Recipes for the Health Conscious but Clumsy Chef Quick and Easy Whole Wheat Pizza

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon or one packet of yeast

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup of hot water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon raw sugar*

1. In a big mixing bowl, combine whole wheat flour, yeast, and salt.
2. Add hot water, olive oil, and sugar.
3. Stir until it has a doughy consistency.
4. Let the dough sit for 15-30 min. It all depends on the room temperature. I found that in the winter it takes the full 30 mins, but in the summer it only takes 15 min. 
5. You can roll the entire thing out to create a 16 inch pizza, or split in half to make two 8 inch pizzas.
6. Add toppings. Our favorites are mushroom, garlic, peppers, and onions
7. Bake at 425 degrees for 17 min.

 All ovens are a little different so check after 15 mins. You may need to leave it in closer to 20 min.

You can make extra and freeze it to use at a later date. Make sure when you freeze it that the bag or whatever you freeze it in has some flour in it so the dough doesn't stick. Or you could just make sure the dough is floured. If you freeze it in a bag, keep the bag open to give the dough space to rise.when defrosting it.  

Enjoy! Remember if you have any question or comments please let us know.

*Yes, there is sugar. Sugar is needed to fuel the yeast which makes the dough rise. After the yeast uses the sugar, it is metabolized into a gas!

A Dose of Reality I Need What I Want!

When I was a child, I was spoiled. I would ask and get just about anything wanted. My father once said to me, “Joann, you have to separate your needs from your wants.” I replied, “Dad, there is a thin line between needs and wants. Once you decide you want something, you find ways to need it.” He chuckled and almost seemed proud of my answer. I think after that he said something about a gray area; I should try to stick to it. I wasn’t a very good listener back then. I do, however, feel the same about wants and needs today. Humans only need three things to survive: water, food, and shelter. All of the rest is fluff; boy, do we have a lot of fluff!

How and why did we get so dependant on things we didn’t really need? Where did these ideas of needing something we could survive without come from? I used to think that these ideas came from logic and sensible reasoning, but I know longer think that is true. It is almost as if we have an extra voice in our heads. In addition to the regular angel and devil on our shoulders, it seems we have this permanent Bluetooth lodged in our ears, speaking to our brains. It tells us we need this and that and sends us images of how cool we would look. This “Bluetooth Bug” is hard to ignore. No matter where you are, it is always whispering why we need things we could and should do without. The energy that powers this device is strong and readily available. It draws its energy from our televisions, radios, computers, and phones; it flashes images to us while we are on the road and in the mall. It is the tool of the media.

Tell me what I want!

In our society, media controls the flow of information. Two of the biggest influences on media’s frontlines are TV and the internet. Think back on today. How many clothing ads did you see on the internet? How many car or car insurance commercials on TV? What about fast, cheap food? Advertising tells you what to like and when to like it. When was the last time you saw a commercial for organic farming? How about a commercial that showed how good vegetables are without being dowsed in ranch dressing? I can remember seeing more oil advertisements in the past month than any advertisement for something I actually need. Children’s advertising is even worse. The cereal isle is bombarded with exciting cartoon characters on sugar cereal boxes like bees, rabbits, vampires, and leprechauns. It’s time to get real about who is making your choices; is it you or the commercials?

Do you remember the first cell phones? They were called pack phones. They weighed over a pound and had to be plugged into a car. Now phones weigh six ounces, play games and movies, and connect you to the internet 24/7. Not only was that move unnecessary, but the media makes you believe that it is so important that you are willing to pay $50 extra a month on top of the normal phone service. Phone bills easily reach $100 per month per person in the US. Now add that to the internet service and the cable you already pay for at home and what do you get? You get cheap, fast food. Why? Because many have been mislead by media to believe that it is a great idea to buy cheap, processed food in bulk instead of organic food in order to afford bigger and cooler technology.

It is time to decide what is really important in your life. Is it more important to feed your gas guzzling Cadillac Escalade $80 a week in fuel or feed your children natural organic food that will keep them healthy and energetic? Is it better to spend an hour on the internet with your phone or computer, or is it better to spend 20 minutes making a home cooked meal for your family (Yes, it is possible to make an organic meal for four in less than half an hour). Sure, sometimes organic food can be more expensive than something in a box, but consider how much you spend on frivolous entertainment like internet on your phone, 150 channels on the TV, $70,000 on a car that eats up $90 plus worth of gas a week. Separate the wants from the needs, and give your needs the priority they deserve. Your needs are water, food, and shelter. Not internet, TV, and SUVs.  Get unplugged, and get real. Or maybe we should make an app for that.

Written and Edited by

Joann Agoglia &

Robert Marshall

Big Oil has done it again. ExxonMobil spills 42,000 gallons of crude oil in Montana river.

View the story here.
So big oil has once again violated our environment, our property, and our lives. One of ExxonMobil's pipelines burst in the Yellowstone River in Montana. Although the Huffington Post does not say when the leak was noticed, cnn.com says that the spill was reported at 11:30pm on Friday, July 2nd. Judging by the wording, that does not necessarily mean that was when the leak started.

ExxonMobil's spokeswoman Pam Malek said the pipeline leaked 750 to 1,000 barrels of crude oil. I guess that doesn't sound like much. So how many gallons is that? When you figure in 42 gallons per barrel, it comes out to 31,500 to 42,000 gallons (apparently most officials are leaning towards the 42k)! To put this in to perspective, if you were to fill up a swimming pool with this oil, you could fill up a space that is 5ft deep,  25ft wide, and 45ft long!

Well, how bad could this be? 140 people were evacuated because of the possibility explosions and the overpowering fumes. Not so much can be said for the wildlife. 

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Take note of the televised version of the story. The tag reads "1000 gallons," not "1000 barrels." And the cover-up begins...

OK. Well, mistakes happen. At least it isn't the Gulf Spill, again. ExxonMobil isn't that bad, right? Let's have a brief history lesson, shall we?

March 24, 1989, Prince William Sound, Alaska - An Exxon tanker crashes and spills 260,000 to 750,000 barrels (10,920,000 to 31,500,000 gallons). Why such a huge difference between the two numbers? Exxon wasn't "sure" how many barrels actually broke open and leaked. Those that did not may still be sitting at the bottom of the Sound. By the way, an olympic size pool holds 660,000 gallons of water.

2006, Jacksonville, Maryland - A break in an underground gas line leaked gasoline throughout an affluent neighborhood. The neighborhood gets its water from its wells which may have been affected. 400 people are still locked in a suit with Exxon.

May 1, 2010, Akwa Ibom, Nigeria - Of course, all oil spills do not occur in America. Africa is afflicted with careless spills by many companies. Chances are that you will never hear about them... In Akwa Ibom, an ExxonMobil pipeline burst, spilling over one million gallons of oil in to the Niger Delta. The delta feeds farms and drinking water. When the Nigerian people protested, they were attacked by security guards. The Niger Delta has 606 oilfields and supplies 40% of America's imported oil.

So what do we do with this information? There are a few things. A few decades ago, Americans were fond of boycotting. Whenever someone was screwing things up, we would stop using it. A few oil companies to be mindful of would be ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP. Remember seeing those people at BP right after the Gulf Spill? Yeah. We shouldn't be going there. We can also invest our time and money in Green solutions. "But I don't have that kind of money!" That's because the oil companies are trying to keep Green solutions out of the mainstream, but sometimes the right thing to do is the hard choice. Spend less on an SUV or other expensive sports car, and spend more on solar panels, Green tech., etc. Your move, America.

Written by Robert Marshall
Edited by Joann Agoglia