What We’ve Been Reduced To

Yes people, that is a fried bologna sandwich. (Albeit a blurry one, but still.)

Things have gone from bad to worse at Chez Shaye.  I finally have a computer AND internet access–all at the same time!  But several things happened that threw me for a loop toward the end of the school year, and it seems that any sort of organization has gone out the window since my husband and son have been home from school for the summer.

I fried up a mess of baloney (and yes, we determined that the plural must be a “mess of baloney”), today for lunch.  I realized that we’ve truly hit the abyss if we’re eating fried bologna.  Granted, it was a staple when I was growing up.  As a matter of fact, I don’t know many kids who grew up in our area who didn’t get a fried bologna sandwich occasionally for lunch over the summer.  When I was working in purchasing at Delco Remy, I remember walking down into the plant to get a fried bologna sandwich and a can of Coke for $1.00.  The factory guys would bring in electric skillets and they kept refrigerators filled with pop that we could get for a quarter a can.

So, this is my lame-o attempt to get back into the blogging habit.  I bring you–The Fried Bologna Sandwich!

Fried Bologna (Baloney) Sandwiches
Servings (Totally depends on how much you make and how much meat you put on your sandwich.)
WW Points (Let’s just not even go there.)

Any random amount of semi-thick sliced bologna

Bread (We always had white bread as a kid, but I refuse to buy it now so whole grain is pictures above)

1. Peel the red plastic stuff off the edges of the bologna if you’re using deli bologna.  (Trust me, fancy deli bologna is not required.  Plain old Oscar Meyer was featured on my childhood sandwiches.)
2. Make a cut about halfway to the center of the bologna so it won’t curl while you fry it.
3. Throw it in the pan, without layering, and let it brown a little.
4. Flip it over and let it brown a little on the other side.
5. Take it out and throw it on bread with whatever toppings your little heart desires.  (Ketchup was de rigeur in our house.)
6. Eat.

Now that I have shamed myself with this nasty concoction, I promise you that I’ll work on a menu, grocery list, AND some better inspiration for healthy meals.

What does your grocery list look like when you’re eating healthy?

I’m on Weight Watchers again, and I’m working on my grocery list.  I was talking to a couple of Facebook friends earlier about the types of healthy foods we try to keep on hand when trying to eat healthy.  I shared a few things that I’ve come up with, but I’d love to hear other people’s suggestions!

Here are some of mine:

I hate to admit it, because I seriously do try to avoid processed foods when I can, but it’s a lot harder when you’re dieting or doing Weight Watchers.  I tend to keep a few Lean Cuisines or Lean Pockets in the freezer for emergencies or when I’m just feeling extremely lazy–they’re easy and don’t have a lot of points.  I also tend to keep a can of milk chocolate Slimfast powder in the cupboard for the same reason.  While I’m doing true confessions, I also use butter sprinkles or butter spray when I’m doing Weight Watchers.  Yes I know it’s like one molecule away from being plastic, but I still do it.  (There, I admitted it.)

Other than those seriously processed things…

I try to buy a lot of produce, then wash and chop it the next day so it’s easy to grab at a moment’s notice.  (Grocery shopping can be exhausting, so I usually never do it right when I get home from the store.)

I buy romaine & other lettuces, spinach, radishes, carrots, sprouts, and any other salad-bar things that would be low or no points.  I also get some slightly higher cal/higher protein items  like sunflower seeds, garbanzo beans, olives,  and 2% cheese–but I try to make sure to weigh those things before putting on my salad because they can rack up points quickly.  I keep all of it–chopped, washed and ready to eat–in small containers in the fridge.  (My own little instant salad bar!) I also keep low cal salad dressing, which I also try to remember to measure when I use it when I’m counting points.  I try to make my own salad dressings because it’s hard to find dressings that don’t have HFCS.  The Annie’s dressings don’t, but I’m just not crazy about bottled dressings to begin with.

