Pizza Nights!

This recipe makes great pizza dough and is super easy! I've made it both by hand kneading and with our stand mixer, and its worth it either way (albeit faster with the mixer)! The original recipe is from Crazy Plates by Janet & Greta Podleski but we've done some tweaking over the years. It's one of our favourites, and though it requires a little bit of pre-planning it gives a lot of options. The recipes are collected from many of our pizza nights, hence them magically going from only a bit whole wheat to totally and back again!

You'll need:
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (aka 1 package if you roll that way)
1 cup warm water
1 tbsp honey - I just estimate since its too messy to measure
1 tsp salt
2-2.5 cups flour
(minimum 1/2 cup whole wheat, but we've done it
almost all whole wheat - just add some extra water)
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil - again I just estimate to save on dishes!


Start by mixing the honey into the warm water, and then put the yeast in and let it sit for a few minutes to get frothy - like in the handy dandy picture! Then add the salt and olive oil.


Next add 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour and of the regular flour, and start mixing.
Add another cup of flour and keep mixing - that's usually enough for us. But, use some more if it's too sticky. Then knead it until its smooth and elastic-y.


Spray the bowl with some non stick spray and cover it and leave it alone somewhere warm and non-breezy for at least an hour. I try and make the dough in the morning before work, so it's ready for us when we get home.


Later on it should look like this!!


The cool thing about this recipe, is that it can make 2 thinner crust pizzas, or 1 thicker crust pizzas, depending on what you feel like, or how many toppings you have on hand. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Punch the dough down and form your pizzas and put them on sprayed pans. Add your toppings. And bake for 10-15 minutes depending on your oven, rotating them if you have two.

Here are some of the combos we've done recently:

Pasta sauce, cheddar cheese, jalepenos, tomatoes.

Buffalo sauce, bacon, green peppers, jalepenos, cheddar, cilantro 

Pesto sauce, chicken, caramelized onions and feta

Pasta sauce, mushrooms, tomatoes, cheddar salami

Some other things we've tried: Bbq sauce, salsa as sauce, taco meat, chorizo, capers, fresh mozerella and even making our own stuffed crust! Let us know what you try out! 

Mapo Tofu and Beef and Broccoli

Last year we decided to try and perfect a recipe each so that we'd have an easy go to dinner when we needed one. We decided on Mapo Tofu and Beef and Broccoli. We each researched some recipes and drew from our experience eating the dishes. We made it every few weeks for a couple months in order to try out new ideas and get it pretty set in our memories. The two recipes are a nice compliment to each other, and they take about the same amount of time to make, so with each of us making one it works out well. It's a bit hard to take pictures while its all happening so fast, but I think there's enough to get the idea.

Note: All our measurements are very loose, but I tried to guesstimate to give a starting point. If you don't have some of the stuff, thats okay, feel free to add, subtract, replace etc.

MaPo Topu
1 lb container Tofu
2-3 tbsp black bean in garlic sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1-2 tbsp grated ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp sambal oelek (spicy)
2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp corn starch
optional 1/4 lb ground pork

Beef and Broccoli
1/2 lb flank steak cut thinly
2 bunches of fresh broccoli
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp black bean in garlic sauce
2 tbsp sambal oelek (spicy)
2-3 tbsp grated ginger
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

Mapo Tofu: 
Drain and cube the tofu. Add the corn starch to the chicken broth in a small bowl. For the chicken broth I just use the powder and mix it with water in the ratio the package says. Mix it up well and set aside. Add all of the rest of the sauce ingredients to the tofu and stir together (see photo above). If you using the ground pork - I only do if we happen to have some - cook in pan until its done and then pour the soy sauce on it. Then add the tofu to the pan (with the pork if using) cook until it warms all the way through 3-5 minutes probably. Then add the broth and cornstarch mixture. Boil until the sauce gets nice and thick.

Beef and Broccoli:
Cut the beef thinly. It's easier to do if it is a tiny bit frozen. Sometimes when we get a big piece from the store, we'll pre-slice it and freeze it in the right portions, which makes it easier later. Add all of the sauce mixture to the beef and let it sit for a minute while you deal with the broccoli. Cut up the broccoli - we like to have more broccoli than beef. Cut it into bit size pieces and then cook it for a few minutes in a non stick pan with some water to steam it a bit. We usually do this for about 5 minutes so that there's still some crunch in the broccoli. I don't have a picture of this part. Remove the broccoli and set aside for a minute.  Next cook the beef in the same pan you cooked the broccoli in. (see photo above) 

Once the beef is cooked through, add the broccoli back in and stir it around for a minute or so to soak up the extra sauce. 

We tend to make jasmine rice with it, and by starting it at the beginning, it usually works out that everything is done about the same time. It makes a very tasty and rounded dinner, that only takes about 20 minutes, which is great for work nights. Let us know if you give it a try, we'd love to hear what you do differently and what you think of it! 

Homemade Pesto

Last weekend we went to one of the local farmer's markets to see what was going on. There were alot of strawberries and some citrus as well as winter stuff like potatoes and leeks. We found a stall that had these really lovely bunches of freshly picked organic basil. And at $2, we decided to get a bunch and try making some pesto!


Here is what we used
2 cups fresh basil
1/4-1/2 cup slivered almonds
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2ish cup of olive oil


We added the oil and lemon juice to the garlic and pine nuts, then blend/cusinart it until it's not as lumpy. then add in the basil leaves and mix, and finally the parmesan. You probably could do it all in one go, but we did it in steps.

It was very nice, some little crunchy bits and the flavour of the fresh basil was awesome. We ate it all week in wraps and on pasta. You can freeze it, but you're supposed to leave the cheese out in that case.