I have been trying out different ways to make a low carb pizza using our whole wheat sourdough starter. Frank and I switched to eating low carb in December 2014, and plan to continue eating that way forever. We have both lost around 45 pounds since we changed our eating habits, and this has changed our lives for the better. Because of this change, I have been experimenting with different low carb meals. Some are a success, some aren't and some need a little more tweaking.
For the crust, I used whole wheat sourdough starter. I put olive oil on the plates, spread out some starter, then baked it for about 15 minutes while I got the toppings ready. I wanted it to be cooked before I added any sauce, so it wouldn't be too wet.
I used some of the tomato sauce we canned a few years ago. I'm trying to use up the last few jars. To the sauce I added salt, pepper, basil, oregano, parsley and some of the garlic we canned a few months back.
The garlic has worked out very well. We have already used one pint and opened a second. I'm thinking we may need to can another batch of 16 pints.
I layered tomato sauce, browned sausage, onions, sweet peppers from the garden and some of our shredded mozzarella.
After it was constructed, the pizza baked for another 10 minutes at 450*.
Our side dish this evening was a bowl of collard and beet greens picked from the garden. We think the turnip greens are better, but collard greens are just fine, too.
The olive oil didn't work very well, and the 'crust' stuck a little. It was also softer or moister than I prefer, but the flavor was good. I think I'll have to try making a dough for the crust sometime, but I'll need to make it in the morning for the evening meal. That will give time for the starter to digest the carbohydrates in the whole wheat flour, which not only reduces the carb load, but releases many useful vitamins and minerals.
Now the final version. What Frank thought. "You can live on it. Maybe after it's tweaked, you could live on it happily."
There are so many different ways to eat healthy. We try to find ways to grow or make our own with everything we eat. There are many, many low carb products on the market, but if it is feasible for us to make our own, we would much rather do so. It's part of choosing. As long as we still have the freedom to choose, we choose not to participate in the processed, prepackaged, chemicalized items corporate America puts on the grocery shelves and calls food. It takes time and effort to learn, produce, and prepare real food, but it is worth it.
Until next time - Fern
A few days ago we made our first batch of tomato sauce (which was really great! It was great to have a dream come true and it tasted good to boot!). We had a little over a quart left over after we filled the canner and decided not to run the canner for a second batch with that little amount. So the next question was, what do we make with the leftover sauce?
Since I am back to work it is nice to have some prepared meals ready and in the freezer for those extra busy days. We like something we can take out and pop in the microwave and heat up quickly. We thought about lasagna, but I don't have any cottage cheese made, so we decided on pizza. I have shown how I make pizza before.This time I just tripled the recipe. I got started later than planned on this Friday evening after a long, busy week, but the grape fiasco
took more time than we planned or wanted it to. By the time I got the
pizzas close to cooking, it was already time to do the chores and feed
the animals.
We were able to use several home grown or homemade items in our pizza which increases our enjoyment of this meal. The mozzarella was made last summer and frozen. The peppers were fresh picked from the garden, I made the dough from scratch and there is our beautiful tomato sauce. We used this roll of sausage that we buy from a young lady at church. The agriculture programs at schools in this neck of the woods sell sausage and bacon each year as a fund raiser and have for years and years. It is good and helps support the local kids so we are glad to buy it.
So, I got two of the pizzas put together while Frank got the items we needed for chores ready. I put the first one in the oven - due to the size of the pans, I can only cook one at a time. That gave us 25 minutes to do the chores and get back to the house, so off we went. When we got back we still had a few minutes left on the timer, so I started to put together pizza number three. Pizza number one came out and number two went in. While pizza number one was cooling a bit, I finished up number three and cleaned up my mess. I am really good at making messes when I cook!
Then we sat down to a late 7:30 dinner while pizza number two was still cooking. Just about the time number two was finished, so were we and I could start pizza number three cooking. While it was cooking I went and started the post on the grape fiasco.