I also try to get stuff like zucchini, summer squash, fresh mushrooms, onions, eggplant, red peppers, and other similar veggies that I’ll chop up and saute in a small amount of olive oil while I’m prepping all my produce. (I usually saute them one at a time, then throw it all in together.  I just keep a big container of cooked veggies in the fridge so I can warm some in the microwave to go into my Egg Beaters omlet in the morning with a couple of Tbs. of 2% cheese.  It’s a fast, healthy, and fairly quick breakfast.

The other day, I figured out that I can peel and chop up an apple, throw it together with a little sweetener, pinch of salt, butter spray, cinnamon and nutmeg; and then nuke it until it’s soft.  It’s awesome on a toasted whole grain English Muffin when I’m craving a pastry.

When I buy any bread product, I check the label to make sure there’s no HFCS, then I check to make sure it says “Whole Wheat” or “Whole Grain”.  After that, I check the nutrition label to figure out which one has the most fiber and the fewest calories.  If there’s more than one that fits that criteria, I get the one that feels softer.

In the summer, we love frozen grapes.  I’ll buy a bunch of grapes, wash them really well and cut the stems so that when you grab them you’ll get a proper serving size.  Then I just throw them in the freezer.  They work really well when you want something cold and sweet like a Popsicle.  (They don’t satisfy a chocolate craving though.  I’ve been known to keep the fat free Fudgesicles on hand for that purpose.  Only one point each!)

My doctor suggested another one to me.  He’s completely against all sweeteners.  (He prefers sugar or honey to HFCS, but would prefer we avoid all of them with the history of diabetes in our family.) He suggested that a calorie free, yet refreshing drink is flavored water.  He told me to take a pitcher of water and put in sliced lemons, limes, even cucumber.  Throw it in the fridge overnight, and it makes a really good drink.  I’ve tried cucumber water at a spa, but I keep meaning to do this at home.  I love to put water in the fridge anyway.  It’s handy to have cold water, and I swear it tastes better after the chlorine has had a chance to evaporate away.

We also love to make 5-minute tomato soup.  I’m pretty sure I’ve posted it on here before, but all you do is put a small amount of olive oil in the bottom of a saucepan, warm it a little and then throw in a little fresh garlic.  (Roasted garlic is even better!) Then you let that sizzle for less than a minute before you add a can of crushed tomatoes and a little dried basil.  You let that simmer for about 5 minutes, then either take a stick blender to it, throw it in your regular blender, or leave it slightly chunky.  We love it, and it’s almost point free!

Ok, there are a few of my healthy food tricks.  Now it’s your turn to comment and share some of yours!

Some Thoughts (while I still try to get my other computer up and running)

I recently discovered this site and was completely enthralled.  If I’m not mistaken, it was set up by a couple of friends who practice something called “Urban Homesteading”.  (Which is essentially just trying to be as self-sufficient as one can be without being ridiculous.)  It isn’t a survivalist mentality–they don’t have stores of provisions and guns in their larder.  It’s a very back-to-basics mentality that appeals to my nostalgic side.

Several years ago, we moved into the home that was first my husband’s grandparents, then his parents’ before we moved in.  It was built in the early 1940s, and is completely charming with it’s huge basement, arched doorways, whole-house ventilation fan, cute little porch, etc.   It has been updated over the years–the heat pump/AC unit makes the coal chute obsolete, but I love that it’s still there.

It has actually been updated a little too much if you want the truth.  When my husband’s parents moved in, they replaced a lot of the charming doorknobs, light fixtures, etc. with the finest the 1980s had to offer.  It’s sad, especially when you consider how popular the mid-century style is now.  Little by little, we’ve been replacing the peach and country blue with colors that are a little more tolerable.  We’re still discussing ripping out the carpet and uncovering the pristine oak hardwood floors; but I’m a little afraid because they’re authentic, waxed wood floors so they don’t have the protection of polyurethane.   (I have a dog, two cats, and a little boy to potentially destroy it.)

