Belaŧed Ċhristmąs

Merry belated Christmas! We had the most delicious Christmas dinner. And there was lots of it! Not to mention the endless platters of cookies. I baked. Grandma baked. My friends baked. Afternoon walks became a must! I gained at least three pounds at dinner. .

As I said in a previous post, I will be posting another savory recipe. Kathy's Thanksgiving Dinner. The dish has nothing to do with Thanksgiving and it's not Mrs. Kathy's recipe. But that is what we call it. And it is so so good. It's packed with awesome flavor. Unfortunately, the original recipe isn't gluten-free friendly. But I will make the necessary adjustments to the recipe.

It's so crunchy and buttery on top. One of my favorites!

I am really excited to share the recipe with y'all. I have grown up enjoying Kathy's Thanksgiving Dinner and I hope y'all enjoy it too!

Christmas was pretty fantastic. We got to spend it with my sister and her little girls. It was a lot of fun. My grandmother, Mimi, came over for dinner and dessert. . we feasted pretty heavily.

We made great memories that I won't soon forget!

⎨Happy Belated Christmas, friends⎬

Corn and Black Bean Stoup

 Stoup is one of my favorite dinner dishes. You can have so many delicious things going on at once!           In this particular stoup you have - corn, sweet potato, black beans, chicken, green, yellow, and orange peppers, green chillies, and tomatoes. It's a burst of savory goodness.

By way of clarification. . . stoup is a cross between stew and soup. It's the best!

The recipe is pretty simple, especially since I took a short cut.
I used a pre cooked hen from the deli at my grocery store. It was Mojo flavor. So Good. It paired really well with the other flavors in the stoup.

To start -
Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil and in a large pot. Add paprika and cumin to the oil to infuse the flavor. You can also add some chili powder. I don't measure out the spices. Remember, I'm "a dash of this and a dash of that" kind if girl. I eyeball it.

Next, add your corn, sweet potato, peppers, and green chillies. I did not use three whole peppers. I used about a third of each pepper. Add in your black beans and chicken pieces. Ideally I would use all fresh ingredients. This time around I used canned corn and black beans. Now, add chicken stock. I used about 3/4 of a quart.

 Season away! I put a ton of "dashes" of chili powder, paprika, and cumin. As well as black pepper, and a little salt. If it starts to get too spicy ( I taste along the way) add a little agave nectar. Now add a splash of milk and around a teaspoon of guar gum and you're set!

The only thing left to do is let it simmer and simmer and simmer some more. The longer it simmers the better it gets.

Ţookìes

So, I just had to bake chocolate peppermint cookies. Peppermint screams Christmas to me. But this time around I had a little helper in the kitchen. My Boo. My niece, Hannah, joined me in baking these Christmas inspired cookies. Or as she calls them "tookies"

This was Hannah's first scratch baking experience. It was so special to share that with her. We had so much fun! I measured; she poured and mixed. She was über excited!

As I mentioned above, we made Chocolate Peppermint Cookies. I was in Whole Foods the other day and found organic 70% dark chocolate with peppermint pieces. I was instantly inspired to bake cookies!

This was some of the best chocolate I have ever had. I had a quick taste before we melted it down to bake with. It has a great depth of flavor. It was an extra special chocolate for an extra special baking experience.

My little love bug was so proud of our yummy creation. 

I will post the recipe for these cookies at a later date. I also have the most amazing stoup 〔stew/soup〕 recipe for y'all. It is so so good. Perfect for chilly weather.

I'll try to have it posted on Monday.

⎨Much love, J⎬

Vanılla Banäna Nuŧ Cőokies

I enjoy baking so much! It is incredibly relaxing for me. I also love whipping up new recipes. This particular recipe instantly became a family favorite. Vanilla Banana Nut Cookies. As always this recipe is super simple, which makes it fun to make.

You will need. . 

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour. (Bob's Red Mill is the best)    

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp salt ( I used sea salt)

1 large pkg Vanilla Jello instant pudding

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 

1 c. light brown sugar

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon juice

2 medium bananas

1/3 c sugar

1 cup macadamia nuts

+ 1/2 c. semi sweet chocolate chips

Now comes the super easy part.

In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, pudding powder, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a medium bowl cream together brown sugar and butter. Then add in the eggs, vanilla, lemon juice, bananas-sliced, sugar, and macadamia nuts.

Now you simply combine this with your flour mixture. At this point I added 1/2 c. mini semi sweet chocolate chips. 

