My Pita Jungle

I recently went to lunch with a friend to Pita Jungle.  While the food was good and it was nice to reconnect with my friend, I thought I could make this at home.  I love pitas and hummus and after going to Shar's class, I now know how to make them at home.  Plus now I know exactly what goes into it and I can make it as healthy as I want.  I will share the recipe for Pitas, and Hummus.  

Seriously, both are Fabulous!

Honey Wheat Pita Pocket Bread

Makes 9 pockets

In your mixer combine the following:

2 cups warm water

1 Tbsp honey

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp Dough Enhancer

2 Tbsp Dough Relaxer

2 cups high gluten flour or 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten

2 Tbsp yeast

1 cup fresh ground whole wheat flour

Mix gently.  Add enough flour, wheat or white, to gather dough into a soft ball.  

Knead 8 minutes to develop gluten.

Remove a golf ball sized piece of dough and place on a well floured surface.

Roll out into a disc from the center out.  Do not roll to the edge.  This allows the pocket to form.

Place dough on parchment paper and let rest about 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees with pizza stone in place.

 I doubled the recipe since I have a large family.  Plus they freeze well, so make extra to save for later.

Bake for 4 minutes.

 Remove and quickly put in a heat proof plastic bag and let them sweat a little.  If too much moisture accumulates in the bag, open it and let dry.

Let cool and cut to fill.

Aren't they beautiful?

 Cilantro Lime Hummus

First we need to cook the garbanzo beans.  You can use canned if you want.

I used my Kuhn Rikon Pressure cooker.  If you soak the beans overnight, it only takes 15 minutes at pressure.  Otherwise it takes about 60 minutes.

In pressure cooker add 2 cups dry beans with 6 cups water.

 I use about 1 tsp of Crystalized Ginger when I cook the beans.  It helps decrease the Fluffy-Tummy effect beans can have.  

I always use it when I cook beans, any kind.

Bring to pressure, set timer, and reduce to low but still maintaining pressure.  When timer is done, remove from heat and let presure drop naturally.

 In a blender combine:

3 cups soft cooked Garbanzo beans, drained, but reserve liquid

Juice and zest from one lime

1 fresh clove garlic

1/2 cup tightly packed chopped cilantro leaves

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp granulated garlic

2 Tbsp Tahini paste (ground sesame seeds)

1/4 - 2/3 cups bean liquid

Blend well to desired consistency.

Store in airtight container in the fridge.

Serve with pita chips, or fresh vegetables.

So Yummy!

Thanksgiving Tablescape

It's that time of year again.  I love the holidays and all the beautiful earthy colors.  Of course Red is my favorite, but it also looks fabulous with oranges, yellows and greens too.  I just wish Arizona had 4 seasons.  I really love seeing the leaves change color.  I guess it will just make trips to the mountians more spectacular.

I wanted to create a pretty table centerpiece this year and I think it turned out beautiful.

I made the black cupcake stand.  It's made from particle board, cut and routered, some wooden knobs for the feet, two old chair rungs for the supports and an a finial for the top.

The inside has gourds, pumpkins, squash, a candle, berries, and silk flowers.

 I made the table runner out of burlap.  I just cut some strips, wove them together, and sewed them in place.  

Simple and rustic.

Lay out the burlap and decide the width of the strips.  Pull one string out like shown.  This will give you straight lines for the strips.

Cut along the lines created.
Start weaving the strips, starting with one corner.
Pin strips in place to hold.
Keep adding strips alternating sides and weaving them in place.
Use pins to hold them.

When you have the size you want, stitch along the outside first.  I did two lines on either side of the outer strip.

Then one center line down each inner strip to hold the whole thing together.

You can see my Gratitude board in the background.

  Happy Thanksgiving!

Fabulous Applesauce

 Apple season is upon us.  I love this time of year and Apples are my favorite.  I wanted to make applesauce for a while and finally had a chance to do it.  It's not really time consuming especially if you have a pressure cooker.  I used 4 different varieties of apples.  The combination makes Fab-u-lous Applesauce and there isn't any sugar in it at all.  Even better.

I used Golden Delicious, Fuji, Gala, & Jonathan Apples. Really, you just need multiple varieties. Choose your favorites.  I just wouldn't add a tart apple like Granny Smith.  Let's save those for Pie Filling.

Wash them and then cut out core.  No need to skin them.

Put apple pieces in pressure cooker in steamer basket with 1 cup water in the bottom.

This is the pressure cooker I use.  There is a link on the side to Amazon were you can get one of your own.

Heat on high to bring pressure to 2nd ring.

Remove from heat and place in sink to run cold water over the sides of the pan.  

This will drop the pressure rapidly.  Ladle out cooked apples and put in blender.  

Blend to desired consistency.  

I left mine in for about 1 minute for a smooth texture.

Pour hot applesauce into prepared jars and attach lids and rings.

