Bread Machine Pizza Crust

Do you and your family love Pizza, but hate the cost of it at the store or for the greasy delivery pizza? If you said yes to either of those questions then you have come to the right place! My family loves Pizza, but when we eat the delivery pizza it makes us all feel really sick. After searching high and low for a yummy dough recipe for the crust I found one about a year ago! I am sorry to say I have no idea what site I found it on...if you happen to find this exact recipe please contact me so I can link back to where it came from! 

Things You need:

1 1/4 cups warm water

3 TBSP Olive Oil 

1 TSP Salt

4 Cups Unbleached Flour

2 TSP Active Dry Yeast (bread machine) 

Now I have tested this recipe a few different ways...using different yeast and flours and I think it has come out best with the above types! I use a bread machine on dough cycle to mix everything! You put everything in your machine in the above order...and when you put your flour in make a little bowl at the top of it for the yeast as you do not want it to mix with the wet ingredients! Once I put it in my machine I hit the dough cycle, and for me I let it mix and I check on it to make sure it is forming a nice some what moist dough ball....Once it looks mixed (20 minutes or so later) I stop the machine I and I wrap my dough ball in plastic wrap! 

 

Then toss it in the fridge for 24 hours! You can use this bread right away if you just let the dough cycle complete, however I have found placing it in the fridge for 24 hours to rise give the best crust! 

Then the next day when you are ready to make pizza, your dough ball will be  a lot bigger! Before you begin to roll the dough make it as best as you can into a "ball" shape! You will now need a rolling pin, and some extra flour....Clean your table and toss a little flour on it, slap your dough ball down and put flour on top of it! Now start rolling it out! 

After you roll it out you will want to pick it up and just hold it up a few times to let it stretch out.

 

Once you have it to the size of your pan you will want to get some olive oil and rub it all over!

 

 Now put the Olive oil side down onto the pizza pan! This helps so much once its done baking...if you skip this part it will be a pain to get it up from the pan and then when you have to clean the pan you have a bunch of dough spots to scrub! 

 

 Now make your pizza! I make my own sauce...but you can easily buy some pre-made sauce! Then any topping you and your family like! We buy our cheese and peperoni from Sam's Club and we freeze it for later! It is so much cheaper and you get way more! Once you have all your topping bake it on 350 for 30 Minutes! Cut and enjoy! 

 

TIP: IF YOU LIKE THICK CRUST USE THE FULL DOUGH BALL

IF YOU LIKE THIN CRUST CUT DOUGH BALL IN HALF AND YOU CAN MAKE TWO THIN CRUST PIZZAS

 

It SOLD for how much???

I wanted to share something with all of you...My mom bought this baby monitor for me when I was pregnant with my son in 2005. I used it for a very short amount of time for both my kids, and have realized I really do not  need to save this for the next baby (if there is any more **I HOPE) We really did not use it with my daughter, and I think if I have any more babies I will not request or purchase a baby monitor again. I am never far from my kids...especially when they are newborns! I could not find this exact monitor on any of the regular sites like Walmart or Target...and it was only selling for $20 on eBay. I finally found it selling on overstock.com and it is still selling for $118.99 NEW! I listed it on a Facebook for-sale page and three days later it sold for $50! Do you know how happy I was?? Very happy! Hubby did not think I would get more then $20 and more then once told me to donate or give it away! Well here soon our Tahoe will need new tires...which are not cheap! So I knew I needed to sell a few things and start saving so that the $800 tire purchase would not hurt so much in a few months! I say $50 for a baby monitor I got in 2005 is a great deal! The mom that bought it was expecting baby number 4 and had been looking for a monitor that had a camera and was so happy to have found such a great deal on a "like new" set! The next time you are not sure if you can make a few $ on something, just give it a try! Never know how much someone will pay until you try to sell it!

Organized Travel

Last week I had quite a few post ideas that I wanted to get up on the blog, but was unable to! Last Sunday we were outside working on our yard and we received a phone call from my hubby's dad, and it put us into overdrive mode! My hubby's grandma had passed away that morning :( We had to finish up what we were doing outside and go shopping for funeral clothing. Mean while I was left at home on Monday to pack for 4 people, so we could leave at 5:00 A.M Tuesday Morning! Talk about a lot to deal with in a short amount of time! I had a kitchen full of dirty dishes, tons of laundry on top of trying to pack! All day Monday was spent getting the house as "picked" up as I could while packing for the four of us to leave! I managed to get the kitchen super clean, all our bedding cleaned and the bathroom cleaned! Guess what...it all needs cleaned again! 



