A week or so before the accident, Joe and I decided to make a major change in our finances. Our goals are to build up an emergency fund of at least three month’s salary (how apropos given that we’d need such a fund just a week later!), start putting more money into retirement savings, and spend less each month. Given these new financial priorities, we decided to cut out our restaurant habit. We have been known to go out or order in four times a week – or more – between lunches with friends, breakfasts with Grandma and Pappy, and assorted “hey! We’ve got nothing to eat!” outings. We always stick to kid-friendly places, and we don’t usually have an extravagent meal, but the bills were adding up to hundreds of dollars per month. We thought that the transition would be easier if we integrated inexpensive, fun food traditions instead of just saying, “We’re not going out to eat, period.” Thus, a new tradition was born – Friday night pizza. I have talked with Amy from Mom Advice about her family’s Friday night pizza a few times. Friday night pizza works for Amy because her whole family knows what to expect, and they experiment with all different kinds of crusts and toppings. It’s predictable, but it doesn’t become boring. Amy makes her pizza crust from scratch, mixes it in her bread machine, rolls it out, and bakes it.It’s a very inexpensive meal (especially if the pizza is meatless), and it’s a fun meal for the whole family. Last Friday, Joe used one of Amy’s recipes (cut in half) to make a BBQ pork pizza. Soon, we’re also going to try Amy’s Pizza Hut copycat recipe and her herbed pizza dough.
| Servings |
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- 1 pizza crust uncooked*
- Pulled pork left over from our Spicy Pulled Pork made the day before, coarsely chopped
- Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce
- 16 oz sliced mushrooms
- 1 medium onion coarsely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic pressed
- olive oil
- Cheddar cheese Shredded
Ingredients
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- Saute the mushrooms and onion for three to four minutes. Add garlic, and continue cooking until onions are translucent and mushrooms have softened slightly.
- Preheat the oven to 400. Roll the crust out onto a pizza stone.
- Spread BBQ sauce over the pizza crust, leaving a 1" ring at the edge without sauce. Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese over top. My family likes lots of cheese, so Joe made sure all of the BBQ sauce was covered. Next, sprinkle that mushrooms, onions, and garlic over top of the cheese, then the pork. Finish with another sprinkle of shredded cheddar.
- Bake the pizza at 400 for about twenty minutes, or until the edges are browned and the center is crispy.
- Cut and enjoy!
*One of my Twitter followers suggested prebaking the crust, just until it is golden and begins to crisp. I'm going to try that next time.
© 2009 – 2016, Tara Ziegmont. All rights reserved.
Robyns Online World says
We love homemade pizza and so do our friends and family. We have pizza night just for us, but sometimes we have pizza parties too. Regardless of who is here, everyone gets their own crust. I put out all sorts of toppings and everyone gets to custom make their own pizza. We have lots of pizza trays on hand and can do about 3 at a time in the oven. No one seems to mind waiting their turn either. Some share their creations, some do not, but it’s always enjoyed by all!
Robyns Online World’s last blog post..Comment & Win #7 – Win a $100 Target Gift Card
[email protected] says
Great new tradition. Frugal and a good memory for Grace to have. It sounds yummy!
[email protected]’s last blog post..Tempt My TummyTuesday…..
rachel - a southern fairytale says
YAY for y’all!
I grew up eating my Dad’s Homemade pizza and it is still to this day my favorite pizza in the world. It’s amazing and now is a great family tradition and will be an heirloom recipe.
rachel - a southern fairytale says
YAY for y’all!
I grew up eating my Dad’s Homemade pizza and it is still to this day my favorite pizza in the world. It’s amazing and now is a great family tradition and will be an heirloom recipe.
Stacy (the Random Cool Chick) says
Homemade pizza is the best! I love making BBQ Chicken pizza, never thought about BBQ Pork, so I’m definitely going to be giving this a try – it sounds YUMMY! 🙂
Stacy (the Random Cool Chick)’s last blog post..Recipe Swap – Week 6: Chicken Salad Wrap
Stacy (the Random Cool Chick) says
Homemade pizza is the best! I love making BBQ Chicken pizza, never thought about BBQ Pork, so I’m definitely going to be giving this a try – it sounds YUMMY! 🙂
Stacy (the Random Cool Chick)’s last blog post..Recipe Swap – Week 6: Chicken Salad Wrap
Robyn's Online World says
We love homemade pizza and so do our friends and family. We have pizza night just for us, but sometimes we have pizza parties too. Regardless of who is here, everyone gets their own crust. I put out all sorts of toppings and everyone gets to custom make their own pizza. We have lots of pizza trays on hand and can do about 3 at a time in the oven. No one seems to mind waiting their turn either. Some share their creations, some do not, but it’s always enjoyed by all!
