Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Lets Make Pizza Dough!!

We found a recipe for pizza dough on Jamie Oliver's website and decided to try it.






Ingredients:
1 kg strong white bread flour, 1 level tablespoon fine sea salt, 2x7g packets of dried yeast, 1 tablespoon of gold caster sugar (we used regular sugar), 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 650 ml lukewarm water.


Sieve the flour/s and salt on to a clean work surface and make a well in the middle. In a jug, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well. Using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have a smooth, springy dough.





















Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl and flour the top of it. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm room for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size. 






















Now remove the dough to a flour-dusted surface and knead it around a bit to push the air out with your hands – this is called knocking back the dough. You can either use it immediately, or keep it, wrapped in clingfilm, in the fridge (or freezer) until required. If using straight away, divide the dough up into as many little balls as you want to make pizzas – this amount of dough is enough to make about six to eight medium pizzas.


Timing-wise, it’s a good idea to roll the pizzas out about 15 to 20 minutes before you want to cook them. Don’t roll them out and leave them hanging around for a few hours, though – if you are working in advance like this it’s better to leave your dough, covered with clingfilm, in the fridge. However, if you want to get them rolled out so there’s one less thing to do when your guests are round, simply roll the dough out into rough circles, about 0.5cm thick, and place them on slightly larger pieces of olive-oil-rubbed and flour-dusted tinfoil. You can then stack the pizzas, cover them with clingfilm, and pop them into the fridge


 We rolled our dough ball out into a thin pie.






For our pizza we pre-heated the oven to 500 with a large pizza stone in it. Once the oven and stone where pre-heated we took out the stone and placed the dough on it. Once the dough is on the hot stone you have to add your toppings quickly.  We put our homemade marinara sauce, fresh mozzarella, fresh mushrooms, fresh parmesan, spinach, and thinly sliced garlic cloves.

After the toppings are on the pizza put it in the oven and watch it bake.  Watch it closely because it will bake quicky.






















While you're waiting clean up your mess!!!

When the crust and cheese are gold and bubbly take that baby out and EAT IT!!! 
Mmmmmm!

                                                    



Thanks For Reading!!!





















Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Shop Local! It's more important than you think.






*Why buy local?
animal welfare.There are countless reasons why buying local food is both rewarding and delicious, including enjoying the taste of fresh food, improved health and nutritionenvironmental stewardship,support for family farms and rural communities, and ensuring
There is also significant peace of mind in knowing where our food comes from. One of the biggest benefits to buying food locally is having someone to answer questions about how it was grown and raised. What goes into that loaf of bread? Can we be certain that the hog that is now bacon lived a life without suffering? How do we know those jalapeƱos are salmonella free?
Developing a relationship with local farmers gives us an "in" with our local food system. At farmers' markets we can get answers to questions like: When do tomatoes come into season? How might I use celeriac? Often, we can take a tour of the farm our food comes from. Some farmers are thrilled to share their knowledge and experience with their customers. Ask about the challenges your local farmers face and what they are doing to address them. It doesn't have to be complicated. Ask about the weather! Any farmer will be pleased to talk about how the growing season is going and how that affects the food they grow. Knowing local farmers can go a long way to simplifying buying local.
Another significant reason to buy local is to keep food miles to a minimum. "Food miles" refer to the distance a food item travels from the farm to your home. The food miles for items in the grocery store are, on average, 27 times higher than the food miles for goods bought from local sources.
In the U.S., the average grocery store's produce travels nearly 1,500 miles between the farm where it was grown and your refrigerator. About 40% of our fruit is produced overseas and, even though broccoli is grown all over the country, the broccoli we buy at the supermarket travels an average of 1,800 miles to get there. Notably, nine percent of our red meat comes from foreign countries, some as far away as Australia and New Zealand.
Our food is trucked across the country, hauled in freighter ships over oceans, and flown around the world. A tremendous amount of fossil fuel is burned to transport foods such long distances, releasing carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter and other pollutants that contribute to global climate change, acid rain, smog and air and sea pollution. The refrigeration required to keep our fruits, vegetables, dairy products and meats from spoiling during their long journeys burn up even more fossil fuel. In contrast, local and regional food systems produce 17 times less CO2.
*Information copied from www.sustainabletable.com


My favorite local place to shop:

2 of my favorite things Full Circle Market carries are local honey, and delicious yummy farm fresh eggs.
Full Circle Market has a lot of high quality products at great prices!!!



If there are any local places that you love to shop and would like to share with other readers please feel free to leave a comment!


Farmers Markets in our area:



Winchester/Clark Farmers Market, Inc.

Depot Street
Winchester, KY 40391
Tel. (859) 244-4860

Time of Year: July - October
Days of Week/Hours: Tuesday & Thursday, 4:00P.M. - 7:00P.M.



Bluegrass Farmers Market



3450 Richmond Road Parking Lot of Pedal the Planet and Fast Signs
Lexington, KY 40509
Tel. (859) 624-1020
Jane O'Tiernan
         
           Time of Year: May - Thanksgiving, Days of Week/Hours: Saturday,      
   8:00A.M. - 2:00P.M.





