Running Mama Cooks

Last night I had a few girlfriends over for a Girl's Night In. Nothing beats good friends just hanging out with snacks and wine! We had some chips and dips (I made buffalo chicken dip that I posted about here) and I made a homemade pepperoni pizza.

I've posted about homemade pizza before, but I wanted to take the opportunity to share this recipe from Annie's Eats again for the perfect pizza crust because its so easy and so good!

This is the first time that I split the dough into two to make a thinner crust pizza and it was definitely the best yet. I topped the pie with my homemade sauce (I used my immersion blender to make a smoother pizza sauce), low fat mozzarella cheese, turkey pepperoni and shredded Parmesan.

And now for that crust recipe. Trust me, this is the way to go!!

Basic Pizza Dough
Recipe from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

½ cup warm water (about 110°)
1 envelope (2 ¼ tsp.) instant yeast
1 ¼ cups water, at room temperature
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plus more for dusting
1 ½ tsp. salt
olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing the bowl

Directions:

Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water and oil and stir to combine.

Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass forms. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.

To bake, place a pizza stone in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 450° for at least 30 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form both pieces of dough into smooth, round balls and cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough and drizzle a little olive oil on the crust. Top as desired and bake for 25 minutes.

The beginning of a diet is always the worst, it seems like there isn't anything satisfying to eat. Then after a week or two you discover different ways to create yummy, filling meals that are diet friendly. My newest favorite discovery is Bagel Thins. They are so versatile. I've been eating them with reduced fat peanut butter for lunch and with egg beaters and a little cheddar as a breakfast sandwich. Then had the brilliant idea to make bagel thin pizzas!







Down 6 lbs in 2 weeks. Weight Watchers rocks!

Homemade pizza is so good!! I used the recipe for pizza dough that is in this pizza pocket post, and it was just as good for a pie. I topped it with chopped up smoked turkey sausage, diced green pepper, caramelized onions, low fat mozzarella and cheddar cheese, and homemade sauce.

Cooked it in the oven on 450 for a half hour.

The whole pie:

ZACH'S RATING - ****

Every year we have a few friends over for a casual Superbowl get together. Since we had so much fun making homemade pizza last weekend, I made a few tonight for dinner. My friend Ryan's mom sent him down with "chop meat and macaroni", one of our fav dishes that she makes. Thanks Mrs. S!

We started off with a few appetiser's of course. I made a Lighter Buffalo Chicken Dip in the crock pot from Gina's Weight Watcher's Blog. It was really delicious and I am not usually much of a blue cheese fan.

Here is the recipe:

Lighter Buffalo Chicken Dip
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes

Servings: 11 • Serving Size: 1/2 cup • Calories: 111 • Points: 2.75 ww points

•4 oz reduced fat cream cheese, softened
•1 cup fat free sour cream
•1/2 cup Franks hot sauce (or whatever hot sauce you like)
•1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
•1 tsp white wine vinegar
•2 cups cooked shredded chicken*

Mix the first 5 ingredients together until smooth.
Add the chicken and put this in the crock pot on low for 3-4 hours.
Serve warm.
Makes 5 1/2 cups.

*I pouched a pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts in chicken stock and a few bay leafs for 15 minutes, then shredded


Zach put together a more indulgent dip, browning sausage and melting in velveta and rotel. YUM


For our Pizzas, I made a white pie and a meat lovers. Here I am stretching the dough. I got a few good tosses in too!

White pie (Ricotta with two minced garlic cloves, mozz, sliced vine ripened tomatos and fresh basil)

Tonight we had my parents and my in laws over for a casual dinner and we made homemade pizzas. My father worked in a pizza parlour back in the day, so he was in charge of stretching and flipping the dough. I made a big pot of homemade marinara sauce and got all the toppings ready to go.