Real food redux

Posted on March 14, 2014 by chatty

The Sound Crossfit Nutrition Challenge is back. We are now on day 5, and the only point I’ve lost so far is not drinking enough water (see previous post. Why is it so hard for me but not others). Background: you get points for avoiding grains, sugar and alcohol and eating more veggies and protein, water.

Soo this was my last fun meal. Looks a lot like my last “whole-30-breakup” meal, right? South Philly slice and Pagliaccio salad, a little wine on the side. I’m pretty sure some chocolate and cookies were also enjoyed that night as well.

And here is the next night’s meal, first day of the challenge. Turkey sliders (no bun of course, but topped with a perfectly ripe avocado), salad with olive oil & vinegar, and mashed cauliflower. The kid was interested in trying zucchini so I broiled thin slices (easy recipe). A little overdone, but she still liked them.

Honestly, this is one of those times where the picture doesn’t do the meal justice. I was pleasantly surprised with how the turkey came out. Both the husband and the kid liked the sliders.

I also see more zucchini in our future. With St Patrick’s Day coming up. I also see some low-points days in my future.

Pizza Fail

Posted on March 27, 2011 by chatty

Some Sunday dinners are better than others. This one, while not actually a failure, was definitely a “surprise”. I decided to do homemade pizza, but wanted to create a crust that adhered to SBD rules. So, no white flour, basically. I chose whole wheat and oat. Should have added some type of gluten, I guess, because what came out of the bread machine was not your typical pizza crust. Not gluten-y enough. Couldn’t toss it or shape it like your standard pizza pie. So instead of pizza night, it was flatbread night.

Sauteed mushrooms and onions; chicken sausage; kalamata olives; fresh mozzarella cheese and goat cheese on a half tomato/half olive oil base.

It wasn’t bad by any means and in fact was very edible. More than edible, though the dough was very obviously a “whole grain” bread. It’s just when you have visions of pizza in your mind, and the end result isn’t pizza, it’s a “surprise”.

I made enough dough to freeze a second batch, which I clearly labelled “WHOLE GRAIN FLATBREAD DOUGH” on the ziploc. So no surprises when we take it out next time.

Do you like Pina Coladas? What about Onions?

Posted on June 29, 2009 by chatty

I think by now I probably don’t need to go on about my sweet love affair with the sweet Walla Walla onion. But, as I approach my 11th summer here in the Northwest, I realize that the novelty of the WWO has faded some. Summer approaches and I no longer get that excited feeling for the ultimate grilled cheese and onion sandwich. Was I taking it for granted? Did I not remember the twenty plus years I spent unaware of the sweet and spicy combination that I fell in love with oh so many years ago? Maybe it was the 11-year itch that crept up on us. The excitement of this relationship was gone.

So, imagine my surprise when, upon opening the Pagliacci Newsletter that arrived in the mail last week, I learned that their seasonal pizza, the Crostata, was none other than a cheese and onion pizza. That’s right. Grilled WWOs, with fontina, gorgonzola and mozzarella cheese. Well, this I hadn’t seen before. I immediately requested to the husband that we order pizza. We scheduled it for Saturday (we had meat defrosting in the fridge, and defrosting waits for no one).

Oh tasty Crostata. Oh sweet Walla Walla. How I missed you so. It’s like that Pina Colada song. You were there all along, I just didn’t know you liked Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain.

Crostata Pizza, the seasonal from Pagliacci's

Hooray, we’ve found each other again. This weekend, we’ll celebrate with a delicious grilled cheese and onion sandwich.

Stuffed Pizza

Posted on September 17, 2008 by chatty

You know how certain foods take you back to different times in your past? Well, no doubt a good stuffed spinach pizza brings me back to my college days in Chicago. We ordered frequently from Giordano’s or Edwardo’s or Pizza Capri. It was just routine. The stuff was so frikkin good and a small pizza could feed you for a week. Mmmm. The memories flood back to me when the husband and I enjoyed a impromptu slice from Delfino’s in University Village. The waitress recommended we wait an extra 10 minutes so that we could get the most fresh baked pizza. We were fine with that, and then noticed a minute later that she delivered the last few slices of the ‘old’ pizza to a family of four sitting near us.

Stuffed spinach pizza from Delfino's

Verdict? Worth the wait.

