This fall we started a new weekly tradition in our home – Friday Family Pizza and Movie Night. The kids absolutely love it! We put a tablecloth on our coffee table, turn off the lights and eat pizza while watching a movie. I was hesitant at first, wondering if we could really find a movie every week that was actually suitable for family viewing – we are SUPER SENSITIVE about what the kids watch – but so far we’ve been able to do it. Basically, if it was made after 1980 it’s questionable in my mind – aside from a few exceptions like the Narnia movies, the American Girl movies, and Nemo! I tend to come home with The Love Bug, The Absent-Minded Professor, or Yours, Mine, Ours starring Lucille Ball (1968) – actually this one has a few problems. 🙂 Lately, we’ve been watching the Planet Earth DVD’s that we borrowed from my friend Aimee. They are wonderful!
I’ve been using the Whole Foods 365 Pizza Crust Baking Mix – it makes 2 large crusts and only costs $3.99 – and we’ve gotten creative with the types of pizza we make. We started out with the basic cheese pizza or pepperoni pizza, but now the favorites are Chicken Pesto Pizza and Mexican Pizza, which are each pictured here. (Actually, the pesto one above if half pesto, half cheese.)
For Mexican Pizza:
top the crust with a bit of pizza sauce or tomato sauce
season browned ground beef with chili powder and cumin
add corn and beans to the meat, and continue cooking until all mixed and warmed through
top crust and sauce with meat/corn/bean mixture
top it off with cheese – bake @ 400* until cheese is melted and crust is done
(I pre-bake the crusts a bit before adding all the toppings)
For Pesto Pizza:
brush pizza crust lightly with olive oil
Make pesto or buy it jarred – mix pesto with cooked & chopped chicken breast spread pesto mixture over pizza – on top of olive oil
top with feta or goat cheese crumbles
bake @ 400* until crust is done
Your pizza looks delicious! As far as movies go, have you tried any of the other Pixar ones? “The Incredibles” has a great pro-family message and a subtle pro-homeschooling one, and it’s exciting without being too violent. “A Bug’s Life,” the “Toy Story”s…really, all of them are excellent. The nice thing about Pixar’s movies is that they don’t fall prey to the potty humor or snarky kids/idiot parents mold that so many kids’ movies do nowadays. Enjoy tonight!
I tried the 365 GF pizza crusts and thought they were awful, have you tried Bobs RM yet?
You are totally making me crave pizza!
Yum! That looks good! As a gluten-free chef ;)… I wanted to offer you recipes and ideas that I have posted. I work with Chavrie (the pyramid-shaped goat cheese) and we pride ourselves on being gluten-free and are always looking to share ideas and new ideas from chefs like yourself! Thanks for the posts!
Only $3.99 a mix?? That’s great! I’m checking that out on my next every other week Whole Foods run. I have been buying the already made ones in the bakery area that you just brush with olive oil and then add your toppings. They make great, quick lunches for us! I bet they’re not gluten-free. I’m looking forward to January 3…you are all coming, right??