St. Louis-style Pizza

Here’s something I whipped-up for dinner a few nights ago:

St. Louis-Style Pizza! (Who knew they had their own kind?!)

I found the recipe on Facebook via King Arthur Flour…such a dangerous page to Like. Seriously. That, and Kara Goucher’s page…she’s a elite runner who keeps making yummy things from #runningonveggies. I just made some ‘pre-workout energy’ muffins using oat flour, almond milk and blueberries (and some other ingredients). Yum!

Back to the pizza.

It’s a baking-powder crust (or use self-rising flour), so no wait time! It’s also topped with a variety of non-traditional cheeses, like white cheddar, swiss and smoked provolone. The crust comes out very thin and cracker-like, but not at all like Marion’s (a famous Ohio pizza I liked to describe as a ‘cracker crust with pre-chewed toppings’) since it’s not yeast-y. The cheeses melt down and get ooey-gooey, and while you could definitely throw a couple more toppings on there, I wouldn’t overdo it. The crust barely browned on the bottom–I used both a pizza stone and parchment on a cookie sheet–so you don’t want to overload it. With it’s slightly smokey taste, I think I bit of ground sausage would be a nice addition, maybe some onion?

Anyway, you could literally whip the pizza up in about 30 minutes total, which makes it ideal for last-minute dinner or appetizer ideas. It’s so light, it really could be an appetizer! I served it for dinner with salads and we ate BOTH pizzas. I had been a little nervous Andrew wouldn’t like the cheese combo, but it was fine. I’m sure he could tell it wasn’t mozzarella, but I didn’t think there was a strong smokey flavor.

Definitely going to keep this one in mind for times I need a quick flatbread dough! I could see it as an appetizer; I’m thinking friends over, light pizza pieces on which to nibble with a light rose or red wine, followed by something ‘Italian’ like a veggie lasagna with green salads…followed by tiramisu. Of course.

Paleo Challenge: Days 20 & 21

This is more than a week overdue, but, as they say, better late than never. Actually, it’s my OCD more than anything else that drives me to finish blogging about the challenge–once I start, I gotta finish.

For some reason, probably all those fries and wings at the Bar Bill the night before (which was repeated almost exactly this past Friday, too), I woke up early Saturday morning and decided to just get up.

I snacked on some of those awesome Paleo pumpkin cookies around 5 a.m.

Before our snowshoe trek, I made myself a Paleo pumpkin gingerbread smoothie, with a frozen banana, pumpkin, almond milk, molasses, almond butter, chia seeds, and vanilla protein powder. In the future, I think I would omit the almond butter and banana as I don’t think it needs either–they’re just extra calories. If I used plain protein powder, I might keep the banana for sweetness.

After snowshoeing, Andrew and I brought Hadrian to the dog park with hot chocolate. I snagged a couple homemade Larabars, too.

Not pictured: our late lunch of Pasquale’s pizza and wings at the Layers’ house. Yup, I ate pizza. And drank soda. It was fantastic. Not Paleo.

Also not pictured: dinner with Abigail and Marvin at one of our favorites, Arriba. Two margaritas, chips and queso and a chicken quesadilla. Also fantastic. Also not Paleo.

Went to bed–I’m sure–with a much-too-full tummy.

We met Marv and Abigail at McDonalds (of course) on their way out of town Sunday morning. I wasn’t in the mood for anything meaty or eggy, so I went with the oatmeal and a milk. Not Paleo, but arguably the ‘healthiest’ choice at said establishment.

I’m pretty sure Andrew went off to church and I stayed home to prep my food for the week, and afterward we took Hadrian for another spin at the dog park. It’s becoming our new favorite hangout with other dog-owning friends on the weekends.

Anyway, Andrew and I went on a little ‘date’ to Taste and shared a fresh Belgian waffle. Wow. So good.

Last Sunday was also the Super Bowl, and we hosted a few close friends at our place. I threw together some veggies and dip, chips and salsa, and a white chicken chili. Pigs-in-a-blanket, Paleo chocolate peanut butter cookies and taco salad were brought by friends.

Stacey’s taco salad was fantastic. Again, I went to bed with a VERY full tummy that night, too.

I did think the event was a perfect opportunity to make those Paleo Mocha Bacon Brownies, from Practical Paleo.

I made them ‘extra bacon-y’ by using some bacon fat in addition to butter when making the brownies. I can’t say I loved them, but I did hear the leftovers were huge hits with some of Andrew’s GF and Paleo co-workers.

I felt our last weekend on the Paleo Challenge wasn’t really very ‘Paleo,’ but it is what it is. Or was. To me, it felt like a weekend of ‘debauchery,’ but Andrew didn’t share my view.

So that’s that. I’ll write a separate blog on how we felt about ‘going Paleo’ and how our eating pattern may or may not change from here on out.

my husband deserves a medal

Seriously.

So I’ve been back to school for two weeks now (hence the last two Paleo challenge day blogs are STILL forthcoming), which means ‘school Holly’ has taken over and wreaked havoc on our entire existence. Or at least that’s how it feels…

After having to drive into Buffalo in really crummy weather all last week, I’ve decided I never want to work full-time and all I really want to do is be home, work out, cook and clean (sometimes), and be able to pursue all my other interests like reading and writing and taking Hadrian to the dog park and countless other things. (There, I said it.)

Anyway, today was really our first day in two weeks that we were home for any real amount of time, and Andrew kicked some major ‘to-do list’ butt. He folded three loads of laundry (that had been clean and staring us in the face for a week), cleaned the cat box, vacuumed the downstairs, mopped up our snowy, salty footprints, played with Hadrian, fixed a noisy exterior roof fan, cleaned our bathroom (I think he forgot the mirrors, but whatever), and vacuumed the bedroom. And I’m sure I’m forgetting some more things, too.

FOR REAL.

And all this after we hit the gym before church, ran some errands (purchases: snow pants, wine, balsamic vinegar, more Valentine cards, gas) in town afterward and had a late lunch at home. He even snuck some trip-planning time in while I made dinner. (I was in the kitchen the entire afternoon food-prepping, cleaning up and making dinner, then cleaning up again. And doing more laundry, which I folded. It was only fair.)

Back to Andrew.

I love this man. I love this picture of this man. I love that he loves me enough to clean for me. That, my friends, is true love in our house.

More blogging to come before next weekend I hope!