Bread Machine Beer Pizza Dough

We like pizza around here. We try to make it ourselves when we can. I am not sure where we found this recipe, but it has served us well.

Ingredients
1 cup flat, room temperature beer (I usually pour the beer in a measuring cup and let sit most of the day)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons yeast
 
Directions
1. Put beer, butter, sugar, salt, flour, and yeast in a bread machine (in that order). 
2. Select Dough setting for 1.5lbs size
3. Remove dough from bread machine when cycle is complete. 
4. Roll or press dough to cover a prepared pizza pan. Brush lightly with olive oil or melted butter (with Garlic powder and Parmesan cheese mixed in.)
5. Cover and let stand 15 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
7. Spread sauce and toppings on top of dough. 
8. Bake until crust is lightly brown and crispy on the outside, about 24 minutes.

The Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat works well for this recipe.

All the ingredients in the bread machine. Including tons of Garlic Powder.

Joshua spreading the crust.

The final product.

~Stefani =)

What I Ate Wednesday: Week 13

Breakfast

A bowl of Blueberry Crunch Cereal. 

I had to eat something quick, because Josh and I were headed to Petoskey to go grocery shopping and pick up some vacation items.

Lunch

1 Arby's French Dip Sandwich and 2 Mozzarella Sticks. I totally forgot to take a picture before I inhaled this meal. Since we were in Petoskey and had coupons we had Arby's. We only spent $11 for 2 Beef n Cheddars, 2 French Dips, and 1 small Mozzarella Sticks.  I took on of the French Dips home for another meal.

Dinner

Mac n Cheese n Burgers with Taco Seasoning. Pinterest inspired this twist on our homemade Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper. It was pretty good. Definitely jazzed it up a bit.

~Stefani =)

What I Ate Wednesday Week 7: Valentine's Day Edition

I continue to fight the cold I have had since last week. I woke up this morning feeling much better.

Breakfast

Low Sodium Chocolate Chip Waffle

Lunch

Grilled Cheese. Not terribly exciting, but great sick food.  

Dinner

We went out to Woodwinds for their fancy buffet for Valentine's Day. It was nice not having to think about dinner since I wasn't feeling well.

Photo borrowed from the Woodwinds Facebook Page.

 Photo borrowed from the Woodwinds Facebook Page.

It was a good Valentine's Day despite being sick. Josh does a great job of making me feel loved all year round.

~Stefani =)

Mac 'n' Cheese 'n' Burgers

This recipe is basically a homemade Hamburger Helper. It is from Rachael Ray's book Just in Time.

1 Pound of Rotini or Penne
1 Tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Pound of Ground Beef
3 to 4 Tablespoons of grated onion and juice
4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) of butter
3 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
1 Cup of Chicken Stock
2 Cups of Milk (whole or 2%)
2 Cups of Cheddar Cheese
Black Pepper to taste
Up to 1 Tablespoon of Dijon Mustard

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook al dente.

While the pasta cooks, heat a nonstick skillet with EVOO over medium to high heat.
Add the beef and cook until brown, breaking it up.

Add the grated onion with its juice and pepper to the skillet and combine.

While the meat browns, heat a saucepan over medium to medium-high heat.

Add the butter and melt. 

Whisk in the flour and cook for a minute.

Whisk in the stock and milk.

Season with pepper.

Bring sauce to a bubble, then cook for a few minutes to thicken.

Stir in the mustard.

Add the cheese a few handfuls at a time, stirring in a figure 8 motion as it melts into the sauce.

Drain the pasta, then return it to the hot pot. 

Add the beef and cheese sauce to the pasta.

Stir to combine. 

The ingredients.

Brown the beef in the skillet.

Add the onions.

Melt the butter.

Add the flour to the butter.

Add the stock....

then the milk.

Add the cheddar cheese.

The completed cheesey goodness.

Combine the pasta, beef, and cheese sauce.

The completed dish.

We added turkey bacon to the top. Yum!

~Stefani =)

What I Ate Wednesday Week 4

Breakfast
Low Sodium Apple Muffins and Turkey Bacon. The Apple Muffin recipe is from the 500 Low Sodium Recipes book. The muffins need some tweaking, but they are pretty good. 

