so i am a 2/3 stay at home mom, and 1/3 working mom. i work fridays and saturdays, but am home with the kids mon-thurs until 4pm when my husband gets home. he takes the car (unless i feel like being a crazy person and getting up hella early to drop him off) and then it's just me and the monsters munchkins all day!
now don't get me wrong - i absolutely cherish and adore my alone time with the kids. i think i am indescribably lucky to be able to have the best of both worlds, (plus, right when i've totally had enough of one, it's over for the week, and the other one starts!) but it is a bit trying at times to find things to DO all day. i have been feeling guilty lately about how much tv we watch, but come on - oregon wintertime is hardly appropriate for walks and outside exploring.
so i have started baking a lot more. the kids LOVE helping me! i let elsa pour in a scoop of flour, and xander gets to mix for a while, etc.
more recently, i have started including them in cooking, too! they have been loving it! especially x. they both loved making their own mini pizzas! i let them knead their own dough, watch it rise, punch it down, let it rest, make it into a pizza shape, and add toppings - the whole deal! i think they felt really satisfied eating something they made and waited so long for. it was a super special day!
yesterday, we didn't have much in the way of "easy" meals to whip up, and i really just wanted pizza...and it totally wouldn't have been unheard of for me to order delivery, buuuuuut i was also pretty bored, and so it was then decided - we were gonna make our OWN pizza!
for the dough, i didn't want to use white sugar, so i used honey. you can use sugar, raw sugar, brown sugar- whatever! you can also use oregano, thyme, red pepper - anything in place of, or in addition to, the sweet basil i used in my dough.
here's what you need (makes one large or two small crusts):
2 1/4 c. flour, sifted
1 heaping tsp. active, dry yeast
1 tsp. honey
2 tblsp. grapeseed oil (you can use olive oil)
3/4 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. sweet basil
3/4 cup warm (110 degrees) water
in a small bowl, stir with a fork to dissolve the yeast in the warm water. set aside.
in a large bowl, sift the flour. add the honey, sea salt, and basil.
pour the yeast mixture into the dry ingredients, and with clean hands, form a dough. you might need to add more warm water, and that's totally fine.
after you have a good dough going, place it on a lightly floured, flat surface, and knead for about 10 minutes. when you've finished, form the dough into a ball, and place it in a large bowl with that grapeseed oil. if you're making two small pizzas, then divide the dough into two balls and use two separate bowls with oil at the bottom.
loosely cover the bowls in plastic wrap or a warm kitchen towel, and let rise for 2 hours.
when that time is up, gently punch the dough down (it should be roughly double it's size by now) and re-form it into a ball, and turn it so the whole thing is covered in oil. re-cover and let rest for 1 hour.
take your ball of dough and rustle up your inner italian. make the best pizza shape ever! mine morphed into a rectangle, but i still ate it....all.
i buttered a sheet pan and it worked great for cooking the pizza.
for toppings on my pizza:
1/4 c. tomato sauce
1 1/2 c. mozzarella
1/2 c. parmesan
1 c. fresh organic spinach
1 small, sliced organic tomato
after assembling your pizza toppings atop the dough, place sheet tray in the oven at 400 degrees F for about 10 minutes. if you made your crust a little thicker, you may need to add a few minutes - whatever works!
enjoy!
now don't get me wrong - i absolutely cherish and adore my alone time with the kids. i think i am indescribably lucky to be able to have the best of both worlds, (plus, right when i've totally had enough of one, it's over for the week, and the other one starts!) but it is a bit trying at times to find things to DO all day. i have been feeling guilty lately about how much tv we watch, but come on - oregon wintertime is hardly appropriate for walks and outside exploring.
so i have started baking a lot more. the kids LOVE helping me! i let elsa pour in a scoop of flour, and xander gets to mix for a while, etc.
more recently, i have started including them in cooking, too! they have been loving it! especially x. they both loved making their own mini pizzas! i let them knead their own dough, watch it rise, punch it down, let it rest, make it into a pizza shape, and add toppings - the whole deal! i think they felt really satisfied eating something they made and waited so long for. it was a super special day!
yesterday, we didn't have much in the way of "easy" meals to whip up, and i really just wanted pizza...and it totally wouldn't have been unheard of for me to order delivery, buuuuuut i was also pretty bored, and so it was then decided - we were gonna make our OWN pizza!
for the dough, i didn't want to use white sugar, so i used honey. you can use sugar, raw sugar, brown sugar- whatever! you can also use oregano, thyme, red pepper - anything in place of, or in addition to, the sweet basil i used in my dough.
here's what you need (makes one large or two small crusts):
2 1/4 c. flour, sifted
1 heaping tsp. active, dry yeast
1 tsp. honey
2 tblsp. grapeseed oil (you can use olive oil)
3/4 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. sweet basil
3/4 cup warm (110 degrees) water
in a small bowl, stir with a fork to dissolve the yeast in the warm water. set aside.
in a large bowl, sift the flour. add the honey, sea salt, and basil.
pour the yeast mixture into the dry ingredients, and with clean hands, form a dough. you might need to add more warm water, and that's totally fine.
after you have a good dough going, place it on a lightly floured, flat surface, and knead for about 10 minutes. when you've finished, form the dough into a ball, and place it in a large bowl with that grapeseed oil. if you're making two small pizzas, then divide the dough into two balls and use two separate bowls with oil at the bottom.
loosely cover the bowls in plastic wrap or a warm kitchen towel, and let rise for 2 hours.
when that time is up, gently punch the dough down (it should be roughly double it's size by now) and re-form it into a ball, and turn it so the whole thing is covered in oil. re-cover and let rest for 1 hour.
take your ball of dough and rustle up your inner italian. make the best pizza shape ever! mine morphed into a rectangle, but i still ate it....all.
i buttered a sheet pan and it worked great for cooking the pizza.
for toppings on my pizza:
1/4 c. tomato sauce
1 1/2 c. mozzarella
1/2 c. parmesan
1 c. fresh organic spinach
1 small, sliced organic tomato
after assembling your pizza toppings atop the dough, place sheet tray in the oven at 400 degrees F for about 10 minutes. if you made your crust a little thicker, you may need to add a few minutes - whatever works!
enjoy!
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