Pizza, pizza, pizza!

Total crapfest at work today, so I thought Blake and I deserved some pizza!  I started off by gathering up all the ingredients for my toppings...

I decided to make a spinach pesto pizza, so I threw 2 cups of fresh spinach in the food processor along with a handful of fresh basil, 2 small cloves of garlic, 2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, and blended till mostly smooth (yields about a 1/2 cup of pesto).

Next up, potato and sage pizza.  I microwaved two red potatoes for about 2 minutes, then sliced them fairly thin and picked some fresh sage.

Cherry tomato pizza with fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper.

For Blake's favorite pizza I just needed about 1 small onion, very thinly sliced, 5 cloves of garlic, also thinly sliced, about 2 cups shredded cheese (I used monterey jack 'cause that's what I had on hand), some dried Mediterranean basil, and crushed red pepper flakes.  Yes, yes, I know it's not vegan, but it's vegetarian and it's his favorite!

Once I had my toppings ready, I got started with the crust.  I LOVE this recipe.  It's really simple and turns out great.  You'll need:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1 (12 oz.) beer (I used Shiner Bock)

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl and add beer.  Stir till combined.  That's it!!  You can either grease up your hands and press it onto cookie sheets or pizza pans, or knead with a little extra all-purpose flour and roll it out with a rolling pin.  I went with that option tonight because I wanted the crusts extra thin, but I've done it both ways and it turns out great either way.

For the tomato pizza, I just drizzled the rolled out dough with olive oil, then smooshed a handful of cherry tomatoes right on top (careful not to squirt the juice all over yourself/kitchen like I did).  Top with fresh basil sprigs and salt and pepper.  For the pesto one, I simply slathered it with my prepared pesto.  I baked them at 475 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  

For the potato/sage pizza, I put the sliced potatoes right on the dough, tore on the fresh sage, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkled with salt and pepper.

  

 Finally, to make Blake's favorite, I drizzled the rolled out dough with extra virgin olive oil, topped with sliced onions, sliced garlic, the shredded cheese and a sprinkling of Mediterranean basil and crushed red pepper flakes.  Baked for about the same length as the others, and voila!  Actually, I forgot to take a pic of the finished product and it's long gone now, so here it is before being baked!

Everything was great, but it was kind of a mess to clean up.  I am therefore exhausted now, so that's gonna be it for tonight.  Go make some pizza!

Back on track

Starting to get settled back into the whole vegan lifestyle once again.  I've been stressing out about a lot of things going on right now, so I bought myself some flowers the other day to cheer myself up...

I think they must have aggravated my allergies though, because I woke up this morning with my right eye all puffed up.  Being a vegan, you'd think I would have had a cucumber lying around that I could have cut a slice off of to take care of it, but, no such luck.  I've got some zucchini, but not sure that would work.  Anywho, been cooking a lot again (something of a necessity for a vegan).  Packing healthy vegan lunches for Blake while he's working at another store this week.  Made a really good chickpea salad stuffed pita the other day.  I'm planning on making it again soon, so I'll post the recipe with some pics at that time.  I made some crockpot pinto beans for dinner Wednesday.  It was a recipe I stole from my sister-in-law's blog (http://www.jotted-journal.blogspot.com/).  I think it would have been really good, but I substituted rosemary for the thyme the original recipe called for.  It did not go well.  Planning on trying it again as well, sans rosemary. Made some couscous taboulleh for myself yesterday.

Simply prepare 2 servings of couscous according to the package directions, add 1/2 a cup of quartered cherry tomatoes, 2 sliced green onions, 1 clove minced garlic, the juice of half a lemon, 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.  I also added some fresh basil and flat-leaf parsley.  Let it sit in the fridge for a couple hours and enjoy it on it's own or stuffed into a pita pocket (like I did). You can also add some diced cucumber or sliced black olives if ya like.