By the time they were all cooked, bagged and ready to be chilled before freezing and the post was written and published it was 9:30 pm - the end of a long 16 1/2 hour day. A very good productive day filled with laughing, learning children, a wonderful peaceful home and good home cooked food. I couldn't asked to be more blessed!
Until next time - Fern
Last night we got the tomatoes cooked and strained. Tonight we finished it off and got it canned.
While I was at work, Frank set the sauce to simmer and thicken. He also washed the jars, lids and rings, set up the water bath canner with hot water simmering, and boiled the water to sterilize the jars. Teamwork is an essential key to a successful marriage and Frank is wonderful. We have always done everything together and it makes all the difference in the world.
So, when I arrived, everything was in order. I only had to change my clothes and we were ready to get the sauce in the canner.
We added 1/2 tsp. of salt and 1/4 tsp. of citric acid powder to each pint jar. This is the same citric acid powder I use when I make mozzarella.
We had more sauce than I thought we would which is wonderful. We filled the water bath canner with seven pints and had a little more than two pints left over. We debated what to do with it and decided it would be a good time to make a few pizzas. That will give us some to eat and some to freeze for later. We have extra mozzarella in the freezer, so tomorrow night we will make a few pizzas with our fresh sauce.
We brought the canner to a full rolling boil, and
processed the sauce for 35 minutes. When it was finished, we took the
lid off and let everything sit for 5 minutes before removing the jars.
Here they are! This is another dream come true. That may sound kind of funny. I think most 'dream come true' situations don't involve a kitchen full of messy tomato processing stuff. But for me, this is another thing I have wanted to learn for a long time. I have said it before, you are never too old to learn something new that may be of use for your family. Even if what I make or try isn't always successful, I learn so much every time. Because of the opportunity to learn, whatever work I put into the task is definitely worth the effort. So.......go try something new!
Until next time - Fern
For all of you that have been wondering about Brave Cat, she is gone. We have not seen her since Monday. We thank you for your thoughts and prayers on her behalf.
Now. On with the tomato sauce. I have never made tomato sauce. It is another item I wanted to learn how to make and our tomato crop cooperated enough that I can try my hand at it. Since I am back at school teaching, I have much less time to tend, pick and process the garden. Thus, I am making my tomato sauce over a two evening time frame.
Last night I picked the garden and added these newly picked tomatoes to the ones I had waiting in the refrigerator.
So, when I got home this afternoon, I got out my Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, and got started. I thought the recipe was odd.
You start off by quartering 6 tomatoes, put them in a large pot and smash them with a potato masher. The first time I read that, I thought it sounded pretty strange. But, you know what? It works great! That's why it's in the Ball canning book, right? Heat these first
tomatoes to boiling, then continue to
quarter and add more tomatoes, smashing them with the potato masher,
keeping them boiling as you go.
We planted some Arkansas Traveler tomatoes this summer. They got off to a late start since we had several late frosts, but they have produced very well. It's hard to show it in a picture, but they are very meaty, but have more of a regular tomato texture than the Roma's we are growing. Oddly enough, I don't like tomatoes. I have tried for years and until we grew these tomatoes, I just thought they were yucky. These, I will eat and I actually enjoy them.
I ended up with more 'stuff' after I added all of the tomatoes than I thought I would, which is great. The recipe says to boil it for 10 minutes to soften the tomatoes.
Next, we ran everything through a strainer that separates the skins and seeds from the meat and juice of the tomato. This gave me the opportunity to use the strainer attachment for my KitchenAid.
I bought it years ago with the hope that I would be able to make things like tomato sauce and it is really neat to finally be able to do so. But because we had never used this attachment, we had to figure it out before we could actually get started.
Once we got everything put together, and figured out a good setup, we were ready to start.
When we started, we realized that the juice was splashing everywhere as it dribbled down into the bowl, so we elevated it on top of another bowl to get it closer to the strainer.
