French Bread or Chewy Pizza Crust

(From a friend of Marci...slightly tweaked to work for me)

2 cups water
2 cups flour
2 T. instant yeast
2 T. sugar
2 T. oil
1 T. salt
6 cups flour
1 1/2 cup warm water

Sponge: Mix 2 cups flour and 2 cups water together in your mixer , to make a sponge in the evening. Cover and let sit covered at room temperature over night. (or make the sponge in the morning for dinner bread. You can let the sponge sit out for up to a day and a half. 6 Hour minimum is best.) If I set out the sponge and then find I don't use it the next day I just put it in the fridge until I want to use it.

French Bread: In the morning add yeast, sugar, 3 cups flour, salt, oil and 1 1/2 cup warm water. Mix together (don't knead yet) and let rise until double in size. Add remaining 3 c. flour, and knead in your mixer for 10 minutes until dough is very soft and elastic. Shape into two large loaves or four smaller loaves. Spray with water and cut a slit down the dough lengthwise. Let all the loaves rise until double on a single jelly roll pan (cookie sheet) lightly coated with shortening and then corn meal. Bake in oven on the lowest rack at 400 degrees until brown and hard when tapped. About 20 minutes. Spray bread and oven with water several time throughout baking (about every five minutes) to get a hard crust.

Pizza Crust: Follow directions above, letting the dough rise once. (If you don’t have time to let it rise at all just roll it out “as is” and it will still make a good crust.) Roll a portion of it into a pizza crust and top with your favorite toppings. Bake on a pizza stone dusted with corn meal (or a greased and dusted cookie sheet) at 425 on the bottom rack of your oven. Makes about 2-3 Large crusts.

*If you don't use all the dough you can leave it covered in the fridge and roll it out for pizza again the next night. You can also store it in the freezer in a bag sprayed with cooking spray.

*This recipe makes great dinner rolls, hamburger buns, bread sticks or anything else you can think of.

Ready Spaghetti Marinara Sauce

1 T. olive oil
2 cans (15 oz.) tomato sauce
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. chopped onion
3 T. brown sugar

Combine and simmer in crockpot or sauce pan. The longer the better...but 10 minutes in a saucepan will do if you're rushed.

I like to simmer meatballs in this and serve hot meatball subs with mozzarella!
(and I just make some spaghetti noodles for the kids so everybody's happy!)

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup golden raisins

Directions:
In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the oats, flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in walnuts and raisins. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: 5 dozen.

Pizza Casserole

3 cups uncooked spiral pasta
2 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cans (8 ounces each) mushroom stems and pieces, drained
1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
1 jar (14 ounces) pizza sauce
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4 cups (16 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1 package (3-1/2 ounces) sliced pepperoni
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the mushrooms, tomato sauce, pizza sauce, tomato paste, sugar and seasonings. Drain pasta; stir into meat sauce. Divide half of the mixture between two greased 11-in. x 7-in. baking dishes; sprinkle each with 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Top each with pepperoni and Parmesan cheese. Cover and bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until heated through. Yield: 2 casseroles (8 servings each).