That whole tangent brings be back to the fact that I’ve always been drawn to the way my grandmother did things, and now that we live in her house–the way my husband’s grandmother did things.   As we go through the house, my husband tells me stories of the amazing gardens his grandmother kept, the fruit she grew and canned, the art she created (that is still hanging on our walls), how she always line dried her laundry, and the amazing food she created–from scratch.  (Ahhh, now we’re getting to familiar topics!)

If you’ve read my blog much at all, you know that I have a distrust for excess chemicals.  I don’t believe in the idea of “better living through modern science”.  I think a lot of the chemicals that are now in our lives came about because manufacturers just wanted to save a buck in manufacturing so they could make more money in the long run, and boy howdy did it work!  I’m firmly convinced that food that is grown from dirt that has been farmed to death is pretty much nutrition free. They use petroleum based fertilizers to force things to grow, then they spray on “nutrients” during the manufacturing process–and the efficacy of those is now being called into question.  I think that chemists are smart people, but I don’t believe that they can fully understand how nutrients work in the body.  They have recognized the very basic elements that we need, but they don’t know how all of those things work together, nor do they understand how they work within each individual’s system.  I’m finally even starting to hear reports that scientists are discovering that taking a vitamin might not be the cure-all that they once thought it was.  Now they’re starting to suggest that you’re better off to eat more healthy foods like produce to get the nutrients you need.

I also think it’s sad that so many people have no earthly clue where their food comes from, nor do they have any idea that not long ago people survived just fine without all the extra chemicals in their food, cleaning products, etc.  I am absolutely amazed at the number of friends I have who can’t make even basic recipes from scratch–or act like it takes an act of God for them to be able to.  Cooking isn’t hard, yet so many people I know are unable to feed themselves without eating out or reheating processed foods.  It makes me sad.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not judging those people.  I know I’m in the minority, and I understand that I’m in a unique situation because I have more time to cook at home.  (And trust me when I say we eat plenty of restaurant and processed foods lately.)  But most people don’t understand that cooking from scratch frequently doesn’t take any longer than making something from a packaged mix, is frequently faster than going out to eat, and is a million times healthier than pretty much any of the chemical laden processed meals that you can reheat.  Especially if you plan ahead a little–which is my downfall.

All that said, I think I might shift the focus of my site just a little bit once I’m back up and running again.  I think I was already heading that way.   Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to get rid of my TV or stop eating fake meat. We all have our things that we like.  I do want to start trying more things like canning my own food, try my hand at making soap; and I recently tried making my own ricotta cheese.  (It was really easy and good.  I’ll post it soon!)

At first I was worried that people would think that I’m becoming very “crunchy granola”.  I’m not trading in my sneakers for some Birkenstocks.  But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense now that more and more people are looking into saving money and being more environmentally friendly.

Feel free to play along with me, live vicariously through me, or just laugh at me–it’s all good.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter in comments though.

Wow, I suck at posting

When I started this blog, I had such great aspirations.  I also had easy access to the internet.  Then my laptop refused to connect to the internet.  Then we got another computer for me to work on upstairs, and it has stopped booting up for some reason.  That leaves me back on the basement computer.  I hate the basement computer.

Because of my hatred for the basement computer, I rarely spend the time to type out recipes or deal with photos to post.  I feel really guilty about that.  Right now I’m in the process of getting a bunch of stuff cleared out of my house that has needed to go since before we even moved in here.  After that, I’m going to sit down with both computers upstairs and see if I can come up with a solution.

In the meantime, I have every intention of posting at least once a week.  (But you know what they say about the road to hell being paved with good intentions.)  

Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful…

…or because I can’t seem to write a blog post!

It’s been a crazy week at Chez Shaye!  My lovely new computer got sick, so I’m back to the crappy computer in the basement until I can seek treatment.  I managed to schedule dental work, jury duty, and a gyno appointment for this week–on top of being called to help out in the cafeteria of the private school where my son used to go. (What can I say, I’m a sucker for a request to volunteer.)