My little baker

I like my cookies to look homemade, so I just use a spoon to place the batter on the baking sheet.

 You're going to bake these cookies on 360º for about 20 min. They may need to go a little longer because of the two bananas in the batter. If they don't bake long enough they will become sticky later. So aim for 20-30 min.

Ta-da! Vanilla Banana Nut Cookies. They really are quite delicious.

Just a note.

First, I realize the Jello instant pudding really doesn't fit my guidelines. You know. . organic, gluten free, no refined sugar. When I made these cookies I only had access to the Jello brand pudding. If you have a Whole Foods in your area then you can find an organic pudding. If you don't have access to a Whole Foods then you can order the pudding you need here: shoporganic.com-pudding

My Izzaboo helped me bake. Cute little cookie monster!

Cookie thief

⎨Happy Eating, J⎬

Døubļe Täskıng

I kind of enjoy finals. . . A lot! It's odd I know. 

It has to be the increase of my coffee intake. Of course, straight up coffee just won't do.

Cue the cocoa powder, coffee creamer, ice, milk, and a blender. 

Sweet bliss!

Alright, I updated the Double Chocolate Caramel Cookies recipe. I made it even more delicious with only two little changes.  

Change #1 - I replaced the melted semi sweet chocolate chips with Ghirardelli dark chocolate and caramel squares. I melted down eight squares with a tablespoon of milk. Add the melted squares to the wet ingredients just like you would add the semi sweet chips. 

Change # 2 - I replaced the regular cocoa powder with Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder.

These cookies are super delicious! Recipe - double chocolate caramel cookies

Add the changes for even more goodness

I will be posting the recipe for Vanilla Banana Nut Cookies - tomorrow.

Finals shall not slow me down! I have the not so unique ability to double-task. I blog while I study. Throw some texting in there and I'm in my zone.

Textbook. Laptop. Phone. The three essentials.

A little Biebs, Foster the People, or The Eyelight Shine playing in the background makes this set up pretty amazing.

Check back tomorrow for another cookie recipe.
By the way. . . I will be posting savory recipes, for Christmas, this week

How do you get your study on?

⎨Happy Finals!⎬

Āh Deċembeŗ

                         Christmas is in the air; and you know how much I love Christmas.
Scarves, fingerless gloves 〔I realize how unpractical they are〕 boots, people being nicer to each other, hot chocolate, you guys know the drill. My scarf collection has worked it's way to the front of my closet and the jeggings are awaiting their turn to be rocked with a pair of boots! Super cute boots. Ah December. Best. Month. Ever.

As always I have a new recipe for y'all. It should be posted before monday.

Vanilla Banana Nut Cookies

They're kind of super delicious. They only made it a day and a half.

Tomorrow is another bake day. I am making the Double Chocolate Caramel Cookies, that I posted the recipe for recently, for the Marine Corps Band and everyone else coming to hear them play at our church. 

I have since tweaked the recipe just a little. Now it's even yummier!

Of course i'll let y'all in on the new adjustments to the recipe.

Also. . .

Recently I have posted mostly 'sweet' recipes. I have some savory recipes in the works for you guys.

With the big day coming there has been lots of dinner planning.

It's going to be an amazing feast.

This weekend is packed full of holiday fun. 'squeal!' So i'll most likely be posting some "memories made along the way" blog posts. This means pics. Lot's of pics.

⎨Happy December Weekend, J⎬

Tħańksgivıng in a Nůtshell

"Sleigh bells ring, are you listening. . ."


Wait, what happened to Thanksgiving? Every year it seems we start celebrating Christmas by the end of Black Friday. Personally I enjoy this. Christmas is my favorite time of year! It's cold outside and everyone is a little bit nicer to each other. Oh, hot chocolate! Yes, the hot chocolate might be my favorite part.

Okay, let's rewind for a sec.

Thanksgiving was lively this year. My sister came with her two adorable little girls! They're just little munchkins so they have lots of energy. They brought a whole new level of youth and excitement to the Thanksgiving week.
Now on to the most wonderful part of Thanksgiving. . .
The FOOD. Delicious food. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet carrots, green bean casserole, and so much more. The "so much more" includes four dessert choices that were too good to put into words.

Homemade pecan, pumpkin, and chocolate pie!
Plus peanut butter cheesecake squares.

You know me, I like my cheat-treats. I may have indulged in several over the Thanksgiving week. My Yogurt Cafe and Paciugo are two of my favorite cheat-treat stops.