Tonight I made a dish I've been wanting to try for a week or so now.  Peperonata di patate, or pepper and potato stew.  I got the recipe from my latest cooking show obsession, "Extra Virgin." It turned out great, and definitely earned a spot in my vegan favorites hall of fame.  If you want to try it, gather together the following:

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, sliced
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 lb. red potatoes
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup water or vegetable broth
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large pot.  Add the onions and cook till softened.  Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two.  While the onions and garlic are cooking, de-seed peppers and cut into large chunks (about 1-inch pieces).  Add to the pot. 

Cover partially and cook for about 10 minutes.  Cut your potatoes into chunks about the size of your peppers, and process the tomatoes (with juice) in blender or food processor till smooth. 

Add potatoes and tomatoes to the pot.  Add 1/2 cup water.  Lower heat to medium-low and cook, partially covered for about an hour.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 

We ate it with some crusty bread to sop up the juices.  Yummy!

Also made myself some fruit salad tonight to eat for breakfast tomorrow.  Look at the size of these damn strawberries!

I don't have the tiniest of hands, but damn!  Just about fills up my whole palm!

For Ma...

Well, after dedicating myself to a smoke-free, fit, vegan lifestyle last post, I almost immediately disregarded it.  Oh well.  Getting back on track now though.  Baby steps, mind you.  First step, back to 1,200 vegan calories per day.  None of this "an egg every now and then" nonsense; straight up vegan!!  At least for the time being.  I've got about 20 pounds to lose before I get to my goal weight, so I'm going to tough it out until at least then.  Meanwhile, I've been promising to post some pics for my mom, so that's the main point of this post.  I do also have a new vegan recipe I tried out for the first time for lunch the other day--Arrabiata sauce served over fettuccine.
It was quite good, but HOTTER THAN HELL.  Of course, as the word arrabiata translates to "angry," I shouldn't have been surprised.  I reduced the amount of crushed red pepper flakes by half of what the original recipe called for, and it was still scorching.  In future I think I'll cut it down even more, and that is the amount which will be used in the recipe I post here.  Here we go:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 a smallish onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup vermouth or dry white wine
1 (14.5 oz.)can diced tomatoes with the juice, pulsed in blender till smoother but still slightly chunky
1/4 cup diced hot pepper rings (picture of the brand I used, to follow)
1 tsp. sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Pasta of your choice (2 servings worth)

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add diced onion and cook for a few minutes.  Add garlic and pepper flakes and cook until garlic is just golden and onions start becoming translucent.  Add vermouth or wine and cook until reduced by about half.  Add tomatoes, diced peppers and sugar and simmer over medium heat, uncovered,  until sauce is thickened (about 15 minutes).

Meanwhile, prepare pasta of your choice according to package directions.  Reserve about 1/4 cup of the pasta water right before you drain the noodles. Add reserved water to the sauce and bring to a bubble.  Toss in drained pasta and cook for one or two minutes so that the pasta can suck up the sauce.  Stir in parsley and serve! 

I topped mine with some nutritional yeast flakes, but if you're not vegan go with some freshly grated parmesan!

And here's the pic of the pepper rings, just so you get an idea of what I'm talking about!

Okay Ma, here go the pics!

First off, we have the pics of my second batch of baby birds which were laid, hatched, and then grew up, in an empty hanging basket in my back yard (this is them with their mama)...

My banana tree which is quickly passing the fence line despite being dead and cut down to a mere stub only a few months ago...

Lilies which are almost past their prime, but still nice to look at...

My crepe myrtle, still valiantly trying to grow beyond the point of looking like a flowery shrub (no flowers just yet)...

This plant which I am quite fond of but have absolutely no idea what it is (any ideas?)...

Jasmine (with the geckos)...

My lemon tree's lone lemon (how I pamper that single piece of fruit)...

And my ever-growing herb collection (now with dill, rosemary and Greek oregano!)...

The seed packets which still have yet to be planted (I'm gettin' there!)...

Oh! (Off subject) here's a pic of the chocolate biscotti I made a few weeks ago...

Hope you enjoy, and I'm going to TRY to post a bit more regularly than I have been! :)