Tosca Reno's Sugar Strike

I tried to do Tosca Reno's StrikeSugar program last year and the timing just wasn't right with my surgery.  I didn't want to ask my family to help me cook all this new food.  Although I have a wonderful family and they would have done it.  It's an ebook for sale on Tosca Reno's website.

Ironically, I had to have a scar revision from last years surgery and it hit right around when this years StrikeSugar challenge began.  I was in the regaining my energy to exercise phase when it began.  I was afraid I couldn't get my cardio up where it needed to be, but thought there is never a perfect time in my life to StrikeSugar.  I love it too much.  Don't get me wrong I've gotten a lot of sugar out of my life, but as you can see from my previous 3 posts it's not out completely not even close.

So, I joined the StrikeSugar challenge on FB.  Still have my lesson plan all printed out and ready to go from last year.  The first week was not too difficult since I already really watch my sugar and simple carb intake.  Cutting it even lower didn't cause me headaches, or mood swings, but for a few in the group they were having such a hard time.  They were cutting cold turkey.  Brave brave women!  I had to gradually get my diet worked around to Eating Clean then try the Strike Sugar program.  It's been a 3 year learning lesson for me.  The other gals a 4 week learning lesson.  Now the Strike Sugar program didn't come up until last year.  I could have done it at the 2 year mark if I'd have been healthy enough to do it.  I am now.

Buckwheat porridge with mixed berries.  I froze a couple servings of this.  It was very good cooked with spices that really added a lot of flavor to the porridge.  It is a bit gummy, so I eat it with a dollop of Greek yogurt.  Perfection.

Protein pancakes with a quick blueberry reduction syrup.  Again very good and again I froze some for future breakfasts.  The protein comes from Almond meal.  That I like.

I've eaten more eggs during the Strike Sugar Challenge than I probably all of last year.  Not my favorite until I turn it into a frittata.  That I love.

The recipe for the Roasted Tomato and Chickpea Soup is something I'll probably make forever.  My hubs even loved it.  The seed crackers were very good and for that reason I may never make them again.  High in calories and good fats and something I want to pick at and eat all day long.  When you know you can't control yourself why set yourself up for failure.

This is the Vegetable Chili con Carne (not!) and the flavors in this chili make one not miss meat.  It called for a lot of fresh basil and I thought it would overwhelm the flavors, but it didn't.  Again I froze some of this for feature lunches and dinners.  I almost didn't have enough to freeze as my family was scarfing it down.

This was a strange one.  Cauliflower pizza crust.  My husband already love cauliflower mashed potatoes, so we were willing to try this.  Do to several people saying their crust was very soggy I precooked my cauliflower and rolled it in a towel.  No sogginess for me.  No sure I'd go to this much trouble again I don't have a huge craving for pizza.  It was good.  I had enough for dinner that night and lunch the next day.  Everyone ate it and liked it.

I think what's been fun about this Strike Sugar Program is seeing all of the creative ways to get simple sugars out of ones life.  I've lost 8 pounds to boot.

The Deep Dish Pizza That Ate Orangevale

I was watching a show on the Food Network and they were making Deep Dish Pizza.  I just fell in love with the idea of making my own.  I saved the episode and sat down and wrote down every thing they did to make their wonderful pizza.  I promptly erased the episode no longer needing it, but I don't remember what the show was called.  I'll have to think on that.

Anyhow with some web research my plan and recipes were complete.  So, yesterday afternoon I went to work with the below recipe.  After the 2nd rise I punched it down and began shaping it to my pan.  What I encountered was not a resistant dough, but a dough that reminded me more of "The Blob" from movie fame.  How so you ask?  Well, it kept growing and growing quickly.  Rising I guess would be the term in the bread world.  It was rising in such a fast fashion that I couldn't even get the dough pressed on one side when it was rising out of the pan on the other.  I was literally shaping and punching it down at the same time.  It was becoming a joke.  Finally I decided to make sure all my toppings were ready.  Punch the crust down quickly top it and throw it in the oven not to just bake it, but to kill it.  Unlike "The Blob" which needed cold to stop it my blob needed heat.

