Pizza!

Preparation Time: 2 hours 
Cooking Items: 1 large pan (9 inch diameter) with a lid, 1 spatula, 1 mixing bowl, 1 plate or bowl
Servings: one 8 inch diameter pizza, about 2 servings
Cost/Serving: $3.00

Ingredients for the Dough:

• 1 teaspoon yeast
• 1/3 cup warm water (warm, around 85 F)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1.25 cups  whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• ingredients for the topping (in this case, garlic feta cheese, pizza sauce, and tomatoes)

Instructions:

1. Put 1/3 cup warm water, around 85 F, in the bowl. Add the sugar and yeast. Wait 3 minutes until the yeast is bubbly.
2. Mix in the salt, then add the olive oil and flour.
3. Knead for 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
4. Place the dough in an lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a towel and let rise for 60-90 minutes.
5. Remove from the bowl and flatten. Shape into a circle of thin crust, about 8 inches in diameter.
6. Place the crust in the pan. Cook on the stove (on high) for 3-4 minutes.
7. Flip the crust over. Immediately put the sauce and toppings on. Put the lid on. Cook for another 6-8 minutes on low-medium heat.

Dad's Banana Muffins

Notice that I already ate four :)

Preparation Time: 60 minutes
Cooking Items: 2 mixing bowls, 2 spoons, 1 fork, 1 muffin tin
Servings: about 9 muffins
Cost/Serving: 80 cents/muffin









Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups whole wheat flower
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2-3 extremely ripe bananas (the outside should be black and the bananas should be mushy)
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1. Peel and mash the bananas in a bowl. Then mix the wet ingredients (brown sugar included) in one bowl. Mix well. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. In the other bowl, mix the dry ingredients.
3. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients using strong strokes. Do not overly mix (it messes up the texture).
4. Spoon dollops of muffin mix into the muffin tin. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350 F. The muffins are finished when you can stick a toothpick (or fork) into the muffins, pull it out, and not have muffin mix stuck to it.

Notes:
This recipe is fairly flexible. White flower can be substituted for whole wheat flower and white sugar can be substituted for brown (then the white sugar is mixed with the dry ingredients). The vanilla can be omitted. Nuts can be added. The muffins are especially good served with butter. They also freeze well.

Whole Wheat Bread

Preparation Time: 3 hours
Cooking Items: 1 large bowl, 1 wooden spoon, 1 pan, 1 large dish towel
Servings: 1 large loaf or 2 medium loaves
Cost: about $4.00 for the loaf








Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons (T) yeast
• 4 T brown sugar
• 2 T salt
• 1/4 cup oil
• 2 1/4 - 2 3/4 cup warm water  (about 85 F)
• 7 cups whole wheat flour
• salt

Instructions:

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water (about 85 F) with 2 T brown sugar. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
2. When the yeast/water mixture gets bubbly, add the remaining 2 T brown sugar, a teaspoon salt, the oil, and 4 cups of flour. Mix and add the remaining 3 cups flower gradually.
3. Knead dough for 5-15 minutes.
4. Cover dough with a towel and let it rise for 90 minutes.
5. Put the bread in a pan, let rise for 30 minutes.
6. Bake in the oven at 350-375 F for 35 minutes, until golden brown.

Notes:
Next time I make this, I will probably make 2 loaves and instead making them in a bread pan, bake them on a flat pan, to maximize the amount of crust.

Caesar Salad

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Items: 1 bowl, 1 spoon
Servings: 1
Cost/Serving: $3.00

It's 98 degrees and I've been busy, so I've been looking for easy-to-make, cold foods.

It's easy to buy the already-built just-mix salads, but I like to buy the ingedients separately. That way I can make small salads more easily (instead of mixing up all the ingredients at once), use the dressing with veggies later, and use the lettuce for other things (tomorrow I'm making tacos!).

Ingredients:

• sharp cheddar cheese
• cucumber
• croutons (optional)
• cheddar

Instructions:

1. Grab 2-3 cups of lettuce and slice about a quarter of a cucumber.
2. Grate 1/4 cup of sharp cheddar cheese on top of the lettuce/cucumber.
3. Add croutons and dressing.