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My Favorite Homemade Pizza Crust

If I let them, E and B would eat pizza several times a week.  They love a well built pizza. In my quest to keep things as healthy as I can, and in an effort to get over my fear of using yeast, I had to learn how to make homemade crust!

I first started out making a crust using Greek yogurt and self-rising flour. It was alright, easy but not the crust I wanted.  After several attempts with different recipes, this one is my favorite.  It is so easy and forgiving.

While you can use the dough immediately, letting it proof for at least a week will add so much noticeable flavor.  The crust has a really good rise when baked so you can roll it fairly thin.  I bake the filled pizza crust in a preheated 425 degree for about 15 minutes or until cooked to desired crispness.


My Favorite Homemade Pizza Crust
Heavily Adapted from: http://www.bellalimento.com/2011/10/19/how-to-make-pizza-dough/

What you need:

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups warm water

What to do:

• In the bowl of your stand mixer add the flour, oil, yeast, salt. 
• Using the dough hook, turn mixer on low. 
• GRADUALLY drizzle the water into the flour mixture until it forms a ball. 
• If your dough is too "wet" add a little more flour. If your dough is too "dry" add a little more water.
• Continue kneading on low for approximately 10-12 minutes. The dough ball should be tacky but not sticky to the touch.
• Cover your dough ball with a kitchen towel and allow it to rise until it's twice it's size.
• Dough can be used immediately after it has risen (bake in a preheated 425 degree oven); or placed in a plastic zip bag and stored in the fridge.

The Weekend Project - The NON Magnetic Chalk Board

Thanksgiving will be in our home this year and I am really excited about it.  There are so many projects I want to have completed before November but it seems really daunting.  It’s mostly stuff that we've put off doing like painting, organizing, building furniture, buying furniture, etc.  

While I work really well under pressure, I want to take my time and get everything just right. So I have decided to take two weekends out of the month for home projects. I will pick several projects from my master list and complete them over the course of a weekend. These will be strictly Saturday posts. I cook, I am NOT a diy-er! LOL  Sounds easy right? 

*eyeroll*

The first project on the list is the Magnetic Chalk Board Wall.  Getting this all together first required me to sand the walls, paint the walls and to clean and paint the baseboards.  THEN, I will need to prep the frame (remove the current picture and spray paint it) and paint the area, first with magnetic paint, then with chalkboard paint, where the frame will hang.  I hated it.

The magnetic part was a big fat FAIL! The magnetic paint was a runny mess; such that I had to touch-up my freshly painted wall.  After three or four coats of that hater magnetic paint, the magnets did not stick.  I just ended up with a framed chalkboard section...that I didn't like.  I contemplated for weeks about what I was going to do with it. 

I ended up painting the entire wall chalkboard and liked it way better....way!!! All of the frames were either thrifted or ones I already had on hand.  

While this project took way longer than I anticipated and didn't start out how I imagined, I love it better than my initial plan.  I also have plans to make some letter changes eventually.  However, it encouraged me to continue tackling the other projects on my list...which is long and strong y'all! Long. And strong.

Next up: The Family Room Gallery Wall

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