Pizza Night

Something new was tried in our household. It was pizza night, but not just any old pizza night, it was homemade pizza night. It was something we've never tried before, and surprisingly, it's something we'll definitely try again.

I've started back on a health kick recently. I get up every morning and work out (more on that later), I drink smoothies with spinach and whey, I drink less coffee, eat less carbs and I'm slowly phasing out red meat and pork. I drink a ton of water, avoid the candy jar and treat tables at work, and try to eat more fruits and veggies. This lifestyle change is challenging, but I can definitely tell a difference in the way I feel.

What's more challenging is finding healthy meal ideas that even Derrick will eat. It's always a crap shoot when I go to the grocery store alone because he never knows what I'm going to bring home. But last night, I think he was pleasantly surprised. 

We (I) decided to do pizza night, but we weren't going to get take out. We were going to do it ourselves. I asked him what he wanted on his half then proceeded to go to Trader Joe's. Once my destination for inexpensive wine, it's become my go-to store for groceries. It's a good 15 minutes from my house, but it's definitely worth it. So here's what I bought:

  

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Fat Free Pizza Sauce

Roma Tomatoes

Canadian Bacon

Jalapenos

Onion

Balsamic Vinegar

Mozzarella

I managed to pick up a few other goodies while I was there. I couldn't help myself. 

I let the dough set out at room temperature for about 20 minutes and then I was ready to go to work. I liberally used some flour and started stretching out the dough. The idea of tossing pizza dough sounded fun to Derrick so he decided to take over. He worked in a bar in college so he said he knew what he was doing.

That didn't go over so well and he finally admitted he had no idea what he was doing. In the meantime, I put my pizza stone in the oven and waited for it heat up. Once we finally got the pizza stretched, it was time to add our ingredients.

On my side, I added leftover spinach I had in the fridge, tomatoes, mozzarella, onion and balsamic vinegar. Derrick's side consisted of Canadian bacon, jalapenos and mozzarella. The instructions said to bake for 10-12 minutes, but it was more like 20.

And voila!

Although, the dough was still a little chewy on the inside, the crust was crisp and the bottom was toasty, so I would say it was a success. My side was delicious. Derrick liked his side, but wasn't a fan of the whole wheat crust. He enjoyed the experience so much, he's ready to tackle homemade pizza crust. I think next time, I'll get the wheat dough for myself and he can have regular dough or make his own and we can do personalized pizzas with the leftover ingredients.

All in all, it was a great way to finish our Monday. We spent quality time together, had a few laughs and enjoyed a delicious and somewhat healthy meal.