Ok, now that I've eluded to GI "distress" oh so nicely, aren't you hungry????? No, well too bad because if you skip these next few recipes you will be missing out big time!
When we discovered that we were going to have to have all 3 boys be on a restricted diet one of the first foods that came to mind that was out of the question for them was pizza. What little boy can have a "normal" life without pizza???!!! So I was determined to find a way to make pizza for my little guys at any cost! My first snafu came in regards to alternative cheeses. They are all so different from real cheese. They don't melt, look like plastic when they do melt, and taste pretty close to plastic period. I was venting to my friends on Facebook about how I was going to miss cheese and a couple of my friend who've been down this road before me mentioned a newer alternative cheese made from nutritional yeast called Daiya, http://www.daiyafoods.com/ . So I ran to the nutritional/health food store as fast as I could after taking a look at their website. I wasn't expecting much since all the other "cheeses" out there had left me with a bad taste in my mouth, literally. But boy was I surprised! This stuff is really good! It melts, stretches, looks like real cheese, a true alternative and great substitution!
Next I needed to find a good, easy to make pizza crust recipe since I have never made any type of bread in my life to this point! I searched and searched every store I could find for a premade or refrigerated pizza dough but all contained some form of dairy, soy or corn which took them completely out of the running in our house. I came across this recipe and it is super easy and tastes great and there are so many variations you can come up with. This basic dough is used in both my pizza recipe and in my cinnamon stick recipe. They are both so good!
Basic Pizza Dough
Ingredients:
1 packet active dry yeast
1 tsp Sugar
1 Cup Warm Water (110*)
2 1/2 Cups All Purpose or Bread Flour
2 Tbls Olive Oil
1 tsp Salt
Preheat your oven to 450*.
In a medium bowl dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let sit covered in a warm spot for approx 10 minutes until it looks creamy and bubbly.
Stir in flour, salt, and oil and mix until smooth. Let rest for a minimum of 5 minutes. (I've made this up a few hours in advance and let it rest, covered, in a warm spot until I was ready to make my pizza and it comes out extra fluffy.)
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Pat and lightly knead for a few minutes, then roll into a ball and place on a greased pizza pan ( I use a foil lined cookie sheet since I don't have a pizza pan. Sometimes the pizzas don't come out completely round, usually a little lopsided, but they still taste great!) I like to sprinkle some granulated garlic down onto the greased sheet since we can't use corn meal. Pat and press into a round. Spread with pizza sauce, I use an 8oz can of Hunt's Tomato Sauce Roasted Garlic flavor, it is free of soy oil which most canned spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce are not. Top with your Daiya Mozzarella shreds and your favorite toppings. Bake for 10-15mins checking after 10 mins to make sure its not burning.
My kids love the pepperoni version as well as the veggie one with broccoli, mushrooms, black olives and tomatoes. I've even brought a couple slices to school for my boys when their class had a pizza party and their pizza looked better than the delivery and all the other kids wanted my sons pizza instead of their own!
To make your dough a little more flavorful I like to add in some granulated garlic and Italian herb mix into the dough while mixing.
Using this same basic pizza dough recipe you can make a tasty dessert to rival the big pizza delivery chains!
Cinnamon Sticks
Use the same basic pizza dough recipe listed above, I like to add into the dough:
1/4 Cup Sugar (about)
Sprinkle of Cinnamon and Nutmeg
Follow all the directions listed above. Knead out the dough and place on a greased foil lined cookie sheet. Pat out to the shape of the cookie sheet. Use a clean pizza cutter to score the dough so its easier to break apart after they are cooked. Brush dough with olive oil. Place in a 450* oven for about 15 minutes. When the dough is cooked through pull out of the oven and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
While the sticks are baking in the oven you'll need to mix up a glaze to top them with once they are done. This is optional, but makes them taste amazing!
Glaze
1/2 Cup of Corn Free Powdered Sugar**
1 Tbls Melted Dairy and Soy Free Margarine (Earth Balance Soy Free)
1-2 Tbls Vanilla Almond or Rice Milk
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the sticks that have been sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.
** I never knew that powdered sugar had corn in it until recently. It has corn starch to make the powdered sugar flow easily. When I found this out I was less than thrilled to learn another food had been taken off our list of "safe" foods. Actually I was pretty freaking bitter about it! But after some googling I found out that until pretty recently people used to make their own powdered sugar, they didn't buy it at the store. I was intrigued that I could make it myself. So here it is, the super complex recipe for:
Corn Free Powdered Sugar
1 Cup Sugar
1 Tbls Tapioca or Potato Starch
Place ingredients in your blender or food processor. Blend until powdery.
Yep, that's it!
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