Too often when we talk about food storage we think of really boring, non kid friendly food. You know what I mean—all the powdered junk hidden in nooks and crannies all over the house, beans slowly shriveling into oblivion, grains that should have been ground three decades ago by their previous owner. Food that has been there so long you don’t remember that it is there, what is where, and how much of it is somewhere…?
WELL NO MORE!! In behalf of kids all over the world I declare that enough is enough!!! It's Pizza in the food storage or nothing!
This is such a simple addition to you store that you should do it immediately if not sooner. The only thing I ask is that when you pull a piping hot pizza pie dripping with cheese out of the oven you announce to your family that you are eating your food storage! It is time we begin to reprogram our children that food storage is wonderful! When food storage is a stale bean struggling to rehydrate no one wants to pay attention. When food storage is piping hot pepperoni pizza? Now you have their attention!
Here's how to do it...
You need sauce! Eight ounces of sauce for each large pizza will do nicely. I use my favorite spaghetti sauce. I think the flavor is superior over those litte tin cans of pizza sauce. I buy the 24oz jar of Classico Tomato Basil. It is the perfect size for my families needs. From that I can make 3 large pizzas! I don't purchase super sized containers with the idea of saving money. I try whenever possible to purchase in quantities that I will use completely when I open it. When you are storing long term you need the factory seal. The few pennies you will save buying in gallon containers will be lost on the food that is wasted.
You will need to have cheese in your family store. Mozzarella does not wax well as I was originally told. If you are waxing cheese for pizza choose a hard cheese that your family will enjoy on pizza. For more information on cheese waxing see the cheese waxing section on this site.
I use two pounds of cheese for three large pizzas. If I am going to serve homemade pizza once a month for a year I need 24-1lb blocks of cheese. Truth is, my kids could eat it every week. I serve it twice a month so I need 48 blocks in my family store. Sounds like a lot huh? :) Remember the point is to have what we need in our homes for a year! When the stores shut down and I have the opportuntiy to rely on my own preparedness I will feel great knowing that pizza is still on the menu.
Of course there is always homemade mozzarella. I am learning now how to make it from powdered milk. I will have to let you know how it turns out!
I myself am not a huge fan of pepperoni, but this isn't about me is it? It is all about my kids and they LOVE it. Good enough, I've got it. Bridgford has shelf stable pepperoni that I highly recommend. This is not the presliced pepperoni. It comes in a stick and you need to cut it. It has an 18 month shelf life! You can purchase two different sizes. The 16oz roll is easily found in most grocery stores. 16oz is a lot of pepperoni to use at one time. I would recommend the 9oz roll which is harder to find in grocery stores but can be special ordered or purchased directly from Bridgford. http://www.bridgfordstore.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=24 The pepperoni comes in a six pack. If you purchase two six packs you have enough to make pepperoni pizza once a month for a year! Clever mama.
My favorite pizza is veggie! Oh ya... Hot slightly crunchy veggies on a whole wheat crust sprinkled with cheese and a little garlic sizzling straight out of the oven. Don't bother me...some moments are meant to be savored. So how in the world do we do that if we can't get to the store and we don't have fresh veggies at our finger tips from a garden? Dehydration and canned foods. Yes, the veggies are not fresh but dehydrated peppers and onions rehydrated and cooked on top a pizza pie are so close that you won't mind. If you like your peppers and onions in rings, as I do, dehydrate them in rings!
I keep canned mushrooms but you can dehydrate those too. I also keep canned olives for my pizza night.
So my pizza inventory looks like this:
* Keep in mind I serve pizza twice a month. Your inventory may look differently depending on what kind of pizza you want and how much.
*I am going to add my pizza dough recipe here shortly if you don't have one you like you can try mine. Mine is not a traditional dough recipe, but I like my crust to be flavorful.
Crust:
Flour
yeast
salt
sugar
milk
oil
24-24oz Jars Classico Spaghetti Sauce
48-1lb bBocks Mozzarella Cheese Waxed
24-90z Sticks Bridgford Pepperoni
24-6.5oz Cans Pre-Sliced Mushrooms
24-6oz Cans Olives
Dehydrated Peppers and Onions
Cornmeal which I grind from my popping corn!
I occasionally sprinkle my pizzas with a little of the following spices:
Garlic
Basil
Oregano
Special Equipment:
Truth is that back in the day of stone wood fired ovens the only special equipment you needed was a willing pair of hands and a pizza peel to transfer the pizza to the oven. Today a good set of pizza stones are invaluable. That does not mean that you can not just throw your pizza in the oven on a cookie sheet, but the stones will help you make exceptional pizza!
I have two stones that live in my oven. They are in there no matter what I am cooking. They help my oven maintain its temperature. When I make pizza I allow them to preheat at 425 while I do all of my prep work. When the crust is ready to go I bring the stone out of my oven to a work surface. That stone is HOT so protect yourself and make sure that your surface is protected. I sprinkle the stone with cornmeal and then add my crust. I begin to build my pizza as the crust is already starting to crisp up on the bottom and is rising slightly. I build the pizza in about three minutes and transfer the stone back to the oven for the pizza to finish cooking completely, 12-15 minutes.
What I end up with is a divine pizza with a crisp crust on the bottom, soft in the middle and gooey with cheese on the top. It's perfect every time.