I made my dough around 1pm and baked the pizza for dinner, so I didn't photograph the process.
Pizza Dough
3 cups all purpose flour (organic)
1 packet yeast or 2.25 teaspoons (tried a special pizza one but will use regular from now on)
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (I used safflower oil)
1 teaspoon salt (bough in bulk)
1 tablespoon sugar (bought in bulk)
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
Sift the dry ingredients together into a large bowl.
Mix in oil and water, mix with your hands to create a nice sticky dough.
Cover the bowl and place into your refrigerator until you're ready to use.
Heat oven to 375 degrees
Begin by rolling the dough into a ball. Begin to pull the dough into a large flat circle. Flatten to about 1/8" inch in thickness. The circle doesn't have to be perfect. Place either on a pizza stone or stainless steel pizza pan.
Once you have spread your pie to the desired size, spread a thin layer of olive oil all over the dough. Then spread your sauce. I used organic pasta sauce because I don't make pizza often and it would be wasteful buying a separate sauce.
Then spread on your cheeses. I grated my own mozzarella and parmesan. This saved money and also prevented unwanted or needed plastic waste.
After you're done with the cheese, slice and add your choice toppings. I chose mushrooms and onions.
Bake for 25-35 minutes or until finished. Enjoy!
The entire process takes just as long as it does to order and wait for a pizza. By making your own, you know exactly what you are eating and can substitute to your needs. You can also make it a family activity and have fun with it.
Have fun!!
There are many ways to cook and make homemade items waste free. I love to make my own yogurt (recipe in previous post). Unfortunately in Illinois, I can't keep the milk and culture at the proper temperature over night.
I also usually cook my food in one pan. I use homemade vegetable stock. (
wonderful recipe here). By making my own stocks, yogurts, condiments, etc, I prevent bringing waste into the home. The most recent time I made my vegetable stock (seen below), it came out purple because I added red cabbage and kale to the mix.
Here is how I cook a lot of my meals. I only purchase wrapping free vegetables and try to stick to seasonal vegetables to cut costs. I also only purchase whole mushrooms because they last longer. Place your sliced vegetables, garlic and herbs in the skillet with about 1/2 cup of homemade stock.
Once the stock is boiling and your vegetable have been cooking for about 5-10 minutes, add your tilapia fillet. Place some of the vegetables over the tilapia, add some salt, pepper and some more stock.
Continue to allow the stock to boil. Once the fish is fully cooked, allow more of the stock to boil away. Then place your food in your chosen dish and enjoy!
I love making these recipes. The stock I use when cooking fish, chicken and sauces. The yogurt I put in my oatmeal or cereal. =) I was amazed how tasty the yogurt is in old fashion oatmeal.
Homemade Yogurt
4 cups of milk (I use fat free)
2 tablespoons of vanilla yogurt
cooking pot (stainless steel is best)
Glass jar for yogurt
cooking thermometer
Place the 4 cups of milk in the pot and turn on high heat. Place the thermometer in the milk.
Bring the milk up to 185 degrees and then turn off the heat. Pour the hot milk into your glass jar and place the thermometer in the milk. Allow the milk to cool down to 110 degrees. Add the yogurt to the milk. Place the jar into your oven with the pilot light on. Make sure the milk stays at 110 degrees. Allow the milk to sit for 4-12 hours. When the yogurt has cultured, place in refrigerator. This yogurt should last for about a week.
You can add homemade vanilla extract and stevia for vanilla yogurt.
Homemade Vegetable Stock
pinch of salt
cabbage scraps
kale scraps
leek scraps
onion peelings
carrot peelings and scraps
any vegetable scraps available
Glass bottle for storage
Place the vegetable scraps (washed please) into a large stock pot. Add water to the pot until the vegetable are barely covered. Add the salt. Bring the water to a boil. Allow the vegetables to soak for 30-45 minutes. Take out the scraps with tongs. Pour the stock into a glass bottle. Use within a week.
Over the next few months, I will be packing up my Iowa condo and moving most of it into storage. I am working on finding a job in Chicago, so I am able to move into my parents condo in Lincoln Park. I have been working on a list of things I am going to rid of, store, etc.
- get rid of unneeded furniture
- rid of all unneeded office supplies
- pack up and store needed bedding and towels
- rid of all food products left
- go through basement
- sell unwanted yarn
- create list of needed/wanted items
- donate books in garage
- rid of unwanted toiletries
- rid of unwanted extra cleaning supplies
This is a very small list, but it will be growing. My mom and I have already moved my aquariums to Illinois and my cockatiel and dog are also here. My animals will never return to the condo. This will make moving much easier and faster. I would really like to downsize the amount of small items I have, such as toiletries, paper items, etc. I don't want to have to deal with owning so much anymore. I have noticed that I am happier with less. Throughout this moving ordeal, I want to be able to control what I actually own. It is hard when I have a mom who loves to shop and give her children things. I appreciate it, but it is difficult, very difficult. I know that when I move into my own place in Chicago, it is going to be a lot smaller than the place in Iowa, that is one of the main reasons I need to rid of a lot of belongings. I just need to figure out how to get rid of things that my mom wants me to keep. She is offended by my desire not to have tchotchkes, which she has a fondness for. If you have any ideas on how to reason with her, please let me know.
My mom also wants me to buy more clothes, I just donated 4 massive bags of clothes. I don't want to buy anything more. My mom has a closet literally the size of my bedroom growing up.
