Falafel everyway you possibly can and homemade pizza

Hi Blog World. Remember my picture back in November? I am Lucy, the dog in this "bakehouse" household. I have several interests and yoga is one of them. In this pose I lie on my back with feet in the air, however one paw sticks in my mouth just like you see here. I find this pose to be very relaxing because I will stay like this for more than 15 minutes. This lady here is trying to get me to chase rabbits out of her garden, but that's really not my style ... they remind me of cats and cats are my friends.

The owner of this blog asked me to share some of the food they have been cooking this week. I said sure, but I have to tell you that I am a little disappointed that she did not make any cookies or muffins this week ... I love those! So, to hold true to what I said I would do I present Dreena's (Vive Le Vegan) lightened up Falafel. The meal includes a cuke tomato salad (same cookbook), sliced cukes, onions, red pepper, lettuce and black olives. She put a bit of pineapple on the side and the cup holds some of Dreena's tahini dressing. I didn't like it.... well, maybe with a bit of jelly I would have scarfed that pita down.

The leftovers: She just kept going and going with this stuff, reminded me of the energizer bunny and if I told her that she probably would have wanted me to chase that also. Anyways, the falafel pizza, she took the mix and spread it on a pizza, baked it until she was happy with the looks of it and then topped it with chopped red pepper, tomato, black olive and drizzled with more of the dressing. She liked it well enough, but I think it would have been better with a dab of sugary frosting!

One would think that this would be enough, but we are talking about the queen of leftovers here. Why not a little more Greek delight for lunch.... yuck from me. That is the cuke and tomato salad in the baggie, gotta keep it separate or the lettuce will wilt. Again, more of the tahini dressing in the cup. I think she really likes the dressing, it's been three meals and she still says, "mmmm!"

Last item she wanted me to show ... her very vegan pizza on a whole wheat crust. It contains mushrooms, black olives, broccoli, red pepper, and sauerkraut. She made this during a demonstration for a class..... they were eating within the hour! Impressive huh! She told the class that the more cooking skills you have the less convenience you must pay for. She made 3 very large pizza's and a pan of cinnamon rolls (16 of them) for $8.15. The superintendent happened to come in while they were eating so they shared the food, she was impressed and asked Mrs. Master for the recipe so she could make it at home with her kids. Personally, just the cinnamon rolls would have kept me wagging my tail at her for several days but I didn't get any because she said the class gobbled them down. Imagine that, I guess she just likes them best. :(

BASIC PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE:
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 cup warm water
1 pkg (1 oz) active dry yeast (check date to make sure it is not expired)
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cups White whole wheat (Wheat Montana Prairie Gold) flour
1 tsp salt
*cornmeal
1. In a small container, mix sugar with water.
2. Add yeast to sugar mixture and stir to dissolve.
3 Pour yeast mixture into a large mixing bowl; add oil.
4. In a large bowl, mix flour and salt.
5. Add one cup flour to yeast mixture, mix with a mixing spoon.
6. Slowly add more flour; mix.
7. Keep adding flour until dough is stiff enough to form a ball. Do not add to much flour; save some for kneading dough.
8. Turn the dough onto a floured surface; knead dough for 8 - 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.
9. Cover; let dough rest for 10 - 15 minutes.
10. Divide dough in half or quarters to make 2 - 4 pizzas.
11. Place each dough piece on oil sprayed pizza pans or baking sheets. *I sprinkle the sheets with a bit of corn meal also to keep it from sticking.
12. Roll each piece into desired shape.
13. Pierce dough with a fork and let it rest for 5 - 10 minutes.
14. You are now ready to top your pizzas.

TO FINISH THE PIZZA:
Yield: 4 servings
1 recipe prepared basic pizza dough
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup quick pizza sauce
2 cups mozzarella, provolone, or vegan option cheese (optional)
1 - 1 1/2 cups pizza toppings
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Brush olive oil on top of each dough shape (if desired) and cover with pizza sauce.
3. Sprinkle evenly with cheese (if desired, I skip this part).
4. Top with pizza toppings such as fresh tomato, bell peppers, chopped onions, sliced mushrooms, olives, pineapple, black or green olives, sauerkraut.
5. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes, or until dough is lightly browned around the edges.
6. Serve immediately.

PIZZA SAUCE FROM SCRATCH:
Yield: 1 cup
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp Garlic powder
1 pinch sugar
1. In a medium bowl, combine tomato sauce and tomato paste until blended.
2. Stir in Italian seasoning, garlic and sugar