Just a quick note today to announce that once again, one of my stories has been accepted for publication in the Columbia Chapter of the Missouri Writers’ Guild’s annual collection of poetry and prose! “Well Versed 2020” makes it’s debut this Saturday, June 13th! My story, “The Eyes of Love” is among the entries chosen for this year’s book.
I was honored to be chosen for publication in this anthology last year (Well Versed 2019) with a story called, “The Brown Wedding Dress” a true-life depiction giving but a snippet of the great love story of my Aunt Martha and Uncle George who were married over eighty years and shared a life and love that I was privileged to witness and record.
I share more of their story this year with “The Eyes of Love” which tells of a horrifying incident that occurred shortly after they married and which, though it brought them shock, pain and responsibilities that any of us would shrink from, drew them into a greater knowledge of love’s sacrifices and brought healing to Martha’s soul.
My apologies for being so late with this announcement. It seems there’s something about keeping a five-month-old while in the midst of this kitchen remodel that keeps me from getting things done quite the way I’d like.
Further apologies for having to announce that if you’d like a copy, you will have to email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com no later than Friday, June 12. (I told you I was behind on things!) They are $11 and if you need me to ship it to you, they will be $14 if you’d like to get one directly from me. You may also respond to my Facebook announcement in the comments. They will be available on Amazon at a later date.
Mine is one of the many contributions to this anthology and I offer my congratulations to all the other contributors!
If you’d like to have get to know Martha and her family members, glimpses into their lives are found along with other family stories can be found right here on my “Laugh” page.
We still have no kitchen as we live in this cluttered world of hitches and compromises. So, you may ask, how does a Trim Healthy Mama who is dedicated to eating healthy managing to keep on track during all this? Let me introduce you to my Not-A-Kitchen!
These photos are really embarrassing, but hopefully will make the end reveal all the more glorious. And, please forgive the spastic decorating. I find that as things change, I keep poking things onto empty nails “for now” and the house is starting to look like I’ve lost my marbles. The chairs will go also – just gotta give Smuffy the time to get my new old ones re-done. Poor fella.
I’m hoping the reveal of this mess may help someone else who is going through something similar and knows that you can’t eat out all the time – not if you want to be trim, healthy and pay for a renovation! The last thing we need around here is for me or Smuffy to get sick in the middle of the remodel. That happened to us years ago and I still have PTKSS (Post Traumatic Kitchen Stall Syndrome) from that experience that put us three weeks behind and left us with a two-year-old and nothing – nothing – but a microwave in the otherwise empty kitchen for the whole time.
I followed my original plan for daily function by shoving my dining room table as far over as possible to make room for incoming cabinets and then filling it with everything we’d be needing on a daily basis. I covered it with a felt-backed vinyl tablecloth first so that it would survive the ordeal.
Tall items at the back included a rack of plates and bowls, a spice rack and the mixer. In front of that, I lined up glassware and often used items such as salt and pepper, olive oil and salad vinegar, nuts, jars of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and other things we grab to snack on and, of course, my big, fat jar of Dutch cocoa powder because, though I may not have a kitchen, I’ve gotta live!
I left an empty strip along the front for food prep and placed a cutting mat there. This area also serves to hold the hot plate, crock-pot or whatever else may be in use at times when Smuffy is pounding away and I can’t get into the kitchen at all.
Smuffy had built huge new drawers for the new kitchen, but prior to them being installed, I stacked them on one another and filled the top one with flatware and utensils so they’d be in easy reach. Needless to say, we fill our plates and head into the living room to eat.
My “buffet” (I think this is, in reality, a gentleman’s dresser that has seen changes over time) now serves as Appliance Row with the food processor, blender and toaster oven perched atop a towel and ready to go when I need them. One of my old wall cabinets got its doors removed and is shoved against a wall and filled with plasticware and other food prep items we might want to grab.