Lexington Farmers Market IV



2321 Sir Barton Way in Hamburg
Lexington, KY 40509
Tel. (859) 608-2655
Jeff Dabbelt

  Time of Year: April - November
Days of Week/Hours: Sunday, 11:00A.M. - 3:00P.M.




Montgomery  County  Farmers  Market



By-Pass (KY 686) Montgomery Square Shopping Center
Mt. Sterling, KY 40353
Tel. (859) 498-8741
Ron D. Catchen
Time of Year: June - October
 Days of Week/Hours: Wednesday & Saturday



Paris/Bourbon County Farmers Market



720 High Street Corner of 8th and High Street
Paris, KY 40361
Tel. (859) 987-6614
Debbie Puckett


Powell County Farmers Market II

Main Street Clay City Baptist Church Parking Lot
Clay City, KY 40312
Tel. (606) 663-6405
Mike Reed

Time of Year: June - November
Days of Week/Hours: Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday, 8:00A.M. - Sell Out







Madison County Farmers Market

Lowe's Parking Lot
Richmond, KY 40475
Tel. (859) 624-9573
Myra Isbell

Time of Year: June - October
 Days of Week/Hours: Tuesday & Saturday, 8:00A.M. - 12:00noon




Tuesday, March 16, 2010

A Food Revolution!!

I am super excited about a new TV series on ABC called "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" the first episode airs on Friday March 26 at 9pm.  Click Here to watch the trailer.

In the series, Jamie goes to Huntington, West Virginia. Recently Huntington was named the unhealthiest city in America. He is on a mission to try and help Huntington off that list. In doing this he is hoping to start a chain reaction that ultimately makes positive changes across the country.  Needless to say he meets resistance in Huntington from locals who disagree with him.  But is also welcomed by some of the young population.  

Jamie says, "The time is right for people to rediscover the sense of pride, satisfaction and fun you can get from cooking for the people you love. There's an incredible community in Huntington, and I want this experience to be a celebration of what we can achieve when people come together. I want to prove that turning around the epidemic of obesity and bad health doesn't have to be boring or dull in the slightest. Wonderful stories will unfold in Huntington, and hopefully this will inspire the rest of the States."



Join Jamie's Food Revolution and sign the petition
   

Below I have copied some facts from Jamie's webpage.  It is a harsh reality.



Obesity and Overweight 

Two-thirds  of  American  adults  weigh  too  much.
 
More than 27%  are  obese. That’s  72 million  people.  In the worst  states, Mississippi, Alabama, West  
         Virginia and Tennessee, that figure rises to over 30%.
 
If  rates continue to rise, in just five years’  time, by 2015, 40%  of  Americans   will  be  obese.  

Obese  people  suffer  from  poore health  including  heart disease, diabetes and cancer.  

Obesity accounts for nearly  10%  of  all  medical  costs   this  amounts  to  $14 billion  annually.

Healthcare  costs  are  42%  higher   for  someone  who  is  obese - that’s over  $1,400  each.  

Medicare  spends  $600  more  on  prescription  drugs  for  an  obese  person. 





Childhood Obesity 

Nearly  one  in  three  (32%,  23 million)  American children are obese  or  overweight. 

In total,  17%  of  kids   of all  ages are obese,  but  this  rises  to  over  25%  in  all but  three  states for kids  
aged  10-17. 

Most  obese children (over 80%)  will  also  be  obese  as  adults. 

Today’s generation  of children are predicted to  be  the  first  to die  before  their  parents,  due  to    
obesity-related bad  health.







Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Make A Funky Elephant!!!


I was recently going through my cloths and found ol pj's that had a hole in them but they were to cute to throw away. So I racked my brain trying to think of something I can make out of them. Then it came to me..... AN ELEPHANT!


Why? Well, my son Levon loves the animals in his room and on the walls. Everynight we say our prayers and tell all the animals on the wall good night. As we tell all the animals, including the elephant, good night. Levon waves to each and every one of them as if they are all his friends. So, I decided to make him an elephant to sleep with.


Step 1:
Fold a peice of fabric in half so it is wrong side facing wrong side.  Draw an outline of an elephant (or any animal, critter, monster, or doll.) 




Cut around your drawing. And you will have 2 elephants.



Step 2:

Take a piece of ribbon and cut out 2 oval pieces and draw eyeballs.




Sew on eye balls.



Step 3:

Make the ears out of a different color of fabric. Make the ear whatever shape you want. Make two of the same shape for each ear. Sew both pieces together with the pretty sides together. Leave an opening so you can turn it right side out.  Fold the un sewn edges of the ears inward and sew to the elephant.




Step 4:
Sew the two pieces of the elephant together. Leave an opening for stuffing.  Stuff the elephant with as much stuffing as you can. When you sew the elephant sew it with seams out so it will frey with washing. Sew the opening you stuffed with together.

YOU DID IT!



Thanks For Reading!!!!!!!

Mother Nurture

The best store for a mom to shop at! I LOVE IT!!