Pizza!!

I remember when I was a kid, every friday night my dad would come home, get the checkbook, go to the bank, and then go pick up the pizza that mom had ordered. We have the BEST pizza place in town so what a great friday night dinner that always was. It became a great birthday tradition in our house as well.

Unfortunately, pizza every friday night doesn't fit in our budget these days. But several months ago, I told my husband that there was no reason why we shouldn't still have pizza every friday night even if we couldn't afford to get take-out. So began my experimenting with different doughs, toppings, etc.

The pizza above was made with Pizza Hut Style Pizza Dough (without the msg). I made this same recipe last week, and it was like thick crust, so I divided it in half this time and made 2 pizzas. The first time I made it I pre-baked the crust for a few minutes. But this time, I opted not to pre-bake since it was much thinner. I did have to bake the pizzas longer however. The pepperoni I bought at Winco, $2 worth that was enough for 2 pizzas. Cheese was also purchased at Winco for $3.98 for 2 lbs. I only used half of the brick for these 2 pizzas shown here. So including the 1/2 can of pineapple pieces I used on the pepporoni (liquidator store for .69 i think), the ingredients I had on hand (homemade pizza sauce, flour, yeast, etc), cheese, and pep, the total for this weeks 2 pizzas was roughly $4!!

The 2nd pizza is just plain cheese, a favorite of mine when I was a little girl. But I think I should have baked it longer so it might have had that crisper crust and browned cheese on top. Mmmm... nothing better than bubbly golden cheese! I thought my 16 month old would enjoy the plain vs the spicy pepperoni.

My husband and I went to Italy for our honeymoon and enjoyed real Italian pizza several times. I've been searching for a recipe that would mimic that. I might try Pizza Marinara this week. We'll see if I have time to do the dough by hand. :) (I usually use the bread machine.)

I found this recipe for All Purpose Pizza Sauce at The Grocery Cart Challenge recipe swap a while back:

All Purpose Pizza Sauce

1 can (28oz) tomato puree
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cup water
1 T dried parsley
2 t basil
1 t oregano
1/2 t thyme
1/4 t pepper
1/4 c olive oil
2 T garlic powder
1/4 c red wine vinegar
1 to 1 1/2 t salt

Just wisk it all together! I put mine in ice cube trays and when solid, transfered them to freezer bags and just take out a few each time I make pizza. So convienient and yummy!!

Its been fun to try different recipes, add different spices to the doughs, try different flours, think of different toppings, etc. Most every pizza you've ever seen or tasted, you can make at home! You can go as cheap or expensive as your budget allows.

Home made baby wipes

So since I've been trying to cut down on our grocery budget, I've been trying my hand at making different things. Today I made another batch of baby wipes. This is only the 2nd time I've done this, and might still try a different recipe or paper towel (I've read that the blue shop towels work great). But for now, this is how I did it.

A while ago, I bought a roll of Viva paper towels for 1.98 at Winco. You cut it in half so you have a roll more like the size of toilet paper and take the cardboard tube out. Put paper towels inside airtight container. (I used a square 2.6 liter Tupperware because that's the only airtight container about the right size that I have right now. Others recommend a round container where you can keep roll upright.) Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, and add to that 1 tsp each of baby oil, baby lotion, and baby wash. I used ABC Arbonne Baby Care because I know its pure, safe and beneficial! :) Stir everything in the hot water, but don't shake, it will suds up. Pour mixture over towels, turning, soaking the whole roll. I had to squeeze the roll to distribute the liquid a bit, and then there was some in the bottom of the container that I poured on some dry spots.

It works better for me to just take off a "wipe" from the outside of the roll, although I've seen it recommended that you take from the inside. Maybe that method would work better with a different brand of paper towel. I also have to turn the roll on its side and flatten it a bit in order for it to fit in the container.

Some people have had problems with wipes starting to mildew or go bad and have had to add some sort of natural (after all, that is one of the reasons to make your own baby wipes, so we KNOW what is in them!) antiseptic, but I didn't have any problems with that. I'm sure I used a batch of wipes like this for at least 2 weeks.

So I'm impressed with how long a roll lasted (even with my husband using half a roll for one poopy diaper!). Right now, my 15 month old only has 1-2 icky diapers a day, so I would imagine when the new baby arrives, we'll be going through them much faster! But for the price and especially for me knowing exactly what's in them, I think its worth it!