Cooking Pizza alternative style

Dealing with the Texas summer can be a frustrating battle in many ways but the one that has been effecting me the most lately is our food budget. We live in an old house that is very poorly insulated so my air conditioning unit can't keep the house below 83 during the day and turning our gas stove has just become not even an option. So we have been eating out more often then I can remember us ever doing. So I have had to get creative. Our charcoal grill has become my kitchen and I have tried to find unique ways to use it.

So I had this idea of making a pizza on the grill, on first thought it seemed rather original but after a quick browse on the internet I found that not to be so. But that is the beauty of the internet we read about other people's experiences and we try and take from it and learn. So I set about creating my grilled pizza.

The dough: Well for me that was the easy part because I had a favorite whole wheat pizza dough recipe from Beth Hensperger's book The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook.  I altered the recipe to accommodate those without a bread machine.

Important things to know about sodium and the nutrition label

I am not a nutritionist, but I don’t think that you need to be an expert to learn important nutritional information so that you can make better decisions in your life. In the past 5 years my attention has been drawn very strongly to two things, nutritional information that we have on our food packaging and sodium. I am not entirely sure where it all started, but I do know once the glory the teenage ability to eat whatever I wanted and work off the weight gain easily left me nutrition became very important for me to learn. When I was little I would often read the nutritional information on my cereal as I ate breakfast, not really because I was interested, it was because I was bored and wanted something to read, but it did get me wondering. I mean what good is that information if you don’t know how it affects you, is it good that it has 6% of Vitamin A, what does 6% even mean. So I started researching how to best understand this strange chart that we are given. One of the biggest eye opening moments for me came when I read about the importance of the serving size. I have been guilty of looking on the back of a package and reading the information and thinking to myself oh that isn’t too bad, but careful re-examination of the label I soon realized that I was making terrible choices without even realizing it. Now again I am not an expert so I am not going to try and teach you all of the important things about this subject, this truly is something for either your doctor or nutritionist to really lecture you about. But if you are like me and want to learn what you can without having to pay someone for that information then you can take a look at Mayo Clinic, they have a wonderful interactive guide to learning to read a nutrition label that will help get you on the right path.

Now onto obsession number two, sodium. I am actually very blessed with a family history of low blood pressure so I never really thought about the dangers of too much sodium in my diet. But one thing I have struggled with was my weight and so I began to read all that I could find about weight loss. One of the things that I read over and over is how having too much sodium in your diet can lead to water retention, and here is the thing. Water retention is not true weight as many of you know, but what water retention can do is discourage you when you are trying to loose weight. It has been proven, if by nothing more then my own experiences, that if you try to loose weight, go on a diet, start working out and you get no results after a decent amount of time then you are far more likely to give up. But I started to think, what if it isn’t so much that my efforts are pointless but that I am counter acting the good with bad habits. So I began to read more about the importance of sodium in our diet and tried to understand how to decrease the amount I was taking it. What I learned has changed how I think about food and cooking in more ways then I could have ever imagined.

Again I am no expert I am only taking information that I have learned over the years and compiling it together to help point you in the right direction, it is very important to also ask a doctor or nutritionist what is good for you. But there is one thing that I learned that I think is important I pass along to you, especially for women. Eating foods that have a lot of sodium may decrease your body’s ability to retain calcium. We need calcium to build strong bones, but if you eat too much salt, a lot of your calcium intake is directed straight out of your body via urination. This is something that I think should concern young women because it is the habits you have when you are young that affect you when you get older. A decrease in calcium absorption can lead to a loss of bone density, which as you know leads to Osteoporosis. Now of course I am not a doctor, I am not even trying to say a diet high in sodium causes Osteoporosis, these are just facts that we need to be aware of so that we can make the right decisions.

One last piece of information, for our bodies to function properly they say an adult needs a minimum of 500 mg of sodium a day, it is recommended that our daily intake not exceed 1,500 to 2,300 mg. This really means nothing to people, like me who really don’t understand what a mg of sodium looks like, so here are some examples of some common foods and their sodium levels. Again educating ourselves is the best resource we have to healthy living, though don’t just take my word for it, multiple sources of information is always the best way to get a more accurate picture.



1 can of Green Giant Green beans-serving size on package says ½ cup that means the whole can is approximately 2 cups, which means if you serve the whole can that is 1,600 mg of sodium.



1 box of Rice-a-Roni Chicken- Serving size is for this prepared is 1 cup, the whole box cooked makes about 2 cups. That means that the entire box prepared contains 2120 mg of sodium.




1 can of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle soup- the serving size given on the can is ½ cup. There are about 1¼ cups in the whole can. So if you are like me and can eat the entire can in one sitting then you are taking in a whopping 2,220 mg of sodium!!


And because we often just can’t say no to the convenience of fast food-
BK Whopper with Cheese contains 1,430 mg of sodium

Southwest Turkey Chili

One of the biggest budget killers is eating out. We try not to do it but there are days that you just don't feel like cooking. Maybe you had a bad day or you are just exhausted, what ever the reason on those days it is really easy to convince yourself to go out. I know I am guilty of that and so today I am trying to find ways to plan for those days. The biggest thing is making sure that you have items in the house that are easy to throw together so they don't take much effort. I might have a meal plan for the week already but I don't know ahead of time how the day is going to be. And sometimes what was planned for would take way more effort that I can put into. So this afternoon I created a backup plan, Southwest Turkey Chili. You see the great thing about chili is that it freezes really well. This recipe is so easy and once it is done I simply let it cool and put portions in freezer bags and wallah, dinner for those dreaded lazy days.

