What a great night...

In August I finally found someone to rent my house, and I moved back in with my parents so I could save a little money before my wedding in May.  I knew it would be…err…different to be back home.  It’s tested my patience, and I know I’ve tested my parents’ as well.  However, nights like tonight remind me of how lucky I am to have parents like mine.  I’m so excited to be getting married and move to Birmingham, but I’m sad to leave my family. 

Tuesday night was rare.  I actually got to spend some time with my dad.  You would think that since I live with my parents, I would see them all the time, but I never see them!   It seems that the nights I work they are home, and the nights I’m home they are off doing something else.  My mother was not at home tonight, but my dad was, and we had a delicious dinner if I do say so myself!

My dad called me on his way home from work, and we decided to have some homemade pizza for dinner.  I enjoy doing this, because pizza is one of my favorite foods.  By making it myself, I can insure that I am putting healthy things in my body, and I can make it whatever flavor I want!

As soon as we decided to make pizza, I went to work on the sauce.  I started with half a red onion sautéed with a bit of extra virgin olive oil.  I deglazed the pan with some red wine and added a can of plain tomato sauce and a can of whole stewed plum tomatoes.  To this, I added salt, pepper and some dried herbs (basil, parsley, oregano, a dash of cinnamon, garlic powder, cracked red pepper and celery seed).  I let this simmer for about 30 minutes, and added a bit more red wine.  Wow, it was delicious.

For pizza number one, I spread the sauce on a whole wheat crust (I cheated and used store bought crust), laid some fresh spinach on the sauce, sprinkled with some mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, olives, sliced tomatoes and a little more cheese.

For pizza number two, I spread with the same sauce and spinach.  I added a bit of cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers, and sliced red onions….pizza lox, anyone???  YUM! 

My dad is training for his first 5K.  As a marathon runner and self-proclaimed health nut, I am ecstatic about this!  He is on a health kick too, so while the pizzas baked I made us lunch.  I used mixed greens and fresh spinach as my canvas.  I decided to make enough salads to last the 3 of us a few days.  To the greens, I added sliced carrots, tomatoes, mushrooms, dried cranberries, sliced avocado and crumbled blue cheese.  It’s similar to what I usually make, but it’s nice to know that if I had something else that sounded good, I could have easily added it. 

Once the salads were done, my dad and I enjoyed our pizza with a glass of Zinfandel, yum!  Nights like these make me remember how lucky I am to have a family like mine.  They care about me, I care about them, and we have fun cooking and laughing.  My soon-to-be-husband fits in perfectly, and some of our most fun memories are cooking together…that’s part of how I know he’s meant to be a part of the Tedford clan.