Pizza, Pizza!!

My daughter came home from school yesterday and told me she had a craving for pizza. She requested that I make pizza for dinner. Since I only had a marginal plan for dinner, I thought this was a great idea. I quickly got out my Kitchen Aid and made a ball of pizza dough.

While that was rising, I made a quick tomato sauce.


1 can whole tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup wine
2 tsp Italian Seasoning
salt to taste
1 pinch of sugar

For a smooth sauce, put in a blender or food processor. If you like a chunky sauce, crush tomatoes with a spoon or fork. Simmer in a sauce pan.

I made two different pizzas. I have a daughter who does not like sauce. On her pizza, I drizzled olive oil, sprinkled Italian Seasoning, topped with Mozzarella cheese and a frozen broccoli and cauliflower mix. On the second pizza, I layered the sauce, mozzarella cheese and linguica (Portuguese sausage). Both were baked in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes.


This pizza only took me about 20 minutes of hands on time and only about 1 hour total. I am writing about this because it illustrates why I do not have a menu plan for the month or week. I certainly do not know what my family will want to eat for dinner on any given night and I sometimes have leftovers that I need to deal with on a daily or weekly basis. I decide what we will have for dinner, sometime in the morning or afternoon. By having staples and a full pantry on hand, I can adapt to what I have decided to make for dinner. I also only buy meat when it is on sale, then package and freeze. I change my meals depending upon what I need to use up and what was on sale at the store. My family has found that this flexibility works for us. By having a well stocked pantry I can make quick meals at a great price. This keeps us eating at home instead of the drive-thru and keeps my food bill at a thrifty rate.