Holy rainy weekend. I guess we’re finally getting the “April Showers” part of April. The weather has turned me into a bit of a slug this weekend but I think it’s a good thing. Sometimes you just need to slow down and lay in bed and watch hours upon hours of reruns of Real Housewives of New Jersey. Not that I do that…

(PS – Can’t wait for the premiere tonight!)

I ran my race yesterday. While I’m typically the most punctual and on the ball person ever, I somehow got the race start time mixed up. I showed up 10 minutes before the start and had to run half a mile to get my bib, find someone to hold my race bag because apparently they had no bag drop and then get started. Had that not been the case I think I would have finished under 30 minutes like my goal.

But really, 4 seconds? Talk about being seriously close. Oh well, I still have the Color Me Rad 5k in July. That’s really more of a fun run though so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to PR.

To reward myself for being productive yesterday, I made yummy homemade pizza. There is a chance that I got a tad bit carried away with the cheese. I haven’t ordered “extra cheese” on a pizza in quite sometime but its a rainy Sunday so bring it on!

I’ve always had a fear of yeast. You have to let it rise and then beat it down and then let it rise again. In some cases you have to let it rise for 24 hours. 24 hours?! Who has time for that? Not I.

I wanted to finally overcome my fear of yeast and make homemade pizza crust. When I was on the baking aisle the other day I noticed they had Pizza Dough yeast. It’s like they knew I was going to struggle with this so they made it easy for me. How sweet of the Pizza Fairies.

And easy it was! There was no rising involved. I just mixed it up in my Kitchen Aid and threw it on a pizza stone. I kinda felt like I was doing it wrong because it seemed too easy but it turned out great.

Homemade Pepperoni Pizza
Adapted from Fleischmann’s

For the dough:

  • 1 3/4 – 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 envelope Fleischmann’s Pizza Crust Yeast
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoons salt
  • 2/3 cup very warm tap water
  • 3 tablespoons oil
  • 3 cloves pressed garlic
  • 1 teaspoon chives
  • 1 teaspoon basil

For the toppings:

  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 15-20 slices of pepperoni
  • 1 cup tomato sauce (I used leftover Crock Pot Marinara)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. If using a pizza stone, make sure it is heating in the oven.

Add all dough ingredients into a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed for about 1 minute. Once a small dough ball forms and is no longer sticking to the bowl, move to a floured surface. I added a bit of corn meal too to keep it from sticking.

Knead for about 4 minutes until its smooth and elastic.

Roll dough out onto a greased pizza pan or pizza stone. Top with 1 cup of mozzarella, layer with pepperoni and top with additional 1 cup of cheese.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Well, now I’m off to watch the last episode of the Real Housewives of Atlanta Reunion. I’m oddly excited for Kim’s wedding series to start considering this is my least favorite season of all of the Real Housewives. However, I love RHNJ and I can’t wait to watch the drama unfold tonight.

Wow, I need a life.