friday night pizza dough

I blogged about this before. It's one of my most asked for recipes though, so here it is again! I love traditions and my kids love pizza. Someday Friday nights will be filled with too many things to have us all home at the same time for family pizza night. I know we will go through seasons when one or two or five of us will have commitments outside of home. But I am hoping that by building these early traditions of a simple home-made pizza and movie night, that Friday nights will eventually bring us all back together. Traditions don't have to be fancy or big or overly planned... they just have to mean something to you and yours. You can do anything! Just build traditions! Or eat pizza on Fridays. Both are fun.

Friday Night Pizza Dough 

2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1 tsp brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 1/3 cups flour (unbleached white and whole wheat is what I use)

Dissolve yeast and sugar in water. Let sit 10 minutes. Stir in salt, oil, flour. Knead, form ball. Let dough rise to doubled its size. Roll out. Use favorite toppings, bake at 425, 15-20 minutes.

Homemade Granola

In our house, we eat a lot of yogurt. There are so many tasty yogurt options and most the time we love to pile ours with fresh berries, raw honey, and granola! I came across this granola recipe from my Southern Cooking recipe book, made only a couple small changes, and it is so good...especially warm out of the oven! (And might I add, anything Southern style is usually delish! But this one you actually don't feel too guilty eating!!) I doubled this recipe for our family of 5 and it is already time to bake some more.

Homemade Granola

3 Cups uncooked regular oats

1/2 Cup flaked coconut

1/2 Cup natural sliced almonds

1/4 Cup regular wheat germ

1/4 Cup plus 2 Tbsp. Raw Honey

1/4 Cup Vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. Brown sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. Salt

(Optional- 3/4 Cup Raisins or Dried Cranberries)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

2. Combine your honey and next four ingredients. Pour over your oat mixture and stir well. Spread granola mixture onto a lightly greased 15 by 10-inch jelly-roll pan (or large stoneware which is what I used).

3. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Not dark brown. Stir every 5 minutes or so and stir raisins or dried fruit of choice in once done cooking.

4. Eat right away or store in an airtight container. (Also so tasty served warm with a little milk poured over it in a bowl...just like cereal :) And as always...serve with a smile and enjoy!