Homemade pizza

 

Maybe it's the dreary winter, or the fact that we've spent almost every weekend at home since Christmas, but we sure have been gettin' back to our roots ya'll.  Like Laura Ingall's Wilder style.  Ok, maybe not quite that extreme -- I still do love my wi-fi, don't ya know!

I have been crocheting up a storm, board games are being played on Sunday afternoons and we're snuggled in our pajamas by 7:30 on any given week night.  I've even helped Pa (aka Jer) stack wood as he cut it, all while the boys played on a giant snow pile close by.

I long for a simpler life.  I loved having a garden and canning this past summer, and I'm dreaming of having an even bigger garden this year.  I love being a wife and mother and I love taking care of my family.

A couple weekends ago, I went on a freezer filling mission.  Sometimes life is hectic and a frozen pizza is about as good as supper is going to get.  I love making my own pizza and stock piling my freeezer.  Here's how it went down.

I made a double batch of this pizza dough recipe.  It was enough to make 8 generous size pizza's.  The cost per pizza dough was a $0.23.  Not too bad so far.  After letting the dough rise for a couple hours, split each batch into four pieces.  I only have one circle pan, so I alternated between a circle pan and a cookie sheet.  Bake each dough for about 3 minutes and let cool.  After all my dough was baked and cooled, it was time to assemble my pizzas. 

I just lined them up, put my sauce on, and then added the toppings and cheese.  I spent a total of $24.03 on toppings and cheese.  My boys do not like vegetables on their pizzas, so a couple of the pizzas were half and half.  Meat on one half and vegetables on the other.  A perfect compromise.

After the pizzas were completely assembled, I wrapped them several times with saran wrap and put them in the freezer.  I didn't have any cardboard circles or anything like that, so I just stacked the individually wrapped pizzas on top of each other, put them on the appropriate pan, and stuck them in the freezer.  This allowed them to freeze completely flat.  The next morning I pulled the pans back out of the freezer.  Also, don't forget to label your pizzas.  You will be glad you did weeks down the road, unless you like surprises.

 Regardless of the price, I will always prefer to make my own and skip all the extra additives, but that still doesn't mean I wasn't curious how I came out on price.  Although I did buy the cheese when it was on sale 2/$3, I did splurge on canadian bacon, pepperoni and sausage from the meat counter.  My total cost, not including sauce, (I used my own sauce I canned this fall) was $25.89.  Since I was able to make 8 pizzas, this was a total cost of $3.24 per pizza.  Also, because the pizzas were so big, it fed our family of four, plus we had leftovers for one person to take to work the next day.

I hope this inspires you, and don't be intimidated by the homemade pizza dough.  It was super easy.  If you have any questions, just shoot me an email, I'd be happy to help.