I was supposed to start my Pre-Diabetes Program tomorrow. Alas, it has been postponed until October 26th. The good news is I’ve been pretty much following the program for the past two weeks. I’m going to the gym – mostly pool exercises and stretching with some treadmill and bike – and actually logging what I eat and how much I move. I weigh myself every morning and can really tell when I cheat. It’s actually good to see all of this before I actually start – there’s not going to be a lot of room for cheating unless I start moving a lot more!

Besides, tomorrow is my brother Mike’s anniversary and my SIL, Debbie’s birthday. we’re all heading out to dinner to a great seafood restaurant – Jake’s Famous Crawfish – and it would be nigh-on impossible to keep to my calorie allotment. I have lost a couple of pounds and don’t want to gain them all back before I start.

So… we had pizza for dinner! On the grill!

Now… before you say badbadbad… I did the nutritionals… 350kcal per slice – I had 2. I also had a bit of Orzo Salad that Victor made and it filled me up. I came right in at my calorie allotment!

Tomorrow, it will be a bit more of a workout so I can really enjoy that dinner!

This is my most-favorite pizza dough. It’s at least a 2-day rise, so plan accordingly.

Pizza Dough

  • 1 1/2 cups warm water (100º to 105º)
  • 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
  • 4 cups “00” flour or unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
  • 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
  • Extra-virgin olive oil for bowl

Sprinkle yeast over warm water in bowl of mixer fitted with dough hook. Let proof about 5 minutes.

Mix together flour and salt. Add to yeast mixture. Mix on low speed about 4 minutes or until dough forms a coarse ball. Stop mixer and cover bowl with a towel. Let dough rest about 5 minutes, then remove towel and continue mixing another 2 minutes or so.

Lightly oil a large bowl. Form dough into a ball, transfer to bowl and turn to lightly coat with oil. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes, then refrigerate overnight.

Punch down dough, re-roll, and return to bowl. Tightly cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

Divide dough into 2 pieces; shape pieces into balls and place on a lightly floured work surface. Loosely cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rise at warm room temperature until doubled, about 2 hours.

Victor made the sauce from our garden tomatoes – it was almost like a paste – and delicious.

Then there were thick slices of tomato atop the pepperoni.

Excellent!