Monday, July 2, 2012

weekend review: i will eat pizza until it's perfect

Figure 1. In preparation: homemade whole wheat pizza dough. I'll spare you the details (for now), but I recently discovered that I have a soy sensitivity. This means if I want pizza, which I totally do, I have to learn to make my own dough. 

Figure 2. Saturday night's dinner: homemade summer veggie pizza (onions, red bell peppers, corn, asparagus, mozzarella cheese, and basil on a homemade whole wheat crust brushed with garlic olive oil) and a lemony arugula salad.

Figure 3. A pizza close up. Making my own crust needs a bit of work, I rolled this out too thin and ended up burning the edges a touch. Practice makes perfect (and more pizza to eat). I'll keep trying (and eating).

Figure 4. Sunday night's dinner: spinach and cheese quinoa casserole and eggplant calamari. Even though this picture makes it look like I was eating prison slop (sorry), this dinner was delicious. This quinoa casserole is very similar to the quinoa mac & cheese I recently made, except twice as delicious. And, eggplant calamari sounds strange - but it was to.die.for.

28 comments:

  1. I have trouble with soy too!! The worst part is that soy is in seriously EVERYTHING. That's why I focus on eating a lot of meat and veggies, and some fruit and beans - soy is in nearly anything processed! =(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yes. soy is in absolutely EVERYTHING. it is really hard to do. now i'm not sure if i ordered pizza out at a nice restaurant if it would have soy in it or not. but, i usually buy the pre-made dough from Publix. it has soybean oil in it so I decided i'd make my own!

      Delete
  2. The pizza looks absolutely delicious... homemade pizza rules!
    Hope you had a great weekend =)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks! i haven't had pizza out of my own kitchen in quite some time. i like being able to control the ingredients!

      Delete
  3. whoa that eggplant calamari... yum. way to go on these.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. glad you commented on the calamari. they were remarkable.

      Delete
  4. Looks like a great dinner! I have issues with soy too! The only kind I can eat without problem is tempeh or tofu.

    Looks like a great food weekend! Pizza looks awesome regardless of little crust issues.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. soy sucks! this is a new discovery for me so i'm still working out the kinks. tofu is definitely a no no!

      Delete
  5. I am really interested in hearing about your soy sensititvity! I discovered last summer that I am sensitive to soy too, and started avoiding it and feel much better. I have found a few good protein powders without any soy, but sooo many bars and such have soy as a main ingredient. It is actually one of the reasons why I have started eating meat again. It was really hard to get enough protein when having no tofu, tempeh ect. But as soon as I cut it out the differences in my digestive system were unbelievably better!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sarah - so comforting to hear that others are out there dealing with these same issues. i will definitely talk more about it on the blog soon. it is really hard i agree b/c soy is in everything. but, like you, i have seen huge improvements in my GI issues. if you want to talk privately about it feel free to e-mail me at mylessseriouslife@gmail.com. would love to!

      Delete
  6. For your first stab at making pizza dough, it looks like a winner! I keep having trouble getting mine to stretch out across the whole pizza stone, so it ends up totally misshapen. Yours looks really good though - and it sounds like a great solution to the soy issue!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha thanks! i must agree that it doesn't look to bad, but the flavor and texture was a bit off. working on it!

      Delete
  7. Ohhh that quinoa casserole sounds so good!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This gave me such a good idea of what to do with all the corn I have sitting in my freezer!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't know that pizza crust looks good to me!
    Pizza is something I've yet to tackle. We use to have the whole shebang, a pizza peel and a stone. But then the pizza stuck to them and my Dad threw a little fit. No more pizza stuff :c

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha thanks! dad why did you throw them away! i dont' have a stone, but i bet that would help things out even more!

      Delete
  10. That quinoa casserole looks amazing. I must be completely naive but I had no idea that all pizza crusts contained soy. Bummer - but I guess it's a good way of keeping pizza cravings in check. You have to REALLY want pizza to make even the dough from scratch!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ok i don't know if soy is in every pizza dough. but, certainly all the pre-made ones. soy is in absolutely every processed food product. and normally i buy the pre-made dough from my local grocery store. alas, it has soybean oil in it.

      i am still learning with this soy thing. but, it actually was pretty easy to make dough myself - and cheaper!

      Delete
  11. Do you need a partner in crime for this whole "eat pizza until it's perfect" thing? Because I think I could find some time in my schedule.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha! girl i'll be eating pizza leftovers all week so i could use some help! if only you lived in my city i think we could be friends!

      Delete
  12. Wow! That pizza and quinoa casserole looks amazing! I'm very jealous of those meals! I'm so impressed you made your own dough!

    ReplyDelete
  13. How funny- I actually have an eggplant calamari recipe bookmarked that I'm planning to try this week! I can't wait. Yours looks delicious.
    And I've decided that making homemade pizza crust is a serious art. It's tough to get it perfect. But, as long as yours tasted good, that's all that matters!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh i wonder if it is the same recipe?

      oh ps i am SOOO happy you are back.

      Delete
  14. That pizza looks amazing! I'm definitely craving pizza now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks, doll. i am no super star chef like you - but i try!

      Delete