Easy Homemade Pizza

We’re going to a Halloween party tonight, which will be the first time I’ve dressed up for the holiday since 1997.  My husband thinks he dressed up as recently as 1999.  So we’re obviously not pros at this.  Our plan is to head over to our local thrift store this afternoon (which just happens to have everything half price on Saturdays) and see if inspiration strikes us.  We have a costume for our baby, thanks to my husband’s sister.  She sent us an adorable sheep costume that she made for her daughter several years ago.  So he will be a sheep.  What we will be is yet to be determined.  Maybe we could dress up like a mom and a dad?

On a completely different topic, I invented an easier way to make homemade pizza last night, and thought I’d share.  We love Friday night pizza around here.  Back in the day we used to buy premade crusts (or sometimes even premade pizzas), but these days I usually do the whole thing from scratch.  The last couple times I’ve made pizza, my dough hasn’t really risen, and the crust has been a bit dense.  I think our jar of yeast is a dud – my husband had trouble getting bread dough to rise too, so we’re pretty sure it’s the yeast.  Anyway, I had forgotten to buy new yeast, and remembered when I went to make pizza last night.  It was 7pm and I didn’t feel like going to the store, so I decided to improvise.

I got out my basic biscuit recipe (1 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup white flour, 1/2 cup oats chopped in the food processor, 1 Tbsp baking powder, 1/3 cup butter (we use Smart Balance), 3/4 cup rice milk, and a pinch of salt) and whipped up a batch of biscuit dough.  This takes far less time than making yeast pizza dough, so that was a bonus.  I floured a glass 9 x 13 baking dish, and squished the dough onto the bottom of the pan.  It was pretty thin, but that’s ok – it puffs up as it cooks.  I then baked it for 5 minutes at 425 degrees.  While that was baking, I assembled my toppings (a little spaghetti sauce, a bell pepper and some basil from our hydroponic garden, some red onion, a few tomatoes from our greenhouse, chopped garlic, and a little grated cheese).  After the crust had baked for five minutes, I added the toppings and put the pizza back in the oven for ten more minutes.  My husband and I both loved it.  The crust turned out great – I think I’ll do it that way from now on, even when we do have new yeast.  But last night I was just happy that I came up with a way of making pizza crust that didn’t require a trip to the store, and allowed me to go with the frugal and time-saving option of using ingredients I had on hand to make dinner.

Related posts:

1. More Frugal Homemade Baby Stuff