Pizza
Some nights are fancy…
Some nights aren’t.
There comes a time in every wife and mother’s life, when frozen pizza is worth it’s $4.99 in gold.
There are nights when the family doesn’t know the difference between fancy fresh fish and frozen tomato sauce and dough from a box.
Or doesn’t seem to care. And that’s okay.
I didn’t feel like picking around the pepperoni or tasting any of those sodium-laden pepperoni oil-infused bites so I let the family make quick work of this.
Along with a random smorgasbord from my crisper drawer, including that asparagus that I bought a week ago needed attention and a sweet potato in the back of the cupboard, I had tempeh and cucumber sticks.
I could take a bath in balsamic reduction.
I had extra bananas to use and a spare orange and so we had Baked Orange Banana Coconut Donuts with Orange Coconut Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze for dessert.
As long as I was running the oven for the pizza, may as well pop in a tray of donuts was my logic.
What’s your favorite kind of pizza crust and toppings?
Thin crust is a must for me and it must be super crispy. I hate crispy and crunchy in desserts and cookies, but for pizza crust, it’s the only way to go.
Deep dish is like eating a loaf of dough to me and I’d rather save my carbs for this kind of dough.
My favorite toppings are cheese, pineapple, and a sprinkling of hot pepper flakes. Basically a Hawaiian pizza without the bacon. Pineapple and peppers give me the sweet ‘n spicy that I love, without the sodium bomb.
The winner of the Enjoy Life Plentils Chips Giveaway is Lindsay
i totally do the same! frozen pizza and then add more fixins. Hawaiian is my favorite. And YEA!!!! I AM SO SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOOOOOO excited.
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 28th, 2012 at 12:58 pm
yay and I know you’re GF so enjoy them! keep me posted!
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Mmmm looks delicious. I usually like to make homemade pizza with dough from Bronx, but I do have a frozen pizza or two stashed in my freezer for emergencies ;)
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admittedly I’m a pizza lover!
but I don’t care for thick dough-y crusts…oye.
I love fresh ingredients like tomatos and basil and cheeses. and pineapple is one of my favorite toppings.
NOM
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 28th, 2012 at 12:57 pm
oooh, basil and rosemary and “herb-ey” toppings like that are so good, too!
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I’m from Long Island so pizza is a serious topic for me. I like a thin NY crust. There’s nothing like a simple “regular pie” topped with Parmesan and red pepper flakes! Yum!
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 28th, 2012 at 12:57 pm
your regular pie sounds about right to me!
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That. Looks. Awesome. I love pizza!!
One of my fave toppings is most definitely feta.
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I am the opposite – I love thick and doughy pizza crust. In fact I hate “cracker pizza”, which is what my husband and I call pizza on a thin crust. There’s no crust, just a cracker with toppings! ;) The best toppings are roasted veggies, a good tasting cheese and pineapple.
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 28th, 2012 at 12:56 pm
cracker pizza = THAT is what I love! okay there’s a name for it now. Lol we are opposites!
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I never thought I’d see pizza on your blog ;-) I used to love the frozen one mostly b/c we never got them as kids. I am not too picky about crust unless it is just totally blah in flavor. Sometimes thick works, sometimes thin, and even GF (tends to be nice and crisp). Load on the veggies and I’m happy.
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 28th, 2012 at 12:56 pm
Trying to mix it up around here :)
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Not gonna lie, that pizza looks insanely delicious! Granted, I’ve been craving pizza for weeks!
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 28th, 2012 at 12:56 pm
well go make yourself one! :)
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Agreed! Last night, I ate a big salad and half of Josh’s pizza crust ;)
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bbq chicken, hawaiian, tons of veggies, olives, mushroom…. anything really! not a fan of pepperoni per say. It’s been a while though since I’ve had pizza, not too many good rice crusts out there but a few restaurants in town offer a pretty good one for special occasions.
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I agree– I’m definitely a thin crust, crispy type of girl when it comes to pizza! Looks tasty!
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 28th, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Thin all the way. Less bread, more toppings!
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I haven’t experimented with homemade pizza too much since going vegan, but I love artichoke hearts and black olives coating my pizza. And just yum on the decadent dessert inspiration here, way to add a little weekend to the family dinner. :-)
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I love that you actually USE all of your fun and creative dish finds in your photos and cooking, Averie :)
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 28th, 2012 at 12:54 pm
Yeah what’s the point of having them if you don’t use them!
