Celebration Pizza

I crawled back in bed yesterday morning because I got chilled sitting at my computer in the early morning hours. No better way to warm up than to cuddle up next to a warm fuzzy husband under the soft , fuzzy covers. He rolled over, kissed me and said

“16 years ago, my life was changed forever.”

Now many people make jokes about men forgetting anniversaries, but it seems to be an unspeakable horror when a woman does such. I momentarily wracked my computer brain, wondering what in the heck it was that I was supposed to remember. 10 seconds later it clicked and I said
“ I could have you commemorate the event by laying face down in the hallway and I spread the bills around you “

Bob and his fellow Deacon candidates in a gesture of obedience to God

He laughed. What was this momentous occasion you ask ? 16 years ago he was ordained as a Roman Catholic Deacon. 8 years of formation training lead to the point where he formally pledged obedience to the church through our local Bishop. A vow that was sealed with the laying on of hands, the anointing with Holy Oils and would be binding for life.

The actual moment he became a deacon- a fun reflection over his head

I often joke that it was the day I formally accepted his mistress. It is not meant as a sacrilegious statement, but simply a formal acknowledgment that he is as much property of the Roman Catholic Church and God as he is of me. While I am not of his faith path, I understand, respect and support his commitment.

Daddy as a Deacon

And such an anniversary deserves a celebration. Somewhere in the back of my mind I always remember that May 14 th is a special occasion, but rarely can I remember why without prodding in some sort. This nagging detail led me to plan a dinner that was somewhat special- fiddly pizza topped with roast veggies !


What is fiddly pizza ? It is made with a mix of 2 fermented dough mixtures and then additional ingredients to finish it off. I had attempted rolls using a similar technique last week, but found this particular pizza dough recipe on Kath Eats Real food, posted by her husband Matt. I topped it with spinach and roast mushrooms, onions and red peppers , and it was the most delightful feeling dough I have ever worked with and the taste was the best I have ever eaten. Well worth the effort !

Whole wheat Pizza crust ala Matt

Biga
* 150g whole wheat flour (3/4 cup)
* 115g water ( 1/2 cup)
* 5g salt (<1 tsp)

Preferment
* 75g whole wheat flour(1/3 cup)
* 60g water (1/4 cup)
* 1.5g instant yeast (<½ tsp)
* The Rest
* 25g whole wheat flour ( 2 T)
* 25g honey or molasses (1 tbsp.)
* 12.5g olive oil (1 tbsp.)

Dough
1. Stir all ingredients for biga and cover.
2. Stir all ingredients for preferment and cover. (If using active dry yeast, add a full ½
tsp yeast to the water, warmed, and let sit for 15 minutes before adding flour.)
3. Let sit, at room temperature, for 1-12 hours.
4. In a stand mixer outfitted with a dough hook, add the preferment and then the biga on top,
in chunks.
5. Add the honey and olive oil, and then the extra flour.
6. Stir on speed 1 until just combined, about one minute, and then on speed 3-4 for about 3 minutes.
7. Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead by hand for a few minutes.
8. Cover the dough and either place in the fridge for at least six hours or let it rise for at
least one hour.
9. If you refrigerate the dough, let it come to room temperature for 1-2 hours before baking.
10. Preheat your oven to 500*.
11. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a thin circle.
12. Add toppings and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until crust has lightly browned.

It’s important to celebrate life’s events. It makes for memories, family bonds and helps the people in your life know that they are special. Celebrations fuel the soul. Nutrient dense foods fuel the body, and can help you make the most of this thing called life. Weight loss may not happen because of eating them, but they will provide you with the proper nutrition to withstand many diseases that are a part of our modern world. The better we are fueled, the better we feel and perform during all those things that we must do in our worlds. Pizza made with white flour, a ton of cheese and tomato sauce as the only veggie is not such a good fuel. One made with whole grains, less cheese and many vegetables is a better one. Pizza seems to say “hooray ! let’s kick back and enjoy life a little”. If it’s made with healthy ingredients, you know that your body will most likely agree with your attitude.

An affair with Keifer

I want to first off say thank you for all the nice complements ! For many years I have had more than a little interest in something called nutritional healing, and have studied it with herbal medicine , but simply on my own and not in a formal setting. It started when I was first diagnosed as having PCOS and being unable to conceive. For so many years I was told by doctors an others that my life would be so perfect if I just lost weight ( wrong- life happens in spite of what the scale says and losing weight will simply address the physical issues and nothing more). It took a naturopath to find the condition and point out that my weight was a symptom of this condition and not the cause. It is a symtom becase of the way the body metabolizes food in PCOS , but ironically weight loss helps to bring the other symptoms under control. When he explained how a diet specifically focusing on certain nutrients addressed the metabolic issue , that made me very curious as to why. It was obvious that this thing called nutrition could do a lot more than just build strong bones and muscles, and I stated to study everything I could get my hands on about it. After Nick was born and autism entered our lives, nutritional healing once again became a factor. Could supplements and diet reverse this problem ? Turns out that it can make a dramatic difference. If it were not for evening primrose oil supplements, Nick would had been lost still and weight loss would have never been possible for him in the first place. Proper nutrition, addressing what a body lacks, can work a miracle.

