It happened for a reason. I’m sure of it. I was browsing Facebook one day last month when I came across a status update from Nicole at Pinch My Salt. She said something to the effect of “I’m not going to eat out for one month.. think I can do it?”. I responded that I knew she could do it and in fact, I was going to join in and maybe we could motivate each other. Before I know it, I had committed to eating in from September 1st to my birthday on October 5th!

My family has been horrible about eating out lately. I remember how great I used to be at menu planning and how disciplined we once were about only eating out on rare occasions. I also remember that when I was growing up, eating out was a special thing… it rarely happened! With my kids, it seems like it was getting to the point where eating IN was more of a rare occasion. I want eating out to be special to them again.

We’ve also seen a huge hit in our bank account and our waistlines, which isn’t good. I needed an excuse to get things under control, and Nicole’s unintentional challenge sounded like just the thing.

One week down and we have done great, but I knew that was because we hadn’t had a Friday yet. For just about every Friday for the past year, we have gone with our neighbors to a local pizza place called D’Bronx. D’Bronx has the best NY Style pizza you can found around these parts. Huge, folded slices of pizza… mmmmm! Not only do we love the food when we go to D’Bronx, we also love the company. Friday nights are going to be tough habit to break, so I thought I would do my best tonight to try and ease us down slowly. I decided to try and make New York Style pizza at home.

I combined two different recipes and had our usual toppings of mozzarella and cheese. It wasn’t D’Bronx, but you know what? It wasn’t bad either! It was actually a great pizza and if I hadn’t had D’Bronx before, I probably would have had even higher acclaims for it!

If you are looking for a great pizza, but the pie or the slice, give these two recipes a try. With meals like this, eating in will no longer be considered a challenge!

New York Style Pizza Dough (from About.com)

Yields: 1 large or 2 small pizzas

• 2 1/4 teaspoon (1 package) instant dry active yeast
• 1 cup warm water (not hot!)
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 3 cups bread flour, or as needed
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Add the water, yeast, sugar, and a 1/2 cup of the flour into a mixing bowl. Stir well and let sit for 20 minutes. It will get bubbly.
2. Add olive oil, salt, and 2 cups of the flour, and mix with a wooden spoon until it’s together enough to turn out on to a lightly floured work surface to knead.
3. Knead for about 10 minutes, while adding more flour a little at a time, to produce a soft, elastic and slightly sticky dough. Do not add too much flour, just enough to keep it from sticking to the work surface as you knead.
4. Form the dough into a ball and place in a large oiled bowl. Drizzle a few drops of oil and coat the top of dough to prevent the surface from becoming dry.
5. Cover with a kitchen towel and place in a warm spot for 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.
6. Punch down the dough and divide into 2 balls and place in large zip lock plastic bags and refrigerate overnight.
7. When ready to use, remove from fridge, and let the dough come up to room temperature before using. (I precooked the crust on 425 for 8 minutes prior to adding the toppings)

New York Style Pizza Sauce (from MyRecipes.com)

7 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 (14.5-ounce) can petite-cut diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk.

Yield: 2 2/3 cups (serving size: about 1/4 cup)

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