How Tuesday:: Make Your Own Pizza Night.

A couple of times a month, usually Friday or Saturday night, we have make your own pizza night. Jayson makes the dough, prepares the toppings and helps everyone get those perfect pizza dough shapes. He also makes me my very own Foccaccia Bread {since pizza isn't really my thing}. Eben has a lot of fun spreading the pizza sauce and decorating his pizza with all of the different toppings. His favorite toppings are organic cheese, onions , green and black olives, and sometimes mild sweet Italian sausage or pepperonis. {He was vegetarian for a while but didn't really enjoy it.} Sometimes he likes to make his look like a face. It is a super fun tradition that we all look forward to and enjoy. It is so popular that whenever Eben has a friend spend the night, one of the first questions that they ask is, "Are we going to make our own pizzas tonight?" Shortly followed by, "Are we having Root Beer floats?" On family pizza night, we usually rent a family movie or watch a Nature program while enjoying our yummy homemade pizza.

Want to start your own Family Pizza Night?

Here is what you will need::

* A fabulous pizza dough recipe

* Organic spaghetti sauce

* Cheese of choice {optional}

* Pizza toppings

* Rolling pin

* Pizza stone and pizza wheel {If you don't have a pizza stone and wheel you can use a cookie sheet}

* Stand Mixer {not necessary, but highly recommended}

* 1 Tbsp Organic Cornmeal {to place on the pizza wheel or cookie sheet, before adding your dough}

* Cooling Rack

Jayson's fabulous pizza dough recipe {Makes 2 large pizzas}::

Ingredients::

* 1 Cup Warm Water

* 1 Pkg Organic Active Dry Yeast

* 1/2 Tsp. Sea Salt

* 2 Tsp. Organic Olive Oil

* 3 Cups Organic Whole Wheat Blend Flour

* Garlic salt, oregano and basil {If you are making Foccaccia Bread}

Preparation::

1. If you have a pizza stone, heat it on the bottom rack in the oven at 500 degrees for 1 hour. {If you don't have a pizza stone, preheat the oven to 500 degrees and cook your pizzas on a cookie sheet.}

2. To make the dough, dissolve yeast in warm water {105-115 degrees}, add salt and olive oil in a mixing bowl.

3. Let dough sit for 5 minutes then add the flour.

4. Mix the dough {we use a stand mixer, on low/medium speed with a dough hook} until it makes a firm but elastic ball. When you poke it with your finger, it should be pliable but not sticky. If too wet or too dry, add flour or water in 1 Tsp. increments until you reach correct consistency.

5. Put the dough in a lightly greased and covered bowl to rise until it doubles in size. {approximately 50 minutes}

6. Divide into 2 dough balls and roll flat with a rolling pin, then place on pizza wheel covered in cornmeal, add your sauce and all ingredients.

7. Bake the pizza at 500 degrees until hot and gooey {approximately 7-8 minutes)

8. Place the pizza on a cooling rack to cool.

Jayson's fabulous Foccaccia Bread

* Drizzle Organic Extra Virgin Oil Olive all over a pizza dough circle, sprinkle with garlic salt, dried Oregano and Basil. Bake the Foccaccia at 500 degrees for approximately 7-8 minutes and cool on a cooling rack.

What are your favorite pizza toppings?

What are your favorite family traditions?

Enjoy.

xo.