cooking Archives - Page 2 of 22 - My Life: A Work in Progress

Campfire pizza log

26 August, 2017 2 Comments

It’s almost Labor Day -a busy camping weekend- so I wanted to share one of my new favorite camping meals, a campfire pizza log!

Over Memorial Day weekend, we went camping at our favorite place to travel to and camp at, Shenandoah National Park. This time we went with a co-worker of mine and his family. We decided ahead of time to share some meals, so I started researching online different yummy meals for camping. I wanted to up my game since I was cooking for people other than my family!

One meal I came across was the campfire pizza log, but I couldn’t find a site that gave step-by-step instructions. Without instructions, we had to wing it, and we definitely have some lessons learned, which I thought I’d share.

To make the pizza logs, I used:

Refrigerated pizza dough (the kind you roll out from a can)
Pizza sauce
Pepperoni
Shredded cheese
Olive oil spray (okay, I didn’t actually use this, but I should have, and I will next time)
Nonstick foil

The logs are pretty simple to prepare. I made three large pizza logs (three cans of the refrigerated pizza dough), which is what you’ll see in my photos; HOWEVER, because the larger logs didn’t cook evenly, I recommend doing smaller pizza logs, so two logs from each can. I’ve written the directions below to reflect what I will do next time.

Directions for two small pizza logs:

1. Cut two large pieces of nonstick foil. They should be large enough that you can completely wrap up the pizza logs. It’s better to cut them too big than too small. You can always trim off the excess with some kitchen shears or scissors!
2. Have the nonstick side facing up off the counter (you’ll want the pizza logs on the nonstick side) and spray the nonstick with an olive oil spray or something similar. This will help keep the pizza log from sticking to the foil when you unwrap it after it’s been cooked.
3. Before rolling out the pizza dough, cut the dough log in half. You’re going to make two smallish pizza logs from each can of dough.
4. Place each piece of dough onto its own piece of foil.
5. Roll out the pizza dough on the foil until each piece is in a rectangle.
6. Spread the pizza sauce on top.
7. Layer the pepperoni and cheese. (Obviously you can use whatever toppings you want.)
8. Roll the pizza back up into the shape of a “log.”
9. Fold the foil over top of the log and secure all the edges by rolling them in.

Camping Food — I didn’t do it, but cut this in half! Make two pizza logs from this sucker.

Corn and Pizza Logs — The smaller rolls to the left are pieces of corn on the cob. The three long rolls on the right are the campfire pizza logs.

That’s it! I actually froze ours in the freezer since we didn’t intend on eating them the first day of camping. Once they were frozen, I wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them in our camping cooler with ice. I was hoping that as the ice melted, the plastic wrap would help keep any water out of the logs, and it did seem to work.

When it was time to cook the pizza logs, we got a nice fire going, and then we placed the pizza logs on the flat griddle above the fire. As I mentioned above, the pizza logs didn’t cook evenly. The logs were getting a nice char in the center within 20 minutes, but these larger logs that I made were so long that the edges were too far away from the fire and weren’t picking up heat. That’s why I suggest making two pizza logs from each can of refrigerated pizza dough. That will get you a more evenly cooked pizza log, and they should be done around 30 minutes.

The cooking time is going to vary depending on how hot your fire is and the proximity of the pizza log to the fire, so keep that in mind. You’ll want to peel back the foil about every 10 minutes to check the logs. Use tongs to help you check safely, and if you wear fabric oven mitts … keep them away from the flames!

The three cans of refrigerated pizza dough ended up making enough pizza logs to feed 4 adults and 3 small children with leftovers. I also served up some fire-grilled corn on the cob.

Have you ever made a pizza log? What is your favorite camping food?

Body after Baby, cooking, fitness, life

Fitness Friday: The Game On! Diet

16 January, 2015 7 Comments

Several of my co-workers invited me to participate in a weight loss challenge called the Game On! Diet. Since going back to work, I’ve struggled with eating as healthy as I’d like to and finding the time to exercise. This challenge seemed like a great way to get me back into a good diet and exercise groove! And on top of that, since I’m working in a new environment with new co-workers…it also seemed like a great way to foster teamwork and friendship.

I haven’t actually read this book, so it’s possible that I’m not understanding all the aspects of it. My co-worker has this book, and has given instructions to those of us participating. I’ve also flipped through her copy a few times.

It seems pretty simple. I eat five small meals a day, about two-four hours apart. At each meal, I have a palm-sized portion of lean protein, a fist-sized portion of carbs (think complex and whole grain) a thumb-size portion of a healthy fat. We each have a print out of what would be considered acceptable choices for each category. At least two meals a day should have two fist-fulls of veggies. Cucumber and celery can be eaten at any time throughout the day. Artificial sweeteners and processed sugars should be avoided. I get daily points for the five meal that I eat, following the competition guidelines (you don’t get points for eating more or eating less). I get one cheat day a week and cheat meal a week. I also can eat 100 calories every day of almost whatever I want (I choose flavored coffee creamer).

But it’s not just about what I eat. I also get 20 points a day just for exercising 20 minutes (I’ve been doing yoga). At least seven hours of sleep scores me 15 points, and drinking three liters of water gets me 10 points.

But wait! I also get points for dropping an old habit and beginning a new one (a good habit). At the beginning of the competition, we each listed out bad habits that we wanted to get rid of and new habits that we want to adopt. You get 10 points a day for each bad habit that you don’t do, and 10 points a day for each good habit that you do. One of my bad habits is hitting the snooze button every morning. Although now I stopped doing that, and I just wake up and reset my alarm for 15 minutes later. That’s kind of the same thing, right? Hmmmm….clearly need to keep working on that.

