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Dads and Food

Summer Send-Off: How To Throw the Best Family Pizza Night

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It’s near the end of the season, and you’ve scratched what feels like a million activities off your summer bucket list. Whether you camped in the backyard for many weekends, visited a theme park, or hosted more pool parties than you can count, it’s safe to say that you’ve done it all!

However, the kids are planning their last hurrah of the break before returning to study nights and pop quizzes, and you want in! How about taking part in the summer send-off and learning how to throw the best family pizza night your young ones will experience? Continue reading below to learn more!

Just Dough It

Pizza night is the perfect opportunity to make your dough. Regardless of the recipe you use and the ingredients it requires, you never want to forget to proof your pizza dough.

As one of the most common pizza making mistakes, not allowing your dough to rest and rise for a final before pulling can result in a dense, rubbery, final product that your family may struggle to enjoy.

While most dough suggests a two- to three-day proofing process, a 24-hour minimum is acceptable if you’re under time constraints. You can involve your young ones in this step by allowing them to mix the ingredients.

Pro tip: If you don’t have the dough ingredients readily available or you’re really crunched for time, you can always make it a pizza bagel night and have kids pick out their favorite bagel.

The Sauce Is the Boss

Whether store-bought or homemade, it’s an essential first layer to your pizza festivity. If you would rather make it yourself, you can’t go wrong with quality canned tomatoes, oregano, salt, pepper, and basil.

On a separate note, kids are creative, fascinating people who can spice up recipes instantly. If your family prefers barbecue over red sauce, feel free to test it out! You can also use alfredo sauce as an alternative.

Make It Cheesy

Now that you have your dough and sauce, it’s time to consider your cheese options. While there is an overwhelming amount of cheese options on the market, a low-moisture mozzarella is typically the go-to for that epic cheese pull.

However, the decision is entirely up to you and the family! A sprinkle of parmesan is also a tried-and-true detail that is the genuine chef’s kiss to a perfect pie.

Top It Off With Finishing Touches

Now the best part: toppings! Traditional pepperoni slices for that instant classic, but if you’re using barbecue or alfredo sauce, consider grilled chicken slices, black olives, and pepperoncini as delicious options.

You can use a variety of leftover vegetables you have on hand and take a poll of everyone’s favorite toppings so you have them readily available during the final customization. Pair the meal with the kids’ favorite dessert to end the night on a sweet note!

Throwing the best family pizza night takes plenty of work, planning, and toppings! You don’t have to have an elaborate setup or state-of-the-art equipment to make it successful. All you’ll need are a few ingredients, patience, and the people you care about most to share the experience with.

10 Smart Ways to Save Money When Cooking

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Let’s face it. Cooking for a family costs a fortune, especially for those who are interested in working with high-quality ingredients that offer a lot of nutrition. Based on some extensive research, 62% of the average annual expenditures goes to housing, transportation, and food. With around 13% of our annual expenditures, food can be the easiest place to start if we want to save some money.

Luckily, there are some great ways to make healthy, filling meals without going over your budget. Keep reading the tips below to find out more.

1. Stock Up

Keeping a well-stocked pantry reduces the need to head to the grocery store as often, so you end up spending less on food each month. The trick is to buy a few extra dried or canned goods each time that you go. For added savings, check out the weekly ads at the grocery store first. That way, you can tailor your shopping list to what they already have on sale.

2. Eat Less Meat

Meat is the most expensive part of any meal. So one of the best ways to cut your food budget in half is to start making meatless meals. The trick is to use a cheaper vegetable-based protein in them instead. Some good ones to try are peanut butter, nuts, tofu, and beans. Or you can throw in a few eggs. At just a couple of dollars for a dozen of them, they are one of the best bargain-buys you can get.

3. Plant a Vegetable and Herb Garden

No matter where you live, there is always a way to grow a few vegetables or herbs. Use flower pots out on the balcony or windowsill. Or ask your friend or neighbor to borrow a little yard space. Just be sure to only plant vegetables and herbs that you know that you will eat a lot of.