Over in the “new” kitchen, once Smuffy got the base cabinets in, I was relieved to find that the holes in the tops were the perfect size to catch the rims of my cookie sheets! We take our small blessings where we can find them and give thanks for them. I filled in an area and plopped in some cutting boards. Then, as if in direct answer to prayer, Smuffy discovered that one of our old cabinet doors dropped in perfectly to another cabinet top! We celebrated that discovery by placing the hot plate there and felt like we were really getting somewhere! Sort of.
The problem remained that we had no water. Family came to the rescue, sending us jugs of drinking water, but as for rinsing things for the dishwasher and washing up anything extra, we were running back and forth to the bathtub.
That is, until that glorious day! Smuffy, that man of many talents, installed a true farmhouse sink!
I’m feeling mighty stylish over here! This is where we stand until countertops are finalized. I love the way he placed the decorative part to the front so I would remember not to insert the grandchild.
Take heart if you are in the midst of a makeover. We’ll get through. When? I have no idea. In the meantime, I’m fixing healthy, balanced meals or pulling out frozen versions of the same that I prepared in advance and stashed in the freezer. In case you didn’t notice the bottle warmer and formula in the photos, I’ll point out that I am caring for my four-month-old grandbaby most days in the midst of it all. I have to admit there are days when I’m just a tad pooped.
If you have a friend in the middle of a renovation and finding themselves disheartened, share this post. It helps to know you’re not alone.
That’s the tour of my Not-A-Kitchen. Stay tuned for what I hope will be next – my pantry and remaining cabinetry and their insides. Then, countertops! I’m expecting to be downright giddy when that happens.
Now I’m leaving you hanging again. I’ll bet this has your curiosity piqued more than back when some of you were wondering who shot J. R. Others will have to do a search on that. Life With Smuffy is never dull. That’s why he has his own page here on the blog. (He’s not all about construction, you know.) If you need adventure and laughs, check that out.
I’ll be sharing some of the meals I made ahead in order to get through this. and some of the ones I was able to whip up without losing my marbles in my Not-A-Kitchen.
Can I have your kitchen remodel ideas? What would you have in your dream kitchen that you don’t have now? Leave a comment!
Our world has changed much these last several weeks and at no time have we been more aware of it so far than in preparing to change how we spend the next three days.
Many have taken a hit because of the corona virus. Some have lost loved ones, some are working exhausting, back-breaking shifts while others only wish they had a job to go to. The rest of us, here in the United States, are plodding along, wondering when we can again spend a day doing something we once took for granted – running errands.
The worldwide celebrations of Passover and The Resurrection of Christ have to rank at the top of the list of things Jews and Christians never thought they’d do without attending the largest faith gathering of the year, not to mention home gatherings to celebrate with family and friends. We thrive when we practice our faith and share our holy days with one another and we’re feeling a bit cheated this year.
I just can’t go along with the idea that these events “got cancelled”! Maybe we’ve forgotten that on the first Passover, Hebrew families were huddled, each in their own dwelling, partaking of a meal as instructed by God in order that the angel of death might pass over. And what happened the following morning? They were set free from cruel taskmasters and the bondage that had been their way of life for four hundred years. Perhaps we’ve forgotten that when Jesus, our Perfect Passover Lamb, lay in His borrowed tomb, all his followers scattered each to their own homes, hiding. No throng gathered at the entrance to that tomb on Sunday morning to celebrate the Big Day. They were, for the most part, each in their homes, confused and scared.
Neither group called it “social distancing”, but when you’re shutting yourself away from deadly plague or staying inside so that no one recognizes you and reports you to the authorities, it amounts to the same thing and reminds us that our situation is mild in comparison.
If you knew you had the cure for cancer, would you keep it hidden, or would you share it with the world, hoping to save even one who might listen?
I believe there’s an answer. I won’t tell anyone else what they must believe, but neither will I hide “the Cure” when people all over the world are suffering.
