Friday, October 10, 2008

Cheating at Dinner

Sometimes I have to cheat at dinner and make something extra fabulous, yet super quick because, instead of using my time wisely when the girls are happily playing on our back patio (aka happily eating dry dog food on the back patio - what is it with kids and dog food? Or is it just my kids? I don't know) I wander into the Etsy forums, and needless to say, glance at the clock 45 minutes later only to realize the Will is going to be coming home from work in only 15 minutes and I haven't even started dinner. Nothing quite like the Etsy forums to make an at-home-mom forget to cook and clean.

So, I have to get crafty and cover my tracks. My cheat dinner of all times is pizza. A garlicy gourmet-tasting pizza that makes my husband drool and spend no less than 35 minutes praising my culinary genius.

Ladies, here's what I do:

Grab a frozen, ready-to-bake pizza and preheat the oven. I use Tony's pizza because it is only $2.00 a pizza and I'm cheap like that. It actually tastes really good, but feel free to eat whatever fancy frozen pizza you like. If you are of the pizza crust-making variety, props to ya. I'm not, unless it is the just-add-water kind of crust. Yeast frightens me. But like I said, this is a quick pizza, and frozen is just the ticket.

Prep time is only about 5 minutes. Slice some tomato, chop some fresh basil leaves, and mince a clove of garlic.

Grate some mozzarella cheese because, of course, cheese is the best part of a pizza and the more the better. This pizza is not diet in any way, shape, or form, in case you were wondering.

Spread the minced garlic all over the pizza. Then spread out the tomatoes, basil, a layer of cheese and sprinkle with dried basil leaves before popping it into the oven for about 7-8 minutes.

The end result... the most delicious gourmet pizza on the planet, fresh from the oven just as hubby's key is turning in the door.

I'm telling ya, this pizza is fantastic. Will always assumes that I've been slaving over a hot stove for ages (this guy knows nothing about cooking anything other than beans on toast, and I'm more than happy to keep him in the dark, especially since he thinks I'm the most wonderful cook in the world).
And if you really feel like getting worshipful praises, pass him an ice cold beer along with his pizza. He'll love you forever.

If you have pizza sharing issues like I do, you'll want to make a couple of these.

Enjoy!

xoxo,

13 comments:

sweetpicklespottery said...

Yummy! What a great cheat idea.. We love "amrgarita pizza" but I always do it all from scratch.. I will do this next time..

sweetpicklespottery said...

oops I cant seem to spell today!
i meant margarita pizza

Karen Erickson said...

What a great idea! And so easy, I like easy. LOL

Anonymous said...

YUM! I can totally relate! I remember when my spaghetti dinner from scratch took 2 hours to make (b4 kids of course) - Now I can do it in 1/2 hour flat!!!
My DH would totally love this (because of the beer) He won't step foot in a restaurant that doesn't serve it.

Carry Grace said...

Great Cheat! I'm with you on the yeast thing.

New England Quilter said...

I love pizza - I buy the Boboli shells at the bakery outlet and use those - it is ready in 15 minutes :)
Amy

Melanie @ Whimsical Creations said...

What a fabulous idea!

=) melanie

Rosebud Collection said...

I am so hungry seeing that pizza..It looks wonderful and can't be any easier than that..Smart girl and very clever..

Cathy said...

I'm a huge fan of quick dinners! I love my food and am happy to slave away in the kitchen when I have time...but most of the time, I'd just love a personal chef!!

Karen Faulkner said...

Great idea!! I'm definitely trying it.

Karen Faulkner said...

I thought this idea was pure genious, so I tried my own version using what I had on hand, which was a California Pizza kitchen white pizza with spinach, some tomatoes, fresh basil, and a ball of buffalo mozzarella that I sliced up. Perfect!

Anne said...

OMG that pizza looks so yummy! I would never have known it was a frozen pizza base. Thanks for sharing your "secret recipe"!

SillyLittleLady said...

What a wonderful easy, inexpensive, delicious recipe! And of course, can't forget the beer.

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