Quick Homemade Pizza

Ah, Friday. Even though I don't work anymore, I still love Fridays and the promise of the weekend lying ahead...which means I don't have to deal with a bi-polar toddler by myself all day for two whole days. Daddy can take some of the duty too! :) Of course, this weekend is completely up in the air since kid #2 could make his grand appearance at any time.

I'm still not totally motivated to cook, but since I know my cooking nights are numbered for awhile, I'm plugging along with it. My friend Jen B. posted this pizza recipe recently on her blog that she got from our friend Jen A.. I couldn't believe how fast and easy the dough was, so I wanted to give it a try. I've had Jen A's pizza before, and it's quite tasty, I just didn't know how super easy it is to make. The boy and husband are both pizza fanatics, so I know dinner will be well received tonight, which is always a plus.

Quick Homemade Pizza
For Dough:
1 package of active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups of flour
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon of Italian Seasoning (optional)
1 Tablespoon of garlic powder (optional)

Sauce
Cheese
Toppings of choice

1. Preheat oven to 450. In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy (about 10 minutes).
2. Stir in flour, salt, & olive oil. Beat until smooth. Let rest 5 minutes.
3. While dough is resting, combine all sauce ingredients in a food processor, and blend until smooth.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. Transfer crust to a lightly greased pizza pan dusted with corn meal. Spread evenly with sauce. Cover with toppings in an even layer.
5. Bake 15-20 min. Let cool 5 minutes. Cut and serve!

*****

Jen B. made her own sauce (she's such a show-off...), but I bought a jar of sauce to use because I'm lazy. ACtually I had planned to make her sauce (I think it was her recipe, not Jen A's, but if I've given false credit I apologize!!), but I forgot to look at the recipe before we left this morning. I think I used the last of my canned tomatoes the other night for the goat cheese pasta, and I know I don't have any tomato paste like it called for, so jarred sauce it is.

I wasn't really sure what I wanted to top it with, but basil was a decent price, so I figured I'd go with a basil, tomato, and fresh mozzarella. Then I decided I'd make two and do the second one with just cheese...plain ol' bagged pizza blend cheese. I'm such a mean mommy, but I just don't know if I want to introduce fresh mozzarella to my toddler. There are some things he just doesn't need to try until he's older...mostly so the husband and I don't get jipped out of yummy things like fresh mozzarella. Brie and Lucky Charms are two other things that fall into this category. King crab legs would be another. A few years ago we were in Ireland with the husband's family, and the husband gave one of our nephews a mussel to try. I think he was five at the time. To this day, our nephew still wants mussels if they go somewhere that has them. The husband's sister was pretty pissed she had to go from her son being satisfied with chicken nuggets kids' meals to demanding mussels. I don't want that to happen yet.