mmmm...Easy Peasy Pizza Dough

So last month my thing was photos and I guess this month it's food! I totally hate posting without pictures cause I always assume posts without pictures are boring, but my whole memory card is FULL of pics from Christmas and so I am just too intimidated by the prospect of sorting through 600 photos to put them on the computer. So this will just have to be a boring picture-less post and then I will hopefully get all my pics uploaded tomorrow. (And by tomorrow I mean actual tomorrow and not the generic "tomorrow" of a procrastinator, even though that is what I am. :( )

Anyway, another go-to meal at our house is homemade pizza! Every Friday night we make pizza with whatever toppings we want (always peppers, mushrooms, and pepperoni!) and either have a nice quiet date night to recover from a long week, or have friends over for a pizza party!

I've been using the same dough recipe from my friend Kate for 3 years, and it is super fabulous, foolproof, and QUICK!

Kate's Pizza Dough
2 1/4 tsp. yeast, dissolved in 1 C. lukewarm water (I normally make it a heaping 2 1/4 tsp--I figure a little extra yeast never hurts!)
2 T. olive oil
2 1/2 C. flour (I usually do 1 C. wheat and 1 1/2 C. all-purpose)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. sugar

Dissolve the yeast in water and let stand a few minutes. Meanwhile mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a big mixing bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture and mix with the flour, then add the olive oil at the end to keep it from getting too sticky. Spray top with Pam, cover with a towel, and let rise in a warm place for half an hour plus. (I usually just do half an hour and it's fine.)

After 30 minutes, separate into two balls and turn out on floured surface. Roll out with a rolling pin or just mash with your hands (that's what I do most of the time :) ), and put each pizza on a stone or just a cookie sheet. Brush crust with olive oil and bake at 425 degrees for 5-10 minutes.

Add sauce and toppings and cook until the cheese bubbles.

Each batch makes 2 pizzas. Hope you like it!