Breakfast: Today, I had to take Conor to the doctor and Kristyn took the kids to work with her. I slept in and was a little lazier today since I didn't have to deal with all 3 of the little crazies. So when it came time to leave, I just needed to throw something together real quick. What did I go for? A simple peanut butter sandwich. This is the meal that never gets old, unless of course, the bread is moldy, in which case I do not make this meal.
Lunch: After the doctor visit was over, it was too late to bring the kids to swimming lessons, so we decided we would skip the pool altogether today. In my mind I was getting out of making lunches to bring with me and then I was getting out of paying for lunch and we'd just come home. Here's the thing: I had promised the kids that we would get some pizza in between swimming lessons and going back to the pool, and they held me to it. So we went to Mario's, which is Joey's favorite place to get pizza. We got this pizza shown below (Photographed AFTER I served Joey & G their first slices. I had 3 slices. Then we went next door to Donut King and while I tried to stall by sending them ahead of me and staying back to pay the bill at Marios, it didn't work. I got there and they had not paid yet, so I got an oreo donut.
Dinner: Since I was in Philly during Conor's 4 month birthday, we never did his 4 month photos. So inspite of already having eaten pizza for lunch, we had to make a pizza for dinner. Can you tell how sad I was about this?
That being said, this was a business transaction. I just wanted to make a really quick and cheap pie and throw it in the oven. So I grabbed a dough from Mario's, used 8oz of pre-shredded mozzarella and grabbed a jar of "pizza sauce" from Shoprite. It was the cheapest and laziest pizza I could make. Cost me $8. I could do it cheaper by the pie if I make a couple of pies, but usually, when I make my own sauce and use better cheese, I end up getting enough to make 4 pies, I make 2 and then have half the sauce and cheese leftover, which I never use. In the end, it ends up costing me $17 to make 2 pies. If I bought the 2 extra doughts, it would be $23, which is $5.75/pie, but I don't need 4 pies! So I end up spending $17, throwing away extra supplies because I have the intention of using it, and then not using it. AND of the 2 pies I did make, we only eat maybe 1 3/8 of it, and the leftovers also go to waste. So 1 pie, $8 = victory. Here' the uncooked pie.
And here it is after coming out of the oven. Looks good, huh?
Here's the thing - it was cooked very well. BUT since I cheaped out on the sauce and cheese, it was not really all that good! I was excited because it looked awesome, but it was bland and not nearly as good as my usual pizza. How do I usually make my pizza, you ask? Here's how.
0. Pre-heat oven to 500 with the pizza stone or pizza steel inside it. It's important to get the stone up to temperature so the crust is not soggy. Take the stone out, use a little olive oil on it and spread it thin and even so it has a little coating. You could sprinkle a little semolina on it too, if you want.
1. Stretch the pizzeria-bought dough out to about 15-16 inches and place right onto the heated pizza stone. At this point, try to move quickly so the stone doesn't get cold.
2. Get a 28 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes and put the in the Ninja on Puree along with 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oils, 3-4 garlic cloves cut up, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, some basil, black pepper and oregano. This is basically the Ooni Classic Sauce Recipe, with oregano added and pureed in the ninja. (Usually enough for 4 pies) BTW - I puree it because I take after my mother and do not want ANY chunks of tomato on my pizza. YUCK!
3. One pound block of Galbani Low Moisture Whole Milk mozzarella gets shredded up and mixed with a 6 ounce combination of Parmesan, Asiago and Romano which is pre-shredded and available at Shop-Rite by the cheese in the refrigerator section. The 22 ounces combined is good for about 4 pies.
4. If kids are not eating it, sprinkle oregano on top. (My kids don't like "the green stuff."
5. Sprinkle some grated cheese on top
6. Cook for 9-12 minutes, depending on how you want it cooked. If it's in the Ooni pizza oven, cook for 2 minutes, turning every 20-30 seconds as to not char the crust too much.
**PIZZA STONE: It's key that you get a pizza stone to cook on and get it up to temperature. Don't get lazy or impatient with this. Get that stone hot!
Anyway, here are the photos from Conor's 4 month birthday photo shoot.
Snack: Cheddar and Sour Cream chips and some ice cream (Low Carb). No story here. I think I gave you enough with the pizza recipe for this post! :-)
WEIGHT LOSS UPDATE: As of 9am on 8/2/23, I am down 0.7 from yesterday and a total of 11.8 pounds since July 2.
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