Amazing Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

This recipe was actually introduced (you can find here at AllRecipes)to me by my friend Ashley who is a contributer on this blog and I was waiting to post it till she had a chance but I don't think she's going to (sorry Ashley). So here it is!! We love this! If you have a bread machine you can totally disregard the directions and throw all of the ingredients in it and let the machine do it's work!! Don't forget to put them in the machine in the order that your manual suggests for best results!

This recipe made enough dough for 2 pizzas. We made one because we like thicker crust and we added strips of mozzarella around the edges for a 'stuffed' crust. Deelish!

INGREDIENTS

* 1 teaspoon white sugar
* 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups whole wheat flour
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.

2. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

3. When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust. Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.

4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a well oiled pizza pan. Top pizza with your favorite toppings, such as sauce, cheese, meats, or vegetables.

5. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes (depending on thickness) in the preheated oven, until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges, and cheese is melted on the top.

Malibu Chicken

Dave made this for dinner the other night and it was SOOOO good! I didn't have chicken breasts so we used thighs instead. The mustard sauce is a must, too. I didn't think I would like it but it was terrific.

6boneless skinless chicken breasts (pounded thin)
6 slices cooked ham
6 slices Swiss cheese
1 egg
1/4 C. flour
1/8 tsp. pepper
3/4 C. fine dry breadcrumbs
2 TB. oil
2 TB. butter
1 TB water
1 tsp. mustard
1/4 C. mayo

1. Combine flour, salt, and pepper.
2. Stir egg and water together with a fork.
3. Coat each chicken piece with flour, dip into egg mixture and then coat with crumbs.
4. Press crumbs in firmly.
5. Heat oil and butter in large skillet over med. heat.
6. Brown chicken 4-5 min. on each side.
7. Place browned chicken on oven proof platter, top each piece with a slice of ham and a slice of cheese.
8. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese melts.
9. Combine mustard and mayo.
10. Serve chicken immediately with sauce.

By the way, this is a copycat recipe from a restaurant. I hesitate to tell you which restaurant because when Dave told me all I could think was "Eeeewww!" If you're dying to know you can e.mail me and I'll tell ya!

Homemade Pretzels

This is a little weird but when we went to Stake Conference yesterday I kept smelling something that smelled like fresh soft pretzels! So, of course, I had to make some when we got home! This is the recipe that I used (here's the link to the recipe on AllRecipes). They turned out really good! You can read about the "making of" on my blog post: Pretzel Time.
FYI - Next time I will probably use my bread machine for the 'hard' part! Have you ever tried kneading for 7-8 minutes (x2 because I made a double batch)? I'm such a wimp.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 4 cups hot water
• 1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
4. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.