It's my vice

By the way. . . Paciugo is pronounced 〔pa•choo•go〕

My Yogurt Cafe particularly speaks to me. You serve yourself. I like that part. A lot!

I can't finish this post with out adding a shout out to my very favorite place to shop. Whole Foods.

We stopped at Whole Foods on our way to Florida for T-giving. It was magical. It always is.

My trusty Garmin counted down every mile to my Little Eden

I was all too pleased to introduce my dad to Whole Foods.

I hope each and every one of you had a fantastic Thanksgiving filled with feasting!

P. S. I am already on the hunt for Christmas recipes! I cannot wait to share all kinds of wonderful ⎨gluten free⎬ Christmas delights with y'all.

                                                                ⎨Happy Weekend, J⎬

Årçtic Żerø

"I can eat the whole pint!"


 I am beyond excited! I have discovered the most amazing cheat-treat. I love ice cream. LOVE. But at 150 calories per serving, 120 if you're lucky, it's not the most waist to hip ratio friendly treat. So I avoid it at all costs. 

Until now. . .

Arctic Zero. The most amazing ice cream treat! A serving only has 37 calories. You can eat the whole pint for 150 cal. It is made with organic ingredients and it is gluten free. 

It's a miracle. No fat. Lots of dietary fiber. Low sugar. Bunches of protein.

And they make really yummy flavors. Coffee. Chocolate peanut butter. Mint chocolate cookie. And more. It really is a wonderful, guilt free treat.

Mint Chocolate Cookie and Coffee are my favorites

ArcticZero.com

Above is the link directly to their website. Check it out. You can look at all of their products and find locations that sell Arctic Zero.

I got mine at Whole Foods.

⎨Happy Eating, J⎬

Đouble Chøcolate Ċaramel Cookıes

"It's my signature cookie!"


I am super excited to share this recipe. It is my own creation. It is so easy to make! 

You will notice that the flour is not gluten free.
I made this batch for friends. They are not fond
of gluten free, hence the regular all purpose
flour. When I make this for myself and Josh
I use Bob's Red Mill - gluten free all purpose
flour.

You will need                        


•1 1/2 c. flour
•1tsp. baking soda
•1tsp. salt
•1 large pkg Jello choc. instant pudding.
•2 1/2 tsp. cocoa powder 〔Nestlé Toll House is best〕
•1 c. light brown sugar 〔brown sugar is not refined like white sugar. It won't drive your blood sugar sky high〕
•1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter 〔Organic Valley is my favorite〕
•2 eggs
•1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
•1/3 c. honey
•1/4 c. semi sweet chocolate chips 〔Ghirardelli has the best semi sweet choc. chips〕


Add ins
•1/2 c. macadamia nuts.
•1/2 c. semi sweet choc. chips
•8 soft caramels

It might look like a lot but it really isn't. The list is broken into dry ingredients and wet ingredients. 〔Though not all wet ingredients are wet. 〕This makes it all the easier. Take note - the cocoa powder is split in half.

                                    Dry Ingredients                          Wet Ingredients


                                            flour                                         brown sugar
                                       baking soda                                       butter
                                             salt                                                eggs
                                choc. instant pudding                               vanilla
                               1 1/2 tsp cocoa powder                              honey
                                                                                     semi sweet choc. chips
                                                                                      1 tsp cocoa powder

Start by combining your dry ingredients. Flour, baking soda, salt, instant pudding mix, cocoa powder. Then set aside.

In a separate bowl cream together the butter, brown sugar, and honey. Then add the eggs one at a time. Add the 1 tsp of cocoa powder. Now comes the fun part. . .

. . Melt the 1/4 c. semi sweet choc chips.  Pop them in the microwave for about 50 sec. Longer if needed. Add 1 tbsp. milk to the choc chips so they melt down smoothly. Add to the combined wet ingredients and fold in till well incorporated.

Slowly add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture. Mix well. The batter will be quite sticky, but smooth. Now you can fold in your add ins.

I chose 1/2 c. macadamia nuts an and a hefty 1/2 c. semi sweet chocolate chips. You can add more if you like your cookies to have lots of junk in them.

I also added caramel to these cookies. I added it several ways. The very best way is to drizzle the melted caramel on top of the cookies before popping them in the oven. Or fold the melted caramel into your cookie batter. So good!