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I love coal-fired pizza where the edges are all crispy burnt. That’s heartbreakingly good stuff.
This post is actually pretty coincidental – I had a random craving for a rising crust frozen pizza this weekend, so for that same $4.99 you mention we had dinner on Saturday. It’s literally been at least 5 years since I bought a frozen pizza. It was pretty darn good but I was pretty darn sick the next day :(
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 28th, 2012 at 12:54 pm
Yeah I hadn’t bought one in ages and this was a free-with-coupon one so that was nice.
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Sometimes you just need pizza. And I actually got a random craving for it earlier this morning. This looks so good! My favorite is pizza with the thinnest crust possible, and as many veggies that can be piled on. There is a local pizza place that has one called “5-Star” and it has 5 different cheeses, a white sauce instead of red that is studded with fresh rosemary. It’s amazing!
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 28th, 2012 at 12:54 pm
Oh fresh rosemary would be heavenly!
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I’m a crispy thin crust girl too. I had a real deep dish pizza when I was in Chicago last month (http://nextupwithj.blogspot.com/2012/03/next-up-breezing-through-chicago.html) but it upset my stomach. Those things are like a meal x100000!
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 28th, 2012 at 12:53 pm
I lived in Chicago for years and Giordano’s a a staple but that dough..it’s like eating a half loaf of bread per slice! It’s soooo rich and heavy.
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i LOVE crispy, thin crust pizza. my favorite topping for pizza is honey. yes, honey. i had it at a pizza place in Cleveland, OH. drizzle honey over the zheesey, salty pizza. Trust me. you will NEVER want to eat pizza without it again. SO good. :)
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 28th, 2012 at 1:57 pm
I can TOTALLY see that working, actually. Salty ‘n sweet, and the texture of it all, too. I am trying it with the next pizza I have! It’s the chicken nuggets dipped in honey (mustard) principle.
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Sarah @ Sarah's Modern Bites replied: — March 28th, 2012 at 4:02 pm
Alriiiight alright, you’ve all got me majorly craving pizza drizzled with honey! I bet rosemary (per Cassie), goat cheese and honey would be ridiculously awesome. And damn, I have already gone shopping after work and I am home for good. Here craving pizza… pizzaless haha Maybe tomorrow!
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 28th, 2012 at 4:12 pm
Honey is new to me but someone else mentioned it and I HAVE to try it with pizza now!
How I miss my kitchen at home to make homemade pizza! Sadly the dining hall pizza at college is not the best =(
On a happier note, your blog inspired me to try cookie butter from TJs! I just got it back to my dorm and I am swooning…I had to refrain from eating the whole jar at once!
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We made His & Hers pizzas over the weekend…His – meat and cheese, Hers – veggies!
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I hear you! It’s impossible to cook from scratch every meal!
I love thin crust and it’s crunchy-ness.. Too many toppings I love, but my top three as of today would be artichoke, rosemary, fresh basil….
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That. Pizza. Is. A. Wet. Dream.
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I know New York and Italy are supposed to have the best pizzas, but I like pizza from this place in Michigan called Jets. It’s a thicker crust (but not like deep dish at all) but the bottom part is really crispy and delicious. It’s served in a square pan so the edges are all crispy and crunchy. The corners are the best pieces. But yeah, I think I’ve had that about once in the past 2 years…so I rarely indulge in it.
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My stepdaughter loves Hawaiian pizza and my husband loves a thin crust. I don’t care for all the salt in frozen or commercially made pizza either, so if I can, I make it myself. My favorite toppings are peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, fresh basil and a sprinkle of feta.
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 28th, 2012 at 4:13 pm
Yes the sodium bomb effect in commercially made dressings, pizza, sauces, etc. just do not agree with my body!
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I just scanned through the comments to see if anyone else asked but I don’t see it — what kind of frozen pizza is that?! It looks phenomenal and makes me crave frozen pizza for the first time since like, high school!
My favorite pizza toppings are roasted red peppers AND banana peppers. I’ve been doing the red peppers for a long time but just recently discovered banana peppers as topping. So, so good. And on a super thin crust. Even better if it’s brick oven. Oh, then there’s also margherita pizza, which is its own amazingly awesome category. OMG, can you tell I’m pizza obsessed?