I believe in the loving God who calls his people to pray and then answers. I believe Scriptures hold examples, instructions and insights on how to pray. I believe in “standing on the promises” as the old hymn goes! I believe now is the time, this special weekend, when we’ve been offered a quiet time with just those few closest to us, to pray like we’ve never prayed before – to be bold in coming before God’s throne to ask that this plague on our health and our economy might “pass over”!
I’m asking my readers to join me and to SHARE this prayer right away with all your friends and family so that we can stand on these promises together, fasten our spiritual seat belts and see what the Deliverer will do if we will but ask. Scripture references are included to encourage you to delve into God’s Word and see what He promises (and also so you won’t think I’ve been nipping into the hand sanitizer).
I hope this has inspired you to pray and believe for an answer. I encourage you to print this out and read it aloud together with those you celebrate with this weekend. I’ve included a FREE easy-to-read PRINTABLE HERE.
Wherever you are, may you have a Blessed Passover and a Glorious Resurrection Day and may we celebrate next year together!
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” —Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV)
How have you adapted your celebrations during this season of social distancing? What great food ideas have you invented because you might not have been able to get your hands on the usual ingredients? How have you decorated when you haven’t been able to acquire a few new things? Leave a comment and give us all your tips!
Do you tend to procrastinate when preparing for the holidays? Midwest Storyteller wants to knock one thing off your list and help you get prepared. I’m one of those people who likes to take one season at a time. I love to decorate for fall and I love celebrating Thanksgiving from its current blessings all the way back to its historical roots in Plymouth Colony. Only after that am I in the mood for Bing Crosby, shopping and decorating.
However, since December’s First Friday will fall on the 6th, that seemed almost a week late for me to offer you this and then send it out. Take a look at November’s First Friday Freebie –
I’ve bundled these
great gift tags together to help you spiff up all those bags and packages for
Christmas, birthdays and more. There are
56 in all. Each package contains eight
fancy gift tags and I’ve even thrown in some of my own homemade creations. You can recognize those by the ribbon ties.
These fun tags are from madeforretail.com and Allinthecards and I think I’ve chosen a great array for you. The set includes bronze and silver glittered tags, various shapes in silver foil prints, rose gold borders, stripes, polka dots, chevrons, the water color add-on pack along with my own Christmas versions. With strings and ribbons attached, they are ready to add to your boxes and bags. The majority are “all occasion” rather than seasonal which always makes life easier. You can always enhance them or make them more seasonal with press-on jewels, stickers or other fun art. The kiddos would love to do that!
If you’d like to
win the collection of 56 fabulous tags, all you have to do is leave a comment on
this blog post saying, “Tag me, Midwest Storyteller!”
You’ll need to do
that before midnight TONIGHT, November 1st, 2019!
Important: Once you’ve entered, you MUST keep checking
the email address you used to subscribe or you may not know you’ve won and have
to forfeit your free gift. Also,
remember that this particular comment must be made here on the blog post and
not on Facebook or other social media sites.
My Freebies always
happen on the First Friday of each month and last for one day only. Spread the word to your friends and family
TODAY through social media, send them the link in an email or just tell them, “It’s
Freebie Day!”
Make your way to
the comment section now before you forget!
That, my friends, starts to happen more often as the holiday season gets
busy.
First Friday Freebies
are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY. You’ll
find a subscription area in the right sidebar or you can use the menu to
navigate to the “Contact” page and subscribe to Midwest Storyteller
if you haven’t done so already. Confirming your subscription through the
confirmation email you’ll receive is absolutely necessary, so don’t forget
that!
The Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest icons on this page are there to help you
share.
Past gifts and their happy winners are on my “Freebies”page.
Remember, a winner
will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight
by leaving a comment which says, “Tag me, Midwest Storyteller!”
I send Freebies to any winner who lives within the continental United States. For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, CLICK HERE.
