Videos

This is the only way I make traditional pizza dough any more. Who wants to wait for pizza dough to rise? Not me! It’s enough that I have to wait for the oven to heat up but that’s why this is the perfect pizza dough. You put it together and let it rest for 10 minutes… or longer. That’s the best part. After the 10-minute rest, if your oven and toppings are ready, you can shape your pizza right away. But if you need time, it can rest as long as you need to preheat the oven and get your toppings ready.

So here’s how I make my homemade pizzas. First, I preheat the oven because that takes time. If I’m baking on a pizza stone, it takes about 45 minutes for my oven to get hot enough. If I’m baking on a pan with holes, even that takes about 35 minutes. While the oven heats up I make my dough and while it rests, I prepare my toppings… and what fun that is!

Depending what combo I’m making that day, I might be slicing peppers, onions, mushrooms, olives, or fresh basil. If it’s pepperoni then I degrease my reduced fat turkey pepperoni (see how in my pepperoni pizza video). And finally, I always shred my own part skim mozzarella cheese and you should too. The pre-shredded cheese sold in packages will never melt like freshly shredded cheese because they add some stuff to it. I also find that the enemy of a crispy pizza is moisture so I always try to remove some moisture before adding toppings, especially the ones with the most moisture – mushrooms.

To reduce some of the moisture for a crispier pizza crust, place sliced mushrooms between double layers of paper towels between 2 plates. Microwave for a minute and then blot them dry. I also blot every vegetable before putting them on my pizza because I refuse to use a fork to eat my pizza. I want to pick up a slice with my hand and eat. No drooping, no grease… and no leftovers!  Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

Baked ziti is a classic Italian comfort food, and my version is lower in fat than most and probably easier to make than most too. Here’s my simple step-by-step video showing how I make my baked ziti using store-bought sauce and low fat cheeses.

I always use reduced fat cheese and this casserole is no exception. And you don’t have to use tons of cheese to make this a creamy, melty, cheesy dinner. This is a hearty delicious meal, perfect for Sunday family supper. The meat I use is the leanest I can find, usually ground sirloin, which has less saturated fat but I’ve also made it with ground turkey.

You’ll find that not all bottled/jarred sauces are the same so try some different brands of marinara sauce until you find your favorite. Enjoy the video and let me know if you make my easy baked ziti. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

Even if you’ve never baked before, you can make this amazing bakery-style crusty bread at home. It has a beautiful golden crust and it’s soft inside with lots of nice holes. In the video I used all-purpose flour but I also make the same loaf with 100% whole wheat flour and it’s fantastic.

No-knead bread isn’t new. The idea was invented by a baker named Jim Lahey and it originally was a much longer process than mine. You would mix up the dough the night before using cold water, let it rest overnight for up to 18 hours, and bake it the next day. The whole process took more than 20 hours. I know. I did it many times.

Sometimes, though, I didn’t think to start it the night before and I wanted homemade bread the next day. Now I can make it the same day and the only difference is instead of cold water, you use very warm water. It speeds up the process and you can have this amazing artisan bread any time you want without having to start it the day before.

This easy recipe is foolproof. All you need is a Dutch oven and about five minutes of hands-on time. There is no kneading. A pair of oven gloves is helpful because the pot gets very hot and an oven thermometer is also helpful because you need a very hot oven.

I used to buy bread from a bakery but not any more, not when I can have it fresh and hot right out of the oven. And it’s the only bread I use for my delicious garlic bread too. Anyone I have served this no-knead bread to says, “Wow! This is the best bread I have ever had. Where did you get it?” They can’t believe I made it myself. And you can too. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

Here’s my new granola video. I’m calling it “Easiest Granola Ever” because you don’t even need a bowl. I used to heat the liquids in a pot, mix everything up in a bowl, transfer it to a greased baking sheet, and bake. But now with my new method you don’t even need a bowl… and you don’t need to grease the baking sheet.

Everyone who tries my granola says, “Wow! What’s in this?” It’s not the ingredients so much but my method that makes all the difference. I make homemade granola so often I’ve come up with the easiest way ever to make it.  My simple recipe only has six ingredients but it’s more about how I bake them. I actually learned how to make better granola by accident.

