Pesto Pizza Crust

I am having a serious problem! Every time I do food posts, I get a massive craving. It is stronger than when I am pregnant. I seriously have to change dinner plans tonight, just to make this. Anyway, I found this recipe years ago. I can't remember the source, something of which I am seriously kicking myself for not saving at the time. I try my best to site where I find things, but half of my recipes, I don't remember. I know the original recipe was a Copycat Pizza Hut or a Secret Pizza Hut Recipe. Something like that.  

Pesto Pizza Crust

6 cups flour

3 teaspoons yeast (1 Tbsp)

1/2 teaspoons onion powder

1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

4 Tablespoons Pesto (or olive oil)

2 1/2 teaspoons salt 

4 teaspoons sugar

2 2/3 cups warm water

I have only ever used a bread maker to make this pizza crust. I put in all dry ingredients, and then the liquid on top and put it on the dough setting. I've explained how my bread maker works to a friend and she used it in a kitchen aid or bosch and it turned out the same. With that you want to use a dough paddle. Put all ingredients into the mixer, except the yeast. My maker slowly pulses the ingredients for 3 minutes. Then it starts mixing on a low setting for 2 minutes. Drop in the yeast and continue to mix on a low setting for 8 minutes until all the ingredients are combined and a ball of dough forms. Then in rests for 25 minutes with a little heat added. It mixes on low for 4 minutes and then it rises for 15 more minutes with warm heat. Once my bread maker is done, I let it sit another 10-15 minutes before I start rolling it out. 

If you don't have a bread maker or a mixer, you can do this by hand. Put the yeast and warm water in a large bowl, stir well and let sit for a few minutes. Add in the sugar, salt, garlic and onion powder, pesto (or olive oil), and baking powder. Stir well and then add in the flour and stir until the dough forms. At this point I start pushing the dough ball around in the bowl to gather up all the flour. Once the flour is combined well, dump it onto a flat surface and continue to knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and put the dough back in to rise for about an hour. I preheat my oven and set the bowl on the back of the oven. I know some people put it in the microwave with a bowl of warm water next to it. 

Once the dough is risen, it is time to start rolling it out. Preheat your oven to 425-450. Depending on the pan you are using, this can make 4 pizzas, so divide it into 3-4 sections. I pinch my dough off. When I cut it with a pizza cutter, I don't get a circle. You can sprinkle flour to roll it, but I don't like floury dough, so I spray my counter with cooking spray to roll it out. Just spray the counter and the top of the dough, and you are good to go. See my videos below to see how I roll it out. 

Once it is on the pan, use a fork to poke holes in the crust, to prevent it from bubbling. Prebake the crust for about 8 minutes. It might need more time. You don't want it crispy(like what my cheese pizza turned out like), just cooked through. 

Take it out of the oven. Now here comes the fun part, We love even more flavor! Spread a thin layer of butter on top of the crust. I use salted, since mine is soft and ready to go. Once that is done, lightly sprinkle Lawry's Garlic Salt on top. Then, using a spatula, flip the pizza over. This buttery garlic side will be the first thing that hits your tongue when you take a bite. 

This is the good stuff. 

Now I am the queen of using what I have. If you don't have Pesto, I always use the 4 Tbsp olive oil and then I add in minced garlic (probably about 1 Tbsp) and dried basil (maybe 2 tsp) 

If you wanted to make Pesto for the crust, 

Pesto

1 1/2 cups packed fresh basil leaves

2 cloves garlic

1/3 cup Real grated parmesan cheese (not the powder)

1/4 cup olive oil

 2 Tbsp Pine Nuts

Blend in a food processor. Use the 4 Tbsp of the pesto in the crust. Refrigerate the rest. 

 Once you've flipped the crust, top it as desired. Sauce, cheese, toppings. Put it back in the oven and bake until done. About 10 minutes or so. 

 This crust was slightly over baked in the prebake stage. 

 This is a Kevin and Natali favorite. Don't diss till you've tried, unless you hate pineapple, then I guess you can skip. Going back to ham is so bland. 

See the video below for the braided pizza. 

See how dry that crust looks. Just spread that butter and sprinkle the garlic salt, and BAM! Perfection. 

You'll bake the braid pizza for about 15 minutes. I honestly never check the time since I only have 2 racks and I am making 4 pizzas. I just peek in and see if it looks done. 

Sorry I angled it wrong. I couldn't tell till after I was done making it. 