-To melt and add the caramel-

In a small pot heat 1 tbsp milk and 8 soft caramel chews on low heat. If you choose to add the caramel to this recipe start melting it first, before you mix any other ingredients. By the time you're finished mixing the batter the caramel will be completely melted.

Drizzle on top of cookies or fold into batter then bake.

Preheat oven to 360°

bake for 10 - 15 min

⎨Happy Eating, Friends!⎬

Tŵo Weēks. Toø Loñg.

I am so disappointed in myself! I have let two weeks go by without posting anything. In my defense I spent the majority of those two weeks writing essays for school.

I have aborted the pumpkin cookies. Mainly because I discovered that I greatly dislike pumpkin. Also, I decided that pumpkin cookies were redundant. There will be pumpkin pie. That's enough pumpkin.

So, to make up for loss of the pumpkin cookies, I created a special double chocolate cookie for y'all. It has been successfully tested and has proved to be a huge hit! It's loaded with yummy goodness. Chocolate..lots of chocolate, macadamia nuts, peanut butter, caramel. . . yeah it's delicious!!

The pictures have been taken. The recipe has been written down〔on a napkin, that's just how I roll.〕And I am constructing the post. I cannot wait to share it with y'all. Just a few finishing touches and the post will be up. I'm excited!

                                                               
                                                                      Happy Tuesday!

Paŝta Pļus

Hey foodies!

 I have been searching out all kinds of fall cookie recipes. I haven't found one yet that
I am happy enough with to share with you. Fear not! I shall find and tweak the perfect cookie for fall.

In the mean time. . .

I have a tasty nibble to share with you. Pasta can be troublesome for the gluten intolerant; I have a fix for that that will brighten your day.

Barilla Plus. You may already know about this amazing pasta. It is made from lentils; so the little gluten that it does contain is more easily digested!
And the very best part. . it tastes exactly like regular pasta! Miracle.

It is better for you all around. It has fewer carbs and more protein. If you love your spaghetti, like me, Barilla Plus is the perfect pasta for you.  

   

Switcheroo-βbq Chicĸen Pizża

Okay, change of plans. .

I am aborting the cookie recipe I found online. I was unhappy with how the cookies turned out. I need to Jewelamite the recipe. It just needs to be tweaked a bit.

But, no worries.

I have a pizza recipe for you instead.                

Bbq Chicken Pizza.
This is so easy. .

You will need:


Ingredients for dough

1 pkg. dray active yeast
1 c. warm/hot water
3 c. flour- I used spelt flour
1 1/2 tsp. honey or agave nectar
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 c. olive oil

Follow directions, on back of yeast packet, for dissolving yeast. Dissolve in the 1 c. of warm/hot water. When the yeast has dissolved, combine with  the flour, salt, olive oil, and honey or agave nectar. Then get to kneading. It is best to add the flour a half cup at a time, as you knead the dough. Otherwise you will get bogged down. After you have kneaded everything together set your ball of dough aside and let it rise for 20 - 30 minutes.

If you want a more flavorful dough-                  
 add  1 to 1 1/2 tbsp of Pesto. So yummy!!
or knead in 1/2 c. parm cheese.

You can really add any herb or cheese you like to kick up the flavor.

Ingredients for Bbq Chicken


1 rotisserie hen
1 bottle of bbq sauce. Preferably a sweeter bbq sauce. Anything in the description that says hickory, brown sugar, or molasses should do the trick.

Okay, I like to make things as easy as possible. Time savers!
I used a rotisserie hen from Publix. Pull the perfectly "rotisserie-d" chicken off the bone and toss it in a pot with the bbq sauce. Turn the unit on low and let it simmer there for a few minutes.

Easy right?!

Sautéed zucchini, this is optional.
I diced some zucchini and sautéed it in olive oil with a little salt and pepper.

Assembly


Stretch your dough out into the shape and thickness that suits you. Round. Square, Oval, Rectangle, Fat crust, Thin crust. .
Brush a little olive oil on your dough. Spread your  bbq chicken mixture generously over your dough. Then add your zucchini, or any other veggie of your choice. You could even do a veggie medley. Top your pizza with lots of mozzarella cheese!

Bake your pizza on 475° for 15 -20 minutes. It's done when the crust is golden!

We quite enjoyed this pizza. It does come with a "warning". .
It fills you up and it fills you up fast! You will be stuffed! This is because it's not like the grease, fat laden restaurant pizza you're used to. This pizza is real. So when you're stuffed, feel proud! You just ate real pizza. Not grease and fat.

