Happy what? Na(tional)Blo(g)Po(sting)Mo(nth). Participating in National Blog Posting Month means you pledge to write a blog entry every day for the month of November.
I already posted yesterday (a couple times, even), so I’m already off to a good start. It can’t hurt to post every day, right? It might be a challenge some days, but that’s the whole point.
So, off we go.
I DID IT!!! I MADE DOUGH! FROM YEAST!
And holy crap, it is gooood. And even better, it passed the Rob test. He’s a big fan, too!
I’ve been sitting on this recipe for quite some time. I admit I really have been scared to make it. I don’t like to fail, especially when I’m hungry.
This recipe is originally from CookingLight.com, but it has been doctored by my friend Jenni with a couple tips from my friend Beth Anne. Yes, it’s a group recipe!
Whole Wheat Herb Pizza Dough
1 package dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour, divided
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons pizza seasoning
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, oil, garlic powder, pizza seasonings and salt to yeast mixture, stirring until well-blended. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky).
Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. (Preheat oven to 400 during this time.) Divide dough in half; roll each half into a 12-inch circle on a floured surface.
Bake on pizza stone 5 minutes. Remove from oven and top with sauce, cheese and other toppings. Bake an additional 12-15 minutes.
Notes:
1. You can prepare this in a stand mixer using the dough hook. Add all the ingredients and let the hook knead the dough for approximately 5 minutes. Do the yeast, sugar, water step as directed, then pour in all ingredients and mix with a spoon until it’s blended. Then put the dough into the mixer run on low for 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of flour twice during the 5 minutes.
2. This dough may be frozen. Follow directions for kneading dough, and shape dough into two balls. Coat ball(s) with cooking spray and place into a ziptop plastic freezer bag. To prepare, thaw overnight in a refrigerator. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85 degrees), free from drafts 90 minutes or until it doubles in size. (Press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Shape as instructed.
Recipe yields two 12-inch pizza crusts
Nutritional info per crust (according to CookingLight.com):
CALORIES 847(11% from fat); FAT 9.9 g (sat 1.4g,mono 5.4g,poly 1.9 g); PROTEIN 25.7 g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0 mg; CALCIUM 47 mg; SODIUM 1764 mg; FIBER 12.7 g; IRON 10.2 mg; CARBOHYDRATE 165 g
My toppings:
1/2 cup sauce (we like Classico’s fire roasted tomato and garlic sauce)
1 1/2 cup (168 g) part-skim shredded mozzarella
17 Hormel turkey pepperonis
According to my calculations, my pizza (cut into eight slices) comes out like this, per slice:
164.5 calories
4.74 g fat
2 g fiber
Halloween couldn’t scare me, but yeast sure can.
I’m heading into the kitchen right now to attempt homemade pizza dough. My other encounters with yeast (for my grandma’s Easter bread) have failed miserably. Seriously miserably. The dough sucked, which made sucky bread, which made me miserable. I blame the yeast.
But now I’m going to try another yeast recipe and hope and pray and cross body parts and do dances and other odd rituals to ensure it turns out. I expect you to be doing the same for me.
I’ll report back post-experience to share my success or failure. And the recipe. (There’s no time for that now. I’m hungry and need to get moving on this!)
It’s my goal to avoid my beloved Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks since they’re so kindly high in the bad-for-you stuff (although high on the yum scale). In an effort to curb my cravings, I’ve been seeking out other pumpkin-spice goodies, like my muffins.
I enjoyed another healthy pumpkin-spice gem this morning:
Thanks to my friends at Kashi, I had two crunchy, pumpkin-spicey bars (there are two in each individual package) for breakfast this morning. So good, and good for you, too! They weigh in at 180 calories, 6 grams of fat and 4 grams of fiber. They also have 6 grams of protein. Not too shabby for something delicious and crunchy!
I only had TWO pieces of Halloween candy yesterday. And they were two teeny pieces, too. I had one Lifesavers lollipop and one Warhead (still so sour!) And I’m successfully staying far, far away from the leftover candy that has invested our office.
We won’t discuss the cheese squares, the hot dog wrapped in biscuit dough, the two helpings of mac’n’cheese, the two (small) meatballs and the unknown servings of sangria I indulged in last night. To be safe, let’s just assume I blew through the 11 points I had saved for the day plus my 35 flex points.