You could add cinnamon or other spices to the applesauce at this point but I wanted mine plain so I could doctor it up later if I wanted to.

Process in boiling water or steam canner for 20 minutes.

Let rest 24 hours. Lable and add to your pantry.

Homemade Applesauce.  Fabulously Yummy!

Homemade Salsa - Canned

I'm still working on all the veggies I got from Market on the Move.  This time it's Tomatoes.  Since I'm the only one in my family that likes to eat them fresh, and there is no possible way I could eat all of them before they go bad, I decided to can some Salsa.  It's our favorite tomato thing in our house and we go through a ton of it.  Living in the Southwest and all that.    I've never made it with yellow grape tomatoes though and I thought it added a wonderful color combination.  Here's the quick recipe:

Homemade Salsa

Wash Tomatoes.

Cut and remove seeds from your tomatoes.  

I just ran my finger along the insides and the seeds kind of squish out. 

Not my favorite step, but it makes the salsa much nicer without all those seeds.

This batch will fill 1 1/2 quart jars with Salsa.  I made 2 batches.

Puree tomatoes in a blender to equal 4 cups of tomato puree.  Make it as smooth or as chunky as you want.

Put tomato puree in large bowl and add the following:

1-4oz can of diced green chiles.  I prefer Hatch's fire roasted.

1 medium onion chopped fine

1 bunch green onions, sliced thin

1 bunch cilantro cut in small pieces

1/8 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 tsp granulated garlic

1 tsp crushed red chili peppers

(I'm a baby when it comes to heated salsa.  1 tsp is my max.  If you want it hotter, by all means add more.)

Stir well and ladle in to prepared jars.

Attach lids and rings and process in boiling water or steam canner for 15 minutes.

Let rest 24 hours, then lable and add to your pantry.

Homemade Salsa.

The best thing you can do to a Tomato!

Homemade Bread and Butter Pickles

I'm so excited that the Market on the Move has started up again.  If you want to know more about it, go here.  I'm not sure if you can find similar orgainizations in other locations, but if you are in Phoenix, you are super lucky.  I literally filled up my huge laundry basket full of Cucumbers, Yellow Squash, and 2 kinds of Tomatoes.  All for $10!  Yep, only $10!  The choices vary week to week, but it's usually veggies.

It's been years since I've made pickles and with this screamin' deal on Cucumbers, I couldn't pass it up.  My family is a Bread and Butter Pickle family.  I'm not partial to any one kind, but these are super yummy and pretty easy to make.  Just a little time consuming, but toally worth it.

Bread and Butter Pickles

I washed the cucumbers in water with a splash of vinegar to kill any pesticides or bugs.

Next slice the cucumbers to desired thickness and shape.

I used my Pampered Chef slicer. I love the wavy cut it makes.
If you had a mandolin for slicing, that would work fabulously too.

Put cucumber slices in a large bowl.  Sprinkle pickling salt or Kosher Salt on each layer.
Don't be skimpy, but you don't need to be overly generous either.

Layer it all the way up and then cover the cucumbers with ice and let sit for 1 1/2 hours.  You can use this time to prepare your jars and get the ingredients together for pickling.

In a large stock pot combine the following:

3 cups vinegar

2 cups sugar

2 Tbsp mustard seed

2 tsp turmeric

2 tsp celery seed

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp peppercorns

Bring to a boil.  Then add 14 cups of cucumbers.  I used my 2 cup pyrex measuring cup and made measuring things easy.  Return the cucumber mixture to a boil, stirring occationally.  The cucumber skins will darken.

Ladle mixture into prepared jars.  Fix lids and rings and process for 10 minutes in a water bath, or steam canner.  Remove and let cool for 24 hours.  Check seals, lable with the date and add to your pantry.

Homemade Bread and Butter Pickles.

When's the next time we have hamburgers? or hoagies? or chicken salad? or...

Thanksgiving Advent Calendar

 I can't believe it's November already.  Luckily I had this almost finished before the month began.  Just a few finishing touches and it's ready to go.  My sister {R} had the idea and put the supplies together for me.  She even ordered the little library card holders for each pocket.

I love how it turned out.







The board is just a piece of cheap MDF.  I gave it a light wash of green, and added the vinyl lettering.

I covered the pockets with some Thanksgiving paper from my stash, then stamped the numbers with my Technique Tuesday rubber stamps.

The cards for the pockets were cut from cardstock, then stamped with stamps from My Sentiments Excactly.

I thought about adding a ribbon to the top of each card, but decided against it.

The pockets were adhered to the board with a glue gun.

Some of the pockets got a little ribbon trim for added dimention.  I love being random!

The plan is for each family member to take a day and write what they are thankful for.  I will keep them and get them out next year, possibly making a Scrapbook page from the cards.  If I do, I will definitely share.

Here's to a whole month of Gratitude!