MY OH MY! Are you drooling already?

Last night was pizza night but this time I decided to change things up a bit and instead of regular old boring pizza, I made pizza rolls!

Of course I had my helpers.

Fun was definitely had.

And tummies were definitely happy!

Cheesy Herb and Garlic Whole Wheat Pizza Rolls

Who doesn’t love pizza? These rolls pack all the flavor of everybody’s favorite food, rolled into a fun and kid-friendly version of a classic meal. The dough is made using whole wheat flour and herbed with rosemary, thyme and garlic. Around our house mozzarella cheese is the favorite, but you could add whatever toppings you desire. Go crazy and have fun!

Makes 8 pizza rolls

Ingredients

• 1 recipe Easy Herb and Garlic Whole Wheat Pizza Dough (see below)
• 1 cup Homemade Italian Onion and Garlic Tomato Sauce or your favorite pizza sauce
• 1 package (284 g) Earth Island mozzarella cheese, grated (or 2 cups shredded vegan mozzarella cheese)
• 1/4 cup Vegan Parmesan Cheese

Easy Herb and Garlic Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

(makes one thick crust pizza or 2 thin crust pizzas)

• 1 tablespoon dry active yeast
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 3 1/2 cups + 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon each oregano, rosemary and thyme
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder

Directions

1. Place the yeast in a large mixing bowl, add the warm water and maple syrup and stir. Pour the water/syrup mixture over the yeast and allow to sit 5 minutes or until yeast begins to bubble and turn foamy.
2. Add the oil and sea salt.
3. In a separate medium size mixing bowl combine the flour with the oregano, rosemary, thyme and garlic powder. Add the flour mixture 1 cup at a time to the yeast mixture.
4. Knead the dough in the mixing bowl to fully incorporate the flour.
5. Place the dough into an oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover with a dish towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until doubled in size.
6. Once the dough has risen, sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of flour on top, punch it down and place it onto your table (at this point you can all your helpers into the kitchen) and preheat the oven to 400°F.

7. Roll the dough into a large (roughly 20 x 12 inch) rectangle. Spoon the tomato sauce or pizza sauce onto the dough and spread evenly.

8. Top with the grated mozzarella cheese and then sprinkle with vegan parmesan cheese.

9. With a pizza slicer, slice the pizza length-wise into 8 equal strips. Roll each pizza strip as you would a cinnamon roll, tucking the last few inches of the dough underneath the pizza roll to help hold it together.

10 . Press each pizza roll down slightly onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet (you may have to use two baking sheets and bake each batch of rolls separately).

11. Bake the pizza rolls at 400°F for 18-20 minutes, until lightly golden and cheese is melted. Serve with Vegan Caesar Salad!

This meal is definitely going to be a favorite. The girls loved every bite and begged for more.

And that makes this mom very happy! 🙂

Last night we also watched the documentary The 11th Hour. It is a documentary on climate change and the effects that our out of control consumerism is having and will ultimately have on our beautiful planet. It is also about finding ways to change our ways and find alternatives to the harmful approaches that are taken today. I really enjoyed the film and decided that I would share it on the blog today as well, so I suggest you find some time to sit down and watch it. 🙂

I especially like the part of the film where they talk about voting with your dollar, which is something that I strongly believe in. Everyday we have the opportunity to vote for the kind of world we want to have. With every penny that we spend  we voice our opinion on what we believe is OK and what is not OK. When we spend our money on packaged snacks and things that aren’t recyclable or have caused much harm to our planet we say that we approve of that and vote for a world of pollution. If we spend our money on animal foods we say that we approve of factory farming methods, cruelty and abuse.

I think that a lot of times we act so powerless and keep on waiting for everyone else to make changes. I do believe that deep down inside of each of us, we do want to do the least harm and have  a more peaceful, healthy and loving world, it just can feel so hopeless and overwhelming at times. The thing that we have to know is that each and every one of us does have a say. We have a voice and everyday we do vote with our dollar.We have our individual lives to make a difference and we can. There are hundreds of small things that you can do as a part of your daily life that can make the world a better place. So believe in the power of one and make a change today!

There is a fundamental illusion in the world that somehow people are separate from nature when the reality is that we are part of nature, in fact we are nature. And that’s probably the most fundamental misunderstanding in the world that’s causing all of this havoc. – Kenny Ausubel

Our culture is built on the assumption that we are the superior life form on earth. That we are separate from all other life forms. That we have been given dominion over all of the life forms. – Thom Hartmann

But even to think that we are separated from Nature is somehow a thinking disorder. You cannot be separated from Nature. Why we think that way is the interesting thing. – James Hillman