To many of us, Vegetarianism is a mystery. Becoming a vegetarian is usually a choice that people make for health reasons, ethical reasons or environmental reasons. But most vegetarians and not particularly healthy, per se.

Being a vegetarian takes work. It takes commitment. It takes dedication and it also takes creativity and knowledge. It's easy to be an unhealthy vegetarian, but most people have no idea that they are being unhealthy. The reason is usually due to lack of knowledge. If you go to any grocery store today, there is an array of supposedly "healthy" vegetarian foods, but most of these foods are over processed and contain high amounts of soy, gluten, sodium and other ingredients that wreak havoc on our digestive system.

There are many types of vegetarians according to today's society. But I believe that a true & healthy vegetarian is a person who eats a diet consisting of unprocssed whole foods. Whole foods are fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, healthy fats and the occasional egg. If you think you are doing your body good by becoming a vegetarian while still eating cheese, yogurt, any kind of dairy, white flour, white sugar and processed "vegetarian" foods, you aren't. You might as well still eat meat and chicken for that matter. Those choices are better than most of the heart clogging, high cholesterol cheeses and yogurts or the acidifying processed foods that will cause heart disease and a whole other ilk of health problems down the line.

If it's an ethical issue to you, and you don't care about health, than so be it. Yet anyone who does not care about their health and what they put in their mouth is looking for trouble in the long term. Your body is a temple and the only one you have while you are here. It's important that you treat it with respect so that it works optimally to assist you in a long, happy and healthy life.

Ok, let's talk about the different kinds of "vegetarians" (remember, a true vegetarian does not eat any animal flesh at all). A vegan on the other hand, eats absolutely NO animal products including eggs, honey, white sugar & dairy.

Vegetarian: Eats a plant based diet and does not eat red meat, chicken, pork or any other meat from an animal
Pescetarian: A vegetarian who eats fish
Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian: A vegetarian who eats dairy & eggs
Flexitarian (this is a newer type of Vegetarian): one who is a vegetarian but will occasionally eat fish or chicken
Total Vegetarian: does not eat any animal products including eggs, dairy, honey and sometime white sugar (some white sugar is processed with the ash of cow bones so it is not considered vegetarian)
Vegan: Eliminates all animal products from their life even clothing & shoes made from leather, wool or silk.

As I said earlier, many vegetarians can be extremely unhealthy and sometimes it takes a lot of planning to have this type of lifestyle. Eating pizza, nachos, or any other greasy foods that don't contain meat is not the path to being a healthy vegetarian. Yes, sometimes those foods are easy to grab on the go, but these foods will leave you feeling bloated & tired, along with an array of other possible health problems. And, you will not get the necessary nutrients you need for your body as you would from eating whole foods.

If you are thinking about becoming a vegetarian or already are one, please remember that what you put into your mouth is the most important thing you can do for your body other than exercise. Be mindful of your choices. Eat lots of fresh veggies and fruit. Eat minimal amounts of processed foods. Take baby steps. Cut out one unhealthy food per week and add in a healthy one. If you are used to the Soy chicken nuggets or the frozen pizza from the freezer section, I urge you to rethink those choices and choose foods that are minimally processed. Make time each week to plan your meals.

Remember, having a healthy lifestyle takes work. It's an investment in your health. You are worth the effort and commitment it takes to be healthy. Before you know it, it will become old hat and you will be feeling and looking better than you ever have in your life! The key to your success is Baby Steps! Have fun!!!

I'm waiting on the images I took with my dad's kick-butt camera... so the remainder of the DC trip write up will have to wait until then. In the mean time I give you some amazingly delicious pizza.


Tons of mushrooms, fresh parsley, mozzarella. You can find the quick and easy dough recipe here. And the no cook sauce here. This dough was from a batch I made a month or so ago and froze half of. I just took it out to thaw in the fridge the night before. Even after freezing and thawing the dough rolls out well... it does get a little more crisp though... so if you don't like thin crispy crust... don't freeze it... just make it fresh! Oh come on, it's not like it takes a long time :)

Oh right did I mention a teaser?


