Personal Pan Pizza with Easy No-Yeast Dough

Having two toddlers and a husband who always want to have pizza for every and any meal of the day,
I needed to make a recipe that was easy to fast and super simple to prepare.
I came up with this idea using a similar dough recipe from a cook book plus changed a few things to
make it how I wanted it to come out.
After two attempts, the recipe works great!
The dough is versatile enough to be used with different spices to give it your own personal touch.

Complete recipe is at the bottom.

This is all you need to make this pizza dough! 

Flour, baking powder, salt, warm water, and olive oil.

Adding some spices gives it that extra Italian flavour.

This dough is too sticky, it needs more flour.

This dough is perfect and ready to use.

When it comes to the spices you can use your own combinations you think would go well together. 

I like the taste of basil and oregano together with pizza. 

Some other options could be but are not limited to: 

garlic powder, onion powder, chili flakes, thyme, dried chives, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, 

cracked pepper, Italian seasoning, pretty much anything you think would taste good!

Once the dough has come out of the oven now you can add your toppings. 

I went with spicy pizza sauce, cheese, and pepperoni. 

Here are some of my families favourite topping combinations.

Alldressed - pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers.
Veggies - green peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, olives.
Italian -sausage, mushrooms, olives, fresh basil.
Buffalo Chicken - cooked chicken pieces, tomatoes, feta cheese, hot sauce.
Super Cheese - mozzarella, cheddar, parmesan, montery jack.

Some other topping ideas are:
spinach, black and/or green olives, onions, cooked bacon, cooked ham, pineapple, cooked ground beef,
garlic, hot peppers, sliced steak, and on and on and on!

Easy No-Yeast Pizza Dough

(makes two 9 inch pizzas)

2 1/2 cups of flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tbs olive oil, plus more to drizzle over dough

1 cup of warm water, less or more depending on dough

1/2 tsp dried basil 

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together. 

2. Add the olive oil and warm water. If the dough is too sticky add more flour. If too stiff, more water.

3. Put dough on a surface covered with flour and knead for a couple of minutes. 

4. Grease a round cake or pie pan with some extra olive oil. 

5. Using you hands flatten the dough into a even circle, place into greased pan and stretch it the rest of the way to the edges and up a little to form a nice crust. Sprinkle with basil, oregano, and a little bit of olive oil.

6. Bake at 400f for about 25 minutes. 

7. Remove from oven then add your toppings. 

8. Bake another 5 minutes until cheese is all melty. Broil for a few more to make the cheese toasty brown.

9. Enjoy it with some extra warm pizza sauce on the side to dip it in!

Give it a try with your pizza lovers in your family! Get your kids involved by letting them help you knead the dough and flatten them out themselves. Then letting them top their very own pizza!

By Mommy Melissa

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

I was invited to an impromptu dinner party this weekend and was asked to bring something along. Since I did not have much time I needed to whip something tasty up. And fast! 

A dessert I am fairly good at making is bread pudding. Its one of the first things I can recall making with my mom. Mostly just ripping bread up but I learned by watching. I believe that cooking with kids is very important and I am so happy that my mom did this with me. I learned through her and she was the one who gave me my cooking skills. Thank you mom! Love you! 

When bread at my house gets too stale to use or is going to go bad, I throw it into the freezer. No point in wasting it. This is a good way to use up all those random bread pieces floating around my freezer.

This bread pudding is loaded with pumpkin flavour and came out having the aroma of 

fresh baked pumpkin pie! 

Pumpkin Bread Pudding


About 5 cups of stale bread ripped into small pieces.
3 eggs
2 cups milk
1 small can of pumpkin puree
3 tsp pumpkin pie spice (more or less)
1 tsp cinnamon (more or less)
dash of salt
dash of vanilla

Place the bread chunks into a large baking dish. Mix the remaining ingredients into a large bowl until well blended. Pour on top of the bread then mix it all around until all the bread is coated. 

I like to use my hands and mush it up to make sure its all nice and even, but you do not have to. 

Bake for around 30-45 minutes or until set. 

Optional Glaze:
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup icing sugar
a little water
Mix above with a little bit of water to make a thin glaze. Pour over bread pudding after it has baked.
Maple syrup is also great on here. Or, heck! Why not just use both like we did!

This part if a personal preference. I like to cut the entire thing into small squares then put on the glaze/syrup and then serve it. Others just scoop or cut a piece. Cutting it into small squares lets the glaze and/or maple syrup cover more, not just the top. It looks nicer on your plate too!

Do you have a recipe to share with us? Let us know on our Facebook Group!

By Mommy Melissa

Crock-pot Chili with Corn Bread Side

One of my all time favourite winter meals to warm up with is chili. I love to make it in the crock pot so all the flavors can meld together and make it even tastier. Cumin and chili powder are the usual spices I use to spice it up to have a nice taste, but use what ever is your go-to spices.

The skillet corn bread recipe I have been glued to now is by The Pioneer Woman. Its a new food to me, as it is not to big of a deal in Canada. Now that I have tried it, I do not think chili is complete with out it! Its so yummy and crumbles perfectly into chili. Oh gosh, you need to try it if you haven't already!

Here is my basic Crock-Pot Chili Recipe. It never turns out quite the same because I rarely put the same things in twice but this is always how it begins.

Basic Chili
1lb ground beef, cooked and drained (or ground chicken/turkey/pork, crumbled firm tofu, or nothing at all)
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can red kidney beans
1 can white kidney beans (I have replaced these with any other beans ie: chickpeas, pinto, lentils etc)
1 large can tomato sauce
2 cans of tomato soup
1 can sliced mushrooms, drained (or fresh if you have)
1.5 tbs ground cumin
1.5 tbs chili powder
salt and pepper
hot sauce to your spice level

optional ingredients I also like to add if they are on hand
1 chopped bell pepper (green, red, orange, yellow or mix them up)
2-3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed and chopped

Directions
Brown the ground beef in a fry pan along with the onion and garlic. Drain.

Place everything into the crock-pot and cook on high for at least 2 hours (low if you want to go longer)

Thats it! Now you can serve it along with this simple skillet corn bread recipe.

As said before its from The Pioneer Woman. Click here to check it out on her page.

Skillet Corn Bread by The Pioneer Woman


Ingredients
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
1 whole egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening

Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Stir together.

Measure the buttermilk and milk into a measuring cup and add the egg. Stir together with a fork. Add the baking soda and stir.

Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir with a fork until combined.

In a small bowl, melt 1/4 cup shortening in the microwave. Slowly add the melted shortening to the batter, stirring until just combined.


In a cast-iron skillet, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons shortening over medium heat. Pour the batter into the hot skillet. (The batter should sizzle.) Spread to even out the surface. Cook on the stovetop for 1 minute, and then transfer to the oven and bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. The edges should be crispy!

I really hope that you enjoy this easy Chili recipe and give it a try.

By Mommy Melissa

Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

 

The secret to making great banana bread is to never use a mixer! Mash and mix everything by hand... this will lead to moist delicious banana bread! 

What you will need: 

- 3 ripe bananas

- 1/3 cup melted butter

- 1 cup of sugar

- 1 egg beaten

- 1 tsp vanilla

- 1 tsp baking soda

- dash of salt

- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

- 1 - 11/2 cups of chocolate chips or chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 4x8 loaf pan. In a large bowl add melted butter to the mashed bananas. Mix in sugar, egg, vanilla, baking soda and salt. Add flour. Add in you chocolate chunks. Pour mixture into pan and bake for 1 hour (or until toothpick comes clean) Let cool. Enjoy! 

So simply delish!