Glitches
happen. If you subscribe and do not
receive a confirmation email for some reason, please email me and let me know
at barb@midweststoryteller.com
I’m thankful for
each and every one of you. As we enter
into this special season of Thanksgiving, make it a habit to tell the special people
in your life that they are a blessing!
My readers loved this month’s First Friday Freebie. I had people contacting me to ask where they could get one of these for themselves or a friend.
Only
one person, however, could be the recipient of this great scarf for free. Let’s meet –
Sandy
from Boonville, Missouri
This wonderful
infinity scarf with a hidden pocket will be just right for all your outings
this fall, Sandy. The pocket with zipper
closure is ample in size to accommodate your keys, phone, passport or whatever
you want to tuck away so you can be hands-free to go for a walk, romp with the
kiddos or hop on a plane.
Sandy
followed the instructions and commented as when she received her email on the
first Friday of the month. That’s all it
took to enter her name into the drawing.
Freebies
are my way of reaching out to more folks who might enjoy the various stories,
recipes and more here at Midwest Storyteller.
Why not share with all your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
Pinterest so they’ll be able to subscribe?
Subscribing is every bit as free as the freebie!
Freebies happen every month. Check out my Freebies pageto see the winner and the free gifts they’ve won.
The November drawing is coming on up Friday, November 1st.
A
winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight on
the day of the drawing by leaving a comment as instructed in the post.
REMEMBER: Should your name be drawn as the winner, you
will be notified via the email you used to subscribe. That means you’ll need to check your email
often in the week following the drawing so that you can respond and keep the
prize from being offered to someone else.
Be sure to take a moment make yourself familiar with the Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.
These
four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on November 1st,
2019.
Leave
a comment! On a desktop computer, scroll
back up under the title of this post and let me know what you’re thinking. On various devices, you may find “Leave a
Comment” at the bottom of the post.
The month of September and summer have slipped past in a whirlwind. So much so that here it is October and I am just announcing September’s First Friday Freebie winner. Have you forgotten these beautiful “paper” earrings?
No, I didn’t forget to give them away. They found their new home soon enough – it was the announcement that lagged.
Let’s meet the winner and wearer –
Ginger
from Prairie Home, Missouri
They look just great on you, Ginger! At their core, these lovely earrings really are paper. Many steps are included in the process that transforms them so that they look like metal under glass. You can see the original post offering the earrings here.
Congratulations,
Ginger, and enjoy!
All
Ginger had to do was comment as directed when she received her email on the
first Friday of the month. That’s all it
took to enter her name into the drawing.
Freebies
are my way of reaching out to more folks who might enjoy the various stories,
recipes and more here at Midwest Storyteller.
Why not share with all your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
Pinterest so they’ll be able to subscribe?
Subscribing is every bit as free as the freebie!
Freebies happen every month. You might be wondering if the gifts are worth the effort. Check out my Freebies pageto see the winner and the free gifts they’ve won.
The October drawing is coming on up Friday, October
4th.
A
winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight on
the day of the drawing by leaving a comment as instructed in the post.
An
important thing to remember is that should your name be drawn as the winner,
you will be notified via the email you used to subscribe. That means you’ll need to check your email
often in the week following the drawing so that you can respond and keep the
prize from being offered to someone else.
Be sure to take a moment make yourself familiar with the Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.
These
four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on October 4th,
2019.
Leave a comment! Have you ever tried making your own jewelry? I’d love to hear your creative ideas!
We welcomed August with a pineapple, a symbol of welcome, or perhaps not, as we discussed in the original post. Let’s see who won the drawing for the First Friday Freebie and welcomed it into their home –
Eva
from New Franklin, Missouri!
This shabby little bit of metal décor from Hobby Lobby will liven up Eva’s walls, that is, if her daughter doesn’t latch onto it for her own room. I’m told she’s enjoying a pineapple craze at the moment. Do teenagers do that?
Congratulations and enjoy, Eva – whichever one of you ends up with it!
