#recipetrials

[reciperesolutions]

A pizza story......

I'm slowly making an effort to clear out my freezer, as I have a bad habit of 'oh I'll save this ingredient to make things convenient later!' and then completely forget it exists. (Sidenote: I'm not really about the refrigerators with glass doors, but freezers with glass doors I could TOTALLY get behind.)

So, I've had this dough in my freezer for a while now. I thought it was pizza dough this whole time...until I pulled it out (with the conveniently also frozen bag of sauce!) to make pizza for dinner and saw that I'd labeled it "pie crust."

I keep a pretty organized freezer, and I can't remember the last time I made pie crust (ever??), whereas I make pizza crust pretty regularly and often freeze it. So I was pretty confident what my label really meant was "pizza pie crust."

Welp. I was wrong. It was absolutely 100% pie crust.

I will say, it made the entire house smell ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL while baking. I mean, pizza smells pretty amazing, but this is when I started really doubting myself, haha. The end result actually wasn't bad, but it was soooooooo rich. I could barely eat two slices...you don't usually pile that much cheese on top of such a buttery base!! It probably would have been great as a real pie crust... But all I can say at this point is, it was, in all reality, truly a "pizza pie" dinner.

No recipe link today, as I can't even begin to imagine where/when/how I made this one, ha!

[reciperesolutions]

Homemade pizza! And the closest I've ever gotten to a pizza pie that actually, by any stretch of the imagination, resembled a circle, haha.

I have an old, very stained pizza dough recipe (I believe it's this one) that has served me well. But this recipe was all about the SAUCE! I've actually posted on this before (here!) but I actually got the ratio of sauce right here, and I used pre-shredded cheese instead of fresh mozzarella--which was definitely the better option for what I was going for. The key is to put WAY LESS sauce than feels right. Like, it should be SOOOO THIN--definitely coating the dough, but downright sparse is correct. I REALLY thought it was going to come out terrible and dry, but my gut was wrong!

I like the pizza sauce recipe I've been using--it's a little on the sweet side, but I think that's controllable, and it's a really good baseline to work with. Cheese quality is tricky since it's shredded and I'm limited to what the supermarkets have--I usually go Sarrgento, which is fine and probably also a good baseline to work with.

So that leaves me with:

Ingredient ratio - perfect!

Pizza sauce - good; workable!

Cheese - good, limited quality options

Dough - good baseline but room for improvement

I'd like to really work to improve each of these components until I have pizza that isn't just 'good for homemade' but is ACTUALLY good. I'm not there yet with this recipe, but I think I can get close (notably without a dedicated pizza oven).

The dough is nice and thin and a great vehicle to deliver the rest of the ingredients but I wouldn't go "ohh that's a REALLY tasty crust"...so a new quest is unlocked! :)

[grainfreeandhappykitchen]

Mango mousse, quick and easy. Trialling this 🧡🧡 #mousse #mangomousse #dessert #recipetrials #grainfree #glutenfree #dairyfree #eggfree #nutfree #fruity #delicious #creamy #nomnom #foodphotography #cblbackdrops #grainfreeandhappykitchen https://www.instagram.com/p/B90QxvdA72u/?igshid=ztzz1qzdokld

[bigblender-blog]

Pistachio and walnut protein bites! Home made in under 6 minutes! Perfect to carry to the gym or on the run. #fitnesslife #healthyrecipes #recipes #productdevelopment #recipedevelopment #recipetrials #healthysnack #snack #snacktime😋 #yogaforever #yogalife #yogaeverywhere #flatabs #healthierme #eatingclean (at Big Blender)

[bigblender-blog]

Flavor, flavor, which flavor will you choose? Experimenting with ingredients to make the yummiest juices and have rainbows of food. #madscientist #recipetrials #recipes #recipedevelopment #juice #juiceitup #healthyforever #rainbow #rainbowoffood #yummy #wakeuptothis #juicy #cleaneating #fitnesslife #delicious #healthyliving #healthyme#breakfast #breakfastofchampions #breakfastlikeaking (at Big Blender)

