When you've worked all day and are wiped when you get home, who wants to cook dinner? Not me! When this happens, most people order takeout, or run through the drive thru. When you're on a budget, this usually is not an option for you.
So, what is to be done? Why not consider making a stash of your own frozen pizzas to have on hand in the freezer? All the convenience without the take out prices.
Sarah's gourmet frozen pizza
Step 1) batch of homemade pizza dough. Make, roll out on pan sprinkled with cornmeal, and bake for 4-7 minutes. Allow to cool. Place on a cooking sheet that you're ok with not using for awhile, or use some cardboard.
Step 2) cover with toppings
Step 3) Freeze
Step 4) When frozen through, cover with plastic wrap or foil. Place back in the freezer.
When you go to use it, try and let it thaw out a bit (maybe an hour?) before baking, but it will bake fine if totally frozen. Bake at 450 degrees until the cheese is bubbling and looks toasty. Place it in the oven while the oven comes to appropriate temperature. This will give it a little bit of chance to thaw before it has to cook through.
Spend a few hours one afternoon and make a ton of these to have on hand. If you have various pizza tastes in your family, consider making "personal sized" pizzas.
Variations just prepping the dough:
Bake the pizza dough for 7 minutes. If you're making multiple, pies freeze with waxed paper separating the dough.
I buy mozzarella in bulk and then grate it with my food processor. I store it in quart sized Ziplocs in the freezer. We always have toppings stored in the freezer as well.
If you have pizza dough and toppings ready to go, you can always make your own pizza the day of, instead of premaking the whole pie. This is a great option if you're a fickle pizza eater and can never decide on toppings ahead of time! ;-DLabels: Cheap trick, Don't be a lazy ass - make it yourself, Main dishes, Poverty Cookbook