Friday Foods: Pizza

You can think I’m crazy if you want to. I’m a busy lady and meal planning is one of those do-ahead kind of things that I like to check off my list and not worry about again. I will glance at it again to create my grocery list, but that is it! In light of that, I have actually chosen recipes for the entire year to fill my meal plan. Bear in mind I don’t cook every single night but still…
Friday night is pizza night. As a wedding gift, my husband and I received a pizza pan, a pizza cutting board, and a pizza cutter. It’s so cool because we get perfectly sliced pizzas every time I use them! (Thank you again, whoever you are!) I quickly found a pizza dough recipe we liked, and a few favorite pizza toppings, and the pizza night tradition was born! The great thing about making my own dough is that I’m able to substitute whole wheat flour to make it a little more healthy, and I can choose the nutritional content of my pizza. Of course I track all my recipes on Lose It and make sure I moderate my portions, but for the most part we have some pretty yummy pizzas that are fairly healthy!
So, here you go: a year’s supply of pizza recipes I have gathered from various sites!!
Plus! As a bonus – the dough recipe:

Pizza dough:
1 cup warm water
1 packet yeast (or just over 2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons olive oil (the pure kind works just as well as evoo)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 whole wheat flour (freshly ground is best – so yummy)

Dissolve yeast and sugar in the water. Once it becomes foamy, combine all ingredients and knead for about five minutes in stand mixer with the bread hook. Done. Sometimes I let it rise for a little bit, this is usually all I do.  I almost always use this dough, even if the recipe calls for other kinds of crust.

Spinach and Mushroom Pizza – my NEW favorite (Pictured above)

Herbed Cheese Pizza

3 Cheese Spinach Flat Bread

Tomato Basil Pizza

Butternut Squash Pizza

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Pesto Chicken Pizza

Easy Calzones

Garlic-Ranch Chicken Pizza

Spicy Chicken and Pepper Jack Pizza

Chicken Fajita Melts

Seeded Pizza with Mushrooms and Taleggio

Grilled Heirloom Tomato and Pesto Pizza

3 Cheese Pizza with Pine Nuts and Tomatoes

3 Cheese Pizza with Pancetta and Mushrooms

Pepperoni Rolls 1

Broccoli Rabe and Smoked Mozzarella Pizza

Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza

Southwestern Pizza

Broccoli, Artichoke and Mushroom

Pesto, Tomato, and Spinach

Portobella Mushroom Bruschetta

Italian Prosciutto and Gorgonzola Pizza

Rotisserie Chicken Pizza

Sicilian Style Pizza

Salami & Roasted Pepper Pizza

Chicken Taco Pizza

Sausage and Arugala Pizza

Easy Greek Lover’s Pizza

Sausage and Artichoke Pizza

Italian Sausage and Banana Peppers

Easy Pepperoni Rolls 2

Deep Dish Pizzas (2)

Thai Chicken Pizza

Martha Stewart 40+ Pizzas

Pizza Hut Original Pan Pizza

Grilled Tomato-Eggplant Pizza

Cajun Shrimp Pizza

Chili Bruschetta Pizza

Mexican Pizza

Margherita Pizza with Artichokes

More from Annie’s Eats

As time goes by, I will post my own reviews of these pizzas.  If you try some you like, feel free to post a comment about it! 🙂

Monday Motherhood: Order vs. Chaos

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I’m not totally convinced there is a wrong or right way to parent (with the exception of abusive or dangerous situations, of course). Our differences are what make us unique and beautiful. However, I wonder if there isn’t a way to make parenthood a little less chaotic. I say “less” because I’m pretty sure chaos is unavoidable. I recently read two (almost) conflicting articles about parenthood: order vs. chaos. Of course, I DO NOT claim to be a great parent, but I do try. I think there just has to be some kind of order and schedule that helps me keep my head on straight. Here are a few of my own methods/suggestions to help things run smoothly in my house:
1: Keep a schedule, even if it’s very broad. Schedules helps kids anticipate what is going to happen and they take comfort in knowing the plan. My schedule looks something like this (ideally):

6:30 – Time to get up and read my scriptures

7:00 – breakfast for my family, put away dishes, switch the laundry

7:30 – the kids can watch an hour of tv while I exercise and shower (I put gates up to keep them out of the kitchen, and my bedroom)

8:30 – my breakfast time

9:00 to 11:30 – my time with the kids to play, run errands, etc., etc.

11:30 – lunch, and clean up (dishes, toys, switch the laundry, whatever)

12:30 – nap/quiet time. This is when I study or catch up…or take a nap too 🙂

3:30/4:00 – cook dinner and clean up

5:00 – dinner time

6:30/7:00 – get kids ready for bed/bedtime routine

8:00 – my time (unless I’m in school, then that’s when I’m in class, sadly)

2: Plan – weekly and daily. My mission taught me that planning is crucial. Even if things don’t end up going as planned, it is good to at least HAVE one. Every night, sit down with your planner and map out how the day should go, then make preparations for the next day’s events. Every week, go over the general schedule and bear in mind your limits. If you can, sit down even each month and plan what that will look like.

3: Hold family council. You have maybe heard of Family Home Evening where you have a night each week that is JUST for your family to play games, have a spiritual lesson, sing songs, pray together, and have a yummy treat (it’s doesn’t even have to be that elaborate). Well, just tack family council on to your FHE plans, or pick another night where you can discuss important things with your family: scheduling, budgeting, family rules, etc., etc.

4: Have a meal plan. It is so frustrating to have to rush around at dinner time trying to figure out what to feed everyone, especially if you don’t have all the ingredients for what you think you will make. Have staples in the house for nights when you forgot something or need a quick fix. When you have a plan, you can pick up everything you need at the grocery store and you won’t have to make any “quick” runs to the store midweek (we all know there is no such thing as a quick run to the store with two toddlers in tow).

5: Make mealtimes more bearable. Read “Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family” by Ellyn Satter. The food relationship with kids goes something like this: parents decide WHAT and WHEN to eat, and kids decide IF and HOW MUCH. It makes mealtimes such a chore when it becomes a power struggle over whether or not your kids will eat. Serve them the food you prepared and hope they try it, but then always have two (healthy) things on your child’s plate you KNOW they will eat.

6: Make bedtimes more bearable: Read “The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems” by Tracy Hogg. The pattern to start out with is SLEEP, EAT, PLAY, SLEEP. This has been a miracle for me. I followed this pattern with #2, and now he sleeps almost on command. Of course, #1 still fights me, but I used a method in this book that prevented things from being A LOT worse.

7: Don’t overextend your poor tired/hungry children. I avoid going out when it overlaps nap time or bed time. It just makes life easier for everyone. Then when we do go out, I always have some snack or drink for my kids because when they’re crabby, it’s either fatigue, hunger or thirst. Life is much less chaotic when my kids are not screaming at me!

In my opinion, parenthood takes a fair amount of SELFLESSNESS. That’s just how it is. There are lots of things I would rather do than plan out every minute of my life, but I have to give up things I want, especially my time and energy to help things run more smoothly. That’s just how it is.

I hope this helps someone. What do you do to make your day run more smoothly?

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