Mushroom and Kale Pizza w/ Roasted Garlic Sauce, Teacher Appreciation Week, & Today's School Lunches

Good Morning!

Here's what my kiddos took for lunch! 

Sandwich on GH Honey Whole Wheat (organic spinach, organic homemade hummus, tomato, cucumber), 1/2 organic pear, a packet of organic peanut butter/organic carrot sticks, & organic blue corn tortilla chips.

I don't know if it's the warmer weather, but I've been "nuts" about coconut lately!  I've started drinking coconut water here and there, in very limited amounts, especially when I'm out shopping or running errands.  It is delicious, very hydrating, easy on my stomach, and nutritious! It comes in glass bottles, unlike bottled water, and is more refreshing than unsweetened tea, which also can be found in glass bottles.  Why glass?

1. It is reusable and highly recyclable.  I reuse mine for storage, drinking, & bulk shopping.  Did you know that most plastics are recyclable only once?  I just learned that.  I try to avoid plastic as much as possible, but if I already have it in the house, I'm reusing it over and over.  

2.  There has been a lot of talk about chemicals leaching into food and drink from plastic containers.  Here is a little more info about safe plastic use: http://www.breastcancer.org/risk/factors/plastic.  Better safe than sorry! 

I've really been wanting to nosh on some coconut meat lately, so when I was at Heinen's last, I bought one.  I know that coconuts can be sketchy, and can be a gamble, but it one I decided to take. After all, I figured I could both the coconut AND the water for one price.

I found the soft "eye", punctured it, and drained my coconut water.  This one had about 1 1/4 cups of water in it!  

Look how lovely!  Until...

Ewww....moldy.  Gross.  I took a gamble and lost.  Better luck next time! :/ 

Friday night is ALWAYS pizza night, and I really look forward to it. :)  I never cared much for pizza before...it was just food to me.  It was a quick & easy solution, something I would settle for, but rarely truly enjoyed.  Until, that is, I began using Great Harvest's pizza dough.  Sure, I've made homemade pizza countless times, and it was good, but not like this.  This is fantastic!  You have to try this!  You trust me, don't you?  

Our typical pizza sauce hasn't been very kind to my stomach, lately, causing a lot of acid and a burning tummy.  So, I decided to test my theory and change things up.  Another thing that prompted this change was that I was out of fresh organic spinach.  I did have kale, though, and some organic mushrooms that needed to be used up (At their freshest, these were the prettiest mushrooms I ever did see!).  One quick internet search later, & I found this: Portabella & Kale Pizza from over at Oh My Veggies.

ingredients

• 1 large head roasted garlic
• 2 tbsp. olive oil, divided
• salt + pepper to taste
• 1 large portabella mushroom, thinly sliced
• 3 c. torn kale leaves (not tightly packed!)
• 1 prepared pizza crust or about 10 oz. pizza dough, rolled into 13-inch circle (or less dough for a thinner crust, more for thicker)
• 1 c. shredded fontina or mozzarella cheese

instructions

1. Preheat oven to temperature indicated on pizza crust package or, if you're using dough, preheat to 450 degrees. Place pizza stone or baking sheet in oven.
2. Remove roasted garlic cloves from skins and place in small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and mash with fork until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. Heat remaining olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushroom slices and cook until softened, 3-5 minutes. Add kale and cook until wilted, about 3 minutes more. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
4. Place pizza crust on parchment paper. Spread roasted garlic sauce onto crust, leaving a 1-inch edge on all sides. Top with half of cheese, mushrooms and kale, then remaining cheese.
5. Carefully transfer pizza on parchment paper to pizza stone or baking sheet. Bake for time indicated on crust package or 10-15 minutes if using dough, or until crust is golden brown and kale is just beginning to crisp.

notes

You can roast the garlic a few days in advance to shorten prep time; otherwise, allow another 45 minutes or so to make this recipe. 

I roll my GH dough into a 20" crust, because I like my crust thin.  I then prebake it in a  425 degree oven for just a few minutes.  I attempt, every time, to keep the dough from puffing up, so I use a fork to poke holes in it...it works...sort of.  :/  No big deal, though.  One of my favorite things about pizza is that it is perfect in its imperfections.  :)

This recipe calls for roasted garlic.  The roasting gives it a sweet, more subtle,  flavor...AMAZING!  OH.MY.GOODNESS.  

I no longer do aluminum foil, and I didn't have any garlic that wasn't already unpeeled, so I improvised...

 I tossed a bunch of garlic cloves into a tiny tart pan.  I covered it with this small ceramic soup cup, and roasted for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  I'm nothing if not resourceful, and this worked perfectly!  Oh, and the house smelled heavenly...smell that garlic roasting? 

I tossed the garlic & some nonGMO oil into my Ninja chopper, and gave it a few zips.  This thing is absolutely one of the best kitchen gadgets!  Gotta give the hubs all the credit for that one...his idea to buy the Ninja! 

Oh...that looks good...

                                                                                                                                                                                                              I sliced up my mushrooms, tore up my kale & sauteed...

I prefer my toppings UNDER my cheese...hungry yet?

And, the finished product...

Which looked so delicious that my oldest grabbed a piece before I could even snap a pic.  In fact, we had to fight the kids for this one! They didn't want their usual cheese, and have requested this pizza from now on. I am constantly amazed by the vegetables that my children love...I'm so proud of them! 

Last but not least, it's Teacher Appreciation Week.  

I wanted to do something special for my children's teachers (kindergarten and first), because let's face it, these teachers are special.  :)  I love helping out in their classrooms, and seeing my children's faces light up when they talk about them.  Their teachers are a HUGE influence in their lives, and that's no little thing to me.  They are a big part of making my children who they will be.  We love these ladies, and wanted them to know it.  

I'm not a "gift buyer", but more of a "gift maker".  It seems more thoughtful, personal, and tells a story.  It's like giving a piece of myself, because I put a lot of love into the things that I make. Not that store bought gifts aren't thoughtful, they are, but I love to be crafty and creative.  

So, without further ado, here are the gifts that my little ones took to school today...

Aren't these pretty???  

I painted small terracotta pots, then painted a black "chalkboard" area to write on.  

The top of the "grow" one is supposed to be a ruler.  

It was very late, after midnight, so I was exhausted and being too tired to try to paint the numbers on, I left the numbers off.  If I could have found my fine tipped Sharpie, it would have been another story.  That would be my only disappointment...the missing numbers.  I hope it still looks "rulery" enough.  :/  

For the "bloom" one, I dipped pencil erasers into the paint, making the dots.

The kids were so excited to take these in, especially since they each chose their own flowers from the garden center.  So many choices & colors.  So many beautiful flowers.  So much indecision...it was actually a lot of fun. :)

Did I mention how much I love these teachers? 

:)

"Cultivation to the mind is as necessary as food to the body."  ~Marcus Tullius Cicero

Have a great day!