Sneak Peak of July 4th Dinner

I'm really excited for tomorrow. I have friends and family coming over for dinner, so I have to make everything so cute. I've been searching for cute ideas on how to make my food a little more festive. I found a few good ideas and come up with some of my own as well.

First, the ice cubes:

Blueberry Stars

I bought a star shaped ice cube tray, place a fresh blueberry in each star, filled with water then froze.

Flag Boat

This one was tricky. I filled a regular ice cube tray with water then wrapped it with plastic wrap. I poked the flag toothpicks through the plastic, then froze. The plastic was kind of a hassle to get off, you just have to rip it carefully near the toothpick.

Next, what are we going to eat on?

I found this perfect idea on Pinterest! Now people can grab everything at once, and it just looks neat.

I made a hole punch in the paper plate, then ties a napkin, fork, and knife with a ribbon.

I can't wait for everything to come together tomorrow. It's going to be a lovely dinner.

Homemade Pizza Dough

Pizza is one of the most popular foods to have at a party or for a quick dinner when you're too busy for anything else. Its quick, its cheap, and everyone loves it. But, its not the healthiest option and I personally don't like to eat it. Although, I do get a little pizza craving every once in a while, so I decided to make a healthy pizza from scratch. I didn't have any whole wheat flour on hand, but I had some brown rice flour in the pantry. So I spent some time looking at different recipes for a pizza crust I could make with the ingredients I had. This is what I came up with;

Brown Rice Flour and Flax Seed Pizza Crust

• 1/2 C whole grain brown rice flour (I buy mine in bulk at a health foods store)
• 1/2 C ground flaxseed meal (I use Bob's Ground Flaxseed Meal)
• 1 t baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 t garlic powder
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning (optional)
• ¼ cup water
• 3 eggs
• 3 T extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray it (I use olive oil in a Misto can). Or, you can use a 9x13 pan.

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix wet ingredients in a small bowl, then add to the dry ingredients. Pour onto baking sheet or into pan. 

Bake for 10 minutes. While its in the oven, prepare your toppings. I used tomato sauce, tomatoes, and a string cheese (mozzarella) on one side, and olive oil, avocado, goat cheese on the other. 

After the crust is baked, add the toppings and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes. Enjoy!