The mixing bowl did not hold all of the sauce, so we had to pour it into another bowl and keep on straining. I was really surprised at how little waste there was and how much sauce we ended up with.
I knew this would be a busy week with processing produce
from the garden so yesterday we baked a roast. It is from one of the
wethers we butchered last fall. This gave us a quick and easy meal for
supper tonight. While the tomato sauce was boiling, I snapped enough of
the green beans I picked yesterday for a meal and started them cooking.
So when we finished making and cleaning up a big mess straining the
tomatoes, supper was ready.
Then the only things left to do were to feed the goats, chickens, cats and dog and finish up this post. Another good days work finished. We are grateful for each and every day and for the challenges and learning opportunities each day brings. It is because of them that we grow stronger every day. We are blessed.
Until next time - Fern
P.S. Stay tuned for Tomato Sauce, Part 2.
Lasagna is a great meal. It is fairly simple, it just takes some time to put together. Way back when I first tried making it, the recipe said to boil the noodles first which is one more step. Then on one of the lasagna noodle boxes I bought it said to put the noodles in uncooked and add 3/4 cup water as the last step. I tried it and it worked great! I have used that recipe ever since. It saves a step, time and energy. My kind of recipe.
Ingredients
The ground meat is our chevron, the tomatoes we canned a few years ago (which need to be used up) the bowl has cottage cheese I made a few days ago, and the mozzarella we made last summer and froze.
I start out making the sauce. I make it just like I make spaghetti sauce. Start off browning the ground meat.
Add one large can of tomato sauce and one jar of canned tomatoes.
Add the spices. This will remind you of the post on making pizza.
Parsley
Oregano
Basil
Garlic
We buy dried onions in bulk, too.
Onions
Let simmer.
Grate the mozzarella. It calls for three cups, but I don't measure it anymore. This is mozzarella that we made last July. It keeps well in the freezer and since we are making more and stocking up the freezer for the coming year, I need to use up last year's cheese.
Mix two cups of the mozzarella with two cups of cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of Parmesan, and three tablespoons of parsley - more or less.
I made this cottage
cheese and it is probably the best yet....but it still isn't very good. I
will post the next batch I make to show you how.
Mix the remaining mozzarella with 1/4 cup of Parmesan.
The original recipe was enough to fill a standard 9x13 baking dish. I have one that is 10x14 (I think) that I use for most casseroles and lasagna so I can make a larger batch and freeze the extra.
The recipe calls for a layer of sauce then four noodles. I have extra room......
So I fill this space with more noodles.
Add half of the cheese mixture......
more sauce....
More noodles....
The last half of the cheese mixture (I had too much so we get to use the rest in another meal.)..........
Add the last of the sauce and the mozzarella and Parmesan mixture. See the cup of water? I have forgotten this last step more than once and ended up with kind of chewy noodles.
Pour 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water around the edge of the pan. The amount of water will depend on how 'wet' you like your lasagna. Some like it kind of oozing out and others like it to be able to 'stand' on it's own when it is cut and served. You will need to adjust to your own taste.
Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.
Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes.
Let sit for 10 minutes before serving -
well, usually. We needed to be somewhere, so I didn't let this set for
very long before serving. Looks yummy, doesn't it?
When I was young and newly married, the thought of making lasagna was too intimidating. I thought it was too complicated and fancy for my abilities. When I finally got up the courage to try, it was much easier than I dreamed! I had built it up in my mind as something that was too difficult to do.
What is it that you really want to try to do but haven't? Are you afraid you might fail? Are you limiting yourself by thinking something is beyond your capabilities? Try something new. Something you are interested in that will benefit you and your family. And after you have succeeded, and you will if you set your mind to it, share it with someone else.
Until next time - Fern
For the crust, I used whole wheat sourdough starter. I put olive oil on the plates, spread out some starter, then baked it for about 15 minutes while I got the toppings ready. I wanted it to be cooked before I added any sauce, so it wouldn't be too wet.
