Pizza Night!

Way to Save Wednesday: Save the Day with Pizza!

One of the foods we were loath to give up when we started eating healthy was pizza. I think my family could eat pizza nearly every night and never get tired of it. Deep down, of course, we all know pizza isn't that great for us, but we pretend it's got nutritional value by pointing out that we're getting protein from the meat, dairy from the cheese, and vegetables from the sauce and vege toppings. What we try to ignore, however, is that the crust is full of refined flour, which turns to sugar almost before you put it in your mouth, the sauce is almost certainly loaded with refined sugar, and that pre-shredded cheese? Well, just check out the ingredients the next time you go to the store. Turns out there's a lot more than simply shredded cheese in that package. I didn't even mention all of the unsavory ingredients in most of our favorite meat toppings.

So, eager to keep pizza eating alive and well in our home, I dug up a recipe for a homemade pizza crust in one of our nutrition cookbooks, dutifully jotted down all of the unrecognizable ingredients, and headed out to Whole Foods, eager to save the day by making what promised to be a delicious and healthy crust. However, as I began putting package after package in my cart, adding up the prices in my head, I quickly realized this was going to turn out to be the world's most expensive pizza. I couldn't, in good conscience, spend that much of our grocery budget just to make that one item. I was about to give up when I happened to notice one of the best discoveries we've made since going healthy: Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust! Priced at $3.99 for enough mix to make 2 pizzas, I considered that a bargain and quickly snatched it up.

This pizza crust is so easy to make--no kneading, pulling, or trying to stretch out a rubbery crust. Once you've mixed the ingredients together, you let it set for 30 minutes, then scoop it into two pans and spread it out with wet hands. I do have to re-wet my hands a few times, but the dough never springs back, it smells fantastic while it's baking, and my whole family loves it. Pizza night is saved!

An Even Better Deal: After comparing prices at local grocery stores and finding $3.99 to be about the best price (Wal Mart is a little cheaper, but most of the time, they don't seem to have it in stock), I went to Amazon.com and discovered that if you agree to Subscribe & Save (a program where you agree to have the same item delivered at a regular interval, which you choose), you could buy a 4-pack of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza crust for $10.95, with free shipping. That boils down to $2.73 per package. Remember, each package makes 2 pizzas.

Add on a block of store-brand mozzarella cheese that you shred yourself, super easy pizza sauce and some homemade sausage, and you've got yourself a pizza night that no one needs to feel guilty about!