Cool Pizza

Our community Extension educational club met last week, and the covered dish lunch is always an important part of this meeting. Its a good time to think of recipes to try or favorites I don't make for the family. This time it was Veggie Pizza. It is best eaten fresh and makes more than my family will eat in a few days. However, it makes a good take-along dish that isn't usually brought by someone else. And - the sneaky part - its healthy!
Chopping a variety of vegetables also gives you a supply of salad ingredients for other meals. The pizza is best with several toppings but doesn't use a lot of any of them. You can vary the toppings as you like, mine were fresh mushrooms, celery, red and yellow peppers, shredded carrots, green onions, broccoli and cauliflower. Chopped tomatoes would also be good, but we'd used all ours in the day before's canned tomato sauce.

Fresh Vegetable Pizza

Ingredients:

1 tube (8 oz) reduced-fat (or regular) crescent rolls

   (this is one place to buy the name brand, not the store brand)

1 package (8 oz) reduced-fat cream cheese

1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix

   (I buy this in a large container, 3 Tablespoons = 1 envelope)

2 tablespoons fat-free milk

1/2 cup each chopped veggies - suggestions are fresh broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green pepper, sweet red pepper and mushrooms. (I like to shred the carrots for a contrast in texture)

Directions:

Unroll crescent roll dough into one long rectangle. Press onto the bottom of a 13-inch x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray; seal seams and perforations. 

Bake at 375 degrees for 11-13 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely. 

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, salad dressing mix and milk until smooth. Spread over crust. Sprinkle with vegetables. Optional - top with shredded cheese. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Cut into 16 pieces. 

crescent roll dough unrolled

baked to golden brown, ready to top

You can serve it like this or add cheese as well

Tornado in Tornado Land

 The last 9 days have been quite an experience for our community. Late in the evening of July 7 a tornado struck our small town. (Ironically, the school mascot is the "Eureka Tornados"). Many homes were damaged, some completely destroyed, and everything normal went by the wayside. Volunteers from across the county and across the state appeared to help with the clean up efforts.

 Food has always been a way of offering comfort to those in need and a way of saying 'thank you' to those who are helping. When the Red Cross needed assistance with meals for volunteers and those whose homes were damaged, our Community LinC (Love in the name of Christ) group was a natural to offer help. Having a group of volunteers who regularly serve two meals a month of 150-200 plates has given us some experience with quantity foods. We also have been fortunate to receive donations to allow us a pantry of food items and paper serving supplies. Much food was donated by restaurants, both in our communities and surrounding communities, and by individuals, thus making the preparations of meals much simpler.

Over the four days following the tornado of Thursday evening, thousands of meals were served. Everything from donuts or biscuits and gravy for breakfast, to pizza, to pulled pork for lunch or dinner. The generousity of volunteers and givers was heartwarming. This is what it is like to live in a caring community.

The food service supplier even delivered to
the meal site. 

There was fruit salad...

and watermelon...

and barbecued chicken....

we asked for cookies, and they came
in dozens at a time.

 Many to-go plates were sent

out to workers in the affected

areas. 

Volunteers came before church...

after work, and on their days off, or took days off...

Everyone helped! 

4th of July Ice Cream

Nothing means summer like homemade ice cream. In our family it doesn't even have to be summer to get out the freezer. Homemade ice cream is a tradition from my husband's childhood. We have upgraded to an electric freezer however, and he can keep his stories of hand cranking the second freezer full while his brothers enjoyed the first freezer's goodness.
Another change we've made is an important one for food safety. Cook the eggs! Because of the risk of salmonella, eggs should not be consumed raw in any food - ice cream, cookie dough, eggnog, or anything else. Salmonella can be very serious, and even life threatening to to infants, older people, pregnant women, and people with a weakened immune system. Definitely not worth the risk! Eggs have an important role in ice cream, making it creamier and richer. So, just cook the ice cream mixture.
Fat is also important, even when we're trying to cut back on calories and fat. Fat freezes differently than water and helps the ice cream from becoming ice-cube-hard. So don't try skimping and using skim milk. Our favorite ice cream shop is the K-State Call Hall Dairy Department. Besides cones and dishes and malts, you can also by half-gallons of ice cream there. That ice cream has such a high butterfat content that you can take it right out of the freezer and scoop up a serving. Reduce your calories and fat intake by eating smaller portions.
Here's a good recipe for an easy to prepare, and tasty, ice cream for your 4th of July.

4th of July Ice Cream


4 cups whole milk


2 cups sugar


6 eggs


3 Tablespoons flour


dash of salt


2-3 teaspoons vanilla extract


1/2 teaspoon lemon extract


4 cups half and half

Heat the milk and sugar over medium heat. Beat the eggs in a medium size bowl until thick. Slowly add the warm milk mixture to the eggs, add enough milk so the bowl feels warm to the touch. Return the rest of the milk mixture to the heat. Add 3 tablespoons flour, dash of salt. Whisk in the eggs, whisking and heating until the mixture is thick (I put a thermometer into the liquid until it reaches 160 degrees.) When the mixture is thickened, remove from heat. Cool. Add 2-3 teaspoons of vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract. Refrigerate until cold, or overnight. Add 4 cups half and half. Stir. Pour into the ice cream maker and follow the manufacturers instructions for freezing. For a creamier ice cream use whole cream instead of half and half. 

From Karen Blakeslee

K-State Extension Food, Nutrition, Dietetics and Health

Happy Independence Day from our family