Joyful Abode

I’ve posted here several times about homemade pizza. The first attempt I made was certainly an ERROR. After that, things generally tasted much better but were a bit too doughy for me.  This one was great, probably because I realized that I need to make my dough AS THIN AS POSSIBLE in order for it to not feel like I’m just eating mouthfuls of bread.

Dough recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup wheat flour
• 1 package active dry yeast (2.5 teaspoons)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees fahrenheit)
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• a little sugar

1. Mix sugar into the warm water, then stir in yeast. Wait 10 minutes for it to get foamy.
2. Pour yeasty water into the mixer’s bowl.
3. Add flour, salt, olive oil.
4. Combine with a dough hook. Once it sticks together, let the mixer knead it about 1 minute. If you’re kneading by hand, need 6-8 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
5. Cover and let rest 20-30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425 degrees fahrenheit and prepare your pizza pans. The photos here only show half of the dough being used.
6. Divide the dough in half for two large pizzas, or in quarters for four smaller pizzas.
7. Pat/roll the dough out on the pizza pans or stones as thin as possible.
8. Pre-bake about 10 minutes while you collect your toppings.
9. Spread with pizza sauce (I used tomato paste with a bit of water stirred in, garlic salt, and Italian herbs) and sprinkle with cheese.
10. Top with whatever toppings you like (I used roasted red peppers and banana pepper rings).
11. Bake 10-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and toppings are warm.

Enjoy!

Oops… I kind of got behind on the green bean harvest. You know, those suckers are GREEN. And the leaves are GREEN. So they tend to blend in and not scream “pick us!” so…. I didn’t.

Until now.

Way too huge for normal cooking and eating… but I found something to do with them. (Actually, it was the Guy’s idea. And it was a good one that rocked.) I’ll share my “something to do with them” another day. For now, I want to know… what do you do with your green beans if you accidentally let them get way too gigantic?

I mean, ridiculously big? Then what?

 This delicious dessert tastes like a decadent treat, but is so simple and fresh you’ll want it every day of the week.

You’ll need:

• strawberries
• blueberries
• other berries or cherries, if you’d like
• heavy whipping cream
• a sweetener, if desired (sugar or stevia)
• cinnamon

If you have an electric mixer, this will be quick! If not, it will take a while to whip the cream, but it’ll be worth it.

1. Pour the heavy cream into your mixer’s bowl. If you plan ahead, you can pre-chill the bowl. If not, it’ll be okay.
2. Using the whisk attachment, whip the cream on medium-high speed.
3. Meanwhile, wash and prepare your berries, slicing strawberries, or pitting the cherries if you’re using them.
4. When the cream begins to thicken, add a small amount of sweetener if you wish to. I didn’t add any because the berries are sweet enough on their own. Continue whipping.
5.  Divide the berries among several bowls or ramekins.
6. When the cream is ready (fluffy), turn the mixer off and spoon whipped cream over the berries.
7. Sprinkle with cinnamon (or sifted cocoa powder).
8. Enjoy!

I found this super-easy recipe over at Real Moms Real Fit.

You’ll need:

• a packet of onion soup mix
• a small can of pineapple chunks - Don’t drain it!
• a can of mandarin oranges - Don’t drain it!
• 4 chicken breasts

1. Dump the soup mix into a bowl.

2. Dump in the pineapple.

3. Dump in the oranges.

4. Stir it all together.

5. Brown some chicken in a pan (with salt and pepper).

6. Then dump the stuff over your chicken (notice we’re dumping a lot? That means this recipe is easy.)

7. Cover and simmer 20-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and flavors are melded.

8. Cut chicken into strips and serve over salad.

It’s good with those fried onion things over the top, or chow mein noodles.

Our garden LOOKS impressive at this point. Our neighbors comment about how jealous they are that our garden is doing so well. By this they mean that they see lots of green leaves. I keep telling them I have no idea what I’m doing, and that it really isn’t doing THAT well…

You see, we’re battling blossom-end rot in the squashes, cucumbers, and zucchinis. Evidently we don’t have enough calcium in our soil. I googled around and came across something that sounded pretty good… buying calcium supplements, grinding them up and dissolving them, and watering them in… so I’m trying that now.

The green beans look fine, but we haven’t been harvesting them the way we should. It’s just not that motivating to go out there and scour the plants to find the 5 beans that might be ready to pick, then not have enough for even a decent snack. I need to get on that. Next year I think we won’t plant beans (unless hubs really wants them).

So… very few beans, no cucumbers yet, no peas. We have some green roma tomatoes trying their best to ripen, no zucchinis, no peppers, no honeydew. We have two watermelons that have been steadily growing, so that’s exciting, and our herbs are all doing very well.

And this one squash:

It wasn’t very big but it seemed ready to pick and eat, so…

I cut into its beautiful creamy flesh…

And cooked it up in some olive oil, salt, and pepper. We shared it while I cooked our REAL dinner. And do you know what? It tasted every bit as good as a home-grown sun-ripened squash should.

I love my new throw pillows. The old ones were great, but when we got Zora, she decided the corners of them were great for chewing on. When she became a lot less mouthy, it was safe to get new pillows.

These are from Urban Outfitters, by artist Matte Stephens. The colors are so perfect, and I love the birds.

I’m also a huge fan of this print of his.

Honestly, I don’t understand when people say, “I don’t like vegetables.”

Like vegetables are a whole group of unappealing foods or something… and they’re all the same.