Spicy lamb-filled pancakes served with a Mediterranean Couscous Salad

Well it is Pancake day and in honor of that I decided to do something special for dinner. While pancakes in the States are traditionally made from a thick batter in England the batter is thinner, more like a crepe. I went for a savory meal tonight and am pleased to share my adventure of making my first ever savory English pancake meal

For the pancakes:

3/4 c. plain flour
Pinch salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup of milk
5 tbps cold water
3 tbps butter, melted
olive oil for frying

For the filling:

2 tbsp olive oil
half a pound of lamb mince
1 onion, peeled, chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled, chopped
2 jalapenos, chopped
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp tomato purée
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup of polenta
1 eggs, beaten, for egg wash



1. For the filling, heat two tablespoons of the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the lamb mince and fry, turning regularly, for 4-5 minutes, or until browned on all sides. Remove from the pan and set aside on a warm plate.



2. Add the onion, garlic and chillies to the pan the lamb mince was cooked in and fry for 5-8 minutes, or until softened.


3. Return the lamb to the pan, then add the paprika and tomato purée and stir well. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Continue to cook the filling mixture over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 20-25 minutes, then set aside to cool.

4. For the pancakes: sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Using your finger, make a hole in the center of the flour mixture and break the eggs into it. Fold the eggs into the flour until well combined. Gradually fold in the milk and water, a few tablespoons at a time, stirring continuously, until the mixture is completely smooth and all of the liquid has been incorporated. Add the melted butter and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Remember the batter not meant to be thick.

5.Add about 4 tbsp of the pancake batter to a hot, oiled pan, swirling the mixture till the batter coats the bottom of the pan evenly. Fry for 30-40 seconds, then turn over and continue to cook the pancake for a further 20-30 seconds, or until pale golden-brown. Place the cooked pancake onto a warm plate and cover with a sheet of greaseproof paper. Repeat the process with the remaining oil and the remaining batter mixture, until all of the batter has been used up and you have a stack of pancakes. Keep warm.

6. Place one of the pancakes onto a clean work surface. Take the beaten egg and lightly coat one side of the pancake, then turn it over. Spoon a line of the filling mixture down the middle of the pancake, leaving the edges free. Roll the pancake up using your hands, folding it in at the edges to form a parcel. Repeat the process with the remaining pancakes and the remaining filling mixture.

7. Dip the parcels into the polenta and then transfer them to a an oil filled frying pan. Make sure you place the parcel gently with the folded ends first so the frying process seals it shut. Fry for about 5-6 minutes until crispy and golden brown. Remove from the pan and set aside to drain on kitchen paper. Repeat the process with the remaining oil and the remaining filled pancakes.



My recipe for Mediterranean Couscous is an adaptation from a recipe on wonderful blog called MediterrAsian Cooking

Mediterranean Couscous:

 1/4 cup lemon juice
 2 tbps olive oil
 3 tbps tahini paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
 salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon tomato purée
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup couscous
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 cup diced tomato
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup cooked chickpeas
1/4 cup roasted pine nuts

1. Make a dressing by whisking together the lemon juice, 2 tablespoons olive oil, tahini paste, tomato purée and parsley; season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Combine the water with 1 teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir the couscous into the water; cover for 10 minutes.

3. Take diced peppers, tomatoes and pine nuts and place on a lightly oiled roasting pan and roast veggies until tender. I put them in the oven at 400° F for about 10 minutes. Place the couscous in a large bowl; add chickpeas, roasted vegetables and pine nuts into the couscous. While stirring, slowly pour the dressing into the mixture.


While it took some effort it was all worth it, a delicious treat for a delicious holiday.

Always learning new tricks to save money

My husband and I, like many others, our finances always seem to be some what strained so I always find myself trying to come up with new ways to save us money. One of the biggest money drainers that I discovered was food. Food waste can be a huge financial issue for any household. So I have started some new tricks to help cut our food bill in half and so far they have worked.

One of the first changes I made is every Sunday I spend about a half hour working on the menu for the next week. This has been one of the biggest changes that has required some work but has saved me so much time and money. By coming up with weekly meal plans I have found ways to utilize things in my pantry so that I am not buying more then we can eat. Every pantry I have ever seen contains random cans and assortment of foods that have been there for probably longer then we would care to admit. Going through the pantry and actually using the items is one of the biggest money savers and it can be fun. When you find odd items that you have no idea what to do with the trick I found was through one of my favorite websites www.allrecipes.com I use the ingredient search engine and search through the different recipe ideas, it is a great way to branch out and try new things and to use up ingredients that you just couldn't seem to go through.

By creating your menu it not only saves money but also can save time. I can't tell you the amount of times dinner time has sneaked up on me with no plans of what I would make. I would spend time going through the cupboards stressing about not having anything in the house to cook. More often then not when I have told my husband that I have nothing to make it isn't so much that there aren't ingredients to make dinner I am just uninspired. So this means either another trip to the store or to a restaurant, both huge money drainers. By having a plan it takes the thinking and stress out of meal time for the rest of the week. It also allows you to plan on using up ingredients so they don't go bad. For example how many times have you purchased that bag or spinach or the broccoli and used it for one meal and then the rest of it spoiled as it just sat in the fridge unused. If you plan your week you can make sure you use up all of your fresh produce and reduce your waste.

Well that is tip number one there are more, but that is for another time.