Mini-Pizzas/Strawberry Newtons

****OCTOBER IS NON-GMO MONTH****

What's Cookin'?

I made the yogurt dough (Nourishing Traditions p.485) without much of a plan because I had extra milk kefir.  I saw it in the pizza recipe but nixed the idea because I still don't have an oven (so I didn't get the mozzarella like I would have and got extra sharp cheddar instead like usual).  What I ended up doing was making small tortilla-sized pizza crusts with it and pre-cooking them in the toaster oven.  Since the toaster oven cooks weird (it's very old) I had to keep flipping them and it felt like forever just to make 2 (only 2 at a time fit in the glass baking dish that fits the oven).  By the time I made 10, which includes the first 2 that burned, I was quite tired of making them and thought, "Forget making extra for the freezer - this is it!"  They kept fine in the refrigerator. 

This is how they made their individual pizzas the next day:  I sauteed some hard salami my dm had given me (and probably had nitrates and such but I chose to ignore that thought - shame on me!), they squirted some ketchup on each mini-pizza , put shredded cheese (which WOULD have been mozzarella had I gotten it!), and put a piece of the salami.  Then we put them in the toaster oven until the cheese melted.  Dc loved them and asked for more.  Whenever we get the oven fixed I think I will still make the individuals for lunches - although I won't be using that salami again (I messed up my run of not eating deli meats for lunch).

I had more yogurt dough so I made some 'strawberry newtons' with a cup of cut strawberries that I found in the freezer.  I just dumped the strawberries in a pan, sprinkled about a tablespoon of rapadura on them, and cooked until soft.  Then I just mashed them as best I could.  [Then I ran out of time and had to throw everything in the fridge.  The dough got rock hard and I had to set it out the next morning and wait.... That dough went in and out of the fridge so many times that I lost count!] I rolled out rectangles of the yogurt dough, put about a tablespoon (1/4 cup) in the center and spread it down the middle.  Then I rolled each side around it and put in a glass baking dish, seam down.  No greasing of the pan is necessary since this dough has lots of butter.  Flipping them over 1/2-way was tricky but you wouldn't need to do that in a normal oven.  After they were cooled I cut the long sections into small individual servings.  I'm keeping them in the refrigerator just because they are so moist and I don't want them to mold in our warm kitchen.  They have been handy to pack in lunch bags and since they have no nuts or seeds they are 'legal' at their enrichment building.

The above example of how real food can work in a real-life crazy kitchen is part of Real Food Wednesday at Kelly's blog.
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/10/real-food-wednesday-101310.html

What's Schoolin'?

Dd is using Borenson's Hands On Algebra in between Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra and Algebra (see below).

We read The Keeping Quilt by P. Polacco for writing workshop.  I demonstrated dh's grandmother's quilt and the dc will bring a family keepsake to share next class.