Pizza

Posted on March 30, 2008 by chatty

Catching up on some posts here. A couple of weeks back I drove to work. For most people this is an everyday occurence but when you are in a vanpool it becomes more of an event. I drove in an attempt to leave early to make the Kettle Bells Training session that my teammates do on Thursday nights. Long story short, I left work at 4:40, texted Kate at 5:30 that I wouldn’t be making it to KBs, and finally got home at 6:35. Yes. Two hours I was in traffic. It’s painful, but I think especially painful when one has become accustomed of the heavenly HOV lane.

Anyway, I tell you all this to report that the husband had made pizza that night. By the time I got home, though, it was sliced up and in foil in the fridge. Just now I noticed he took pics before slicing it. Sweet!

Pizza via chattycha on flickr

Fresh tomatoes and mozzarella; sauteed onions, bits of proscuitto with an olive-oil base. Everybody knows that the sign of a good pizza is when it tastes better cold. This tasted pretty darn good cold, so I can only guess that it was frikkin’ amazing out of the oven. Sigh.

I heart pizza

Posted on January 25, 2008 by chatty

I love Chicago deep-dish pizza, but only when I’m in Chicago. I’ve had it only a handful of times when I’m not in Chicago. It’s just a staple when you live there, I guess.

This post from Slice describes the regional pizza styles across the country (via Fimoculous). The husband always reflects on the NY-style. Fold and eat. Plus, back on the East Coast I’ll never forget my hometown favorites, Pizza West (near “the Center”) and Jimmy’s on Farmington Ave. Cut into squares, not slices.

Seattle favorites:

Pagliacci’s, of course, for their superb delivery (and yes, we finally got our ‘free’ pie!)
Hot Mama’s. By the slice in Capitol Hill.
Tutta Bella, for when you want to go upscale
Wallingford Pizza House, for those handful of times I want the deep-dish.
I can’t forget to mention the homemade.

PS. There are 280,668 results on flickr when you search “pizza“. Four of those results are mine.

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie

Posted on November 17, 2007 by chatty

Another variation of our homemade pizza. It’s a whole-wheat/white flour combo crust, a bit more doughy than I like but whole wheat is whole wheat. Olive-oil based; diced tomato; chicken sausage (apple chutney); marinated mushrooms and red onion. Fresh mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Got a good compliment the next day. I was nuking a slice in the microwave in the kitchen and a passer-by was impressed. Yee haw!

Homemade and Semi-homemade Comfort Food

Posted on October 1, 2007 by chatty

As we get deeper into football season, we get on a roll with the pizza. Last night’s dinner:

Olive-oil based; Maple chicken sausage; crimini mushrooms sauteed; shredded parmesan sprinkled sparingly, for taste. We bought a sweet onion, but then forgot to saute them. Ah well. Nice and simple, the way a homemade pizza should be.

Tonight’s dinner: Salad first, then our favorite biscuits (heart-healthy) and organic roasted red pepper and tomato soup. One of those nice warm dinners that’s meant for the fall. While everyone loves the taste of a homemade meal, you can do a lot with packaged pantry helpers. Just keep an eye out on sodium levels and preservatives.

A meal that needs no explanation …

Posted on September 18, 2007 by chatty

… But I’ll give one anyway. The husband’s allergies are acting up. He didn’t feel like getting snot and mucous in the food. Therefore, he ordered pizza. Pagliacci. AGOG. He ordered too much. Oh well. Lunch, tomorrow. Oh yeah.

Pizza Night

Posted on August 26, 2007 by chatty

Last time we made pizza, we did a pizza margherita. It is my favorite. The husband grows basil and tomatoes in the side garden, so adding some fresh mozzarella balls from the Market is a breeze.

Last time we ordered pizza, I was all set to order the Verde Primo when the Pagliacci phone guy asked if I was interested in the seasonal special which was, what else, their version of a Margherita. I said yes. Nevermind that I just told you we can make a better version, and that we just made it.

So, tonight, when I suggested pizza for dinner, the husband got to choose the ingredients. Fine by me, because he has good taste: Maple sausage (chicken); sauteed Walla Walla sweet onions and crimini mushrooms; shredded Parmesan cheese; on an olive oil-based dough. I did the dough (thanks to our fancy bread machine…a wedding gift that gets a moderate amount of action).

Pizza (and the husband) Pizza, resting