                                         
                                                   Happy Eating,  my Foodamite's

Tıck Tōck

In just a few short hours the recipe for Carrot Oatmeal Cookies will be posted!


Are you excited? I'm excited!
I have tweaked the recipe. I am so excited to share it with you all.


And. . I have another special recipe for y'all. . Bbq Chicken 〈spelt〉 Pizza.
 I'll post the recipe by sunday night. I promise.


Sleep tight, my foodamites

Çornbręad & Suŕpriseś

Two delightful things to share today.

I LOVE surprises! I love surprising others and I love being the victim of a surprise. They are just so much fun!

That leads me to the surprise. .

The Bodamite's work takes him out of town for months on end. I don't get to see him often at all.
So, being the sweetheart that he is, he conspired with my father to surprise me for the weekend.

This was possible because my father is a private pilot. It comes in handy!

I was sitting in the kitchen, friday afternoon, and out of nowhere, Josh jumps out from around the corner and exclaims " I couldn't help myself!"        

I was shocked. overjoyed. stunned. Then I almost cried.

It was the best surprise ever!!

We had a really sweet weekend. We went to a farmer's market and got all sorts of tastiness. Tea cookies. Honey cookies. The biggest zucchini I have ever seen in my life. A giant jar of Honey. We ate lots of wonderful food from the venders..all natural fresh food. It was lovely.

Due to all that has been going on, surprises and finals for school, I have yet to post the recipe for Carrot Oatmeal cookies. Take heart, it will be posted very soon!!

So Here is a delicious find for you to try in the mean time.
 Bob's Red Mill- Gluten free cornbread. (bobsredmill.gf-cornbread-mix.)
It is by far the most delicious gluten free cornbread mix out there!

It is even better if you cook it in a cast iron skillet! Particularly one that is old and well seasoned. If you have a cast iron skillet, pour a little oil in the bottom and stick it in the oven so the oil is piping hot when you pour the cornbread batter in. The batter should sizzle when you pour it in the skillet.

Hop on over to the grocery store and pick up a bag of this cornbread mix..you won't be disappointed!

Pınk Şalt

This makes me want to salt my food.

I do not like salt at all. My father on the other hand likes it too much. He likes his pepper too. But that is beside the point.

I refrain from dusting my edibles with salt. I find it..well..just awful. It is just so...salty.

 For the benefit of my loved ones I will add salt to season our meals. But I myself do not add extra salt to my food.

Himalayan pink salt changed everything.


How fun is that! pink salt. It makes me want to salt my food. Just because it's pretty. This is silly, I know.

But how can you not think it's cute?

Moving on to the more important aspects of this pretty salt..


The majority of the eighty-four elements that occur naturally in unrefined pink salt have been eliminated in the clorox white grains of refined table salt we are all familiar with.

It matters what kind of salt you use.

Pure unrefined pink salt with all of the natural minerals still intact is a wonderful way to mineralize your body. And it is an antioxidant. It is the only antioxidant that works everywhere in the body. I love my antioxidants.

How about that, pretty and useful.

Natural and unrefined is always healthier! So, replace the fine white sand in your salt shaker with all natural unrefined pink salt. It is much better for you and it is oh so pretty.

Tĥe ċoffeė weāknesŝ

I completely broke the rules...
...organic, gluten free, no refined sugar

Coffee is a bit of a weakness for me and my honey. The Bodamite says he drinks seven to eight cups every morning. That is a gross exaggeration.

Josh likes hot, bitter coffee...just like his tea. I find this endearing. It's the little differences that make things fun and balanced.
I like cold, sweet, blended coffee.

Our local coffee shop happens to make the perfect frozen (blended) coffee.  It's a taste sensation!

Part of the reason Common Ground's frozen coffee is so perfectly delicious, is because the coffee flavor comes from a powder. No flavored syrup.  I am partial to vanilla/mocha.
I all too often venture there and happily suck down my frozen delight. Refined sugar and all!

But the best part of my vanilla/mocha frozen coffee... a shot of espresso! It completes this treat.

We can thank Michael, the barista, for the shot of espresso idea.

Even we have our food weaknesses. Coffee and pizza are just two of them!

What are your food weaknesses?

Ľazŷ Brêakƒast

The shock and fear that shot through me was quite funny when it was all over...