Anyway, all that to say that I don’t actually have the records of what we’ve been eating–nor have I really cooked.  You wouldn’t believe the crap I’ve subjected my family to this week.  While we’ve only resorted to the dreaded fast food once, and that was for Wendy’s baked potatoes and salads, we’ve been eating all kinds of processed crap this week.  Plus, my lunches have been provided by the court so I’ve been stuck eating stuff like grilled cheese sandwiches and iceburg salads.  (We gave up meat for Lent again.)  I swear I can feel myself gaining weight by the minute, and I ‘m also swearing to myself that it’s healthy eating for us as soon as I can make a grocery list and get to the store!

Until then, I’ll try my best to come up with a snapshot of something I’ve already made and post it yet this weekend.  I promise!

Menu Mondays

I’ve heard from several sources that you can save a lot of money by planning your meals in advance.  You buy only what you really need at the store, and waste a lot less food.

I’ve been trying really hard to come up with a menu for at least a few days at a time, so I don’t just run to the store and grab whatever looks easy.  (If you’re a friend I talk to on any kind of regular basis, you know that I’ve asked you at least once what you’re having for dinner because I’m always looking for inspiration.)

I needed a place to keep my menus so I could go back and find them later, and I figured they might give other people ideas for what they could make for dinner.  So I’m going to try to start a new blob feature–Menu Mondays.

I’m starting with Thursday since I already know what we had from Thursday until today.  I know it’s technically cheating since I’m not planning my meals for the end of the week today, but I don’t think you really care that much.

Weekly Menu:

Thursday- Homemade Pizza

Friday- We went to a party that was a cook-out/pitch-in.  We gave up meat for Lent, so we took Boca Burgers and baked mac & cheese.  (We usually have pizza on Friday nights.)

Saturday- I made spaghetti, threw on some Quorn chik’n patties, threw a little more sauce and pizza cheese on top, and called it Chik’n Parm.

Sunday- We had a pitch-in at church.

Monday- We had carry out.  (Steve had a meeting at school that I had forgotten about, so I didn’t have time to make the pot pie I’d planned to make.)

Tuesday- I’m thinking tofu stir fry.

Wednesday- I’m going to try a recipe for a pot pie with a polenta crust . (I’ll post if it’s good.)

So there’s what I have so far.  At first glance, I realize that the first few days were really heavy with highly processed faux-meat.  That’s mostly because (A) I had a cold midweek and (B) we gave up meat for Lent and I hadn’t really started thinking meat-free yet.   I’ve finally got some good produce in the fridge, so the menu’s looking up!

I made Steve and Simon help me come up with some ideas for this week, but for a while now I’ve been kicking around the idea of having a theme for each night of the week.  We always make pizza on Friday nights, so that makes Fridays easy.   Maybe I should designate one night as pasta night, one night for ethnic meals, Wednesday seems like a good day for soup/salad because Steve only has about an hour home after work before he has to go to the church.  For the next few weeks, our church will be having a pitch-in each Sunday night, so that will make the weekends a little bit easier.

So here’s my question for you–do you plan your meals in advance?  (Not judging if you don’t since I sure don’t do it consistantly!)  How do you go about planning them?  Have you ever tried theme nights? Do you plan for meals that just use what the groceries have in their sale fliers?  Do you just go with what sounds good?

Pleeeeeeeease share in comments!

My all time favorite salad

Every Easter, I make a 7-Layer Salad for dinner.  It’s one of a few traditional dishes that we always have to have for Easter, but it is one that I’ve been known to serve several times in the weeks before Easter too.  For some reason, this salad is the epitome of spring for me.   Steve and I LOVE it.  Simon doesn’t really care for anything that has the word “salad” anywhere near it–which is strange because it’s one of the few things I craved when I was pregnant for him.

Anyway, it started as a recipe from a cookbook called  Mealtimes & Memories, but I’ve changed it quite a bit.  I’ve eliminated iceburg lettuce in favor of the greener and more nutritious Romaine, and added green onions.  I’ve also replaced the quite tasty but HFCS full combo of Miracle Whip and mayo in the dressing for a lightly sweetened mayo that is much healthier–and we can’t taste the difference.