 Lunch
Salad with Turkey Bacon, Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Croutons, and Ranch Dressing and Grilled Cheese. I can't resist Grilled Cheese. 

Dinner
Fried Scallops with a Panko Bread Crumb crust, leftover Fried Rice from the previous day's homemade Chinese, and Peaches mixed with Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce. 

Dessert
Cookie Dough Ice Cream. Which I consumed so fast that there is no photographic evidence. 


~Stefani =)

What I Ate Wednesday Week 3

Breakfast
Low Sodium Waffle with butter and Apple Cinnamon Syrup from Knaebe's and Jennie-O Turkey Sausage.

The Waffle recipe is from the book 500 Low Sodium Recipes that we got for Christmas. We made them for the first time on Saturday. We may do some tweaking to the recipe, but they were pretty good.

Lunch
Homemade Lasagna and Garlic Parmesan Toast with ciabatta bread from our local grocery store.

The Lasagna recipe was from the 500 Low Sodium Recipes cookbook. I used our Marinara sauce.


Snack
I needed an afternoon snack. I found leftover Peaches and Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce from a dessert we had a couple nights ago. 

Dinner 
Italian Wedding Soup. There will be a post coming later on this recipe. It was a hit at church.

Dessert
Cheesecake Pudding and Michigan Blueberries that were in the freezer.

This edition was way more exciting than previous editions. Doing this week by week has encouraged me to become more creative.


~Stefani =)

Turkey Tetrazzini

This is a great post-Thanksgiving meal. We froze one of the turkey's breasts from our Thanksgiving turkey and used it for this meal this past week. Making a roux with homemade chicken broth reduces the sodium greatly. This is another dish where I do not miss the salt. 
This recipe was adapted from the one that can be found here.


12 oz egg noodles, spaghetti, linguine or other pasta
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups of milk
1/4 cup cream
2 cups chicken broth
3 cups coarsely chopped cooked turkey
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan (divided into 1/3 and 1/3 cups
Salt and Pepper
1/3 cup bread crumbs (panko are best for low sodium cooking)
 
Preheat oven to 375°F. 
Start heating 2 to 3 quarts of water for the pasta. Follow the package directions and cook until al dente.
In a large, heavy saucepan, melt 1/4 cup of butter. Whisk in the flour and cook the mixture over low heat, stirring, for 3 minutes.
Into the saucepan with the butter and flour, slowly whisk in the milk, cream, and broth. Bring to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 to 8 minutes.
When the pasta is ready, drain it. In a large bowl combine the pasta, the sauce, and the turkey. Stir in 1/3 cup of the Parmesan. 
Transfer the mixture to a buttered 3-quart casserole.
Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs evenly over the tetrazzini, and dot the top with the remaining butter, cut into bits.
Bake the Tetrazzini in the middle rack of the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until it is bubbling and the top is golden.

The Ingredients.

Cubed turkey breast.

The unsalted butter melting.

The flour added to the melted butter.

The broth added to the butter and flour mixture.

The milk and the cream.

The turkey and the sauce.

The pasta and cheese added to the sauce and turkey.

The mixture put into a 3 quart glass casserole dish and topped with panko bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and dotted with butter. 

The final product baked to golden brown perfection.


You can add mushrooms and peas if you so desire. I do not like mushrooms and Joshua doesn't care for peas. Hence, why we leave it plain.


~Stefani =)

What I Ate Wednesday

This is a popular thing to do with people who have food blogs. I thought I would give it a try. The premise is to post what you ate on Tuesday on Wednesdays. I can't guarantee that it will always be healthy.

Breakfast

I am addicted to Chocolate Chex. It is so wrong, but feels so right!

Lunch

I made grilled cheese with Tom's Market (the local grocery store) cibatta bread with cheese that is terrible for you. You know, the creamy fake stuff. No, I did not feed this to my husband.

Dinner

Spaghetti and Meatballs with Marinara and Salad with Parmesan Dressing. For the meatballs I used ground beef and ground pork. My husband enjoyed the combo. I am not a huge pork fan.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this first "What I Ate Wednesday".

~Stefani =)