One day I had stepped outside and didn’t hear my timer. When I remembered that I had granola in the oven, I ran right in hoping it didn’t burn. The mixture was really dark but I decided not to throw it away and kept it. To my surprise, it was the best granola I had ever made. That made me realize that the more you toast the nuts and oats and coconut, the more flavors they develop, not to mention the fabulous crunch!

Be bold and don’t be afraid to really brown your granola. And if you’ve never made your own homemade granola you’re about to see how incredibly easy it is to make. It really is the easiest granola ever. Click here for the new recipe. – Jenny Jones

“I want homemade bread and I want it now!” If that’s what your inside voice is saying, and if you have 30 minutes, then my flatbread recipe is for you. It takes only thirty minutes, start-to-finish to make delicious, fragrant, yeasty, fluffy flatbreads. I have never seen a faster recipe for flatbread than mine. Everybody wants to knead and rise, knead and rise, but I say, “Why?” Mine looks and tastes amazing so why waste time?

My quick and easy flatbread really is quick and easy. Even a novice cook can make this bread and my video will take you through the simple steps. Flatbread has a long history in many cultures. You may know it as naan, pita, roti, chapati, lavash, or focaccia, but I call it awesome. That’s because there is so much you can do with it. Use it to wrap any sandwich, make a homemade gyro, or use it for a quick pizza (fabulous on the grill!) Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

Anyone can make perfect hard boiled eggs that are easy to peel with no green ring. My method is easy and it’s foolproof. There is always a bowl of hard boiled eggs in my fridge, always available for snacking or if I’m in the mood for egg salad. If company’s coming, I can make some quick deviled eggs and everybody LOVES my deviled eggs.

Eggs are among the most nutritious foods on the planet, containing a little bit of almost every nutrient we need and a hard boiled egg has only 78 calories. Here are a few other things to do with hard boiled eggs:

Pickle them

Chop them onto a green salad

Use them in potato salad

Cobb salad

Did I mention egg salad? I love egg salad!

Watch my short video and see how easy it is to make this super healthy snack. Click here for a printable rundown. – Jenny Jones

It’s not just me calling this the best meatloaf you’ve ever had, it’s everyone who got my cookbook. I published it back in 2006 and to my surprise it was the meatloaf recipe everyone raved about. I knew it was good but never expected that many compliments. I was trying to make it healthier by adding some finely diced vegetables but it turns out that they dramatically improved the flavor and moisture in my meatloaf.

You can imagine how much I cook at home but when I make this meatloaf, there’s a certain level of excitement… not just for the delicious dinner but then the meat loaf sandwiches the next day.

I made the video to show how easy it is to make one of the classic American meals and how to make it the healthiest it can be. You’ll see why you should not use a loaf pan to make meatloaf but bake it on a foil-lined pan. The added bonus is that there is no cleanup.  By the way, I’m in the process of adding all of the recipes from my cookbook to this website so they will all be free.

Try this healthy meatloaf. Make some mashed potatoes. Steam a side of broccoli. Invite the neighbors over! Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

p.s. Does anybody know if “meatloaf” is one word or two? Meatloaf or Meat Loaf?

“Jenny, please make more videos!” That’s what everyone says and I’m working on it, I promise.  It’s exciting that my videos have become so popular on youtube with over 1.6 million views to date, so we decided to put together a few highlights in this short video. Enjoy.

Here’s the video for my beautiful “Tunnels of Cinnamon” bread. It’s so worth making and is not difficult at all. It’s basically a braided bread with an extra step to add the “tunnels” inside the bread. Make it.  Try it.  Do it. I hope the first person to make it sends me a picture because no two loaves are ever the same inside. Send a photo to “Your Photos/My Recipes” in the blog. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

Take a look at how easy it really is to make a healthy chicken pot pie from scratch. The whole thing takes about an hour and that includes the prep and even a homemade crust. Mine is an oil crust made with olive oil and it’s easily rolled between sheets of wax paper. I never use butter or shortening in a pie crust. With store-bought chicken stock and frozen peas, it’s a pretty easy process. This is a really delicious pot pie with a comfy, creamy filling and flaky crust and could just become a new family favorite. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones