Pizza makes it into our meal rotation at least once a week. We love it. But Frozen pizzas are highly processed and not only contain unhealthy fats, added sugar, salt, and preservatives, but you’re also looking at heavier hitter neurotoxins, carcinogens and preservatives that can damage DNA. I mean, why do they need to preserve our food with sunscreen? Yeah. Titanium dioxide is used in sunscreen and is a common ingredient in frozen pizzas, coffee creamers, and other things we can easily make at home. It is even banned in Europe, but not the Standard American Diet (SAD). So what’s a mom to do? Yes, make it at home instead. Here's how:
The Dough:
If you’re short on time and heavy on unfed sourdough starter/discard, you can simply pour discard into a preheated well-oiled cast iron skillet, bake it at 425⁰F for 12 minutes. Add your sauce and toppings, and bake for another 12-15 minutes until your toppings are cooked to your liking. Pizza is Done. Check out more of my easy sourdough tips HERE:
If you’re not a sourdough-er then this yeast crust is our favorite. It’s quick and easy. Here’s how:
- To your KitchenAid mixer bowl add 1 packet active dry yeast (or 2.25 tsp), 1 cup warm water, ½ tsp salt, 2 tsp olive oil. Attach the dough hook and mix it up a bit. Then start adding 2.5 cups flour a little at time until the dough clings to the hook and cleans the sides of the bowl. This will take 2-5 minutes.
- Cover the dough and set it in a warm place to rise for about an hour. You can bake with it at any time once you mix it, but you’ll get a fluffier breadier crust if you let it rise until it has doubled in size, which is about an hour.
- Press and stretch the dough out onto a well-greased baking sheet. I usually cook bacon on a baking sheet in the oven ahead of time and put it on my pizza, so I just scrape the extra grease off (put it in a jar to be used for other things) and use that pan. Less mess right?
- Once your dough is spread on your pan to the thickness you like, it’s time for toppings.
- Sauce: add ½ tsp garlic powder to 15oz tomato sauce. Spread it evenly across the dough.
- Other toppings: We like ground beef, bacon, ham, onions, olives, peppers, pepperoni, and lots of cheese.
- Make it a breakfast pizza by simply making a country gravy for sauce and topping it with scrambled eggs, ground sausage, bacon, ham, and anything else you like. Don’t forget the cheese.
One of the perks to using the baking sheet is quick and easy clean up. If you happen to have any leftovers, simply put the cover on the pan and stick it in the fridge. You can also make pizzas and freeze them for your own convenient stash of frozen pizzas without the dirty ingredients list. That's called organized.
There are so many variations of pizza you can make, which is why pizza shows up frequently in my weekly meal plans. Get creative and share your delicious creations with us in the Home Instead group. We're always sharing practical homesteading tips for busy families in there, and we'd love to have you join us too.
Be well.
Jackie
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