Pizza Night

Living with an omnivore isn’t always easy…especially when we make meals that have to be 1/2 vegan, 1/2 not.  Pizza is one of those times when we have to get creative!  We have found a happy in-between by making our own.  Pizza crust is a breeze to make, and already vegan.

Pizza Crust

4 cups flour (I like wheat, he likes white, so we do 2 cups of each and mix it)

1 1/2 cups warm water (not hot!)

1 T active dry yeast

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and seasoning to taste

You test the yeast by adding it to the warm water and letting it sit for a few minutes.  It should get kinda bubbly/frothy if its good.  If not, start over with new yeast, or live with the fact that the dough won’t rise…I’ve done both.  Then you mix it all together into a big dough ball, and set aside for a while to let it rise.  I can’t usually wait more than an hour.  Then you just spread it out in your pan (cast iron is GREAT for making Chicago Style Deep Dish!) or onto your stone and add toppings.

We usually use a plain old tomato paste and add our own salt/garlic/oregano, but pizza sauce is easy to find everywhere too.  I love to put fresh baby spinach on my side and sprinkle with some sea salt.  We both love onions and peppers, and I’ll also add fresh minced garlic and mushroom to my side.  We used some red bell pepper to “cut” our pizza in half so his ham/sausage/or pepperoni doesn’t touch my side.  CHEESE is very important!  The cheese will make or break your pizza.  A lot of vegans like Daiya, I don’t for this at least…I think it has a funny aftertaste.  What I’ve found that tastes great and melts perfectly is a brand called Follow Your Heart.  It only comes in blocks at my local Sprouts store, but it’s easy enough to grate into shreds.  I even accidentally used a Monterey Jack one instead of Mozzarella and it was still good!  Bacon bits are a great way to keep meat-eaters happy, and they’re usually vegan.  Yep, no bacon is actually in Bacon Bits…it’s a soy product with liquid smoke.  Liquid smoke is awesome…it always gives the impression of meat when there is none.  Perfect for this Barbeque state!  I don’t use them all that often, I prefer less processed food (says the person using fake cheese) but every once in a while never hurt anybody.

The Pizza goes into an oven at 500 F  for16 minutes, turning it 8 minutes in.  It comes out crispy and delish!

BTW this is WAYYYY cheaper than ordering out or even frozen pizza, and you can see it’s big enough to take up half my stove.  There are always leftovers…so for vegans on the cheap, like, me, it’s a good “Once a Week” traditon.  🙂

TTFN:  Back to filling out applications and sending out resumes…So far I’ve set up an interview with an animal-rights group, a test for an animal-control officer position, and gotten good feedback from an animal sanctuary.  Wish me luck!

Hello world!

Everyone has a blog nowadays, so I thought I better get crackin’!  A little about me.  I’m a Midwestern girl who moved to El Paso for a job…it didn’t work out.  There was a 6 month probation period that was going smoothly until I got injured…2 weeks before my probation ended.  It was a very physical job, so rather than waiting for the diagnosis ( I was fully healed in a week) they decided to cut their losses and can me.  I went from having a pretty BA job, to working part-time at the local Old Navy.  It’s not fun, if you were wondering 😉  So, with a degree in Animal Sciences, and experience with zookeeping and being a vet tech, I’m back on the job market.  I would love to end up in Austin, San Antonio, or Dallas….El Paso is AWFUL!  They have a terrible view of animals, refuse to spay and neuter their pets, and sneer at the word “vegan.”  I do realize I moved to Texas, but it’s not all barbeque and trucks here 🙂

Anyway, I’d like a place to be a foodie, a gossip, or a mentor.  I guess I’ll post about whatever, and add some of my favorite resources.  Let me know if you have questions, suggestions, or if you think I’m out of line.  More to Come…