Eva has entered to win multiple times as one of my faithful subscribers. She commented as instructed when she received her email on the first Friday of the month. That’s all it took to enter her name into the drawing.
Freebies are my way of reaching out to more folks who might enjoy the various stories, recipes and more here at Midwest Storyteller. Seriously now, would you want one of your friends to miss an episode of my Life with Smuffy? Why not share with all your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest so they’ll be able to subscribe? Subscribing is every bit as free as the freebie!
Freebies happen every month. Check out my Freebies pageto see the winner and the free gifts they’ve won.
The August drawing is coming on up Friday, September
6th.
A
winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight on
the day of the drawing by leaving a comment as instructed in the post.
An
important thing to remember is that should your name be drawn as the winner,
you will be notified via the email you used to subscribe. That means you’ll need to check your email
often in the days following the drawing so that you can respond and keep the
prize from being offered to someone else.
Be sure to take a moment make yourself familiar with the Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.
These
four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on September 6th,
2019.
Leave
a comment! On a desktop computer, scroll
back up under the title of this post and let me know what you’re thinking. On various devices, you may find “Leave a
Comment” at the bottom of the post.
We’ve been in celebration mode around here and midnight approaches as I type this post. Independence Day is big stuff in our family. Not only is it the birthday of the Good Ole’ USA – it’s Smuffy’s birthday as well. I’m afraid the announcement of July’s First Friday Freebie has only existed in the recesses of my mind due to all the other things at the top of my list.
Now that the fireworks ash has settled, let’s take a look at July’s Freebie –
Everyone loves a little word art these days and this bit of wood and metal is just the thing to remind us that the smallest things in life that bring us the most joy. When we lose the ability to appreciate a baby’s cooing, a flaming sunset, the purring of a kitten or the idea of winning a gift we can keep for ourselves or give away to bless someone else, we likely have become obsessed with things that don’t really matter in the long run.
This 6”X6” wooden reverse box-top is deep enough to sit on a shelf without toppling if you choose not to hang it on the wall and the raised metal lettering is eye-catching and stylish for anyone’s décor. I left the corner protectors on for this photo, but you get the idea.
All my Freebies
occur on the First Friday of each month and last for one day only, so share
with all your friends and family TODAY through social media, that dinosaur of a
thing called email or that rarely used technique of communicating called
conversation.
Good intentions
will not help you enter to win before midnight tonight so you had better
navigate to the comment section now and do that before you forget!
To enter to win
the wood and metal reverse box-top décor, all you need to do is “Leave a
Comment” on this post, saying, “I enjoy the little freebies!” You’ll need to do that before midnight
TONIGHT, June 5th, 2019!
First Friday
Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.
You can subscribe by going to the right sidebar or use the menu to
navigate to the “Contact” page and subscribe to Midwest Storyteller
if you haven’t done so already.
Confirming your subscription through the confirmation email you’ll
receive is absolutely necessary, so don’t forget that!
Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest are great ways to share First Friday Freebies
with your friends. They won’t know if
you don’t tell them!
Subscribers win every single month! See past gifts and their winners on my “Freebies”page.
Remember, a winner
will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight
by leaving a comment which says, “I enjoy the little freebies!”
I send First Friday Freebies out to any winner who lives within the continental United States. For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, CLICK HERE.
Glitches
happen. If you subscribe and do not
receive a confirmation email for some reason, please email me and let me know
at barb@midweststoryteller.com
Freebies last one
day only! Enter now so you don’t forget!
We’ll never be able to say that it doesn’t pay to try, try and try again. Let’s meet (again) the latest winner of my First Friday Freebie –
Donna
from Bunceton, Missouri!
I
would like to start out by saying (“scout’s honor” if I had been any sort of
scout, but I wasn’t, so you’ll have to take me at my word) that this monthly
drawing is not rigged. Perhaps you’ve
noticed that Donna has now won the First Friday Freebie three times. Perhaps you
didn’t notice, and in that case, I’m sorry I brought the whole thing up.