For good habits, I added things like daily push-ups and squats. I also added spending more time with Little J. When I get home from work, I tend to incorporate him in what I’m doing (helping Mommy made dinner, etc.), but I’m making a point of just focusing attention on him -no distractions- every day.

At the end of the week, each person adds their points up. Points can be lost for snacking (other than celery and cucumber) and drinking alcohol, and a couple of other things as well. Each team then averages the individuals’ points, and then the teams compare their overall scores. Last week, my team lost. 🙁 But it’s okay. We have time! We’re doing this for three weeks, then one week off, and then we’ll repeat the process. At the end, the winning team gets a trophy and bragging rights.

I’m almost at the end of week two. This week was definitely harder than the first week, as far as getting things done at night in time for seven hours of sleep. I’m not quite as hangry this week, as I was last week, so that’s good. I’ve been doing great at sticking to this diet, although I’m not very happy about it. I’m currently munching from a bowl of a mixed lettuce blend…no dressing, sauce, nothing. It’s rabbit food. Sometimes I boil my veggies (usually collard greens or kale) in chicken stock with onions and garlic. That definitely gives it more flavor. I probably could put vinegar on my lettuce. I should try that.

My body fat has gone down, woot! I chose to use a tape measure instead of weighing-in on a scale. Some of my pants are still really tight (hellooo, muffin top), so I definitely need to drop more fat. Diet plays a huge role in that; I just need to keep plugging away at the lean meats and veggies.

Below you can see some examples of food that I typically eat for one of my meals:

This is a typical breakfast- low fat plain Greek yogurt with plain raw oats and a half teaspoon of raw honey. Sometimes I use pure maple syrup instead of honey. For my healthy fat, I usually eat a spoonful of peanut butter (the kind that’s just peanuts…no added sugar or junk).

Now that I’m looking at the photo above, that might actually be a whole teaspoon of honey not a half. I should probably wean myself off the sweets!

My lunch today- raw mixed greens (no dressing), quinoa cooked in homemade chicken broth, grilled chicken (just a teeny bit of olive oil on it), and water to drink. For seasonings on the chicken and quinoa I skipped the salt and used garlic powder and cumin. I also had 5 cashews.

I’m not going to lie. It’s hard for me to eat like this. I think once I can use sauces and dressings again it won’t be so bad, but right now I’m trying to avoid the fats and sugar, so it is what it is.

Sometimes I want to quit, but the competition with my co-workers keeps me motivated. It’s not even so much about my team losing as it is that I don’t want them to lose because of me. I don’t want to let them down.

Tomorrow morning I’m having a breakfast “date” with Little J, and I’m going to thoroughly enjoy my cheat meal! I may even have an iced coffee with sugar and cream. Ohhhhh boy!

How was your week? Have you ever tried a diet and/or weight loss competition with your co-workers or friends? What delicious things have you eaten lately? (I’m trying to live vicariously through you.)

cooking, life

Changing my diet

12 January, 2015 3 Comments

I think when a lot of people use or hear the word “diet,” they think of a short-term calorie or food restriction plan to lose weight. In this case I’m talking about changing my diet -permanently- for health reasons. I’ve mentioned before that my parents were health “nuts,” before it was trendy. I grew up without sugar or salt in the household. If I remember right, I was 9 years old when I had my first chocolate bar (soooo rich that I had a stomach ache!). When I grew up and moved out of the house, I still had the knowledge that my parents had given me on how to cook and eat healthy, but because of a busy work schedule and the single life, I started to eat poorly.

When I got married and had my son, my husband and I made the decision for me to stay home. So for 2 years I spent a considerable amount of time in the kitchen, cooking healthy meals from scratch for my family. Then I went back to work, and the processed foods entered our lives again. It’s been a struggle the last few months. For the most part, we have still eaten healthy meals, but we’re not doing as well as I’d like. I’d say we’re eating about 60% healthy meals and 40% not (that would be processed foods, fast foods, etc.). Well, maybe it’s better than that…but I want it to be 80% healthy (at least) and 20% not, and I know we’re not at that point.

On top of that, my best friend was diagnosed with lupus and started an autoimmune protocol (AIP) diet, which is similar to Paleo, and that got me thinking. I don’t have an autoimmune illness, but I am genetically predisposed towards them. Environmental factors (like diet) along with genetic predisposition can trigger an autoimmune condition. Talking to my friend and reading articles online (albeit, many of them are anecdotal…so there’s that to consider), I’ve decided to avoid certain foods, specifically, refined sugar, corn, soy, and wheat. Instead, we will eat a mostly plant-based diet with lean meats. If I actually had an autoimmune condition, I would avoid legumes and nightshade plants, but since I don’t…I’m just starting with the foods I listed above. I’m also continuing to eat dairy products and eggs.

One challenge I face is cooking vegetables in a way that both Hubby and Little J will actually want to eat! Below is a photo of curly kale boiled in half water/half chicken stock, chopped onions, chopped garlic, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. I thought it was tasty, but they were not impressed. 🙁 Well, one day at a time.

And now I’m off to work on my shopping list!

Do you have any dietary restrictions, because of choice or necessity? What are your go-to healthy food choices? Or maybe some foods you try to avoid?

Note: The opinions reflected above are mine and may differ from yours. Before making dietary changes, please always consult your physician first!