Perfect Pizza Crust

Happy Monday!! I don't know about y'all, but we've been cooking in SOOO much the last week, with the ice and snow! I made this early last week for lunch, and was in the process of making it again on Saturday to put two crusts in the freezer - and ended up using them that night. Do you know how crazy expensive ordering pizza is?!?!??! Kenn likes mine better, anyway. :D

SO. This is Perfect Pizza Crust, from Carlsbad Cravings.

I will tell you right off: this is a YES, PLEASE!!!! - from me and my family. Crispy and chewy - and I made the dough in my bread machine. Oh, yeah I did. :D I halved the recipe the first time; we were only doing it for one meal, and my dad is gluten-free, so he wasn't going to share this one. :) This is half veggie, half mushroom, onion, and ground beef.

I will also tell you this: do NOT cook two pizas at the same time. That's what I did the second time, and the top one ended up almost steamed on the bottom, not with the crunch we expected - but the bottom pizza was perfect. I do recommend the broiling step, to brown up the cheese; we don't tend to use our broiler much, and I'm not sure why. It added the perfect touch to this lovely pizza! :)

I can't tell you if the dough freezes well yet; I have yet to be able to get a batch made and in the freezer! :) (Yes, it's because I'm lazy, and I know it. :D )

I really hope you'll try this recipe - either the long way by hand, or short-cutting with your bread machine. :D

Have a wonderful day! Be BLESSED, dear friend!

Bella Nashville

WELCOME to Friday! :) Have you had a good week? Are you looking forward to a long weekend? I'm looking forward to Monday - a dear friend is coming over to spend some time with me/us, and I love being with her. :)

Today is a review of a pizzeria in the Nashville Farmer's Market, Bella Nashville.

When Kenn and I took 24 hours and just escaped, we ended our time with lunch at the food court at the Farmer's Market - that way, we could each get what we wanted. And, since I'd been craving pizza for a while, that's what I opted for.

Mine was the very first order, so it took a while. (We were there before Bella even opened.) This is how it was served.

I'll tell you right now: if you like a thin, crispy crust, this isn't the one for you. It was crunchy, with a bit of char, and chewy. That and the fresh basil were what won me over; the sauce, frankly, tasted like - well, my first thought was "Boyardee". :/ But I couldn't stop eating that CRUST!! (And it's not terribly cheap, but it's a beautiful pizza oven... :D)

I'm not a huge sauce fan, anyway, so if I get the chance to try them out again, I think I'll ask for either light or no sauce. But I will try them again; I'm giving them a YES, PLEASE! (I know. Bread is not good for my glucose levels. But we were on staycation! :D )

OK, I'm outta here. Have a WONDERFUL day! Be BLESSED, dear friends!!!

Pizza Crust

 Good Friday afternoon! Goodness, has it been BUSY! I'm trying to get used to the fact that it's NOT going to be any less so between now and 2013. AUGH! :D

Anyway. :D Today's recipe is for pizza crust, brought to you by 1001 Recipe.

First off, this recipe makes a lot of dough. I did it in my bread machine; I wanted to make a personal-sized pizza, so I formed five balls of dough out of the total. One, I pressed into the bottom of a pie plate, stretching it really thin. Wow, did it rise! I like to bake my crusts for a few minutes with no toppings, so it has a chance to get a little crunchy. I decided all I wanted was a "lovely cheese pizza", just for me. (Quick! What movie is that from??? :D ) So I put some bottled sauce and grated mozzarella with a tiny sprinkle of parmesan cheese on my partially-baked crust.

So, this is what it came out as. I'm a little undecided on whether I will make it again. As I've said before, I don't make bread dishes too often because of the spike in carbs. But I think I'll recommend it to you! :)

If I *do* make this again, I think I might add a bit of garlic powder, to give it a bit more taste. I like my crust to bring something to the party, too! :D

OK, I'm outta here. Life is CRAZY busy, as I said, but it's GOOD. God is so good to me! I love counting my blessings - I have so many. You're one of them! :)

Enjoy your weekend! Be BLESSED! And try something new. ;)

Papa Murphy's Pizza!

Hi, y'all! I'm setting up all of the reviews ahead of time; yesterday was my birthday, and I'm being whisked away by my husband. :D So! I've got a bunch of stuff set back, but I need to keep SOMETHING in reserve! :D

Today, I bring you a review of Papa Murphy's Pizza!

Before we got married, I had never heard of PMP. There weren't any in the areas in which I'd lived - but when we moved to Florence, Oregon, we lived right next door to one!

What makes them unique is that they bake nothing in-house. They make pizzas (and now cookies, and breads, and salads!) that you take home and bake. You get fresh, hot pizza in a fraction of the time it would take you to put everything together yourself, on FRESH crust.

Can you tell this gets a YES, PLEASE! from me?!? :D If you go to the website, you can also print coupons - this large pizza (if you click this link, it will take you right to the description!) was only $8.

Talk about a happy camper. :D Fresh veggies, melted cheese, and a super-thin crust, so I don't have to worry *too* much about the carbs. I LOVE pizza, but Kenn's not much of a fan. However, he really like this one - it was his idea to get it! :D

Maybe someday PMP will want me to review another kind, so I'll get to do so. ;D In the meantime, I'm quite happy with this. (The pizza in the picture on their site looks like it's got a lot more toppings than this one....)

Dang, now I want a piece! :D Let me know if there are Papa Murphy's around you - and if you have a favorite kind, what it is!

Have a BLESSED day! Go try something new! :D