Seven Layer Salad
Servings 12
WW Points 6 (Points determined using Hellmanns canola mayo and real bacon.  Using 4 Tbs soy bacon would make it 5 points.)

10 oz bag baby spinach (You can absolutely use non-bagged and just wash it really well, but bagged spinach is the one bagged green I do use.)

1/2 lbs bacon–cooked & crumbled OR 1 cup soy bacon pieces (Since my family believes that bacon is a vegetable, I usually cut the raw bacon into small strips, cook the whole package, and about half makes it onto the salad.)

10 oz bag package frozen baby peas (I’m serious about the baby part. Get the ones that say “baby” or “petite”.)

3 green onions—chopped (We like green onion so I use the whole bunch.)

1 head Romaine lettuce—cut into bite sized pieces and washed (Sub at will for any lettuce you like.)

6 hard-boiled eggs—sliced (This amount totally depends on the size container you’re using. You need enough slices to completely cover the top, so if you’re using a wide container you’ll need more.)

1 cup mayonnaise (This amount also depends on your dish. You need enough to cover the top of the eggs completely by about 1/8-1/4 inch.)

1/2 tsp sugar—optional (The original recipe calls for 1/2 mayo and 1/2 Miracle Whip. Since MW is chock full of HFCS, I don’t use it. I did like the sweetness it gave the dressing, so I add a little sugar to the mayo for the same taste.)

1 cup shredded cheese (I usually use cheddar or colby jack, but the original recipe called for Swiss)

1. Layer each item through eggs in order in a trifle dish. (Or any dish you want.  My aunt makes it in a 9×13.)
2. Combine mayo & sugar and frost over egg layer.
3. Can be covered tightly and stored in the fridge up to overnight.
4. Just before serving sprinkle cheese on the top.

This is one of my default pitch-in dishes, so if you invite me to come over and ask me to bring a salad, this is probably the one you’ll get.  It looks impressive, is easy to put together, and tastes amazing!

…And just because I haven’t mentioned any small appliances lately–here is my beloved egg steamer.  I realize that it’s completely senseless for me to have an appliance that  has the sole purpose of cooking eggs, but it is SOOO much easier to just throw some eggs and water into this thing, turn it on, and in a few minutes have perfectly cooked eggs.  It does boiled, scrambled, and poached.  What more could you ask for??    (And in case you’re wondering, this is another one I got from my mom.  I don’t actually spend good money on all of my senseless appliances.)

Homemade Ding-Dongs

So we had my friend Laura’s family over a few weeks ago, and I know she likes to cook so I asked her to bring a few dishes.  For dessert, she brought a homemade version of Hostess Ding-Dongs.  They were irresistible!  I couldn’t keep myself from going back and eating more and more!  I think I consumed four or five by the time the night was over.  It was shameful!  (Not to mention the beginning of the end of my progress with Weight Watchers for a time.)

I took a picture of them for you:

So shortly after we had them over, I had surgery.  All I wanted to eat when I got home was one of those stupid Ding-Dongs.  My beloved husband went out and bought me a box of Hostess Ding-Dongs, and let me tell you–they were pathetic in comparison!

So I found out how Laura made them, and immediately set out to make them for myself, everyone at the Super Bowl party we went to, and then again for Simon’s class Valentine party.

Here’s how it goes:

(Laura used normal cupcake pans and I used my fancy, new heart shaped Wilton cupcake pans that I found at Target.  The pictured cupcakes were the ones that went to Simon’s school for their Valentine party.)

Homemade Ding Dongs

For the Cake
(Laura told me to use the Hershey’s Chocolate Cake recipe from the back of the cocoa box, so I did.)

2 cups sugar

1-3/4 cups AP flour

3/4 cup cocoa

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1-1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease and flour two or three cupcake pans. (You can do it in shifts if you don’t have enough pans.)
   Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
3. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes.
4. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans. (Don’t fill the cups more than halfway. You don’t want them to crown.)
   Bake 20-25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. (I started checking at 15.)
5. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to towel lined rack. Cool completely. (Don’t leave them to cool too long—overnight is too long. The cake still needs to be a little soft so the filling doesn’t explode out the sides. Trust me on this one.)

