Homemade Pizza with Focaccia Crust
August 13, 2008|Comments (17)
According to sources on the internet (Packaged Facts “The Pizza Market”), Americans spent more than $22 billion on pizza last year and 93% of us ate pizza at least once a month. That means we ate at least 23 pounds of pizza annually — individually! So why not keep your money and make your own pizza? Truthfully, we like our own humble homemade pizza far better than anything we’ve purchased in a pizzeria! I also find that it is a great way to get rid of leftovers!
Here’s how we make it:
Pizza Crust (also Focaccia Bread!):
- 6 cups bread flour
- 4 tsp. salt
- 3 Tbsp instant yeast
- 2 2/3 cups warm water
- 6 Tbsp olive or vegetable oil
- cornmeal
- Parmesan cheese and garlic salt
- Choice of toppings and sauce
Mix flour, salt, yeast, water, and 2 Tbsp of oil. Mix dough until pliable. Knead dough on floured surface until smooth. Place dough in oiled bowl. Cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled.
Coat two baking sheets with oil and dust with cornmeal. Divide dough. Gently press dough onto the baking sheets (1/2 inch thick or so).
For pizzas: brush with remaining oil on outside edge, sprinkle garlic salt & parmesan cheese on edge, brush with sauce & add your choice of toppings to center, cover toppings with cheese. Let rise a few minutes and bake for 10-15 minutes at 450 degrees.
For focaccia bread: make dimples in the dough with fingers and brush oil over entire surface of dough. Sprinkle rosemary leaves, cheese, and garlic salt (can add chopped onion and olives too) — then let rise 10-20 minutes and bake 25 minutes at 375 degrees. Serve with balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil for dipping.
For Mediterranean Pizza use Kalamata olives, spinach, chopped artichoke hearts, diced onion, capers, feta cheese, sun dried tomatoes, and grilled chicken. Top with mozzarella cheese. Use alfredo sauce instead of marinara for a fun twist but marinara tastes great, too.
For BBQ Chicken Pizza use chopped red onion, cooked & crumbled beef bacon, and grilled chicken. Top with cheddar cheese. Use sweet BBQ sauce instead of marinara.
See who tried this recipe!
My dear friend, Amanda, tried the focaccia and loved it. She uses the pizza recipe every Friday night at her house and is an outstanding cook! Thank you for sending this in for all of us to drool over!! When is dinner? Save us a seat!
Can You Can-Can?
August 13, 2008|Comments (10)
Congratulations! You have decided to preserve fruits and vegetables from your garden or local produce stand without using excess electricity (the freezer) and since you will wash and reuse your canning jars — you are not being wasteful. Think about how much money you spend on items such as stewed/diced tomatoes, salsa, vinaigrettes, spaghetti sauce, jams and jellies, and pickles. Also think about how many plastic freezer bags you throw away each week. If your household is anything like mine, those numbers are staggering.
For beginning canners, it is best to start by canning with a boiling water canner. I use my boiling water canner all the time. Because we have limited garden space thanks to uncooperative soil, I can’t plant rows of beans, peas, or other low acid foods. For now, I have to purchase them from local markets. While I have been known to use a pressure canner to preserve meats, green beans, and soups — I haven’t done this in a while due to scheduling conflicts! 
Boiling water canners can either be purchased or made using supplies found in any kitchen. If you don’t have a wire rack to place in the bottom of the kettle (with fitting lid), that’s just fine because I’ll show you how to improvise. Boiling water canners and the racks sold with them look like this:
There are also a few tools which you will need to gather:
tongs, magnetic stick for lid grabbing, jar lifter, and a funnel (I like the wide mouth funnels for most canning projects but use a small mouth funnel for jellies and flavored vinegars)
You will also need canning jars, lids, and rings:
The jars and rings can often be found at yard sales and country stores.
While the lids may not be reused EVERYTHING else can: glass jars and rings.
Some foods like spaghetti sauce come in Mason jars.
Create Your Own Boiling Water Canner
As mentioned on the Jams, Jellies, and Preserves page, the general population no longer cans, bottles, or preserves fruits and vegetables so finding canning supplies is becoming more and more difficult. You can order them online or purchase them at estate sales, yard sales, thrift stores, and occasionally a feed/farm supply store but it is just as easy to make one in your kitchen. Here’s what you need:
- large sturdy kettle with lid
- a disposable pie pan
- two-pronged meat fork
- scissors
Using the meat fork (on a cutting board), make holes in the pie pan in the bottom and around the sides. You may need to cut off the edge of the pie pan to fit into your kettle but this depends on the size of your kettle.
Place the pie pan in the bottom of the kettle upside down and fill with water according to the directions of your canning recipe. This homemade canner really only processes a few jars at a time. The jars must be upright during processing so be careful and don’t overload this little canner or your jars won’t seal properly.
Canning is a wonderful way to cut back on the waste associated with tin cans and freezer bags (which can be reused but are commonly thrown away). If you decide to make this canner, we ask that you email us a picture so we can post it on this site. We are greatly encouraged by your feedback. Those comments and pictures serve as proof that the urban and suburban homesteading community is growing.
More on canning to come!
Make Homemade Dog Treats
August 13, 2008|Comments (13)
We LOVE our dogs and have a great deal of fun spoiling them. Treats are part of that equation but buying them in the store is costly and sometimes dangerous. First of all: when were those commercially produced treats manufactured? What is even in them (most recently, rat poison!)? Why don’t they ever seem to expire? They appear to have the shelf-life of Styrofoam! Regardless of the vitamins and yummy stuff companies may claim to put into those treats, I can promise you that none of them are as good for your dog as food you have in your kitchen right now. I’m including (at Aunt Julie’s and Uncle Raul’s suggestion) one of the recipes I use for our dog treats. Just a quick note about using garlic in treats: I like to put a little bit of garlic in the treats to discourage fleas. It’s probably a good idea to consult a vet before giving garlic treats to puppies. You can always leave the garlic out. WARNING: these treats will eventually grow fuzz so just throw them in the compost bin and make fresh!
1 cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup organic wheat germ (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Mighty Tasty Cereal or steel-cut oats
1/2 cup organic, no sugar added applesauce (I use homemade)
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup warm water
1.) Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl and add the applesauce.
2.) Grind the cooked chicken breast and add to the mixture. Oh, you knew I was going to pull out that old grinder!
3.) Crush, mince, and use your knife to make a paste of the fresh garlic cloves. Add to mix.
4.) Add water and mix until you have a nice pliable dough. Knead on a floured surface them roll to 1/4 thickness. Cut into shapes and place on floured or lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Turn off oven and do not remove until morning (or until cooled and hardened).
Be sure you take some breaks or get the kids involved with all those little cookie cutters. Gosh, I can’t wait to have kids to take over this step.
Quick story: My neighbor and a guy that my husband works with came over a few months ago and saw these babies out cooling on the island and being schooled in the ways of our home… they both grabbed up some cookies and began hoovering them. My neighbor made a funny face and said (still chewing), “These cookies taste funny.” When Josh and I told them what they were eating, we expected them to spit them out — instead they both finished their cookies and grinned. Classic.
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