There is food, and there is food. The longer I am on this journey, the more I am reminded at every turn of the importance of high quality, nutrient dense real food. One thing new to me is the concept of soaking grains before use in cooking. Soaking helps break down the grain and allows it to become more digestible. For some people grains are a problem in greater amounts. PCOS patients are amongst those. It has something to do with the metabolism of starch carbs amongst other things. It seems that this can be lessened with soaking the grains. It is one thing that currently is stored in my brain and makes sense but has not come to the level where I can put it into words yet, so let me show you my first experiment into this- steel cut oats soaked in keifer

Yum yum !!! But what is keifer you ask ? No, not the guy in the series 24- it is a cultured milk product similar to yogert.
I will let this web page explain- from keifer.net

"Both kefir and yogurt are cultured milk products...
but they contain different types of beneficial bacteria. Yogurt contains
transient beneficial bacteria that keep the digestive system clean and
provide food for the friendly bacteria that reside there. But kefir can
actually colonize the intestinal tract, a feat that yogurt cannot match.
Kefir contains several major strains of friendly bacteria not commonly
found in yogurt, Lactobacillus Caucasus, Leuconostoc, Acetobacter species,
and Streptococcus species.It also contains beneficial yeasts, such as
Saccharomyces kefir and Torula kefir, which dominate, control and
eliminate destructive pathogenic yeasts in the body. They do so by
penetrating the mucosal lining where unhealthy yeast and bacteria reside,
forming a virtual SWAT team that housecleans and strengthens the
intestines. Hence, the body becomes more efficient in resisting such
pathogens as E. coli and intestinal parasites.
Kefir's active yeast and bacteria provide more nutritive value than
yogurt by helping digest the foods that you eat and by keeping the colon
environment clean and healthy.Because the curd size of kefir is smaller
than yogurt, it is also easier to digest, which makes it a particularly
excellent, nutritious food for babies, the elderly and people experiencing
chronic fatigue and digestive disorders. "

It is thick , but not quite as thick as sour cream. Like yogert it has a "twangy " taste but it is more liquid than yogurt. To me this is a little easier to work with in a recipe , as it easily pours much like buttermilk. Here is the recipe I used for the dish:

Overnight oats with keifer

1 part steel cut oats
3 to 5 parts keifer
1 cup blueberries
1 t cinnamon

Place in fridge overnight or up to 24 hrs. In the morning add 1/3 cup
dried fruit and place in a greased casserole dish.Bake covered at 375
for 40 minutes

Not exactly a quick cook, but very yummy and filling. I was a little concerned that Nick might protest the twang without some major kind of sweetening, but he loved the taste. This one will be repeated in the future.

Lunch was an attempt to use up some leftovers from the night before, and it worked

A Thomas Lite multigrain English muffin spread with red pepper hummus, topped with leftover roast vegetables and mozzarella cheese , then baked at 400 for 10 minutes. Mini roast veggie pizzas ! I was out of wraps, so these worked just fine.

Today begins a celebration of one of the eight holidays in my spiritual tradition and I wanted to get the shopping and chopping done early so Saturday would be totally free for fun. We did our grocery shopping in the evening and grabbed a quick dinner out. I had a barbecue chicken sandwich and was reminded of my love hate relationship with barbecue sauce. I love the taste, but it gives me heartburn almost instantly. I should have grabbed soup or salad instead.

Deli at home

Spring brings the blossoming of road construction in our area. We are in the outer suburbs of Chicago, and distances are not measured in mileage, but in time. Bob serves at one church 30 minutes away , and another 20 minutes in the opposite direction. When the commute to the 30 minute church is impacted by road construction, that route can expand to an hour commute each way. If that happens on a Saturday it means rather than having him and the car until 3 pm, we only have the opportunity till 2 pm, so you have to re-think some things. This was the first week of construction, and we decided to air on the side of caution, streamline as much as we can to afford him an ample enough window of time to deal with whatever road construction tossed his way.
We started the day with pumpkin oats- one of my personal favorite oat mixes. For 3 people I combine 3 cups of water, 2 T raisins, a small can of solid pack pumpkin, 1T cinnamon and 1 1/2 cups rolled oats. Cook till the oats are thick , place in a bowl with a spoonful of peanut butter, a tablespoon of flax, tablespoon of coconut, tablespoon of cranberries and tablespoon of slivered almonds.I think I am a kid at heart, because I love to mix things together in a bowl. It's like playing with food !