After about 10 minutes the heat did the job and stopped it in it's tracks.  Clearly I needed to tweak this recipe.  Fortunately, I knew it was still going to be very tasty even though it had about 1 1/2 inches of crust on all sides.  I topped my pizza with mozzarella, sweet Italian sausage, pepperoni, diced bell pepper, diced red onion, 1 15 oz. can of crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.  Yes, I did all that before the blog had time to consume me.

Not one piece of pizza is left today.  DH had it for dinner.  A snack after he returned from reffing and took the rest for lunch today.  That's why I have no picture.

What I'll do next time is use half the amount of yeast and see how that goes.  As for the rest of the dough recipe it made a very tasty dough with the right taste of Deep Dish Pizzas I've had at the restaurant.  The corn meal, olive oil and lack of salt in the recipe was really in the right direction for a tasty crust.  I had 2 other concerns.  One is did I use the right size pan.  I didn't have a 15 inch round pan.  I used my 13" X 9" rectangular pan.  I also wondered should I have cut the dough blob in half.  Maybe I put too much dough in the pan to begin with.  All things to consider the next time I make Deep Dish Pizza since I don't have Steve McQueen to save the day.

Deep Dish Pizza
Dough:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups warm water
1/2 cup corn meal
5 1/2 cups all purpose flour
4 1/2 tsp dry yeast

Put all ingredients in mixing bowl in the order listed making sure to put the flour and yeast in last.  Mix on low speed with dough hook until dough forms a ball then mix on medium speed for 10 minutes.

Take the dough out of bowl and form it into a ball.  Then place it back into the bowl with a damp towel over it.  Let it rest until it almost doubles in volume.  Takes about 30 minutes.  Punch down and let rise again.  It can now be shaped in pan.

Coat the bottom of a well seasoned 15" X 2" deep dish pan with regular olive oil.  Place dough ball in the center of the pan and press it out until it cover the entire bottom.  Then, using your fingers pull the dough up the sides of the pan.

The edge should be pinched up against the side of the pan.  If the dough resists holding shape cover with a towel and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes before trying again.

Using mozzarella or provolone cover bottom of the dough.

Add desired toppings.  Top with crushed tomatoes then Italian seasoning and finally Parmesan cheese.

Place pan in the center of the bottom oven rack and bake at 475 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes turning half way through until the crust is golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to cool about 3 minutes.

Make Your Own Pizza Night

Always popular at my house.  For years I made my own dough in my breadmaker.  I've had a breadmaker since 1991.  Now at my local market they sell pizza dough for about a buck.  Can't hardly beat that.  So, for "make your own pizza" night I got 3 bags of dough, Boboli Pizza sauce (I like the flavor and that it's packaged in small servings if you don't use it all it saves for next time), and all the various toppings my family likes.  Tonight we had pepperoni, salami, mozzarella, green pepper, purple onion, mushrooms, black olives, and green onions.  My daughter also wanted an avocado, which she slice and put on her pizza after it was baked.

(Sure love my convection oven.  I can bake multiple racks at the same time without having to shift things around.)

We were SO hungry I barely got any pictures of this adventure.  The kids helped slice and grate the cheese while I rolled the dough out on the Silpats.  I love rolling pizza dough on Silpats.  When it is dough it sticks to the Silpat.  You don't have to fight with it shrinking back quite so much.  When it's baked it doesn't stick and slides right off on to a cutting board.  Do not cut on a Silpat!

Next each kid got to top their own pizza.  I topped one for my husband and me.  Because the husband I generally share a pizza each kid has to give their dad a slice of the theirs.  That way he gets to sample their pizza and he gets enough to eat.  He even ate my daughter's slice with avocado on it.  Even though he doesn't particularly like avocado.  He said it was a pretty good combo though.