Deep Dish Pizza

I recently received my winnings from my pizza contest entry, and I was thinking "I need some pizza... I need some bad"

But not any type of pizza... I needed deep dish pizza.

Imagine my surprise when I told Matthew of this craving, and he'd NEVER HAD IT. I was shocked, and it only steeled my reserve to make it even more.

I've been trying to get healthier lately, eat less junk food, etc etc, so you might think to yourself "But Natalia! Deep Dish pizza isn't healthy!" To you I say- "Shut up! I've been exercising, I'll put vegetables on it!"

And I did

Deep Dish Pizza
Ingredients:
1 Pckg of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free pizza crust mix, prepared like the package (Until after rising it)
Toppings of choice.
Some Cornmeal

My Toppings:
Daiya Cheddar
Pineapple Chunks
Baby Spinach
Artichoke hearts
Mushrooms
Diced Tomatoes Mixed with some tomato paste
Black Pepper, Garlic, Basil, Oregano, and a bit of olive oil, as well as a tiny bit of nutritional yeast


Directions:
Oven @ 450
At This point, you've got your dough all risen and stuff. Take a springform pan, and spray the inside with some pam, or wipe it down with oil.  Toss a bit of cornmeal in there, and swish it to stick to the sides.
Press the dough into the pan, thinner on the bottom, slightly thicker on the sides, about 1-2 inches high for the crust sides. Toss a bit more cornmeal in there!
Bake the crust for 10 minutes or so, until it is firmed up.
Remove from the oven, and let cool for a few minutes.
Top with your toppings. (The order I have mine listed are from bottom to top, though I mixed the spices in with the tomato mixture, and then dusted the top with nutritional yeast.
Return to oven, and bake for 30-40 minutes, until it's all cooked through.
Remove from oven, and let cool for 5 minutes or so before cutting!
Then eat, and enjoy!

Prize Winning Pizza

I recently won something. I recently entered a pizza making contest at Vegan Pizza F**k Yeah, and really really wanted to win.

And then I did.

When I found out, I jumped out of my seat and began to fist pump and yelled "WOOOH YEAH! SUCK IT! WOOOO!"

I may have overreacted slightly to my good fortune.

Anyway, without further ado, here is my prize winning pizza!

Healthy Prize Winning Green Pizza
Ingredients:
1 Brown rice wrap
1/3 cup extra firm tofu
2 large chunks sundried tomato
a few snowpeas
a few baby bok choys
a handful of baby spinach
a few chunks of pineapple
Basil
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350
In a food processor, blend the sundried tomato, extra firm tofu, a bit of olive oil, basil, and salt and pepper, until the texture of ricotta.
Spread the tofu mixture across the brown rice wrap.
Chop up all of the vegetables and pineapple, and then top the pizza.
Sprinkle a little bit more basil on top of the pizza.
Bake for 20 minutes or so, until the crust is crisped up a bit, and the veggies are hot!
Then cut and eat and be happy! (And healthy!)

Pineapple Upside down Caramel Swirl Cake- Or How I turned a box of muffin mix into something awesome

Before I begin this post about cake, I give you:

Matthew: The Cat Whisperer!

The cats actually sort of dislike me in an ambivalent "we'll ignore you until we're hungry" sort of way, but Love Matthew with a capital L. 

However, onto Cake!

I have never been a huge fan of muffins. I prefer the lighter more sugary Cupcake cousin, however Muffins are sort of just.... there, things asking me to eat them. I also happened to have a box of plain muffin mix that I wasn't really using for anything that my sister had given me (She always picks me up GFV baking mixes which I think is pretty nice of her!)

So I thought to myself  "This box of muffins doesn't need to be muffins! It could be CAKE!"

And not just any type of cake, but one of my FAVORITE types of cake! 

(As a warning, this won't be healthy at all...)

Pineapple Upside Down Cake!

Ingredients:

Cake:

1 box plain muffin mix, or white cake mix

1/2 cup vegan margarine

1/2 cup brown sugar 

1 cup unsweetened plain almond milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)

2 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 5 tbsp room temperature water, let to sit a few minutes

1 tsp vanilla

Sauce:

3 tbsp margarine

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3-4 tbsp almond milk

Other:

Pineapple

Marascino cherries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

First, cut up your pineapple, either in round slices (traditional) or chunks (like I did), and set aside. 

Next you need to make the sauce. In a small saucepan on medium heat, melt the margarine, and add in the sugar, stirring to combine. 

When it starts to get liquidy, add in the vanilla, and the almond milk. Stir while it heats, waiting until the sugar dissolves and bubbles up. Pour about 1/3-1/2 of this mixture into the bottom of a non-stick cake pan. Set the rest aside for now. 

Top this sauce with the pineapple and cherries.

Next, in a bowl beat the sugar and margarine until creamed. 

Add in the vanilla, flax mixture, and milk, continuing to beat. (Electric mixers are preferred!)

Add the muffin/cake mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon to combine well. 

(As an optional step, you can also chop up some pineapple into small chunks and mix them into the batter. I do, but it's not necessary for delicious!)

Pour into the cake pan. 

Take the remainder of the sauce, and pour it over the batter, using a chopstick or knife to swirl it around in the batter, marbelizing the sugar sauce in the batter. 

Bake for about 30-45 minutes, or until a fork/toothpick/knife inserted into the center of the bottom of the cake comes out without wet cake batter stuck to it.

Allow to cool a few minutes (but not too long! The bottom of the pan still needs to be hot!)

Run a knife around the edges of the cake. 

Place a plate over the cake pan, and carefully flip the cake over, gently letting the cake fall out onto the plate while lifting the pan off of it. 

Serve and enjoy! 

If you want to make more sugar syrup to glaze over the top and sides, though it might put you in a sugar coma, it's pretty delish!