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 28th, 2012 at 4:12 pm
I knew someone would ask and here’s the thing..I don’t remember! I had a coupon for a free pizza so bought it about 6 mos ago but the box was HUGE and wouldn’t fit in my freezer, so I tossed the box and just kept the pizza wrapped in it’s factory-sealed plastic in the freezer and couldn’t for the life of me tell you what brand it was. Sorry!
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Liz (Little Bitty Bakes) replied: — March 28th, 2012 at 4:19 pm
LOL, no worries. And thus begins my search for the perfect frozen pizza ;)
I love that you manage to make frozen pizza look good! I usually love my pizza loaded with vegetables: spinach, broccoli, peppers, olives—as much as you can pile on. I have to say, though, I had pizza with shredded brussels sprouts & pancetta on top a few weeks ago and it was divine…
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 29th, 2012 at 7:48 am
At least it looks like I slaved over it, right> :) Lol
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Jess @ Keeping It Real Food replied: — March 29th, 2012 at 3:22 pm
Haha totally! hey, you turned on the oven and made sure it didn’t burn—that counts! At least in my book. I’ve definitely forgotten to turn on the oven before.
If that’s frozen pizza you made it look good!!! I was undecided myself for dinner, so I made eggs. How exciting! My favorite pizza is one of tow either a tomato basil or veggie pizza with extra peppers and light on the cheese YUM!!
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 29th, 2012 at 7:47 am
Thanks, Jennifer. And basil is so perfect on pizza.
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I’ve never seen the allure of homemade pizza. If you find a good store-bought one, that seems to me like one of those times it isn’t worth the bother to do homemade, you know?
I rarely eat pizza anymore because of the gluten thing, but when I did, I ALWAYS had it with pineapple. Never that nasty canadian bacon or ham though – bell peppers, muchrooms, and pineapple. SO good!
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 29th, 2012 at 7:46 am
I’m with you, on all fronts. Once again, twins!
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Yes, yes, thin and crispy pizza! Dustin doesn’t like it crispy, but he’s wrong about that, lol. When we buy it at a pizza dive, I reheat it in the oven to get it crispier again. Dustin is ok eating it soggy. Blek, lol.
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 29th, 2012 at 7:46 am
Soggy…no! I love your pizza dive/reheating trick :)
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Frozen pizza is just so CHEAP and HANDY. I also love a crisp pizza crust, although I can’t get enough of chewy cookies! Crust is definitely a huge factor in pizza success. Chicken caesar is one of our family favorites for pizza toppings.
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Nothing wrong with frozen pizza! I like the ones they have at Trader Joe’s with pesto and broccoli or I’ll assemble my own with a frozen crust.
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My favorite toppings include pineapple, avocado, chicken, and goat cheese! And I like a good hearty wheaty crust.
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I’m desperately searching for a ‘good and healthy’ protein powder. Iherb sounds like a great place to buy some!! What kind do you recommend?? I do like choc and vanilla flavors, and not a fan of whey. I would love to get your advice on what to choose!!! Thanks and you are awesome!!!
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 29th, 2012 at 10:26 am
I have used the first two from this link, the choc & the vanilla (the natural is too boring) and they are the best for me. But I don’t tolerate protein powders well but they are the best of what I’ve ever tried. However, there are sooooo many types out there, it can be trial and error.
http://www.iherb.com/search?kw=sun%20warrior%20rice%20protein
code AVE630 will get you the discount
And I noticed your email addy…do you go to UST? That’s where I went to college!!!
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How did you manage to make frozen pizza look amazing?! Great pictures as always.
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you are kidding!!!!!! OMG THAT IS SO GREAT! I’m seriously freaking out right now!! haha! We have a great new student center that is AMAZE and you need to come back and see it!!!
Thanks for the advice on protein powders!
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My favorite is just a plain cheese pizza!! I know, I’m so boring!
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I love seeing pizza on your blog!! Is it a first?
All pizza is pretty great in my books, and green olives are one of my favourite pizza toppings.
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Averie @ Averie Cooks replied: — March 29th, 2012 at 10:04 pm
One other time I showed a picture of pizza when I was at a street fest, but yes, other than that…it’s a first :)
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