I arrived home from Indiana safe and sound Saturday night around 11:30.  Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.  As you can imagine, there was no cooking in my kitchen yesterday afternoon.  My sweet husband insisted we go out.  I didn’t argue! 

However, I have a great recipe that I made last week to share with you today.  It would be a great recipe to serve on Sunday night after church while having friends over!  The key to having guests over is doing prep work ahead of time.  That’s what I love about this recipe for Easy Pizza Dough.  You can make up these individual pizza crusts, par bake them, then pop them in the freezer.   I found this in Southern Living years ago, and it’s been one of two recipes I always use for homemade pizza.  These make a yummy thin crusted pizza. 

The dough mixes up super fast in a food processor.  However, if you don’t own one, you could do it in a mixer or stir it up by hand.

Easy Pizza Dough – Makes 6 (8″) pizzas

1 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 (1/4-oz.) envelope active dry yeast
2 teaspoons honey
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Vegetable cooking spray

Preparation

1. Process first 4 ingredients in a food processor 20 seconds or until yeast is dissolved and mixture is bubbly. Add flour and salt; pulse 6 to 8 times or until dough forms a ball and leaves sides of bowl, adding more water if necessary.
2. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray; lightly coat dough with cooking spray. Cover and chill at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.

Dough after being in the fridge 2 hours.

3. Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 6 equal portions; roll each portion into an 8-inch round. Use dough immediately, or follow instructions below to make ahead.
Note: Place Easy Pizza Dough rounds on 2 lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 400° for 7 minutes. Let cool 20 minutes. Place in zip-top plastic freezer bags; freeze up to 3 months. Let pizza crusts stand at room temperature 20 minutes before adding toppings.

Getting ready to pre-bake

Pre-baked crust

Crusts pre-baked and ready for the freezer

To bake:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Spread about 1/3 cup basic pizza sauce over each pizza crust; top each pizza with 1/2 cup cheese, 1/3 cup cooked sausage, pepperoni, and/or other desired toppings.
Bake 8-10 minutes or until crust is golden and cheese is melted.

Now, if you need a little individual serving of a yummy dessert for a Monday, here you go:
Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Cup from Number 2 Pencil.  I made this recently.  First I made a trial cup.  I let my resident taste tester sample it (my husband!).  He gave it a double thumbs up!  It only needs a little scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.  Beware!  Once you read this recipe, you will know that you can have a chocolate chip dessert in literally less than 5 minutes!  You have been warned!

1 Tablespoon Butter
1 Tablespoon Granulated White Sugar
1 Tablespoon of firmly packed Dark Brown Sugar
3 Drops of Vanilla Extract
Small Pinch of Kosher Salt
1 Egg Yolk (discard the egg white or save for different recipe)
Scant ¼ of All Purpose Flour (slightly less than ¼ of a cup)
2 heaping tablespoons of Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Instructions
Start by melting your butter in the microwave. Butter should just be melted, not boiling.
Add sugars, vanilla and salt. Stir to combine.
Separate your egg and add the yolk only to your cup. Stir to combine.
Add flour, then stir again. Measure a scant, slightly less than full, ¼ cup of all-purpose flour.
Add the chocolate chips, and give a final stir. Now your mixture will look like cookie dough.
Cook in microwave 40-60 seconds, start checking for doneness at 40 seconds. Mine takes 50 seconds. Do not cook past one minute, just like a regular cookie, this will continue cooking as it cools. If the cookie is dry or cake like, try less time.
Serve warm.

Do these recipes look like something you’ll try?  I hope so!  They’re both easy, delicious, and fast!  What’s been cooking in your kitchen?

With love from my parsonage kitchen,

One great way to freshen your spirit, your attitude and your heart is to attend a Ladies’ Retreat!  That’s where I’m headed today!  I have the blessing of speaking in Shipshewana, IN for Community Baptist’s (of South Bend) first ladies’ retreat.  I’m looking forward to meeting with these ladies and sharing what the Lord has laid on my heart.  Along with the blessing of sharing God’s Word, it’s bound to be tons of fun!

These kind of events are usually annual for most church groups.  Boones Creek Bible Church held our own retreat this past fall, and it was wonderful!  A month from now, (April 19, 20), we will go to The Wilds to be a part of the retreat they are holding for ladies.  The weekend is always such a blessing!  I hope you’ve made plans to attend with us, if you’re in the area.  Don’t wait for someone to beg you to go, just sign up and pray that the Lord will use it to refresh your walk with Him.  I promise you, you won’t go home disappointed!

Are you going with us?  

I fly home Saturday night, so I’ll see you in church Sunday!

Be refreshed,

The death of a loved one will surely cause a person to have a heavy heart.  There’s a sense of deep sorrow.  There’s the feeling of loss and the realization of all the changes that will come to your life.  Imagine that a dear friend of yours has an aching heart like I just described – how would you try to cheer them up?  Words often fail at a time when you want so badly to lift a drooping heart.

In Luke 24 we find that Christ has been crucified and it’s now three days later. A group of women made their way to the tomb. They were sad at the loss of their Savior.  Their hearts were trying to grapple with the great sorrow they had experienced.  When they arrived, they found that the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty!  Then, to add to stress in their fearful hearts, they are greeted by two angels!  The angels had seen their grief and their sorrow.  What did they angels say to them?

Remember how he (Jesus) spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

They reminded the women what Jesus had told them was going to happen; they reminded them of His Words!  Then Luke goes on to say, “And they remembered his words.”  I can just see the women’s faces lighting up at the remembrance of what Jesus had told them before He died.  They may have nodded with an understanding of the scene before them.  Then they left rejoicing and went to tell the disciples the good news!

All it took to encourage those sorrowful women was to remind them of Jesus’ words.  What a good example for us to follow!  If we want to encourage someone who is disheartened, for whatever reason – whether it’s sorrow in death,  poor health, a financial setback, or the ruin of their plans, let’s follow the example of the angels and encourage their grieving hearts by reminding them of Jesus’ words!  We need to share a promise that Jesus made; His Word is full of them!

What is one promise of Jesus’ that you’re thankful for today?  Pray for an opportunity to encourage someone with that truth on this Thursday!

With love,

Parsley

Thyme

Handy to use, but also beautiful as a centerpiece!

I hope I can keep them thriving in their new surroundings.  Maybe when it warms up, I’ll put them outdoors, but for now I can enjoy having them right at my fingertips.

If you’re thinking of growing herbs this spring/summer, now is the thyme =) to purchase them.  They can get really scarce when May or June rolls around.  Some of my favorites are Rosemary, Thyme, Parsley, and Sage.  Keep them near a sunny window in your kitchen and snip off what you need while you’re cooking.  You’ll be amazed at how it freshens the flavor of your food.

From my parsonage windows,