The
other thing that maybe some of you know and many of you don’t is that Donna is
also my sister! There is nothing in the
rules that says that my relatives can’t enter to win, but this is getting
ridiculous! No matter how I adjust my
poker face, or display the backs of the little slips of paper with entries
written on them, Smuffy’s hand just randomly snatches Donna’s name out every so
often as though by some magnetic force.
Anyway,
congratulations, Donna!
I hope you enjoy your set of handcrafted, up-cycled, sparkly gift bags and I hope they bring joy to whomever you bless when you give them away with gifts inside.
The gift bags were an art project of mine. If you’d like to see how I take store merchandizing bags and turn them into beautiful gift bags, click here. To see the original freebie offer, click here.
To all my readers, I’d like you to climb on board the “Stop Donna Express”! I can only think of one way to stop my sister from becoming like one of those Jeopardy contestants who just can’t seem to go home and that is if YOU lower her odds by entering to win and share Midwest Storyteller with all your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest (or be old fashioned about it and tell them to subscribe so they’ll be able do the same. Subscribers receive an email on the first Friday each month reminding them to leave a comment that will enter their name in the drawing.
A freebie offer appears the first Friday of every month. Check out my Freebies pageto see the winner and their free gifts they’ve won here at Midwest Storyteller.
June’s drawing is right around the corner – June 7th, to be exact. Donna is bound to enter, but the question is, will you?
I’m offering you two today with FREE printables! (I always aim to please.)
The journey toward
a good gluten-free pancake has been a frustrating one. When I started my clean eating journey, I
couldn’t help but think that all those poor dears out there in cyber-land who
posted their recipes on the internet for the rest of us were living in a state
of such desperate deprivation they no longer knew what a pancake was! If it held to a disc shape and supported a
pat of butter and a drizzle of syrup, they thought they had something.
In the beginning,
I ate no grains at all for three months to give my system a total rest.
I started with coconut flour pancakes. The best coconut flour version I found after much trial and error were made from a recipe by Dr. Bruce Fife in a wonderful book called, “The Coconut-Ketogenic Diet”. I’ve poured over that book and made many of the recipes and contacted Dr. Fife and received permission to share short quotes and recipes here on the blog. We’ll save that for another day as we are on the subject of sourdough. I mean no disrespect to Dr. Fife when I say (while I linger upon this tangent for a few more seconds) that this is a really bad title for a really great book! It should be called something like, “A Manual for the Human Body and a Bunch of Stuff About Coconuts I Betcha Didn’t Know”. You’ll learn a lot about yourself even if you never follow his weight loss plan . (I didn’t.) You’ll find it right here on Amazon.
Now, let’s take that sourdough starter and make some real pancakes. As always, I tinker with recipes until I feel like they are worthy of passing on to you. This one began with a recipe I found at www.artofgluten-freebaking.com I’ll be going back to that site for more ideas now that these pancakes are such a hit with Smuffy. He says they’re the best pancakes I’ve ever made for him. The original recipe made lots more pancakes, so feel free to double my recipe if you have a large family. I changed a few other things as well as using the Gluten-Free Flour Blend I shared here on the blog.
Another
aggravating situation one finds oneself in when walking away from most grains
is the agony of the unfulfilled pizza craving.
Yes, I know all those people out there are mushing cauliflower together
and calling it pizza crust, but sometimes you just want real pizza – pizza you
can pick up in your hands and bite into its crispy crust instead of forking it.
Again, I found a recipe and started tweaking. This great version of Gluten-free Sourdough Pizza Dough, originally given by Emily at www.fermentingforfoodies.com got me off to a great start. With a few changes to align it with my commitment to clean eating, I’m really pleased to be enjoying pizza again.
Pizza and Pancakes – isn’t life grand? Let’s get that sourdough out of the refrigerator and let it poof up on the counter for a couple of hours and get started!