But in my opinion vegetables are some of the best things EVER. Especially when they come from your own garden or from a local farmer. They are so fresh and delicious, flavorful and crisp!

Oh wait… flavorful and crisp. Maybe THAT’s why people “don’t like vegetables.” They have only had improperly cooked veggies and/or canned ones — bland and mushy. If you can’t get fresh veggies, frozen is the next best thing. And if you overcook your vegetables, you may as well be eating wet sponges. Gross!

So the lesson here is cook your vegetables properly! Steamed broccoli, for example, should NOT be squishy. You should be able to bite it with your teeth and have it actually break, not rip and leave strings behind. My dad’s rule, which works quiet well, is that when you begin to be able to smell the vegetable it’s done cooking.

So here we go!

Step 1: Cut the florets off of the stem.  They don’t have to be the same size as each other, but they should be small enough to be a comfortable bite. No one wants to have to cut their broccoli once it’s on their plate.

Step 2: Rinse the broccoli, just in case there’s anything you don’t want to eat on it. Don’t worry about trying to get all of the water out; you need a bit of water for the broccoli to steam!

Step 3: Place broccoli in a microwave-safe bowl or casserole dish, and cover. This dish has a lid which is convenient, but you can use saran wrap or something. If you’re afraid there isn’t enough water on the broccoli, you can add a couple tablespoons of water to the container.

Step 4: Microwave UNTIL YOU CAN SMELL THE BROCCOLI. This usually takes about 6 minutes in modern microwaves. Since I got my microwave off Craigslist 2 years ago, and it’s probably about 8 years old, mine takes 8-10 minutes to cook.

See how it’s just a bit darker green and a bit less opaque? That’s perfect. It’s still structured, crispy, and flavorful.

One of my favorite toppings for hot steamed broccoli is lemon pepper. Of course, it’s fantastic on its own, too.

Are you a fan of vegetables in general? Which is your favorite, and what is your favorite way to cook it?

Steamed broccoli is high on the list for me, but blanched or roasted asparagus is up there too. I also love cauliflower, raw carrots, raw red/yellow/orange bell peppers, zucchini… man, I’m just a fan of vegetables in general.

Zora doesn’t love her crate, but she’s fine with it. When it’s bedtime, I ask her, “Do you need to go outside or are you ready for bed?” Since she recognizes “outside” and “bed” she knows what I’m saying… and she either goes to the door to be let out or goes straight into her crate.

If she goes outside first, when she comes in after doing her business, I tell her, “OK go to bed,” and she runs over to her crate and climbs in.

But she’s never just hung out in her crate for fun.

And in the past she’s gotten upset if for any reason we needed to have her go in her crate during the day rather than at bedtime. So I figured it would be good to get her used to going into it sometimes during the day. Just because you never know what could happen and you might need your dog to go in the crate at some point… and it’s nicer if they don’t make a fuss.

So sometimes lately if I have a really good treat (like her heartworm medicine she looooooves) I will say “go to bed” to her… and she’s hesitant at first, but finally goes in. I close the door and give her the treat, and sit besider her for a few mintues before opening the door again, petting her and “good girl”ing her while she’s still in it, and then saying “okay” so she can come out.

She’s been fine with that.

So yesterday I told her to go into her crate to relax (she was heading toward the couch where she usually hangs out) and she actually stayed in there for about 20 minutes with the door open voluntarily. Then she came out, stretched, and walked over to me for a pat on the head.

And then? She went back in her crate! For another rest of about 5 more minutes.

Maybe she’s warming up to it… or maybe she just doesn’t think it’s too weird for daytime anymore.

Either way, it can’t be bad for her to be comfy with it during the day.

In a word, Yum.

And also, another word? Easy.

1 Tbsp each:

• chili powder
• brown sugar
• oregano

And also 1 Tbsp olive oil.

It’s not that attractive in this state… but it smells so amazing, and once you rub it on the chicken…

You can see yourself getting behind the idea of this rub.

And after it gets those gorgeous grill lines? Well then it’s just… dinner.

Heavenly, delicious dinner.

So I haven’t posted in a while. Life happens.

I finished up the school year with my preschoolers; went to South Carolina for my oldest friend’s wedding (I don’t mean she’s old. I mean I think out of the people I consider “current” friends, I’ve been friends with her the longest. haha); started cleaning up from the school year, reorganizing, rewriting contract/schedule/other documents to prep for next year;  dug up the sad diseased pea plants and replaced them with new seeds; planted lots of bulbs in the garden; cleaned the bathrooms top to bottom; cleaned the kitchen almost as thoroughly; and the list goes on.

Last night I made homemade lasagna with fresh herbs from the garden.

No pictures of the final product, but it was GOOD… the sauce layers had sauteed onions and mushrooms, lean ground beef, and tomato sauce. The cheese layers were “Italian blend” shredded cheese, fat free cottage cheese, spinach, fresh basil and parsley, eggs, and salt and pepper. YUM.

I also made cookies yesterday.

They’re my chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, but with butterscotch chips too.

And… I let some of these green beans get too big (ok, most of them) but I harvested beans yesterday. Aren’t they adorable?

I blanched them today and have munched a few… delicious! So sweet and fresh.

Also yesterday, I edited a ton of photos for joyful abode posts, so there will be a slew of upcoming recipes and such coming up. Woo!

What’s been happening in your lives? Has Summer given you a “fever” that results in a change of priorities? I know I can’t be the only one!