They just don’t seem to like whatever it is that I have been making for dinner. Wait, that’s not true. One kid always likes it; who that is changes with the wind. So I seem to be making three or four different dinners each night. Josh tells me to just offer a jelly sandwich to anyone who isn’t happy – but when I made salmon burgers and the kids actually ate it, he was the one making a face at the alternative jelly sandwich and rummaging through the fridge, so I feel like if it’s not a good alternative for my love, it’s not a good enough one for the kids.
And then I hit on a recipe that made everyone happy. Homemade pizza. And not just sauce and cheese on pita bread, even though I find that to be quite yummy. This is real pizza dough, takes all of five minutes to throw together and making it is an activity for the kids too. It’s been such a huge hit with all the kids and Josh. And one recipe makes so much that I pack the leftovers for lunch the next day. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Pizza Dough:
2 packets of dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
½ cup warm water
¾ cup warm water
¼ cup oil
1 tsp salt
3 and ½ cups flour
Pour the yeast and sugar into the bowl of a mixer and add the ½ cup water. Let the yeast proof. Add the rest of the water, oil and salt and start the mixer. Add one cup of flour at a time until the dough has formed a ball. Stop the mixer and dump the whole thing into a Ziploc bag and throw it in the fridge until you are ready to make dinner.
If you make this right before dinner, you obviously don’t need to stick it in the fridge. I do that because I try to prep dinner in the morning.
If you have a pizza stone (lucky you!), use it to bake the pizza. If you don’t and all you have for baking dairy things is a sad little jelly roll pan, then you preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray your pan.
Roll out half the dough (that is how much fits on a jelly roll pan) on a floured surface and try to transfer it to the pan. Roll it out again because it broke on the way to the pan. Add sauce and cheese and bake for about 6 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is light brown.
Be sure not to overcook it, it will burn quickly.
I learned that the hard way. I heard the timer beep and I didn’t run to shut the oven as quickly as I should have. The smoke alarm went off and my five-year-old looks up from watching TV (a minor miracle right there) and says, “Again, Mommy? Again? You have to be more responsible when you cook.” Sheesh.
Update 11/1/10: According to my aunt who gave me this recipe, it is actually from her good friend and quite possibly the best teacher and one of the coolest women I have ever met, Lisa Kermaeier. So thank you Mrs. Kermeier! We LOVE you pizza :)