It's going down right here on FRIDAY of this week! So come on back and comment for your chance to win! Aren't prizes fun?? I sure think they are :)

Happy Memorial Day everyone! I hope you are all having a beautiful work free day filled with ice cold drinks and lots of time to relax! I leave you today with a nice home made pizza. You can find the quick and easy dough recipe here. And the no cook sauce here. I covered this bad boy in roasted red peppers, turkey pepperoni, part skim cheese, mushrooms, and fresh parsley.

Chow!!

So what are your Memorial Day plans??

I like the idea of being able to get home at night and have a nice pizza with home made dough... and I REALLY like the idea when it doesn't take 2 hours for the dough to rise!! I found the recipe on What's cooking in the orange kitchen yesterday and HAD to make this for dinner.


Having a kitchen aid mixer makes this stupidly easy, but if you don't have one no worries just use your hands :) (bonus you get a little arm workout).

I made broccoli and mushroom stuffed calazones. My roomie and I gave them a thumbs up! And the crust recipe is a keeper for sure! Filling recipe is below the dough recipe.


Jessica says the 12 ounce dough recipe made 2 good size calzones, but they are on the thin side so if you like yours thicker (crustier) go for the 1 pound recipe.

Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough
(Source: Originally from EatingWell.com As found on Amber's Delectable Delights I found it linked there from What's cooking in the orange kitchen) man this recipe gets around!

To make 12 ounces dough:
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2-2/3 cup hot water (120-130°F)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

To make 1 pound dough:
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup hot water (120-130°F)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1. Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Combine hot water and oil in a measuring cup. With the motor running, gradually pour in enough of the hot liquid until the mixture forms a sticky ball. The dough should be quite soft. If it seems dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons warm water; if too sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Process until the dough forms a ball, then process for 1 minute to knead.
2. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Coat a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place it, sprayed-side down, over the dough. Let the dough rest for 10 to 20 minutes before rolling.
3. Place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet on the lowest oven rack;preheat oven to 450°F or highest setting. Roll and top the pizza as desired(we suggest a 13-inch circle) and bake the pizza until the bottom is crisp and golden, 10 to 14 minutes.

*For calzones split the dough in half and roll them out into 2 flat circles. Put the filling on half of one of the dough circles and then folded the other half over. Pinch the edges all the way around. Keep an eye on the baking time. Mine took 15-20 minutes. Serve immediately



Calazone filling
recipe by me

1 tsp chopped garlic
spray of olive oil for pan
1/2 cup chopped brocolli
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup pasta sauce of choice
1/4 tsp dried basil (or 1 Tbs chopped fresh if you have it on hand)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup part skim mozzerella
1 Tbs parmasaian cheese

Saute garlic until fragrant then add everything but the cheeses in a pan until cooked through, roll out half the dough from the recipe above and pile mixture on half of the circle. I used all of this filling for 1 calazone (half the dough recipe). Sprinkle with cheeses. Fold dough over and pinch to seal. Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes. CHOW!

Well, Steph was in the Poconos, and a man needs to eat. So I decide, if I’m gonna get down, I’m gonna get down and highjack the blog while I’m at it. All I hear about is blogging this and blogging that (not that I’m complaining about being an official taste tester of Stephchows, mind you). How hard can this be, right?? (I’ll tell you how hard: its Thursday night and I’m just writing this mess from Sat!!)

Now, I need to feel like cooking, and that doesn’t happen often, especially with my woman so eager to take on that chore. But desperate times call for desperate measures. She had told me I had stuff to make pizzas (I used to know such things about my own fridge). So, it was ‘go time.’ Whole wheat pizza dough was waiting for me; I just needed to knead it, flatten it, work it a bit. It smelled a little vinegar-y, so that scared me (but not enough to cease operation). Now, I do have some skills in the kitchen, truth be told; the thing is, it is more of throwing things together into a massive goulash-type deal (I am the self-proclaimed “Koncoction King”).

The next logical step, then, was just to start tossing things on top of this canvas. Pesto, garlic, lil grated parm, some diavola tomato sauce, dashes of pepper and pizza spices.. pretty much no rhyme or reason. Top with some Red Hot, fat free mozzarella, and lean turkey pepperoni. Oh yeah, I am a freak with the lowfat etc, so this was all on the healthy tip. I guess you can tell there will be no recipe to follow, but I baked this bad boy at about 400 degrees for 20 minutes or so (who the hell really knows). Check out the pics. Not bad… not bad at all!

before

after

Well this was fun. Ladies, holla for a man who cooks!! Wait - what’s that Steph? What dishes need to be cleaned...? but… but…I’m blogging.