Field Trip to the Popcorn Shop

We have a local popcorn shop here in town that makes a wide variety of flavored popcorn. I've heard that they do Field Trips so I called to see if our preschool could come. Since I've had an increase in kids recently, I ended up doing the field trip two different days. 

I've never done this field trip so I didn't quite know what to expect. There ended up being another preschool group with us the first day. It was a little crowded, but it was still so fun. 

The kids got to sit down and listen to a book called the Popcorn Shop. It was a fun little story about a shop owner who starts making popcorn. Everyone loves the popcorn but it is soon pouring out of the store and into the town, causing chaos. 

After the story, we went back to see how they made their popcorn. We listened to hear when the popcorn got hot enough to pop. 

They gave each child a bag of white popcorn to taste and then we saw how they mixed their Tutti Frutti Popcorn.  

We were lucky enough to get a sample of that too! Yum!

 This is my second group..

They have this really great program for helping children in 3rd world countries get an education, so we got to see their puppets they sell that funds it. 

We all had such a great time. I am glad we got to visit. I gave each child got a $1 to choose either a little puppet or a cup of popcorn to take home. 

You know what else was awesome! Doing a field trip the week before Spring Break. I didn't have to plan anything this week and then I got the next week off. Awesomeness. 

Solar System Planet Hat

At Preschool we were learning about Astronomy. We learned about Astronauts and the Earth for Earth Day. We learned about the stars and constellations. We also learned about the Planets that are in the solar system. We learned how the planets orbit the sun and decided to make a planet hat with the sun in the middle. 

I think she is wearing her older brother's hat in the picture. I know she didn't make one.

I found coloring pages online and printed them out. We checked out books from the Library with pictures of the planets so they could see their colors. The kids colored the planets and then cut them out. I made a strip of black paper for the band around the head. You cut a piece of construction paper in half lengthwise and then staple it together. 

During the day we learned the order of the planets and sang a song that went with it. The kids put the planets in order on their hats and then we attached the sun in the middle. I used a bendable wax stick because I couldn't find our pipe cleaners. I taped it on the hat and on the sun and then the sun hung in the middle of the planets. 

Preschool In House Field Trip

I was looking for a field trip for my Preschool and thought it would be fun if we could visit an animal hospital. We were learning about Careers at the same time, so after talking to the hospital, we decided to do an in house field trip right during Career Week. 

This was one of the coolest things for me and the kids. The Vet Techs came with animals and supplies. 

They taught the kids how they care for the animals and then showed them their equipment. Each child got to practice on their stuffed animals. (I had extra stuffed animals just in case a child didn't bring one)

We had some kids who were terrified of dogs. I wasn't sure how it would go. They ended up hanging back as the Vet Tech's talked and then the kids felt safe and all of them went up to the animals to see them. 

The kids got to listen to the dog's heart with a stethoscope. 

I love having in house visits at the preschool. This was a TON of fun. 

Washing Hands Experiment

We were learning about our bodies and how to take care of them for Preschool. We did an experiment to see what happens to our food if we don't wash our hands. One of the apples was put in a jar and the other one was passed around to each child. The kids all coughed and breathed on the apple and then we put that in a jar and let it sit for 1-2 weeks. 

 It was pretty gross to see the apple that we passed around. It was a cool experiment that the kids could learn, hands on, why it was important to wash our hands. You have to be a little delicate in teaching this, so the kids don't become germ-a-phobes.  

Rainbow Streamer Color Hunt

It was St. Patrick's Day at Preschool which means we got to celebrate the Rainbow. Our family loves a good treasure hunt so we hid the colors of the rainbow and left some clues for the kids. 

Each child was given a paper plate and then I read a clue and the kids ran to find the color. I quickly stapled the colored streamer on each plate and then we searched for the next color. 

Once we got to the purple, we also found gold coins hiding at the end of the rainbow. This was probably the kids favorite part of the Color Hunt. 

The kids can glue on cotton balls if desired and then run around outside with their Rainbow Streamers. We hung ours up inside for a while. It was fun to see the colors blowing around. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Letter Z is for the Zebra in the Zoo

We were finishing off with the Alphabet and going over the letter Z. I always love incorporating paint whenever I can so I was thrilled when I saw this idea. I thought it would be fun if the Zebra was in the zoo as well. 

We started out with a pan for each child. In each pan we had a white paper with a Z drawn on it, a marble, and a spot of black paint. 

 The kids rolled the marble around in the pain to make the stripes on the Zebra Z's. The marble hopped out of the pan a few times. 

As always, we ended up being pressed for time, so no hair or face.