I had an egg for breakfast this morning. A boiled egg. It was early and I didn't feel like making a Bodalicious breakfast. I also didn't feel like slicing the egg in the egg slicer, and neatly fanning the slices out in a bowl.

I opted to butter knife the egg in half. " I'll just bite right into it..but first I must nuke it." Brilliant!

I happily placed my egg cut in two, in the microwave. " Thirty seconds is all it needs.."

About twenty seconds in someone fired a shotgun off in my microwave. Shock. Fear. Then I realized my egg had exploded.

When I opened the microwave I found little egg yoke nuggets happily dispersed through out the microwave.

No problem. I cleaned up my mess.

I decided to take a bite out of the intact half of my egg. 


"Ka-Pow!"  It burst in my face. My bite released the boiling hot steam trapped in the middle of the yoke.

This was unbelievably startling. But I recovered. I decided a glass of milk was the safest bet for a lazy breakfast.

I think I'll use the egg slicer next time...

฿irdş Mïlķ

This delicacy is a favorite of mine. And it is a new find for Josh.

I am sure you are familiar with it...

The yummy Chai Tea Latte at your favorite coffee house can be considered Birds Milk.

 I prefer the base of my Birds Milk to be straight up sweet tea. What can I say…It's a southern thing. Josh seems to be rather fond of Green Tea, and bitter at that, as his base. Earl Grey Tea is really good for making especially yummy sweet tea.

Of course Honey is the chosen sweetener for the Bodamite. But, I need something with a bit more of a sweet kick to it. Again I'm a southerner. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of the SWEET in sweet tea.  

Bitter tea is an abomination!

Josh is from Florida so he doesn't know what tea is supposed to taste like. Somehow he finds a touch of Honey just enough sweetness. I accept this.

For tea as it should be, I like to use Turbinado sugar ( sugar in the raw) It is raw sugar obtained from the initial pressing of sugar cane. It is an acceptable sweetener because it is not refined.

To turn our tea into Birds Milk we add whole milk. 

2% is not milk! It is flavorless, white water masquerading around as milk.

I like my Birds Milk warm. Not hot. But you can drink it over ice if that's your thing.

Now I am sure you're wondering why I call my tea and milk Birds Milk.

A friend who went to the Ukraine, for a missions trip, told me that at the orphanages tea and milk is a treat. It is rare that they get it. Very rare. Rare like birds milk, because birds do not produce milk. So, because it is such a rare treat they call it Birds Milk.

I thought that was neat, so I adopted the name as well.

So, embrace the cooler weather, brew some sweet tea, add some whole milk and enjoy your Birds Milk. 

…It's a rare treat.

Ŧhe Spëlt Pizźa

The Bodamite and I are pretty big fans of pizza.  Even to the point of eating gluten filled piece after gluten filled piece, to the point of regret. That has only happened once or twice and I wasn't actually involved, my Bodamite had a brief moment of "I don't care if I get glutemated, I want it, I'll sleep it off." Self control is generally our strong point, but we still falter sometimes.

Preparing the Chicken

So, while we were in Pawleys Island, for my birthday weekend, the pizza craving reared it's ugly head. It didn't matter that it was almost nine o'clock at night or that we had to stop by the store for some of the ingredients. We were going to make pizza!

We used Spelt Flour to avoid glutemation. This recipe is super easy.


Ingredients for dough

3 c. Spelt Flour
1 tsp. Salt
1 tbsp. Olive oil
1 packet Dry Active Yeast

We dissolved ours in a measuring cup

To start, dissolve the yeast in 1 c. of hot water. Follow directions on back of Yeast packet, it's very simple. It will take about ten minutes for the yeast to dissolve.

When the yeast has dissolved, combine it with the Spelt flour, salt, and olive oil in a bowl and get to mixing.

It is important to note: You are suppose to let the dough sit for about an hour so the yeast can work it's magic. We neglected this step..oops!  So I honestly am not sure if the yeast is necessary if you choose to forge ahead as we did.

Place the dough on a pizza pan or a cookie sheet. We had neither. I'm still not sure what kind of "pan" it was, but it did the trick.

This part if fun. Shape the dough into a circle or square or even a rectangle, like ours. It is completely up to you what shape your pizza is.

We used Italian sausage pasta sauce on our pizza.

For the toppings on our pizza we went with sauteėd onions, mushrooms, and zucchini, as well as sauteėd  lemon pepper chicken. We topped that with fresh spinach and shredded cheddar cheese.