While they’re cooling, make your filling.

For the Filling
(Laura told me that she uses a 7-Minute Frosting, so I found a recipe. This one isn’t the best, but it worked just fine since it’s really more about the cake. If you have another version that’s better, PLEASE feel free to post it in comments and I’ll give it a try. My friend Jen has a recipe for marshmallow fluff that I’m wondering about, too…)

1 c granulated sugar

1/3 c water

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 dash salt

2 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla

1. Combine all ingredients but vanilla in the top of a double boiler or a metal bowl above a pan with an inch or two of simmering water. (I’m told not to let the water come to a full boil, but I’m not sure why. I think mine might have at some point.)
2. Using your hand mixer, beat it over the heat until definite peaks form.
3. Remove from heat and continue beating until the frosting is cool to the touch.
4. Beat in the vanilla. (Use real vanilla, you’d really be able to taste the fake stuff in this.)

When the cupcakes are cool, stick some frosting in a piping bag with a medium tip. (I used a medium star, but I don’t think it really matters.)

Stick the tip right into the middle of the top of the cupcake, and squeeze until the cupcake starts to puff up a little. (That’s a tricky process, too. You have to get enough in there, but if you put in too much the frosting can explode/squirt out the bottom, sides, or top. It took me a couple of tries to figure out how much to squeeze in before it starts to explode.)

After you’ve filled all of them, you can start working on the coating.

For the coating, Laura highly recommends Plymouth Pantry brand chocolate almond bark melted with shortening. At first I kept thinking that there has to be an alternative that would be more natural and have fewer chemicals, but there’s something about the exact combination of all of it that makes it perfect.  So if you want to use a ganache or melted chocolate with some shortening, I’m not going to try to stop you, but just know that the Plymouth Pantry Chocolate Bark and the shortening makes a softer chocolate that has a texture almost exactly like real Ding Dongs–without the waxy flavor that real Ding Dongs tend to have.

So to use the bark, you just break up the squares and put the whole package worth into a microwave safe bowl along with about two generous tbs. of Crisco. (I found that my one quart PC batter bowl works really well.) Melt it for 90 seconds on high, stir, then continue nuking and stirring until it’s melted.  (Don’t let it go too far or it’ll scorch.)

You then take the cupcakes, one at a time, and dip them in the chocolate.

Put them on waxed paper with the bottom of the cupcake up, and the part with the filling hole on the bottom.  (Laura actually has a fancy, Wilton candy dipper thingy to make the whole process much easier, but I just used two forks.  They were far from perfect looking, but I figure they can look rustic since they’re homemade.)

After that, they’re pretty much ready to eat.  The ones I made for the Super Bowl party still had the messy drips of chocolate around the bottoms, but I took a small knife and trimmed up the ones I sent to school for Valentine’s Day. (I have to say the chocolate drips around the bottom might be my favorite part, so I don’t know that I’d trim them in the future.)

I’m warning you now, line up friends to help you eat them or you won’t be able to resist their siren song!

The Whole-Wheat Pita Experiment

First, let me state for the record that PITA in internet parlance has its very own meaning.   That meaning of PITA does NOT apply to pita bread.  They are actually very easy to make!

So, with that out of the way, on with the show…

Today, my part of central Indiana has yet to reach temps above zero.  Right now, it’s the warmest it’s been all day at 0;  but we still have a wind chill of  -16.  I think that would make it the perfect day to warm the oven up to 400°, and then keep opening and closing the oven door every three minutes.  Am I right?

I’ve never made pita before, but I’ve seen it done on the net.  I found several recipes that looked good, but none were whole wheat.  I took it upon myself to try to convert one to whole wheat since I’m trying really hard to avoid white flour.  (This recipe is loosely based on one I found on The Fresh Loaf.)