 
We were going to be staying at hubby's parents house for the week, and they have one bathroom, and I did not want to have to borrow towels and leave them with extra laundry when we left...So I got an empty container and put 4 towels...and all our bathroom supplies in it! This made it super easy and quick when we got there because we knew where the box needed to go, and we did not have to dig around in a suit case for it! Now this might not work for everyone...but it worked for us! If you have a bigger family you just use a bigger container! We have a Chevy Tahoe, so we had enough room to pack like this, and still have room for us all to sit! This also might not work if you are traveling by plane, bus or train, but if you are driving then it works great! Once we used a towel I took a hanger and hung it up in the closet of the room we were sleeping it so it would dry! The last time we were at their house I did not do this....instead we ended up tossing our towels in the suit case for the next day and they never got dry! 



 

My two year old did great the last time we drove to Texas, she stayed dry the whole way there and back! I knew she would do fine again this time, but just in case I packed her a "Potty box" 
I put all her underwear in with three pairs of clothes and her home made wipes(soon to be on blog). I also went to WalMart and bought her a cheap portable potty, in case we had to pull over for her to go. She ended up not using the potty so I returned it once we got home! I am so glad I packed this box, because on the ride home she got sick in the car, and had we not had this box under her feet we would have had to unload the suitcase to get her clean clothes on the side of the high way! 

You might be wondering how I packed our clothing! Hubby and I shared a big suit case, and the kid shared a small suit case! I put every pair of short/pants with the shirt it went to...that way all we had to do was pull it out and grab a clean pair of undies and socks! Since we did not have much clean clothing on the last day I put all the extra clean clothing into the small suit case, and all the dirty laundry went into the large suit case! This made it so easy when we got home to just take the big suit case to the laundry area and sort it and wash! It was so nice to see everyone, I just hate that it was under such sad circumstances! I had only met my hubby's grandma the one time in November when we went to Texas and even though I had no idea what she was saying to us (she speaks Spanish) She was so nice and welcomed me into her home and life as if she had known me forever! She loved my kids and gave them tons of hugs and kisses and I am so happy that we had the chance to meet her before she passed! I am happy she lived a long 96 years and was able to enjoy being independent and live on her own up until a few weeks prior to her passing! I can only hope to have such a great life and hope other do too!

May 2013 Book Club Pick

Instagram Photo   

 

 

 

 

If you have been following along with A Bowl Full Of Lemons Book Club then you know we are reading The Kitchen House for May! I just finished Chapter 7 & 8 Last night, and it left me feeling really sad. :( I do not want to give anything away and spoil it for anyone who might be reading or thinking of reading this book. Other's in the book club said that they too were left feeling depressed and sad many times in this book. So far I really enjoy the book, but noticed it is really difficult to keep track of the characters, there are many names through out the book, and they all play different rolls. Since I have not been able to read much the last few days I am a bit behind, and after reading Chapters 7 & 8, I have been reminded that any day could be someone's last, and we should all remember that. You never know when a loved one will be gone, so ALWAYS tell them how much you love them and keep them close, hold your babies and kiss them good night as often as you can! I am excited to read more of this book, but worried I will be even more sad and have a fear of loosing someone in my mind if I keep reading. Have you read this book? What were your thoughts on it....Just don't give any details away...in case someone has not finished reading...LIKE ME ;)

Organized Purse

 

Do you often find yourself digging in your purse to find something that is way down at the bottom under many items that should not be in your purse? Me too! 

Plus my kids will throw their gum wrappers, and toys into my purse without me even knowing! I try to clean my purse out every Friday, and clear it of trash and things that do not belong. To help with the daily clutter of things I keep in my purse a all times I thought I would put together a post to show you how I keep it organized while being a mom of two young kiddos! I know...I know...how on earth is that even        possible??

