Homemade Toppings
May 12th, 2008 by Jonathan
There’s some saying about necessity…mother of all invention, or something. Well this weekend the need to use up some mushrooms gave birth to a new idea in my house–takeout pizza, homemade toppings.
I baked the mushrooms in my handy toaster oven to
emulate the pizza parlor’s handiwork and they were ready by the time the pie arrived.
This may not be a novel idea to some of you, but it seems like an easy way to avoid wasting food while saving money by just paying for a plain pizza. (Is it just me or have toppings become really expensive? Probably to cover the crazy price increases on cheese and flour.)
I can’t say that the black olives I also included were added to avoid food waste. There was, however, an open jar in the fridge, and the olives completed my favorite combination at a nice discount.
While mushroom and black olive is my standard order, I would do the same with most anything that needs using up. Because really, what can’t you put on a pizza? As for the ‘not baked in’ issue, I found that the toppings just needed to be pressed into the pie a bit.
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I have no idea about topping prices, because I make my own pizza. You’re right though…pizza is a GREAT way to use up bits of stuff you have in your fridge or freezer(same with stromboli and calzones). If you’re not a yeast-baking type of person, you can make a cheap use-up-the-leftovers pizza by using a loaf of french bread sliced horizontally.
I usually make my own, but once in a while will splurge at my local favorite Alfredo’s. Although I have to admit, I don’t make my own dough. Fresh dough for 99 cents at Trader Joe’s–in my book that’s well worth it.
I have been doing the same thing for a few months now…. Every Friday night is pizza night, and I tend to throw sad looking vegetables and leftovers on top of it. Tonight I made a small pizza for myself, using a chicken breast that was left over from last week.
I thought of you and your blog this weekend as I entered a buffet line on Mother’s Day. What a waste of food buffets can be. I was careful not to pile my plate high with food that I might not eat. And then, I stepped away from the table - with a plate half empty (or half full depending on how you look at it) and when I came back to my seat the waitress had taken my plate! I was trying to be so careful and not waste food and then with a simple false assumption that I was on my second trip to the buffet - a perfectly good half eaten plate of food was wasted. I did not go back to get more.
Good one, Pidgeon92. I’ll have to tell my somewhat long story about pizza toppings in my first newsletter. Sign up on the e-mail list to catch that.
That’s too bad, Kerry. Overzealous waiters are a real pet peeve of mine, especially at a non-buffet restaurant. But at an all-you-can-eat place, I would imagine the staff has to be pretty vigilant to keep up with all the food being wasted. Sad, but true.
Brilliant! Wish I had thought of it years ago! Your blog and wasted food was a topic in our home last week-end. Our 11 yr old son is interested in reading the articles. Maybe I’ll have some help in recruiting more families to stop wasting food!
If you have a bread machine (thrift stores often have them quite cheap, because lots of people got them and never used them), it takes just a few moments to make pizza dough. Pizzas use up lots of leftovers, vegies and meat, both.
Another great way to use up leftovers is fried rice.
Between the two, I use up lots of odds and ends.
My 4yo daughter has been making her own pizza for a year now. She is the pizza queen! She loves being able to decorate and top the pizza with whatever she chooses.
We much prefer doing this than order one to have everone pick off this or that and not eat it.
I must say we do try to avoid food wastage as much as possible, much to the frustration of my roomy who is always moaning about my getting after her and her kids for wasing so much.
When we do have food we cannot save, the three dogs and three cats do get their share!