Homemade Bagels always seemed like just too much work, but I finally gave it a shot and with the help of my bread machine they were easy and delicious! They win the prize for being significantly more nutritious and less expensive than what I’d buy at the store–making them a food storage winner.

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These rolls are way too good for how easy they are. Perfect for Thanksgiving! I don’t have a mixer, so I put the dough cycle on my bread machine to work and they turn out delicious every time.

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By putting my bread machine to work, we had this delicious whole wheat Focaccia bread with very little effort. One great thing about this recipe is that the bread doesn’t require any oil or butter. So if you find yourself without those fats–this is a good option.

Bread:
1 cup water (70 – 80 degrees)
3 cups flour (I used 3 cups whole wheat–it was a little heavy, but good.)
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 TBSP sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp active dry yeast

TOPPING:
1 TBSP Olive Oil
1/2 tsp grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp dry parsley flakes
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

In the order recommended by your manufacturer, place the first 9 ingredients in your bread machine and start the dough cycle. After 5 minutes, check the dough and add 1-2 TBSP water or flour if needed.

When cycle is completed, turn dough onto a greased baking sheet and punch down (dough will be sticky). With lightly oiled hands, pat dough into a 9-in. circle. Brush with oil; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Slice into wedges, serve warm.

Based on Herbed Onion Focaccia Bread, Taste of Home.

Whole Wheat Basil Pesto and Tomato Pizza

First, make a whole wheat pizza crust.

Second, spread with basil pesto. You can buy prepared pesto; I usually make my own by blending up something along the lines of the following:

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup spinach (primarily to give it a bright green color, especially when using dry basil)

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds (toast by stirring in a frying pan over medium heat for 4-5 minutes)

1 1/2 TBSP Parmesan cheese

1 TBSP lemon juice

I have made all kinds of improvisations–leaving things out, using sunflower seeds instead of almonds, just mixing oil, lemon juice, basil and garlic–it always turns out well. So be creative with what you have on hand.

Third, top Pesto laden pizza crust with thinly sliced tomatoes–2 large tomatoes, 3-4 roma tomatoes, or about a can of whole tomatoes, sliced.

Finally, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and other desired garnishes – Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, etc. Bake for recommended time, usually about 15 minutes until cheese begins to turn brown. Delicious!

This has become a staple at our house–we have pizza nearly every Friday night. I use the bread machine’s manufacturer recommended pizza dough recipe, substituting whole wheat flour for two of the three cups of flour it calls for. I also use instant yeast.
My recipe is:
1 cup warm water
1 cup all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour (made from white wheat)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 TBSP butter (no substitutions)
1 1/2 TBSP dry milk
1 1/2 tsp dry instant yeast

Another delicious whole wheat pizza crust is this one at allrecipes.com: Amazing Whole Wheat Pizza Crust. I might make it more often if I had a mixer and didn’t have to knead it.

Something I’ve done to make this incredibly quick and easy is to make little dry mixes out of all of the ingredients but the flour and water. I line up a bunch of baggies and dump the required salt, sugar, butter, yeast, and dry milk in each one. I use a twist-tie to close them, and then store all of them in a heavy duty Ziploc freezer bag. When Friday rolls around, I just pull one out and leave it on the counter for an hour or so to reach room temperature. Then all I have to do is add water, flour and the contents of the baggie to the bread machine and select the pizza dough option.

My only wish is that every day’s meals were this easy!