Monday, February 28, 2011

Doughlicious




Recently, a friend of mine asked me for a good, healthy pizza dough suggestion.

Here it is.

Now, the healthy part of pizza is really in the flour you choose to use.

I like to use Sprouted Spelt Flour. It's my latest obsession.

Really, you can use any kind of flour. Try adding some wholegrains to your diet.  Even if you go half wholegrain and half white, it's a step in the right direction. Baby steps right?



This recipe uses yeast. You mix it with warm water and let it concoct for a while. 10 minutes or so.




I like adding a shot of garlic powder to the flour before mixing.

A shot = a shake.

You can also add herbs.

Whatever floats your boat.

A little hint: try switching your spices and seasonings over to organic ones. As your old stuff runs out, switch over.  Frontier makes small organic seasonings so it doesn't break the bank.



Oh HONEY.

Raw Honey.  Much more nutritious than the boiled, strained, all nutrients removed kind of other honey.

Now, don't go chucking everything in the trash. Just replace it slowly with more whole and living foods as you run out of the other stuff.

Or throw it away.  Whatever your piggy bank allows.



Mix up the dry ingredients: Flour, garlic powder, salt.

I love recipes with pantry ingredients. Sigh.



Mix up the dough with a spoon or spatula, or your bare hands.

I don't like getting my hands all grody.  Sorry. I'm a child of the 90's. Sometimes those words still slip out. (Ha! my spell check didn't like grody!)

I like to wear food grade gloves.

I'm such a girl.



Mix. Mix. Mix. Just till combined.



Cover with a pretty towel. Or napkin. Or whatever clean thing you have.

I'm such a clearance-a-holic. I can't help myself.

It's just so wrong for me to pay full price.

Oh. Cover it for 15 minutes or less if you are in a hurry and more if you want it real fluffy.

If you put it in a warm spot it's happier dough.

I turn my microwave on for 1 minute and THEN put the dough in. It's warm.  The dough is happy.

We need happy dough.



Divide and conquer.  Or not.

Put it on a sprayed cookie sheet or pizza stone.

Spread it out. You want the homemade look. Trust me.  It's so artisan.


Prick the dough with a fork.

Bake in a 400 degree (F) oven for 10 minutes.

Then add your toppings.

Toppings post up next!

Awesome Pizza Dough

2 1/2 teaspoon yeast
1 cup warm water
2 cups flour (pick a good kind!)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 Tablespoon honey

Dissolve yeast in warm water and let stand for 10 minutes.
Combine flour and salt.
Make a well and add yeast mixture and honey.
Mix well. Cover and let rise.
Spread dough into desired shape on greased cookie sheet or pan.
Prick with fork and Bake @ 350 (F) for 10 minutes till crispy.
Add toppings and Bake @400 for 10 minutes.

Ciao!
The Lunch Lady

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Why Organic?



Pretty simple...Less is more.

The less chemical and synthetic material I put in my body, the healthier I am. This applies to medication, food, drinks, and water.

If I can't afford organic (it can be quite pricey sometimes) I buy local.  There are certain things that I now always buy organically; all grains: flour, brown rice, cereals, oats, pasta, lettuces, apples, carrots, and dairy.  I don't buy a lot of pre-packaged foods, so the money I save from them I put towards whole foods.  I'm looking forward to the summer months when I can buy produce from local farm stands.

I buy conventional fruits and vegetables and spray and scrub them.  I'm slowly converting our meat intake towards free-range or anti-biotic free. That's the priciest part for our family! 

It's a slow process. We have taken baby steps towards better nutrition over a span of many years.  This is our current "healthy" regime and I would imagine it will change even more over time. 

To some people this may seem radical and to others minimal.  We still eat regular food; cookies, pancakes, coffee cake,  muffins. It's just that the ingredients I use are more nutritious for my families' bodies.  Food is about nourishment after all.

You are what you eat,
The Lunch Lady


Saturday, February 26, 2011

Real Smooth



There's no tellin' what can happen when to boys start exploring in the kitchen.

Usually it's some kind of cheese sauce with all sorts of spices.

Today it's a yogurt smoothie.





I was made privy to the chef's secret ingredients today.



"Mom, you just take a bowl like this, and a fork, and you mix up Kefir, yogurt, milk, and jelly.

It's really easy.  Just watch, I can do it all by myself."



Ever try Kefir? (say it Keh-feer)  but we don't, we say it "Kee-fir." Sorry, can't be helped.

It's yummy. Tastes like a yogurt drink.



Mix the yogurt and kefir. Add in the milk and stir.



And stir.



And pour it into a beer glass.

That's cool when you're 8 and 9.

It's cool when your in your late 30's too.

We are all about being cool in our house. At least with our glassware.



Pouring..




Add a little jelly.