Robyns Online World’s last blog post..Comment & Win #7 – Win a $100 Target Gift Card
[email protected] says
Great new tradition. Frugal and a good memory for Grace to have. It sounds yummy!
[email protected]’s last blog post..Tempt My TummyTuesday…..
Rob says
This is cool you are starting a Friday night tradition. We have been doing pizza night for about 2 yrs now. Only thing we do different is buy the pizza dough from our local pizza shop instead of making it.
Check out my post on it at:http://www.pbandsmellysdad.com/2009/02/friday-night-ritual.html
Rob’s last blog post..Summer Rading Programs for the Kids!
Rob says
This is cool you are starting a Friday night tradition. We have been doing pizza night for about 2 yrs now. Only thing we do different is buy the pizza dough from our local pizza shop instead of making it.
Check out my post on it at:http://www.pbandsmellysdad.com/2009/02/friday-night-ritual.html
Rob’s last blog post..Summer Rading Programs for the Kids!
Jenna @ Newlyweds says
What a great tradition to start, love homemade pizza.
Jenna @ Newlyweds’s last blog post..Zucchini Quesadillas
Lauralee Hensley says
Thanks for the link to the Pizza Hut dough recipe. Our family is going to try it. We talked about this a few days ago. We thought it would be nice to start making some of our own pizza’s too, not only as a way to save money, but to spend time doing it together and to be inventive. We are going to use some of the home grown veggies on our pizza’s since we are going to grow lots of them in the garden this year.
Lauralee Hensley says
Thanks for the link to the Pizza Hut dough recipe. Our family is going to try it. We talked about this a few days ago. We thought it would be nice to start making some of our own pizza’s too, not only as a way to save money, but to spend time doing it together and to be inventive. We are going to use some of the home grown veggies on our pizza’s since we are going to grow lots of them in the garden this year.
Jenna @ Newlyweds says
What a great tradition to start, love homemade pizza.
Jenna @ Newlyweds’s last blog post..Zucchini Quesadillas
Melissa says
I like the idea of finding fun inexpensive food traditions instead of simply giving up eating out. We first made BBQ chicken pizza on one of those “nothing to eat” days, and we really enjoy it, too.
Melissa’s last blog post..Eggplant Parm (Shortcut Method)
Tara says
Melissa – Yes! The other thing we’ve really liked is putting already BBQ’d chicken on top of a Ranch dressing base. It’s yummy! 🙂 I think I posted about it once because we were really impressed.
Melissa says
I like the idea of finding fun inexpensive food traditions instead of simply giving up eating out. We first made BBQ chicken pizza on one of those “nothing to eat” days, and we really enjoy it, too.
Melissa’s last blog post..Eggplant Parm (Shortcut Method)
Tara says
Melissa – Yes! The other thing we’ve really liked is putting already BBQ’d chicken on top of a Ranch dressing base. It’s yummy! 🙂 I think I posted about it once because we were really impressed.
Mariana says
Good for you for reassessing your financial priorities!
I love making pizza, but homemade pizza dough intimidates me a little bit. I usually wait until I can find a Pillsbury coupon and take advantage of my grocery stores doubling promotions.
Mariana says
Good for you for reassessing your financial priorities!
I love making pizza, but homemade pizza dough intimidates me a little bit. I usually wait until I can find a Pillsbury coupon and take advantage of my grocery stores doubling promotions.
maris says
I bet homemade pizza tastes even better than restaurant. Only a few places by me get it right – thin, crispy crust and plenty of fresh tomato sauce!
maris’s last blog post..Let Them Eat Cake: Sour Cream Coffee Cake
maris says
I bet homemade pizza tastes even better than restaurant. Only a few places by me get it right – thin, crispy crust and plenty of fresh tomato sauce!
maris’s last blog post..Let Them Eat Cake: Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Amy says
Oh, I am so honored that you are trying my recipes & that you are enjoying a new family night tradition.
This is definitely our favorite night of the week and, in my kid’s opinion, pizza just never gets old!
Thank you so much for linking to me- I really appreciate it!
Amy’s last blog post..Graduation Day
Amy says
Oh, I am so honored that you are trying my recipes & that you are enjoying a new family night tradition.
This is definitely our favorite night of the week and, in my kid’s opinion, pizza just never gets old!
Thank you so much for linking to me- I really appreciate it!
Amy’s last blog post..Graduation Day