The original recipe said to roll them 1/4″ thick.  They were ok, but seemed too bready.  The next few, I rolled much thinner.  The last two I forgot about, and they wound up quite crispy.  Oops.

The first few I rolled kind of thick. A few of them had the one big puff that you fill in store-bought pita. Even the puffy ones seemed too bready.

This was the first batch of thinner ones. They turned out puffy, but not one big puff that you can fill.

This is how they turn out when you roll them thin, then forget to set the timer. I wasn't too worried, they'll be perfect pita chips to use with hummous.

So here’s how it goes…

Whole-Wheat Pita Bread
Makes 8 – 4 points each

2 tsp. active dry yeast  (I buy in bulk so I just measure.  It’s a little less than a packet, if that’s what you use.)

1-1/2 c. water (Approx 110° F.)

1-1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1-1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 Tbs. vital wheat gluten (Or you could just use 3 c. bread or AP flour and skip the gluten.)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. sugar or honey (I used sugar because it s easier to measure.  Might try honey next to compare taste.)

2 Tbs. olive oil (You don’t need anything fancy like evoo, but it works fine.)

1. Put the warm water in the bowl to your mixer, add the yeast, and stir to dissolve.  Let it sit while you measure everything else. (Use a regular bowl if you don’t have a stand mixer.)
2. Measure the flours, gluten, salt & sugar into a medium sized mixing bowl, and stir well to combine.
3. Add the oil to the water/yeast mixture, then add the flour mixture.
4. Stir with a wooden spoon until it forms a ball.  (If you have flour that won’t incorporate into the dough, add a little more water.)
5. Put the dough hook attachment onto your stand mixer, and let it go to town on the dough for about 10 minutes on low.  (If it wraps itself around the hook and makes an unmoving blob– stop the mixer, take it off the hook, and start it up again.)
6. (If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can knead it by hand; but don’t complain to me about your arms hurting.  I’m just going to tell you to buy a stand mixer.)
   
7. In the meantime, wipe the flour out of your medium sized mixing bowl and either oil it or spray it; put the dough in; then either turn the dough over in the oil or spray the top.
8. Put a damp towel over the top of the bowl, and put in a warm place for an hour until the dough doubles.
9. When it’s done rising, take it out and divide it into eight equal pieces.  (I just used a knife.  It cuts really easily.) Roll the eight pieces into balls, then put your damp towel over the little balls and let it rest for 20 more minutes.
10. Preheat your oven to 400° F at some point during this process, and throw in a baking stone or an upside down baking sheet so it will be nice and warm when you get to it.  (If it’s 0° outside, like it is here, you can start the preheating process when you first get up in the morning.)
11. Roll each piece out very thinly–maybe 1/8″ to 1/4″, depending on what you like.  (I tried both and liked thinner better with this recipe.)
12. Throw as many pieces that will fit onto your hot stone or sheet in the oven. (I did two at a time.)
13. Let them bake for 3 minutes, then take them out and throw more in.  (If you want them crispy–like to eat with hummous, leave them in for a few minutes more.)
14. Take them out and enjoy.  (I’m planning hummous, falafel, and gyros–but my son tried them dipped in Cherry 7-up and said that’s good, too.)
15. If you don’t immediately enjoy, keep them in an air-tight container.  They’ll stay fresh for a little while.

Yum!

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

This, my friends, is what happens when you know you won’t have many points left after dinner, but you’ve been craving sweets all day.

Gross, huh?  Yet surprisingly not that bad.

Take a tall can of pineapple rings in juice and drain the juice.  Then you dissolve a package of sugar free gelatin with once cup of boiling water, let it cool just a little, pour it back into the can with the pineapple, and throw the whole mess back into the fridge.

After it sets up, you just eject it from the can (warm water around the outside of the can helps), and then slice it between the pineapple slices.

Depending on how much you eat, a serving is just a point or two.  (Plus it has the cool can-line thing going on–like the canned cranberry sauce that people seem to insist on for Thanksgiving.)

Yum.  (Ok, not quite yum, but at least we enjoyed it.)