Pizza!!!

With a family of 4, with everyone wanting their own toppings, what better and more cost efficient way to eat pizza than to make your own!

Pizza Cornucopia

From cheese only, to no cheese - we covered it all tonight.

Father's Day Gift

My husband had been asking for a pizza oven for a few years, so when I was stuck on what to buy him for Father's Day I landed upon a site that had a pizza maker. I showed the kids the pizza maker and they immediately said it was the gift to give him. The three of us waited patiently for Father's Day to arrive so we could each make our own pizza.

Ordering pizza can be costly in my house because the kids refuse to experiment with their toppings.

We order from a local restaurant and there are always chuckles when we order the kids' pizzas because one half has cheese only and the other half has NO CHEESE with pepperoni. Mind you, the no cheese on the pie isn't due to a food allergy. My daughter hates - no LOATHES cheese. I question if she is truly mine because I love cheese. Can't eat enough of it. Can't say "no" to eating it.

Our Creations

Our pizza maker came with a pizza dough recipe that I made last night so it would have almost 24 hours for rising. I preheated the maker before my husband came home from work and cut the dough into four equal pieces. There was no way we were going to share these pies or make halves. We started off with my son who make his a cheese pizza, granted there were a few different cheese on there. He complained that the pepperoni was "too spicy" - again, who is his true mother?! Trying to transfer the pizza to the maker was quite the challenge since we don't have a pizza peeler - ordering one tonight! It cooked in less than 6 minutes and smelled like a pizzeria in New York City. He could barely wait to sink his teeth into it. Oh, and what better way to wait for your pizza to cook then have a rolling pin fight with your dad!

Of course, my girl made hers sans cheese but with salami and pepperoni. She doused it with sauce, pepperoni and salami. After a few minutes her pizza was done but sadly did not make it to the table. As she walked it to the table, her cheese-less creation flew off the plate and landed toppings down on the ground. You could see the disappointment immediately and her dad came to the rescue. He gave her the fourth and last dough so she could recreate her pizza. She was very happy and enjoyed eating her "flavored bread" as her dad calls it.

Since redoing our backyard, I have been enjoying our herb garden and using them any chance I can. After rolling the dough and adding sauce, I added sliced mozzarella, salami, thinly sliced red bell peppers, red onions, fresh basil and a drizzle of parmesan cheese. I had every intention of splitting it with my husband but I could barely manage to let him take a few bites.

My clever husband decided to use spinach-filled flatbread we bought at our local farmer's market to make his pizza and his was devoured before I could snap a photo!

Needless to say, the pizza maker is a huge hit in my house and I foresee many pizza nights in our future! We even plan to cook pitas and tortillas on the pizza stone. The kids even promised to be adventurous with their toppings.