Pizza Night!

It is usual to make this nearly same exact pizza once a week. We enjoy using store made Shaw's or Stop & Shop pizza dough. At one point in time I was obsessed with making my own dough, but that was definitely before Andrew existed. Now it's a faint memory.

First: oven on 500 degrees, pizza stone in to preheat. Then the ingredients are prepped: Sliced and chopped onion, 1/4 of a sliced green pepper, sliced mushrooms (better to be lazy and buy them this way), grated low fat (green package) Dragone mozzarella (the best to be found at the supermarket, others are too salty) and sliced prepackaged pepperonis, arranged on 1 side of tripled up paper towels (then fold the other half over), microwaved for nearly a minute (our microwave is a dinosaur so surely yours will take probably more like 20 seconds). This removes excess fat and grease while concentrating their flavor. You don't want them totally crispy though (sometimes an accident).
Prep your pizza peel with a coating of corn meal (do not buy coarse).
Hopefully your dough is nearly room temp but not really cold. I put my dough package on the preheating oven while veggies and sauce are prepped. Put flour in the sticky dough bag and gently pull the dough off the plastic. Try to handle minimally, get get the flour down the sides of the bag to "release" the dough. At first make a disk then begin to let gravity do its work, all the while rotating and working on the thick parts to "gravity flop" them out.
Working with pizza dough is like any skill: at first you are intimidated but with practice you become comfortable enough to do it regularly.
I can handle distractions stretching it now but in my novice days it required so much concentration, I would make people leave the room!
I don't know if the day will ever come when I am spinning pizza dough over my head so don't let the pros intimidate you!
I do advocate hand stretching rather than using a rolling pin.
Dough gets tough if worked too much.
First spread sauce (duh) then top with cheese! If you don't allow sampling, you can get 3 pizzas from one $6 (better if you buy it on sale) Dragone block! Typically it's 2 pizzas from one block. I will sometimes supplement (lazily) with store bought shredded mozz. Explore the brands. Long ago I swore off some (Sargento, Shaw's...) Stop & Shop store brand is ok (by the way, they don't sell Dragone).

Andrew sampling the next topping: green peppers!
Feeling soooo bad since momma allowed a sample of *only* one olive! Andrew and myself love olives, the fave being unpitted Kalamatas. I only put them on 1/2 the pizza since Daddy is not an olive eater. (Hmmm, next will be 1/2 a pizza of anchovies! Don't tell Daddy!)
After slipping the pizza off the peel and into the oven onto the preheated stone (again, slightly a skill that at first requires focus) and baking for 8 minutes, use heavy duty pot holders to pull the stone out of the oven and place on the stove top. Allow to sit a minute (or longer for crispier crust) then slip onto a big cutting board (I like the wooden as opposed to plastic one which steams it). Let sit for a total of 8 minutes (same as cooking time so just reset the timer). Once cooled the proper time, you won't burn your mouth when you ravenously eat it!
Here, I placed the super hot stone in the sink and dusted the corn meal off with a pot holder then put the hot stone back in the oven and rinsed the sink out.
While the pizza cooled I dispensed the leftover sauce into freezer containers. Oh yeah, the sauce! Sometimes it's premade in the freezer (less time, just microwave 3 min to thaw), sometimes (every 3 pizzas) we need to make it from scratch.
Everyone (even Alex and I) have our unique seasoning techniques.
I like to use Penzey's Italian herb mix with a dash of garlic powder.
Our sauce base has been varying. We are suckers for a bargain and frequent (what Alex coined) the "dent bin" at Shaw's. Sure enough, many still useful but otherwise unsightly products (damaged in unboxing/sliced or dented cans/discountined merchandise) end up here.
Yesterday I scored! Funfetti mix and frosting for $1, a box of Swiffers for $1.50, you get the picture. Anyhow, we have 1 more dented Hunt's tomato sauce left. I won't buy it again. Too salty. (And I am a salt freak.) ..... I do enjoy Muir Glen (organic) products.
I have always loved our Kitchenaid pizza cutter. Nice and heavy and no damage (after years) of being dishwashed.
Of 8 slices, we (adults) eat 3 slices each. Andrew strips the toppings off his with maybe some crust. Sometimes it's 2 pieces. We were fortunate to have 1 slice leftover! Perfect reheated in the toaster oven :D.....

Toddler lunch!

Glad 1/2 cup semi-disposable plastic containers are the perfect size! Packed with tabbouleh, Sabra garlic hummus and blanched carrot sticks. Hummus is always a hit! Tabbouleh can be hit-or-miss. It was served with a spoon. The carrots were great for the hummus then the spoon came in handy once the carrots were gone (yes- all eaten up!).

Blanching carrots makes them far more toddler-friendly. Boil a pot of water and plop your carrots in for 3 minutes. Drain in the same pot, wit running cold water for nearly the same amount of time. Use a paper towel to dry a bit. I prefer using carrots with the greens on as opposed to baby carrots or others in a bag. Though more effort peeling and cutting, fresh is tastier and more vitamin packed. Most of the time I can't stand processed baby carrots since the flavor is "off". This is not to say that I don't occasionally buy them for convenience.

Joseph's flax, oat bran and whole wheat flour (boy, do I feel good saying that!) pita... Cut a round in half, stuff with shredded cheddar, toast, sliced in easy to handle wedges then packed in a paper towel lined container. The paper towel helps prevent excess moisture (without it they can get chewy). Also handy if you can reheat in toaster oven.