Homemade PIZZA!!

CUTTING THE EXPENSES:

In an on-going effort to reduce our expenses (including food) and increase our savings (I used to want to continually increase our investments too, but since those have "tanked" ~ I just WANT OUR MONEY IN THE BANK! ~ I mean hey, we do have one kid in college and one right behind her ~ and that is soo expensive!!) I've now stopped all eating out for this family. When I first announced this "no more eating out" no one was happy with me ~ no one at all ~ including my hubs. I think "eating out" had become our past-time, our "something to do," our bad habit and an unhealthy one too.




No more eating out. . . includes "take-out". . . like PIZZA. I think that hurt them the most. So, I did what I must. I found a great alternative that I could just make at home. I found a great recipe on the web for pizza dough that I could make in my bread machine. How easy was that? The recipe for the pizza dough is included at the end of this post. When our 14 1/2 year old came home today she did look at me very strangely. You see, this recipe calls for 1/3 cup of flat beer. She saw the can, looked at me and asked if I (who doesn't drink much at all and never, beer and never, ever at 3:00 in the afternoon) was drinking (gasp) a beer? I assured her I wasn't, it was for the pizza crust. :)

One recipe for this dough, makes two crust. You can substitute 1/2 whole wheat flour for the 1/2 of the bread flour. It makes it healthier. One pizza has green peppers, mushrooms, turkey pepperoni and light cheese. The other, turkey pepperoni and light cheese. I make my own pizza sauce by using a jar of sale spaghetti sauce mixed with a can of tomato paste. It's a much healthier way to make pizza and waaay cheaper too. We had this for dinner with a Romaine lettuce salad. Yummy!! And, my family loved it to boot! Our 14 1/2 year old took one bite and gave me a double thumbs up. Not bad, huh?

Come on, unpack that bread machine that has been collecting dust and give this a try. This is the year that I am going to dig out those seldom used appliance (you know which ones I mean, we all have them) that were purchased to make my life easier. . . and well, use them to make my life easier!!

The World's Best Bread Machine Pizza Dough Recipe

Makes 2 Pizza Crusts

· 1 1/3 cups water (Or 1 Cup Water and 1/3 Cup Flat Beer for better flavor)
· 2 tablespoons olive oil
· 1 teaspoon sugar
· 1 teaspoon honey
· 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
· 2 tablespoons cornmeal
· 3 1/2 cups flour
· 1 teaspoon baking powder
· 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
· 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
· 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
· 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast

Add ingredients to machine in order listed.
Set to “Dough” mode.
Once completed, place in greased pan (2 - 9x13 inch or round pizza pans).
Let dough rest on pans for 10-15 minutes
Spread dough out in pan.

Add light layer of sauce and pre-bake at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes.
Remove from oven and add toppings of your choice.
Bake in oven at 400 degrees until done (approx 17 - 20 min, depending upon topping thickness).

Enjoy!!

Blessings. . . until next time,