No-fail Pizza dough!

I love pizza, but I haven't really had the chance to make it from scratch very often. Something about throwing food in the air and all the flour needed to roll out the dough frightens my mom. I think her aversion to it comes from the time my youngest brother threw full, open GoGurts into a ceiling fan in a newly painted room. But now that we are older, I finally got to make homemade pizza with my brothers! This base recipe is great on its own, but with a few changes it can make an awesome breakfast, dinner, or desert pizza!

Base recipe:

  • 2 c. flour

  • 1 t. salt

  • 2 t. baking powder

  • 2/3 c. water

  • 1/4 c. vegetable oil

Preparation

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl, add water. Next knead the mixture on a floured surface until it is easy to roll out onto a pizza pan. brush outer edges with vegetable oil. Cook at 425 for 3-5 minutes. Remove from oven and put whatever toppings you please. Return to the oven for 15 minutes. Remove, let cool, and enjoy!

Christmas Morning Casserole

Breakfast Casserole

When I was younger I would be up at 5 am digging through my stocking and then waiting at the top of the stairs with my brothers at 7 am, barely able to contain my excitement about running down and seeing what Santa left under the tree. Now things are a little different. We still have our Christmas Eve party, but now that everyone is older, the party usually doesn't end until 1 am. Then my brothers and I  are left to clean up after the party and set out the presents and get everything ready for Christmas Day. We usually don't get to sleep until 3 am, later if one of my brothers starts opening his presents instead of helping.

Thanks to years of 8 am classes, I can't sleep past 9 am... so Christmas Morning I sit in my room watching The Year Without a Santa Clause (the best claymation in existence), and waiting for my family to wake up. Patience is not my virtue and I get bored waiting for everyone in my house to wake up. In my experience, nothing wakes people up like the smell of a great breakfast. This year when I woke up at 9 am to the sound of my dad snoring two rooms away, I got my dogs and my DVD and went downstairs and brewed a pot of The Fresh Market's Christmas Blend coffee and baked a sausage and egg breakfast casserole. The smell of this breakfast woke up the house and started a wonderful Christmas!

This casserole is the perfect start to any morning, just pop it in the oven--the wonderful smell will wake even the deepest sleeper up and the savory taste will make sure they stay awake!

INGREDIENTS

  • 0.5-1 lb sausage (I honestly cannot say how much sausage I used. I bought 1 lb, but then my dogs and I had a little snack as we waited for the oven to preheat)

  • 6-8 slices of bread

  • 6 eggs, beaten

  • 2 cups milk

  • 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

  • 1/8 teaspoon onion powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

  • pepper to taste

Remove sausage from casing and cook in a skillet over high heat. While the sausage is cooking, grease a 9"x 13" baking pan and line the bottom of the pan with slices of bread. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the milk, dry mustard, onion powder, and salt. Pour the egg mixture over the bread. Add the cooked sausage to the baking pan as evenly as you can. Liberally add the cheese to the top of the casserole.

((Can be refrigerated for 24 hours))

Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.

Holiday kisses,

Megan