First off, I have to tell you I’ve been suffering from Pink Eye the past couple of days. If you don’t know what Pink Eye is, you can click here to read all about it if you so desire.
It is so not fun! My two older boys had it last week and they lovingly passed it on to me!
I started getting it in one eye on Monday. It was kind of funny because that one eye became so swollen that it looked like it was about half the size of my other eye. It also looked like it was placed a little lower on my head as well.
I felt so cute. 😉 In fact, I looked just like Sloth from Goonies.
Then on Tuesday, I got it in my other eye too. I also got hit with a mega weirdo “cold-like” illness. I had a sore throat, congestion, body aches and was so tired I could barely see straight. I was pretty miserable. BUT, I’m happy to say today I feel pretty good and my eyes are mostly back to normal. I can actually wear makeup once again. Wa-hoo.
Soooo, the last few days have been an adventure. I had to miss my class at the gym yesterday, but I’m planning on going tonight! Yay.
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We’ve been very, very busy canning things from our garden lately. It’s fun, but very time consuming. The other day I decided to make Pizza sauce. I found a really yummy recipe online that turned out great. I found the recipe on a blog called, My Crazy Life as a Farmer’s Wife. You can click here for the recipe. It’s a pretty impressive blog full of beautiful pictures and recipes. I’m sure I’ll be trying out some more of her recipes. I figure a Farmer’s wife is a pretty good resource, especially when it comes to canning and preserving. 😉
Anyway, here are some pics of the process (FYI, I doubled the recipe)…
We used this handy dandy little contraption to prepare the tomatoes…
It’s called the Sauce Master and it’s made by Norpro. We bought it for $40 several years ago and have used every year to make salsa and applesauce. It worked like a charm for the pizza sauce.
Note: You can also prep your tomatoes by placing them in boiling water for 30-60 seconds and then placing them in a bowl of ice water. The skins come off very easily. I know some people also squeeze the tomatoes to remove some the seeds and juice. Whatever you like.
Our little Sauce Master dealy thing removes the skins and the seeds! I love it. I also had a little helper…
You just throw the tomatoes in the white cone thing, turn the crank and voila….tomato puree!
We just chucked all the peels and seeds from the blue bowl into the trash. I then used my food processor to blend up the onions, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil.
Then I put the tomato puree and onion puree into my big (6 quart) Crock-Pot. I added all the spices and remainder of the ingredients. I mixed it all up and cooked it on high for 4 hours. I totally forgot to take of picture of it in the Crock-Pot though! So sorry!
When it was done, I transferred the sauce into pint sized jars and processed them for 25 minutes in a water bath canner. I was able to get 10 pint sized jars (only 9 are pictured.) If you would like step-by-step instructions about how to can, this website is a great resource.
This sauce was so yummy and it was pretty easy to make!
On Tuesday night I decided to make homemade pizza to try our sauce out! It turned out so yummy. In fact, my 4 year old said, “Mom I love your pizza more than any other pizza!” and my daughter said it was the best pizza I had ever made. All the kids gobbled it right up. Yay.
In case you wanna know, here’s how I make my pizza…
I got my crust recipe from my friend, Rachel and it’s great. Here it is,
(This recipe is for 1 large pizza, but I make it into 2 large pizzas! Saves on calories, yay!)
- 1 T. yeast
- 1 T. sugar
- 1-1/4 C. warm water
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3 C. flour (I use 1/2 white, 1/2 wheat)
Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Mix in flour and salt. Mix and knead dough for about 5 minutes. Let rise for about 30 minutes. Roll out dough and place on well greased pizza pan. Top with sauce, cheese and toppings. Bake at 500 degrees for 12-15 minutes (if you used all the dough), 8-10 minutes (if you split the dough into two pizzas) Slice and eat.
The extra high heat makes the pizza SOOO good! I promise!
Here are a few tips I’ve learned over the years….
- After I place the dough on the pizza pan, I spray the outer crust with a little olive oil and then sprinkle it all with a little garlic salt.
- I usually use Mozzarella cheese, but I also love to use Italian blends like Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan and Romano as well. Asagio cheese is awesome too, but I rarely have it on hand. I sometimes use a little bit of feta as well.
- I bake my pizza on the middle rack in the oven. That way, the crust isn’t doughy and the toppings cook at the same rate as the crust.
- I prefer to use metal pizza pans or screens instead of pizza stones. For whatever reason, my crust always turns out more doughy on the stone.
- Use corn meal instead of flour when rolling out your dough.
I know there are healthier crust recipes out there, but this one works for the kids. I’ve experimented with healthier crusts, but my kids never eat it. Soooo, I usually make this pizza for the kids and a little pizza for me (and one for Kev if he wants one) on a Flatout. Win-win. Everyone is happy.
But, because I was feeling “Sloth-like” on Tuesday, I decided just to keep it simple and make regular pizzas. I was needing a little comfort food and this hit the spot.
Pepperoni Pizza…
Pepperoni, pepper, onion and olive Pizza…
I LOVE pizza! Ya know, I think it’s interesting how I can eat 2 small pieces of homemade pizza and be stuffed, but when we get take out, I want to eat the whole pizza! Interesting.
I hope you enjoy these recipes!
[…] night, I also decided to make homemade pizza for dinner. I made my typical homemade pizza for the kids, but I made a cauliflower crust pizza […]