Make your own Pizza!

When Hart and I got married I realized that Sunday was not very restful for us. Hart has duties at the church, so usually showing hospitality on this day is something we do not do because we get tired and just need to spend the few hours before Hart returns around 5 together. Meals end up being pretty simple for the most part after the morning service, but at night when we both get home closer to 8 p.m. and we are hungry, what do you do? Well, Stephanie Robnett (one of my best friends) married into a family that always did Pizza on Sunday night (except they made their own). So I just decided to pop a store bought pizza in the oven and in 20 minutes, we can eat. After a few months of doing this, I started to get sick of eating pizza, literally. We would eat and then I would feel like throwing up the rest of the night. Something about the dough just didn't sit well with me, even when we tried other kinds, but I still really liked the idea of Pizza so, I just decided to try making our own to see if I would get better. It worked and now we have a sweet little family tradition of our own!

Here is what I do:

1)Around 4-5 p.m. I get out a big plastic bowl. I put in 1 cup of wheat flour, and 1/2 cup of all purpose flour. (You can use all of one kind if you prefer, but keep in mind that anytime you use wheat flour you usually need more water and oil).
2)Put the flour in the bowl, and stir in salt and yeast (1 teaspoon of both).
3) Then add your oil (1 tbsp; I use double with wheat flour) and lukewarm water (about 6-8 tbsp; depending on your flour).
4)Stir well with a wooden spoon until everything starts to come together in little pieces. Then knead with your hands to form a good little ball of dough.
5) Sprinkle your counter with flour and turn your dough out on counter. If your dough is too sticky, then add more flour over it, too dry, add more water/oil (before you leave the bowl).
6)Knead by hand for 5-10 minutes. (this gets your arm muscles a little workout and you can tell that when it is smooth and elastic like it is done).
7)Brush a metal bowl with oil (usually olive oil). Shape the dough in a ball, cover with a damp dish towel, and put it into a warm oven (use the lowest setting or the warm setting) for 1 hour.
8)I usually do this and then turn off the oven before I leave and let it rise for longer.
9)When you come home, take your doubled in volume dough out of the oven and punch it down.
10)Knead for 1 minute, and let rise for 10 minutes more. (Honestly, if we are super hungry I skip this part...its fine without the extra 10 minutes of rising; you get a slightly thinner crust).
11)Get your pizza stone or cookie sheet and roll it out to make a circle or square or wavy circle (it all tastes the same).
12)Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
13)Put your pizza sauce over it, layer with cheese, pepperoni, or whatever you like. (You can make your own pizza sauce in advance when you have time and freeze it in little tupper wares to make it easier; just take out one, dethaw, and spread over your dough! yum-O!).
14) Bake for 15-20 minutes. And Enjoy!

This might seem like a lot of work, but I promise it really does not take long once you get the hang of it. Maybe 20 minutes in prep work, you don't have to watch it when it is rising, and then you just can roll it out and do your toppings. It is a lot tastier, too! AND you won't get sick off all the junk they put in modern pizzas these days!

Try it out for yourself!