Then it was off to handle grocery shopping. Three stops, a list that suggested it would be easier just to move to a farm than shop, and three people. We have become a very efficient shopping machine ! I print out a list for each person to follow , and we all head off to gather our items. We come home and everyone has their own rolls in the putting away process. Normally we eat lunch at our produce market, but this day in the interest of time we decided to create a deli at home, using the last of the salads from the previous week and a few additions

Turkey pastrami with provolone on a pretzel roll ( these in NO WAY classify as healthy , but something Bob ADORES, so better to incorporate them in some way than avoid them and bring on a binge). It was met with a Beet Salad ( cabbage, shredded beets and carrots) Colorful Salad( broccoli, corn, red and orange peppers) and Quinoa Bean salad, a few remaining celery and carrot sticks and a handful of garlic pita chips. This was my first time trying these , and I love them ! Chip satisfaction with a lot less fat and sodium . I kept thinking these paired with hummus would be a great contribution to an time a munchie was called for.

The afternoon found me chopping, chopping, chopping ( another 3 hour session), and then finally dinner
Romaine and watercress topped with papaya,pineapple, mango, honeydew, strawberries and cantaloupe. Main course was roast veggie pizza on a high fiber wrap ( green peppers, broccoli, carrots and mozzarella cheese. Somehow I neglected to put mushrooms on the list ! I thought it was very odd that we were buying no mushrooms, but decided to trust the list I made. I hope I do not find some meals to be seriously lacking in flavor because of this !

I was an expert parent , and then I had a baby

18 years ago this morning , as I lay in a labor room instructing my OB and his side kick surgeon on exactly how I wished for my C Section incision to be done, I thought I knew what it was going to be like being a mom. I was never going to say most of the things my parents said- gems like "when you are living in your own home you can do ..... but not while you are under my roof" and "because I said so" and a million other things. I was going to be a hip, cool mom who put her son in preschool and then spent the next 14 or so years as a room mother, teachers assistant and so forth.I was going to nurse my son for the first year of life exclusively, then feed him only home made baby food and I would never, ever, EVER have an overweight child.

Then my son was born and the moment he entered the world, everything changed. The world had grown by 2 feet, 11 lbs 14 oz and 23 1/2 inches. My heart grew bigger than I could ever imagined and now seemed to be living outside of my body in a complex little package that was going to challenge everything I knew about virtually everything. In many ways I had given birth to my greatest teacher of all, who had a bag of lessons I had only head whispered about , and inaccurately so. It was indeed a red letter day.

And like any red letter day, it requires celebration. House rules are that when it is your birthday you can pick the meal and activity of your choice, so later today we will be eating some celebratory food and handing out gifts. One odd gift I will be giving is his collection of baby teeth. I saved every one of them with the intention of giving them to him on his 18th birthday. I never imagined how fast that day would come. I don't think anyone realizes when that day is out our windshelid. You blink , and then it is suddenly in your rear view mirror.

Meanwhile, yesterday was spent shopping , chopping, prepping and ...didn't I just finish these kind of tasks ????

Breakfast was fruity oatmeal- rolled oats cooked with pear, apple and blueberries.A morning of assorted household tasks and then off to the stores to shop. By lunchtime we were at our produce store and broke for lunch. I spotted an offering that made me feel nostalgic , and I decided that I would take a stroll down food memory lane with

a pepper and egg sandwich ! I grew up in Chicago and it's inner suburbs , and there were a billion corner hot dog stands. Every year during Lent on Fridays ( and some throughout the year) , all stands would offer pepper and egg sandwiches. It's simply scrambled eggs and sweet peppers served on a roll, but it is really good. Eggs are not the villains that they were wrongly painted to be a few years back. Eggs are a good source of protein, inexpensive and a lot less fat than a sausage sandwich, beef sandwich, burger or so on. There is little chance of running into chemical additives and so forth with an egg. It pretty much comes out of the chicken, is inspected to insure it is infertile and then sent to your market. It struck me as interesting that this was possibly the most unhealthy thing I have eaten in the last 6 weeks. The white bread roll and incredibly sparse vegetables made it unhealthy, but a lot better than some of the possible choices.

After an afternoon of chopping ( how many calories are burned from 4 hours of solid chopping ???) we had our current favorite Saturday Night meal. Roast veggie pizza on a high fiber tortilla ( roast broccoli, red pepper, mushrooms and onions at 350 for 30 minutes and then place on a high fiber tortilla with tomato sauce and a quarter cup mozzarella cheese and bake at 400 for 7 minutes or till the cheese melts). On the side was a salad of romaine and watercress with fresh pineapple cubes, sliced strawberries, blackberries and blueberries. Fruit salad on greens is DEE-liscious !

And thus begins Holy Week. While I am not christian, Bob is and a church music minister. Holy Week is high drama, complex music, extra rehearsals and a lot of frazzled nerves. He is taking some vacation time to cope with the onslaught and I have tried to plan nutrient rich foods to help fuel him through this. We also have plans for some get you to sweat activity to help in the process. May it be a good one for all !