We like to use All Fruit or Trader Joe's brand organic jellies that are fruit sweetened.

Ya can't tell and ya don't need the extra sugar!





Yummy afternoon, after school, anytime snack.

If my kid can make it so can you!

So proud,
The Lunch Lady

Friday, February 25, 2011

Gone Skiing...


I'm off to the awesome moutains of Windham, NY

I SO need the exercise.

I've packed four coolers of food. Yep, I said four.

We had to rent a trailer to fit all of our stuff.  I love trailers.

We try to go skiing every year for a few days. 

We have awesome, generous friends that let us use their ski home. 

Thank you awesome, generous friends.

A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT to my big sister! Happy Birthday Judith!! Love ya!

Don't worry, I'll keep posting,
The Lunch Lady

Thursday, February 24, 2011

A Gem in our Backyard



Last week we took a field trip.

We visited many countries. India, Papua New Guinea, China, , Japan, and Egypt to name a few.




The Reading Public Museum. Where else you can see Bedouins in the Sahara Desert?




There were all kinds of shells from all of over the world on display.




L3 and L4 made their own drums.







We saw dead preserved stuff. Ewwh.











The boys love going to our local Museum.

Hands on learning is SO "my thing."
The Lunch Lady

I want to apologize for the grainy photos. The museum does not allow flash photography and my camera wasn't very happy about it.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

It's Official...



I'm not IRISH..but I do can do GREEN



On St. Patrick's Day, I"ll be skyping in to Michigan's local FOX News channel's new 5 pm show called THE ONE SEVEN.

YES. I'll be on TV! (quaking)

I'll be featuring "All Things Green" the entire week here;  recipes, greens, green living, maybe even some Irish Food.  Even though I'm not Irish. I'm Dutch.



Did you notice that we are now "The New Lunch Lady Dot Com?"  Yeah, well, The plain old Lunch Lady dot com was taken.  Since I'm not really like the cafeteria lunch lady anyway, it suits me just fine. You don't see a resemblance do you?

Invite your friends over!

Sweating already,
The Lunch Lady

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Sweet!






I never liked sweet potatoes (otherwise known as yams) till maybe 5 years ago.  It was at a Thanksgiving in NJ one year that cousin Claudia made baked sweet potatoes wrapped in foil.  I'm not sure why I even put one on my plate but I'm glad I did. It was heavenly.

I'm sure cousin Claudia is completely unaware, even now, that she is solely responsible for my liking sweet potatoes. 

It goes to show, that our taste buds DO change!

Cousin Claudia? Do you even read my blog? Do you even know I HAVE a blog?




Sweet potatoes are very high in beta-carotene and significantly raise our blood levels of Vitamin A.  It's recommended that you steam or boil them to get the full nutritional benefits from them, but I honestly love the sweet caramelizing flavor of a baked sweet potato. There's just NO comparsion!

These lovely beauties (okay, they aren't particularly beautiful) also have antioxidant properties and anti-inflammatory nutrients as well as the ability to help regulate blood sugar levels. Who knew?

I've been buying organic sweet potatoes in 3 pound bags (5ish potatoes) and baking them all at once.  Then I can eat them all week long for lunch.



Baked sweet potatoes are super easy to make.

Just wash, poke with a fork, and place in a hot oven for 45ish minutes (depends on how big they are.)

Notice my foil "tray?"  Sweet potatoes leak their sugary yumminess during baking. I like to catch the drips on a piece of foil that I can fold up and throw away.  Not very "green" of me. Sorry world. (I know some folks wrap the potatoes in foil but I'm trying to avoid too much aluminum contact with the foods I eat)



Add a dollop of butter, a sprinkle of sea salt, and serve with a nice crunchy organic salad full of raw veggies for a delicious healthy lunch!

How sweet it is and just SKIP the marshmallows, okay?
The Lunch Lady

Monday, February 21, 2011

Amish trippin'



















Last week we took a field trip to Millers Natural Foods in Bird-in-Hand, PA. It's in the heart of Lancaster County which means "Amish Country" for all of you non-Pennsylvaniers.

It's also where we saw this. I'm still laughing. It's great!

The store is about a 30 minute drive; half highway, half back country roads filled with horse & buggies.

It's beautiful country. Open skies, big farms, windy roads. It's gorgeous in the Spring when everything is green. Lancaster County has some of the most fertile soil in all of the U.S.


All photos were taken in a moving car by this handsome dude who prefers to be behind the camera instead of in front of it.

Nice job L1.

You know your mama loves you.

Even if you don't like having your picture taken.

I'll keep taking your picture anyway.

You are too cute not to share. Have I embarrassed you yet? Are you even reading this? (Oh that's right, you aren't "following" me.)

Nevermind.

The Lunch Lady