4. Repurpose Food Scraps and Leftovers

Getting your family members to eat the same old meal two or more times in a row is next to impossible. So the best way to make sure that leftovers don’t go to waste is to either freeze them for another day or use them in a brand new way. For example, scraps of meat taste great in omelets, and vegetables can be tossed into a big pot of soup.

5. Try Out Store Brands

Paying for name-brand items costs a lot more than just picking up the store-brand version. And there is no difference in the quality. In fact, if you compare the labels of both of them side-by-side, you can see that the ingredients are usually identical.

6. Forage for Fruits and Nuts

A good portion of the fruits and nuts that trees produce end up going to waste because no one picks them up off the ground. Also, many people forget that they don’t have to buy everything from the store all the time. If you don’t happen to have any fruit or nut trees growing nearby, head to your local park. Just be sure to contact your local officials to make sure that it doesn’t go against any city regulations first.

7. Have a Meal Plan

Planning your meals makes saving money so much easier, especially if you stop to calculate the cost per serving of each meal. It doesn’t have to be an exact amount. Just estimate as closely as you can how much each of the ingredients that you intend to use will be.

8. Don’t Shop When You are Hungry

Never go to the store when you haven’t eaten in a while. It will make it harder to avoid buying snacks and other things that you don’t really need. If possible, try to wait until after you have just eaten a healthy meal. That way, your brain will be more focused on choosing other healthy items to add to your cart.

9. Buy Frozen Foods Instead of Fresh

Fresh food is best because it has the highest nutritional quality. But unless you have to feed a large number of people, a lot of it can end up going bad before you have a chance to eat it. So the next best option is to head to the freezer section. With the proper technique, the frozen food will taste just as good once it thaws, but it will cost a fraction of the price of buying it fresh.

10. Buy in Bulk

Many stores sell foods with a long shelf life in bulk packages, such as flour, salt, and pasta. They are helpful to have because they can be used to stretch other fresh or frozen ingredients that you get later on. Just be sure to compare the unit price before you buy them to see how much you will be able to save. Some stores sell items in a larger size without reducing the cost.

Final Thoughts

So, if you feel like you are spending a lot of money on cooking items and products, then you should definitely do something about it. Even though cooking with high-quality ingredients can be, sometimes, pretty expensive, there are a lot of alternative tips and tricks for you to try.

I hope these 10 tips will help you manage your cooking budget better and actually make you spend your money more wisely.

A Dad’s Guide To Matching Pasta With Sauce

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When you’re looking for a fast, easy, crowd-pleasing homemade dinner option for your family, it’s hard to beat the appeal of pasta and sauce. Whether you cook with spaghetti, rotini or something else, there is a world of options available for making that pasta delicious. Make some fettuccine Alfredo, spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna Bolognese or bucatini with tomatoes and cream. One factor to keep in mind as you’re planning your meal, however, is that not all kinds of pasta complement all sauces interchangeably. In fact, the shape and size of pasta have a direct impact on the best sauces to go with it.

How can you know what pasta to use with what sauce? To help you make the most of your meal plans, here are a few key pairing tips to keep in mind:

  1. Skinny noodles are versatile. Pair spaghetti or angel hair with tomato sauce, meat sauce, cream, vegetables, oil/butter or seafood.
  2. Flat noodles absorb sauce. Long and flat ribbons of noodles are great for thick sauces, as they have more surface area for soaking up sauce.
  3. Tube pastas pair well with thinner sauces. Short and long pasta tubes like macaroni or rigatoni work beautifully with holding thin sauces.
  4. Tiny pastas are ideal for soups. Wondering what to do with a tiny pasta type, such as pastina? Try it in soup. Other good possibilities include salads and baked pasta dishes.

When it comes to pasta and sauce, you’ll get more from your mealtime when you think strategically about your pairings. The tips above are a great place to start. Are you interested in learning more about pasta types and sauces? Check out the full breakdown of smart pairings in the helpful infographic from DeLallo Foods below.


Matching Pasta With Sauce Guide from Italian Food Supplier DeLallo Foods