New Food Adventures

Recently, my amazing mother-in-law gave us a bunch of wheat flour. I love anything wheat pretty much because of the nutritional value it has and it just tastes so good. So I've been trying to find some new recipes that we can use with wheat flour. I found this great recipe for whole wheat pizza crust. We decided to try it and it is really delicious. So I thought I would share the wealth and spread the word about this great crust recipe. It's really healthy and very filling.

1 teaspoon honey

1 1/2 cups warm water 

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour*

*(you can use the all purpose flour or just use all wheat flour)

1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.
2. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust. Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a well oiled pizza pan. Top pizza with your favorite toppings, such as sauce, cheese, meats, or vegetables.
5. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes (depending on thickness) in the preheated oven, until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges, and cheese is melted on the top.

Uncooked dough with alfredo. 

I made my alfredo pizza with veggies.

I also have a great whole wheat cookie recipe. I have to give the credit to one of my old roommates. She made these cookies one time for us and we loved them. She got the recipe on the back of the Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flour bag. It's funny because every time I make these, they turn out different but a good different. This last time I tried to lessen the butter amount by doing half butter and half shortening. It was horrible but it made the cookies more crunchy and not as chewy.

Whole Wheat Cookies
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 cups of wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 bag of chocolate chips (we have tried both semisweet and milk chocolate chips and we all like milk chocolate chips better)

Cream together sugars, butter, vanilla and egg. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough may be stiff). Stir in chocolate chips. Place in an ungreased pan and cook for 8 to 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

Sadly, I don't have any pictures to show for this recipe but I promise it's really good.
Happy Eating! :)