About ME!

HELLO!!

I'm Christine. I'm a busy mum to 5 year old twins, Robin and Evie and wife to Ian. I also run a property management company. We live in a small village in beautiful, rural Northumberland. I love spending time at home with my family, running and exercising and socialising with my fabulous friends.

When I'm not busy with work, family or friends, my favourite pastimes are cooking and eating (often a combination of family/friends and food). I particularly get so much (too much?!) pleasure from making healthy, nutritious meals from nothing (well, whatever I've got in the house!), making leftovers exciting and not wasting a thing. I HATE waste. I've wanted to start a blog for a few years but time just hasn't allowed it. But I'm very excited about getting it going now and sharing my passion for food with the world!!

I'm very health conscious and want to feed my family good food, on a budget. As you can imagine, time is not something that I have a lot of so my cooking has to fit in with my busy life. Weekday cooking has to be fuss-free and speedy but I still want it to feel indulgent.

I am also a keen vegetable gardener. There is little better than creating a whole meal from produce that you raised with your own fair hands. And in the British weather, it's not always easy. It makes you appreciate it even more though! I would urge anyone to have a go at growing their own. Even if it's just a few of your favourites in pots or some herbs on the windowsill. Do it!

I'm going to try and share some of the recipes that I create and any tips that I have along with general ramblings about food and the good life!

Don't expect fine dining, just homemade, tasty, healthy and wholesome food. Always on a budget! Maybe with the odd flashy, entertaining number thrown in for good measure. The budget won't go out the window though.

I'm very new to this so please bear with me until I find my feet!!

I hope you enjoy it. All feedback very much appreciated!!

Thanks y'all!

Saturday, 29 March 2014

Healthy(er!!) homemade pizza (basic dough)

I say healthier as it's part wholemeal! I am seriously greedy and found it filled me quicker than a normal pizza. Hubby and kids found the same. Maybe nothing to do with it but that was my conclusion! 😀

This made 4 big pizzas. I like the base very thin but if you like it thicker, you'll obviously get smaller/ less pizzas. 

You can freeze any excess for future speedy pizzas!

Ingredients

300g plain flour
200g wholemeal bread flour
1 tbsp salt
1 heaped tsp sugar
7g fast action yeast
4 tbsp olive oil
325mls tepid water 
I also added some chopped wild garlic but this is optional. You could add dried oregano or chilli flakes too. 

Method 

I use a kenwood mixer with a dough hook to start off the kneading on all my bread doughs. But you can do it all by hand easily too. 

Combine all the ingredients together. I don't even bother putting the yeast in with the water first. I just chuck everything in the bowl and start mixing. 

Knead it until you have a smooth, springy dough. I do about 3 mins in the mixer then I stretch and knead the dough by hand for a further 2 or 3 minutes. 

If you weren't using a mixer, it would be approx 10 mins by hand. 

Leave to rise for about an hour and a half. 

Knock back the dough and give it a little knead. 

Leave for a further 30-45 mins to rise for a second time. 

Knock it back again and split into 4 pieces. 

You can freeze these at this point, if you'd like.

Roll out to the desired thickness. I do it until you are at the point that it can easily develop holes. I pick it up and stretch by hand too. If you get any holes, just stick them together again. It really doesn't matter. 

Now you're ready to add whichever delicious topping you'd like! 

See my recipes for tomato sauce and topping ideas. 



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