Thirty Minute Pizza (from scratch!)

Thirty Minute Pizza

Delivery pizza takes forty-five minutes. Homemade can take thirty. Delivered can cost twenty bucks a pie, including the tip. Homemade, even with high quality ingredients, costs a fraction of that. We typically have more choices for vegetable toppings than the local pizza joints.

Our secrets to a great pizza crust- crispy on the bottom yet tender and soft- without kneading or long proofing, are whole wheat flour and olive oil. (If you have only white flour, see this recipe.) Pans without holes in the bottom are essential.

While buying big blocks of cheese and grating it myself would save money, I wait for eight-ounce bags of grated cheese to go on sale so I can pop several in the freezer for occasions like pizza. In the summer, we make tomato sauce to freeze in eight-ounce containers. Small cans of plain tomato sauce also work in a pinch, so are useful to keep on hand.

For one large fourteen-inch pizza crust:

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Golden and hot off the griddle, Sweet Potato Pancakes have a hint of spice and are like sneaking into the kitchen to snack on pie. While they have no sugar added, who will stop you from pouring over a little maple syrup? (Just don't tell the kids this sweet treat contains Vitamin A, whole grains and is higher in protein than the average pancake. Shhhh.)

1 cup cooked, mashed sweet potato (approximately. If your measuring cup runneth over it will be fine.)
2 duck eggs or 3 chicken eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Blend together the sweet potatoes and milk, then add the eggs and blend until liquified. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Lightly oil a hot griddle (or pan.) For coin-sized pancakes, pour the batter by tablespoons onto the griddle. For average sized pancakes, pour about a quarter cup.

Cook the pancakes until golden on one side or bubbles appear on the surface. Flip them over, and cook until golden on the other side.

For more natural recipe ideas, check out Monday Mania, Martha Monday, Homestead Barn Hop,  Meatless Mondays, Tasty Tuesdays,  Fat Tuesdays,  Real Food Wednesdays, and Full Plate Thursdays.

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