Pizza is one of those things that I think I could eat everyday... and I would be a very large and happy woman! I love making pizza at home, you get to make the crust as thin as you want, add whatever you like, and it really doesn't' take that long at all to make!


Wegmans (the best food store EVER) sells their whole wheat (or white) pizza dough in big ball form. You basically pay $2 and get enough dough for two large pizzas, nice deal huh? I make sure to give the dough enough time to rest outside of the refrigerator so it can rise a little more, that way I can get the crust SUPER thin. Tear the ball in half and toss one back in the fridge for latter use. I don't have a rolling pin at John's house so I use an empty jar or a wine bottle, in reality I like this better then a rolling pin, the dough seems to stick to it less :) I also have one of those pizza pans that has all the holes in the bottom, makes the crust so super crisp I LOVE IT!

Anyway John wanted to make our own sauce for the pizza, we normally just use wegmans diavola sauce but he said it just didn't taste like a real pizza that way. So we made our own and MAN was it GOOD! John was eating the leftovers by the spoonful later in the week hehe. It only takes a few minutes and is again super cheep. You basically take a 45 cent can of tomato paste and add a bunch of spices to it. YUM

John's fancy pizza sauce
6oz can tomato paste
2 tsp chopped garlic cloves
1/2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs basil
1 Tbs rosemary
black pepper to taste
salt to taste
couple glugs red hot

2/3 cup water

Mix everything through red hot in a bowl, slowly stir in water and stop at desired consistency. Taste, add more spices if you like, that's it, you're DONE.


We didn't use the whole batch of sauce for the one pizza, we had some left over, spread it all over your dough and add whatever toppings you like! Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes. CHOW!!!!

So I read about these flat breads over at Smitten Kitchen a little while back and made them one night LOVE THEM. Then on another night I decided to make them into cheese-less pizza's topped with salad... I know seems a bit odd... TOTALLY DELICIOUS!! I mean look at this!


YUM!!

Anyway, make the flatbreads as described below (so simple quick and easy it's awesome, no yeast, no kneeding, no waiting!). I added some onions and slices of big fat tomatoes, and baked them as directed in the flat bread recipe. Then top with your favorite salad toppings and dressing! I put the recipe I used for the salad and dressing below the flatbread recipe. YUM!!!


Crisp Rosemary Flatbread
Gourmet, July 2008

Nothing could be easier than making this cracker, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tell people you slaved all day over it because they’re going to be impressed, really impressed, and I see no reason not to milk it.

I think you could easily swap the rosemary for other herbs, such as thyme or tarragon, or punch it up with black pepper or other spices, but personally, I like it just the way it is here.

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat)
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary plus 2 (6-inch) sprigs (I used thyme)
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup olive oil plus more for brushing
Flaky sea salt such as Maldon

Preheat oven to 450°F with a heavy baking sheet on rack in middle.

Stir together flour, chopped rosemary, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in center, then add water and oil and gradually stir into flour with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Knead dough gently on a work surface 4 or 5 times.

Divide dough into 3 pieces and roll out 1 piece (keep remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap) on a sheet of parchment paper into a 10-inch round (shape can be rustic; dough should be thin).

Lightly brush top with additional oil and scatter small clusters of rosemary leaves on top, pressing in slightly. Sprinkle with sea salt. Slide round (still on parchment) onto preheated baking sheet and bake until pale golden and browned in spots, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer flatbread (discard parchment) to a rack to cool, then make 2 more rounds (1 at a time) on fresh parchment (do not oil or salt until just before baking). Break into pieces.

Flatbread can be made 2 days ahead and cooled completely, then kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

Salad and Dressing
lettuce greens
roma tomatoes sliced in half
red onions sliced
kalamata olives (i can't stand these but others love this flavor combo)
1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

Mix vinegar, oil, red pepper in a bowl, add lettuce and other salad ingredients you'd like to use and toss to coat. Pile onto of warm flatbreads and serve.

Chow!!

Super easy, quick, and looks like you spent all day on it! Change up the toppings to personalize it to each family member, or have them top it themselves :)