1 tablespoon refined coconut oil, melted and cooled
1 extra-large egg,
beaten
Instructions:
The night before (or at least 2 hours before)
make a “sponge” by mixing the sourdough starter, ¾ cup milk and half the flour
in a large bowl, stirring until combined.
The mixture may have lumps and that’s fine.
When
you are ready to make pancakes or waffles, preheat the griddle to medium-high
or heat the iron.
Mix
the remaining flour, salt, soda, and baking powder together in a bowl and
stir. Add to the sponge, along with the
remaining ingredients and stir until well blended, adding more milk if needed.
For
pancakes, oil the surface of the griddle with coconut oil and pour 1/3 cup
portions of batter onto the surface, cooking until edges appear dry and bubbles
form over the surface. Flip and cook for
an additional minute.
For
waffles: Grease the iron with oil before
making each waffle. Follow your iron’s
directions, which likely require a cup of batter and five minutes cooking time
for deep pocket waffles.
YIELD: 8 or 9 pancakes.
I’ve actually not made these up into waffles yet, so I can’t testify
as to how they turn out.
Now that we’ve had a fabulous breakfast, let’s move on to pizza!
Mix all ingredients together in a large
bowl. You want a fairly firm dough, so
you may have to add a bit more flour depending on the feel.
Allow
to rest, covered, in a warm place for 2-4 hours.
Divide
into two balls and roll out onto parchment paper. Crusts will be very thin. If you prefer a thicker crust, you may not
want to divide the dough. If you like
thin crust, but don’t want to bake them both at once, wrap one of the dough balls
in parchment paper and then in plastic wrap to freeze until needed. Thaw overnight or for several hours prior to
rolling out for baking.
Pre-bake
the crusts in pre-heated 425° Fahrenheit (or 200° Celsius) oven for ten minutes
by placing the parchment directly on the oven racks or on a preheated pizza
stone, whichever way gives you the crispness you desire.
Remove
crusts from the oven and top with your favorite ingredients. Return the pizza to the oven and take an
additional ten minutes or until the cheese is melted and crust is beginning to
brown.
When it comes to pizza, Smuffy is in love with the pizza sauce I make it with my homemade tomato paste from the tomatoes in our garden. Did I mention that Smuffy is the local Tomato King? At least he was last year! Take at look at his tomato patch. It actually got quite a bit bigger than this!
You must know,
however, that while tomato paste is as easy as putting the little darlings in
the food processor, making a puree and then simmering them on the stove until
they are as thick as the paste you buy in the store, there is a down side. It takes a good long while. San Marzano paste tomatoes are ideal, as they
have little juice and speed things up a bit, but still, you’ll need to do it
when you are going to be around the house for a while. Also, I’ve found that two pounds of tomatoes
yields 1 cup of paste – so there’s that to consider.
Once I’ve
slathered my pre-baked crust with ½ to ¾ cup of pizza sauce, I love to go crazy
with the veggies. I mound the pizza high
with fresh spinach (but only my half as Smuffy doesn’t care for it) and then
follow with thin-sliced onions, green pepper, sliced mushrooms, turkey pepperoni
and six ounces of shredded mozzarella.
We prefer turkey pepperoni as it tastes the same to us, yet doesn’t leave a giant grease puddle under each slice. Use anything you like. Here’s one I made with chicken.
If you’ve been
looking for gluten-free options for pancakes and pizza, I think your family
will really like these recipes. Please
comment and let me know! Happy cooking!
Soon I’ll be
sharing a faux-carb pizza dough along with my recipe for home-made pizza sauce
with no sugar or artificial sweeteners. (Try to find that in the stores!)
What’s all the fuss about eating healthy? We shouldn’t just survive, we should thrive! Check out my Thrive! page.
There’s still that
Smuffy story brewing and I think Phoebe June has some thoughts on spring she’d
like to share, so stay with us!
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