By Rebecca Seidenspinner

I love Valentine’s day. I love hearts. I sign most of my texts and emails with X’s and O’s, which mean hugs and kisses, all year long. I love my family and my pets. My favorite thing I love to eat is pizza! Homemade pizza night is a big hit at my house. It’s easy, fast, and leaves no whining over picky eating as each child chooses their own toppings. Going out for pizza or ordering it for delivery can be very expensive these days, even with a coupon. Get ready for a fun, fabulous and easy DIY alternative.  First, we need to make the pizza dough. This recipe for homemade pizza crust is super easy and quick to rise:

Mix the flour, salt and olive oil in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the warm water with the sugar and yeast. Stir until the yeast bubbles. This is how it activates to make the dough rise.  Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and stir well. I like to put the dough mixture on the counter and knead it with my hands until a big ball forms. Then set the dough aside and let it rise. It takes about 20 minutes. After the dough is ready, I separate it into small dough circles  and let the kids roll it out with the rolling pin. In honor of Valentine’s day, I helped each of them make a heart, and we used scissors to cut cute little hearts out of our pepperoni. Adorable. We used a jar of pizza sauce and tons of our favorite toppings. My daughter spelled out “I love you” with black olives and even made an olive smiley face.

 

These are the times I cherish -- cooking in the kitchen with my children and then sitting at the table eating dinner together. This is so sweet and tops any dinner at a fancy restaurant.  Sending you all X’s and O’s and a Valentine wish full of love and pizza.