Homemade Pizza

Until very recently we’ve been a one-vehicle family. (Que shocked gasps from the audience..) Having only one vehicle meant we saved money – gas, insurance, maintenance, no spur-of-the-moment shopping sprees – you get the idea. However, the biggest downside was that it made getting all my errands and appointments done in a single day.

Fridays became “the” day for EVERYTHING outside the house to be done. A typical Friday would start with loading up all the kids, dropping Tim off at work downtown Little Rock, backtracking to Conway to drop off I at his therapist’s office for an hour, run to Kroger with the rest of the kids to pick up groceries, swing back around to pick I back up, pick up groceries at Sam’s Club, run home to empty out the van and put littles down for naps, and then load everyone back up so we could go back downtown and pick up Tim at the end of the work day. Phew! As you can imagine, thinking about arriving home and fixing dinner with five hungry children and a ravenous husband hanging around the stove was enough to make me sick. Hence Friday pizza and a movie night was born! Pop in a pre-made store pizza for 20 minutes and chill with the fam as we enjoyed a fun movie together.

Sam’s Club pizzas were a lifesaver for me even though they bit into my weekly grocery budget. Now that we have a second vehicle and the ability to pace out my week better, I’ve been able to cut out the store-bought pizzas and return to making my own from scratch. Hallelujah!!! Routine is what keeps my life sane, and there is nothing better than not having to guess what to put on the menu for those days. Plus making pizza from scratch only costs around $4 vs $14/week. 🙌🏻

STEP 1

To make one pizza crust mix 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast (1 package) with 1 T. sugar and 1 C. warm water. Let set for a few minutes until the yeast forms a nice froth on top.

STEP 2

Add 2 C. all purpose flour, 1 T. oil and 1 1/2 tsp. salt to the yeast mixture. Mix on speed 2 for 2 minutes.

STEP 3

Add 1/2 C. flour and mix until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.

STEP 4

Cover bowl with a towel and set in a warm place for one hour to rise. FYI – This step is completely optional based on how much time you have. The pizza dough will still taste wonderful whether it has proofed or not but won’t be quite as fluffy at the end.

STEP 5

Punch dough down and place onto a coated cookie sheet. Stretch/spread dough out until it reaches each edge and corner.

STEP 6

Top with your choice of sauce and other toppings. (I like to use my homemade spaghetti sauce even though it’s not as thick as a pizza sauce. One quart jar is enough to make 4 pizzas.)

STEP 7

Preheat oven to 400F. (If you preheat after adding all the toppings it allows the dough to rise a little more before baking.)

Bake pizza for 20 minutes or until the top is nice and golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool on counter before serving.