If you’ve adopted a healthy new lifestyle for you and your family, you might be starting to miss some of your favorite meals to sit down to. Meals like pizza, for instance.
Announcing that it’s Pizza Night is an easy way to get the family together around the table, but a lot of the chain pizza joints serve greasy, cheesy junk.
Luckily, homemade pizza is just as convenient as takeout (if you know how to do homemade pizza right) http://savingdinnershop.com/ebooks-2/pizza-ebook/ and there’s no contest that it’s healthier for you.
How can you make homemade pizza convenient?
There are several ways!
Prep ahead of time! If you’re planning on making Friday pizza night, keep that in mind through the week. When you’re chopping veggies for a stir-fry on Wednesday, set aside some extra for your pizzas. Same goes for meat. If you’re cooking ground beef and bacon for a separate dish, set some aside in a container for Friday’s pizza.
On Friday morning, before work, grate some cheese while you’re making breakfast, and set it aside in the fridge for later.
When you get home from work, make your favorite crust, get the sauce going and simply put your toppings on and bake! Or, involve the kids and let everyone make his or her own favorite pizza.
Freeze it, baby! Another thing you might want to consider, is making your own batch of frozen pizzas!
Make your favorite crust recipe and your favorite sauce. When the crust is ready for the pan, bake it for about 7 minutes. After the crust is out of the oven, allow it to cool and then top with sauce (the sauce MUST be completely cooled), cheese and meats/veggies of your choosing. Freeze for 3 to 5 hours. Then, wrap in plastic wrap, label and date. Voila! Next Friday, you can just take a pie out of the freezer, heat your oven to 375 and bake for 20 minutes or so, until the pizza is nice and golden and bubbly.
I would recommend making a few of these at a time while you’re going to the trouble, so you can have a stack in the freezer ready when you need them.
When you serve your pizza, whether it’s Paleo, gluten-free or a traditional variety, put as many veggies and lean, local meats on there as you can and go easy on the cheese. Always serve with a great big green salad.
Also try thinking outside the pizza box a bit with your combos. Top your pizza with fresh basil, figs and goat cheese. Or make it Thai and top with peanut sauce, chicken and bean sprouts! Why not?
Get inspired!
More from Dinner Diva Leanne Ely at www.SavingDinner.com.
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