A Real Recipe!

Here's a shocker--I'm including a recipe that takes a tad more skill than my previous recipes. I made pizza ymesterday, and I used this for the dough. It was quick, easy, and tasted great. I've found a new favorite.

Super Quick Pizza Dough

Ingredients

• 1 (.25 ounce) package or    2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 1/2 cups bread flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Stir in flour, salt and oil. Beat until smooth. Let rest for 5 minutes.
3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. Transfer crust to a lightly greased pizza pan or baker's peel dusted with cornmeal. Spread with desired toppings and bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let baked pizza cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Don't worry-next week I'll return to recipes that the Mullen girls can handle making!


--Dustin

Roast Vegetables

So I got adventurous at Superstore last week and bought myself a butternut squash and a sweet potato. I also bought red pepper because they happened to be a much better deal than green peppers that day and I remembered to grab a bag of potatoes too. I know what you're thinking. This story has such a fabulous beginning that you can't imagine how amazing the rest of the story will be.
Well, the next day I found myself searching the internet for butternut squash recipes. One of the first ones I came across was a roasted vegetables recipe on allrecipes.com, which had rave reviews. It looked so delicious! I read the ingredients:
-1 small butternut squash (WOW... mine was even small)
-2 red peppers (what are the chances that red is cheaper than green?)
-1 sweet potato (okay...really? This recipe is my destiny)
-3 Yukon Gold Potatoes (well, they aren't Yukon, but the recipe even specifically states that other potatoes can be substituted)
-1 red onion quartered (are you serious?? I don't have onions... something that I ALWAYS have)
-1 Tbsp fresh chopped thyme (1 tsp dried)
-1 Tbsp fresh chopped rosemary(1 tsp dried)
-1/4 cup olive oil
-2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
-salt and freshly ground black pepper

Well, since I had previously decided this was my destiny, I sent Jarom to Liz's house to borrow an onion as I followed the directions:

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine the squash, red bell peppers, sweet potato, and Yukon Gold potatoes. Separate the red onion quarters into pieces, and add them to the mixture.
3. In a small bowl, stir together thyme, rosemary, olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Toss with vegetables until they are coated. Spread evenly on a large roasting pan.
4. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, stirring every 10 minutes, or until vegetables are cooked through and browned.

It was sooo yummy and highly nutritious too:

Amount Per Serving Calories: 123 | Total Fat: 4.7g | Cholesterol: 0mg
(and these are REAL numbers... this is not my husband posting)

Suggestions:
-I took one comments suggestion and put in the peppers 15minutes before done time... this keeps them bright and pretty and a little crisper.
-I think next time I'll use carrots instead of squash as another comment suggested just because my kids weren't big fans of that particular vegetable.
-I threw some cooked seasoned chicken in at the end so I could make it the main course and I think it worked. Of course, it's probably more proper to make some fancy main dish and make this a fancy side dish... but to each his own!