Saturday, April 13, 2013

RECIPE: Whole Wheat Pizza Dough (9 Points+)

9 Points for the whole crust! Recipe yields 2 crusts.

Are you ready to make some Whole Wheat pizza dough? In the past, I have been known to shun wheat. I loved this crust! My wife did it up good, and I'm sure anyone that tries this recipe will not be disappointed. So...on with the show.

In a mixer bowl, dissolve yeast in warm (110 degree) water add brown sugar and let sit for 10 minutes.

Stir in the flour, oil and salt.  Knead dough for 8 to 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a cloth.

  
Let rise until double, between 30-60 minutes depending on yeast. If baking on a pizza stone, preheat oven to 425 degrees with pizza stone in oven.  When dough is ready, divide in half and return half to bowl. Cover while you roll out the first crust.  On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to desired thickness. Sprinkle corn meal or semolina on a pizza paddle and pizza stone, and place dough on paddle.



Add desired toppings.


Add cheese.


Place on pizza stone and bake for 10-12 minutes.


Wait for it to crisp up, cut yourself a slice and enjoy!


Ingredients:
1 teaspoon active yeast
1/4 teaspoon brown sugar
3/4 cups warm water (110 degrees)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat white flour (or All-Purpose)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil


Directions:
In a mixer bowl, dissolve yeast in warm (110 degree) water add brown sugar and let sit for 10 minutes. Stir in the flour, oil and salt. Knead dough for 8 to 10 minutes.

Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a cloth. Let rise until double, between 30-60 minutes depending on yeast. If baking on a pizza stone, preheat oven to 425 degrees with pizza stone in oven.

When dough is ready, divide in half and return half to bowl. Cover while you roll out the first crust. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to desired thickness.

Sprinkle corn meal or semolina on a pizza paddle and pizza stone, and place dough on paddle. Add desired topping and cheese.

Place on pizza stone and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Enjoy. Yields 2 crusts.


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

PRODUCT: Trop50 Orange Juice Beverage (1 point+)



I'm a lover of orange juice with breakfast, but for a normal 8 oz glass it will cost me 3 points! Now I drink Trop50, and it's only 1 point for 8 ounces. Awesome. Allow me to give you the rundown of Trop50.

When I first tasted it, I did notice the difference from regular orange juice. Regular orange juice is thicker, but by the 2nd day of having Trop50 at breakfast, the difference didn't even cross my mind. It was simply delicious. If I had to give you an idea of exactly how Trop50 tastes, I would tell you to imagine a beverage that falls somewhere between "Sunny D" and Tropicana Premium Orange Juice. That makes complete sense, because Trop50 contains 42% Juice. Now you are probably assuming that, since it is not 100% juice, it must be lacking in Vitamins and Nutrients. Not so. It is high in Magnesium, Thiamin, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Potassium. It does contain 10mg of sodium. Regular OJ has zero, but c'mon...it's 10mg.



With 58% less actual orange juice, Trop50 uses PureVia to match the sweetness of regular orange juice. Some people claim that Trop50 has an artificial sweetness aftertaste, but I believe they are delusional. PureVia is the highest quality natural sweetener available on the market.  It's not an artificial sweetener. Trop50 does not contain Aspartame. Everything in Trop50 is natural...from the Earth. It hasn't been chemically sweetened. I harp on this only because many websites discussing Trop50 mistakenly throw it under the bus because it has PureVia in it, calling PureVia an "artificial sweetener".

My wife and I both did a taste test, and we both enjoyed it. She's not a fan of beverages that have an overly-sweet aftertaste. She saves her sweet tooth for chocolate. With Trop50 she didn't have any complaints about too sweet of an aftertaste. She liked it. I drink it more often than she does because I get more points, but she does occasionally treat herself to a glass.

In conclusion, if you have been thinking about trying Trop50....give it a shot. It's a great way to cleanse your palette after every bite of your delicious breakfast, and your waist will thank you.....eventually. Feel free to leave us a comment once you try it, or if you already have tried it. Thank you, and have a great weigh!

Ingredients:
FILTERED WATER, NOT FROM CONCENTRATE PASTEURIZED ORANGE JUICE, MALIC ACID, NATURAL FLAVORS, CITRIC ACID AND REB A (PUREVIA BRAND), POTASSIUM CITRATE, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), BETA-CAROTENE, TOCOPHEROL (VITAMIN E), MAGNESIUM PHOSPHATE, NIACINAMIDE (VITAMIN B3), THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1), RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2) AND PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6)

Trop 50 contains 6% of recommended Folic Acid intake.