 My mom and I both buy our make up and face products from Clinique, and we often try to buy when they have the "gift" included into a $25- $50 purchase, which means we get those cute bags filled with sample sized make up items we might not have bought to begin with! I hate to even think about throwing away these bags because they are always so fun and colorful! So I found a way to use them! I use one for first aid 
 supplies, and medicine and "girly" products! 
 

 I use a second one to keep all the pens I use in my planner together and not at the bottom of my purse. This helps because now I know which bag I need for what items, and it is so much eaiser to pull a small bag out instead of trying to search for what I need while in the middle of a store or in the car on the go. I then toss my bags in to the purse with my day planner and my wallet (also organized) and have enough room to pack a change of clothes for my daughter (trips away from home) without having to take any extra bags! Before I started using the bags, my purse was a mess...and I literally wanted to just chuck it into a trash can! Now I just love that it stays clean, and the best part about it this way....if I drop it outside, or it flips upside down in the car it is so much easier to clean up and put it all back in my purse! How do you keep your purse organized?

Simple Flaky Biscuit Recipe

In an effort to spend less money at the grocery store I have started baking and cooking from scratch! Not only is it cheaper, but I believe in the end it will be healthier! Last night I made a pot of beans and ham, and thought biscuits would be a good "side" to have! Of course I did not think of this earlier in the day...It came to mind about an hour before dinner was ready! So I did not have much time to let a batter sit and rise, or make sure I had everything on hand! The recipe I wanted to use from another blog did not get used...I was missing an ingredient! So I had to do a quick search and found this Simple, Flaky, Bisuit Recipe and had all the ingredients so I went with it! So the minute I started adding all the ingredients to blend, my little lady woke up...and so here is the funny thing....I lost count of how many scoops of flour I had put in the bowl....Well when I went to pour the milk to mix it was really, really runny! So I am not 100% sure if I added the right amount to begin with or if I added an extra cup at the end??? However if it comes out runny for you, add that extra cup of flour and it will be PERFECT! The batter should be tacky....and somewhat thick! They came out great! Simple, easy and tasty...I plan on making these for biscuits and gravy some weekend! I will continue to share things that I am baking and cooking with recipes...but I would love to try something you have made too, so feel free and leave me a link and maybe your recipe will be featured on the blog! 

Click HERE for the recipe I used in this post! 

Great Friends

THE BIG 23!!! That's right today is my Birthday!! Many other 23 year old people might celebrate with a night out, drinking and having fun! Not me...maybe if I had a completely different life...but in this life I do have...I do not do all that craziness! I think the only thing that kind of freaks me out when I think about being another year older, is that my son will be 8 soon (December) and my daughter will be 3(January)! That's right, you did the math correct...I was 15 when I had my son, and he has changed my life for the better and I love everything about my kiddos! He was so excited to give me his birthday present this morning! He loves to draw, and is always drawing me new things to hang on the fridge!

It says Friendship Bread For You and Happy Birthday...and that big brown spot ...that is my friendship bread! I think he saw me reading last months book, and thought I needed my own friendship bread! 
 





















I have two super sweet firend's that totally did not have to get me anything! I think they both know that my weakness is Starbucks, because they both got my a Starbucks card! Awww...can not wait to get me a Mocha Cookie Crumble frap....You should try it...its so yummy! I also go two super cute shirts to go with one of my gift cards! Now if the weather would warm up, I could wear a new tank top, and get a yummy frap and life would be a-okay! ;) Happy Friday everyone!

Ginger Pumpkin Bread

 

So I am going to start baking and cooking some new recipes, and I figured...why not share them with all of you??!! I know it is May...and not October or November...but I felt like making a sweet bread ...and wanted to use what I had on hand. If you have been following for a while you might remember THIS post on Fresh Pumpkin.

Well we have a bunch of pumpkin in the freezer, and I had company coming over and wanted to make a little treat for us to enjoy! I found THIS on the Martha Stewart website, and had everything needed to make it! The only thing different that I did, was used fresh pumpkin instead of canned. Mine did not come out as orange as the photo shown on the Martha Stewart website, but it did come out super yummy! 

So yummy in fact...that I forgot to take a picture of the bread when I finished...and this was what was left! 

 

 ***Made two loaves following the recipe on the Martha Stewart Website!