[tryingtothinkhealthythought-blog]

Rustic Lemonhead Oat bar

Crust -1 cup oat flour [grind oats in a food processor] -1/2 cup wholewheat spelt flour -5 tbsp coconut butter (or replace with nut butter) -1/4 cup rapadura sugar -2tbsp water -pinch of salt Filling -1 cup fresh lemon juice -400ml light coconut milk -2tbsp lemon zest -1/2 cup corn starch -1/2 cup agave syrup*

First make the oat flour and mix with spelt flour, salt and sugar. Add coconut butter in chunks and mix with your hands. Add water and keep mixing until everything is well combined. In a greased baking dish add the oat mix and press with your hands to form the crust. Using a fork pierce the surface of the crust and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes at 180C. Remove from the oven and let it cool. Meanwhile make the lemon filling. In a pot combine agave, coconut milk and cornflour. Whisk until the cornflour is completely dissolved. Add lemon zest. Bring to boil whisking continuously and once it starts to thicken removed from heat. Add lemon juice  and continue stirring for 3 minutes. Let the mixture cool completely and pour over the crust. Chill until set.

*You can also use other sweetener or sugar and adjust to your taste. You might want to use more sweetener as I like the lemon bars with a strong tart flavor.

[tryingtothinkhealthythought-blog]

Chocolate Avocado Strawberry Upside Down Cake

makes one 2 layer 8-inch round cake

For the strawberry topping:

about 2 1/2 cups sliced strawberries

4 T Smart Balance spread (or butter)

1/2 cup brown sugar

Place 2 T of the spread (or butter) each in two 8 inch round cake pans and place in a 350ºF oven until melted.  Swirl around so it coats the edges of the pan and then sprinkle 1/4 cup brown sugar on the bottom of each pan.  Place the strawberries down in a single layer of each pan until they completely cover the bottom.

For the cake:

3 cups white whole wheat flour

7 T cocoa powder

1/2 t salt

2 t baking powder

2 t baking soda

1 1/3 cups agave nectar, maple syrup and honey (equal amounts of each - or just one is also fine!)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup mashed avocado (about 1 medium avocado)

1 cup water

2 T white vinegar

2 t vanilla

Mix together all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all of the wet ingredients and whisk together on medium speed until smooth.  Add in the dry ingredients and mix until smooth.  Pour equal amounts of batter into the two prepared cake pans and smooth out with a spatula.  Bake at 350ºF for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick in center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, and then slide a knife along the edges to loosen.  Invert the bottom layer onto a cake plate.  Spread with ganache and then invert the second layer on top.  Drizzle the rest of the ganache on top, enough so that it drips down the sides.  Chill the cake so that the ganache solidifies a bit or serve immediately.

For the ganache:

about 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate, chopped

1 cup fat free milk (I used lactose free)

1/2 t vanilla

Heat the milk in a small sauce pan over medium heat until just boiling.  Place the chopped chocolate into a medium bowl.  Pour the hot milk over the chocolate and whisk until smooth.  Add in the vanilla and stir.  Allow to chill in the fridge until completely cool before drizzling over the cake.  For a thicker ganache that is more spreadable, use cream in place of milk.

[tryingtothinkhealthythought-blog]

Avocado Chocolate Mousse

makes about 4 servings (2 cups)

  2 ripe avocados, pitted and flesh scooped out

1/4 cup + 2 T cocoa powder

1/3 cup raw agave nectar

1/2 t vanilla

pinch salt

1/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, melted

In a food processor, blend the avocado until smooth and creamy.  Add in the cocoa, agave nectar, vanilla, coconut milk, and salt, and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides when necessary.  Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring in between, and then add to the food processor.  Blend until smooth.  Serve right away, or allow to chill for about an hour.  Serve with fresh fruit, if desired.  Enjoy.