vital step. In the morning I made a fresh batch, which was a total success! I think... I haven't tried eating it yet but it looks like and smells like good plain yogurt.

Instructions:

1/2 gallon milk - I used 2% based on AM's recommendation, but I think I'm going to use 1% next time. 1/3 c. dry milk - mix the two together, and heat to 185 degrees. Remove from heat and cool to 110 degrees. Add 1/2 c - 1c. yogurt culture (such as plain stonyfield farms yogurt). Pour mixture into quart size jars, seal, and place in a 110 degree immersion bath. Make sure temperature remains between 100 and 110 degrees. Let yogurt incubate for between 7-10 hours. Refrigerate overnight.

I'm already scheming for my next batch - trying to decide if I want to make maple yogurt, or vanilla yogurt.... maybe I'll make a jar of each! Here's to mastering the basics and engaging in experimentation!