Fantastic Dough, You should know!

What makes this dough so fantastic?



Not only is it easy to make but most ingredients you should already have on hands such as flour, sugar, water, olive oil, and salt. The only nonessential ingredient you'll need is instant active yeast. Super cheap, it can be found at any grocery store.

The second most fantastic thing about this dough is it can be used for three different recipes. Pizza, Cinnamon Rolls, and Bagels.

Shoot, if I tried hard I'm sure I could come up with a few other recipes. Like it may make an okay bread or rolls. You could use a Carmel or honey sauce and make monkey bread.

Point being, the possibilities are Endless.

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 T sugar
1 t yeast
1 cup plus 2 T warm water
1 T olive oil
1 1/2 t salt

Directions:

🍀 In a small bowl or a kitchen aid mixture, place flour, sugar, warm water, and yeast. Water should be warm but not above 120°.

🍀 Combine ingredients, let sit 2 minutes.

🍀 Add the remaining ingredients, olive oil, and salt.

🍀 Cover hands in oil.

🍀 Knead dough for 1 minute.

🍀 Cover dough, lightly in oil. Place in plastic wrap or closed lid container.

🍀 Place in fridge for one day. Let warm to room temperature before use.

Recipe One: Skillet Pizza



Roll dough to 12" size round circle. Place in oiled cast iron or oven safe skillet/pan.

Top with 1/4 c pizza sauce. Add 1/2 c or 4 oz. Mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced pepperoni. Dot a few days of pesto.

Sprinkle with oregano, salt, and pepper.

Heat skillet on medium high, cook 3 minutes or until bottom starts to set.

Transfer to an oven preheated to 425° bake for 20 min. Or golden brown.

Remove from oven, let sit minutes and serve.

Recipe Two- Cinnamon Rolls



Roll out dough as big as you can, making sure it is not too thin.

Make topping mixture by combining 1/2 C sugar, 1/2 brown sugar, and 4 T cinnamon. Stir well.

Butter top side of dough. Sprinkle generously sugar mixture.

Roll dough and slice in 1" pieces.

Bake at 375° for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Top with cream cheese frosting. Add 8oz tub cream cheese with 1 cup powdered sugar. Add vanilla 2 t and a splash of lemon juice. Stir very, very well. A mixture works best. Leave cream cheese out to soften before use for smoother frosting.



Recipe Three: Bagels



Cut dough in 4 oz sections or about a 2" thick piece.

Roll into 10" length rope. Connect loose ends together to form a ring.

In a large pot bring 6 cups water to a boil. Cook bagels a few at a time for 2 minutes. Turning over occasionally.




With a slotted spoon remove bagels and transfer to the topping mixture. Turning to coat all sides, if you'd like.

Then place on parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Topping Mixture

In three small separate bowls add poppy seeds, dried onions, and sesame seeds.



You can also make fantastic calzones. Make 6 dough ball. Place on a cookie sheet evenly spaced. Leaving room for them to flatten out. Add pizza ingredients like before. Fold in half. Seal edges by pressing together. Bake 400° for 25 minutes or until golden brown.



So many easy, quick recipes from one simple dough. You could even triple the dough recipe to have enough for dinners for the week.

Thanks and check back often for more fun recipes!

Pinto Bean and Ham Soup. The right way!

Pinto bean and ham soup done "the right way!" is probably one of my all-time favorite soups. Nothing can be more frustrating after Christmas than being left with an enormous amount of ham leftovers and nothing to do with them. 

This is where Pinto and ham soup comes in! All the ingredients are easy to find at your local grocery store and most times you already have them in your cupboards and fridge. 

I will also show you a couple other ways I like to use my leftover ham! So let's get started! 

To make this recipe I used Kroger Brand Pinto Beans. The package looks like the picture below. 

Empty and rinse beans in a colander. Make sure to remove any floating or weird misformed beans. They are no good. 

Transfer beans to a large bowl with a lid. Add enough water to generously cover beans, they will soak up most of this water overnight. 

Let beans sit overnight covered or about 6-8 hours.  The next morning, I rinse the beans again and sort them. I'm looking for any beans that float or look deformed. I discard all beans that are wrong and set the rest aside. 

For a quick soak, method brings 8 cups of water to a boil. Empty 1lb or 2 cups clean rinsed beans into the pot and let boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand one hour. 

Ingredients you'll need:

1 package of 1lb Pinto Beans 

Half an Onion

3 Cloves of Garlic

1 1/2 Chicken Bouillon Cubes

12 Cups of Water

Directions:

After your beans have soaked with whatever method you prefer, I set those aside. 

I take a large cooking pot with a lid. Fill it with 12 cups of water and get that starting to warm on the stove over medium-high heat. 

Next, I added my chicken bouillon. I used one full cube and a half of another. This is how I make homemade chicken broth. It works really great for me but can leave your dishes a tad bit salty, so be careful to avoid adding more salt than what is needed. 

After the bouillon has had a chance to warm in the water and begin to break up, I'll start cutting my onion and garlic. Using three cloves and chopped finely, add that to the water. Cut up half an onion and add as well. 

Finely chop garlic and add to water. 

Once the garlic, onion, and bouillon have had a chance to warm I'll start cutting up my leftover ham. 

I used quite a bit of ham but I like to have the correct bean to ham ratio. This is important in making the perfect Pinto Bean and Ham soup! 

Now, what makes this soup the "right way" and others not so much? Well, for me I don't like anything added. Sure carrots, maybe a few potatoes would be good but I just don't prefer it that way. Yes, I'm well aware that Campbell's soup has tiny slivers of carrots. Which is fine. However, when making my own soup I just prefer some things done the right way. Ha ha ha!! I'm sorry, I can't help it! 

Ham was cut into small bite size pieces and adding to the boiling water. After all, ingredients have been added. I'll add a few shakes of pepper, turn down the heat to medium. Cover with a lid slightly, letting one end have a slight opening. Cook for 2 hours or until beans is tender. 

Good bean and ham ratio!! 

Want another fun idea for leftover ham?

I have a couple you should try! Serve with your favorite Corelle dinner setting, I get all my table setting from here! 

Homemade Pizza with ham and Jalapenos!

Homemade pizza is super easy to make and can be better than most delivery joints you order from now. Plus it is fun to add your own toppings and spices. Oregano is a must when making a pizza at home. Top with 2 tsp of Oregano finely ground all over the pizza. This really brings out the Italian taste! 

Breakfast Ham with Silver Dollar Pancakes! 

Take thin slices of ham, and brown over medium heat. Remove. 

Make silver dollar pancakes, serve ham wrapped around pancakes. Top with whipped butter and yummy syrup! 

Check back often for family friendly recipes and yummy desserts! 

Take Care,

Jenny