Ingredients for toppings

1 container mushrooms- chopped
1 small onion - diced
1 large zucchini - sliced
2 chicken thighs - chopped into chunks
1 bag spinach
shredded cheddar cheese
lemon pepper seasoning

Coat the bottom of a medium to large size skillet with olive oil. Add the mushrooms, onions, and zucchini and sauteė on medium/high heat until the onion is translucent. You let the veggies go a bit longer is you want them caramelized. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Hein, the Bodamite's co-worker
added some chicken sausage
to the pizza.
 It was a yummy addition

For the chicken you do basically the same thing. First you have to prep the chicken, though. We cut the chicken into medium chunks and added lots of lemon pepper seasoning. Then we sauteėd the chicken in a large skillet until fully cooked and tender. As always, coat the bottom of your skillet with olive oil before you add the chicken.

When all of your ingredients are cooked and ready to go you can assemble your pizza!

You can see how we assembled our pizza, in the picture.
Sauce then veggies and then the meat. We topped all of that goodness with spinach and the shredded cheddar cheese.

The pizza needs the cook for 15 to 20 minutes.

It turned out to be the most amazing pizza we had ever eaten! We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Happy Eating!

We ate the entire thing!


  

Sm∞thies

Smoothies are a favorite treat of mine. Preferably there is chocolate involved, but alas these recipes are for fruit smoothies. Truthfully, they are so simple they hardly count as recipes.

But I will get to the recipe part in a minute.

First, I must tell you about my birthday present! Mimi, my grandmother, loves to give gifts. She always wants to get you whatever it is you desire most. This can be a problem considering she has the money to do so. I never want to take advantage. Honestly, I am content if she just comes over for cake and ice cream on my birthday. But as always she purchased a gift. A little birdie (my mother) told her that I had been pining away for a KitchenAid blender. 

She showed up at the house with the largest gift bag I have ever seen in my life! Inside was the exact blender I had been wanting. It was so generous! And I got right to work blending all kinds of yummy treats.

That leads me to the recipes. These two recipes are the favorites in the house.

Pear/Pomegranate and Kiwi/Apple

You will need a blender that won't fry when you crush the ice.

Ingredients: Pear/Pomegranate

1 pear - peeled and diced

1/4 apple - peeled and diced

3/4 c. Pomegranate juice

ice cubes

Ingredients: Kiwi/Apple

Pear/Pomegranate smoothie

1 kiwi - peeled and chopped

1 apple - peeled and diced

3/4 c. orange juice

ice cubes

                                                   

The blending part is of course the same for both smoothies. Combined all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. If your blender has crush ice mode then start with that. After the ice is crushed switch to mix mode. Let everything mix until perfectly smooth.

It was a big hit!

Bodalicious Bite ••• Both Kiwi and Pomegranate can be a bit tart. If tart is not your thing, add 1 teaspoon of Agave Nectar to the other ingredients in the blender. It will take the edge off the tartness. Of course you can use honey too. I just prefer the sweetness of Agave Nectar with these particular ingredients.  

§carlet Nectår

Pomegranate juice… I'll admit I was skeptical.

 But the moment that scarlet nectar hit my taste buds, I was in love.

The Bodamite introduced me to Pom juice. He likes to cut his with water so he doesn't take in as much sugar. As with any fruit juice it contains sugar. So, to bring the intake down simply go with half Pomegranate juice and half water.                                 

As always, I have plenty of juicy info on its health benefits.

Beyond being incredibly yummy, Pom juice also…

Lowers Cholesterol. It lowers LDL, which is bad cholesterol. And it raises HDL, the good cholesterol.

Lowers Blood Pressure. 1.7 ounces of Pom juice a day can lower your blood pressure as much as five percent.

Protects your arteries. It prevents plaque from building up in your arteries.

The next health benefit is especially dear to my heart.

Fights Breast Cancer. Studies done in Israel show that Pom juice destroys breast cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone. It may also prevent breast cancer cells from forming.

This is dear to my heart because my precious Grandma died from breast cancer. So it is a cancer I am very aware of.

Those are just four of the health benefits that Pomegranate juice provides.

If you have not tried the scarlet nectar, then you very simply are greatly missing out!

This is my newest Delicious Find. Check out all of the wonderful flavor combos Pom Wonderful has to offer pomwonderful.com

I will be posting two smoothie recipes in a few days that call for Pomegranate juice. Keep an eye out!

What Delicious Finds have you discovered lately?