Amy's Organic Cheese Pizza

As usual, Amy's did not disappoint us!

In March, we tried Amy's Organic Spinach Pizza.  Last night, we needed a little late evening snack and found an Amy's Organic Cheese Pizza tucked away in the freezer.   We heated up the toaster oven, and soon had a pleasant, fresh tasting pizza that was very enjoyable.  The sauce had nice flavor, with small chunks of tomato, and the crust was crisp.  

We haven't found a frozen pizza yet that beats our pizzeria favorites, but we know we can rely on Amy's to provide a decent, fresh tasting frozen pizza.  Thank you, Amy's!

WalMart Marketside Traditional Five Cheese and Pepperoni Pizzas

Carol and family moved into their beautiful new home yesterday and Margie offered to buy pizza to feed the hungry "moving crew".  She made a quick run to WalMart and picked up two varieties of take-and-bake Marketside pizzas - the Five Cheese Traditional Crust Pizza and the Pepperoni Traditional Crust Pizza.   The packaging and the pizzas were both very attractive and they were loaded with a tasty mixture of cheeses. 

Lexi said she loved the mild, family-friendly pizza sauce, but thought that the crust was a little hard.  In all fairness, I think the hard crust was a result of being slightly overbaked, rather than an issue with the pizza itself. 

For me personally, it will never replace a handmade pizzeria pizza, but for a quick inexpensive meal to feed a hungry crowd, it was an acceptable alternative and I was happy to have the opportunity to try it.

Congratulations on your new house, Carol!  I know that you all will have many happy times there!

Stouffer's French Bread Cheese Pizza Review

One of my "go to" pizzas has always been Stouffer's French Bread Pizza - it's fast, reliable and pretty good.  Last night was one of those nights when I needed a fast dinner, so I put the Stouffer's French Bread Pizza in the oven and tossed a salad.  Easy, right?

The problem was that during the 30 minute cooking time, Sandy's family came by to pick up some boxes we were keeping for them (they are finally moving back into their house after 120 days at a hotel due to a house fire!), then Carol, Cocoa and Lexie stopped to say hi.  Needless to say, even though I had enough sense to turn off the oven, the pizza "rested" for much longer than it should have!

By the time everyone left, it was time to eat.  Even overcooked, the pizza was pretty good, and the only thing that really suffered was the cheese topping.  The crust was crunchy, and sauce had a pleasant, mild herby flavor.  Thank you, Stouffer's, for a reliable meal!

California Pizza Kitchen Cheeseburger Pizza

The one great thing about shopping on a weekend day is that at the end of almost every aisle are nice people offering tiny food samples!  Today we were lucky enough to come across samples of Cheeseburger Pizza, a limited edition pizza from California Pizza Kitchen (CPK).

We only had single bites, but that bite definitely tasted like a cheeseburger, complete with ketchup and pickle flavor!  Amazing.  My thought about it is that, although I did enjoy the bite that I had, I don't know that I would want to eat more than a slice of it.  It might be nice to enjoy a slice of the CPK  Cheeseburger pizza along with something else, like a nice salad, to accompany it.

Glutino Gluten-Free Spinach & Feta Cheese Pizza

My favorite sister called me this week to rave about Glutino's Gluten-Free Spinach and Feta Cheese Pizza - she said it is absolutely the best frozen pizza she has ever tried, gluten-free or not.   She reports that the crust is light and crispy with a good crunch, and that the filling is luscious, cheesy and absolutely delicious.  My sister has a sophisticated palate and is an awesome cook, so when she says something is good ... believe it.

Glutino's website describes the pizza as "topped with spinach and a blend of feta, mozzarella and ricotta cheese" with a "crispy, flakey" crust.  Glutino has three other varieties of gluten-free pizzas:  Spinach Soy Cheese Pizza with Brown Rice Crust,  3 Cheese Pizza with Brown Rice Crust, and BBQ Chicken Pizza.   Glutino products are available at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s among other stores.

Sis also reports that Mom's Take and Bake Pizza offers a gluten free crust, and we plan to do a taste test when we visit her a little later this spring.  
 
In the Pittsburgh area, Mandy's and Pizza Fusion both offer gluten free pizzas, but I have not yet tried either - both menus look wonderful, so I hope to try them soon.

Amy's Organic Spinach Pizza

I expected to enjoy Amy's Organic Spinach Pizza and I was not disappointed!

I tried the personal, or single serve, size and at about 6" in diameter, it was just the right size for a hearty lunch on a cold, rainy day.  The package states that "The light, tender crust made from organic wheat flour and extra virgin olive oil is first topped with ... savory Italian sauce made from organic tomatoes."  They then top it with a mixture of organic spinach blended with feta, with a sprinkle of mozzarella on top.

I followed the package directions for baking in a conventional oven, and baked the pizza at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.  The crust was crisp and flavorful, and the filling had a nice spinach flavor.  I've often eaten Amy's spinach pockets and expected it to be the same, but in a pizza format, but it wasn't - the spinach flavor was milder when complemented by the tomatoes and the mixture of feta and mozzarella cheeses was perfect. 

I think that this was my favorite frozen pizza yet - Amy's makes quite a few varieties and I can't wait to try more.

DiGiorno's New 200 Calorie Pizza - Tomato and Cheese

With so many fresh pizza options in Pittsburgh, I don't often eat frozen pizza - but in the winter it's not easy to get around, and hard to get delivery to my hilly, snow covered neighborhood. I was happy to find a coupon for DiGiorno's new 200 Calorie Pizza and even happier when I found it on sale at Giant Eagle - bringing the total price down to $1!

DiGiorno's 200 Calorie Pizza comes in three flavors -  Chicken with Peppers & Onion, Pepperoni, and Cheese & Tomato.  I chose Cheese & Tomato.  I was surprised that the box contained two 200 calorie pizzas and that, well, they were rather small.  Each individual pizza is rectangular and about 6" long x 3" wide.

They suggest two different preparation methods - microwave or traditional oven.  I tried both methods and, although I appreciate the ease and speed of a microwave pizza, the oven method produced a better crust.

The thin crust was very good - when cooked in the microwave, it was slightly tough, but when cooked in the oven it was crispy and even seemed to taste better.  The sauce had a herby flavor with lots of garlic and large chunks of tomato.  The pizzas were topped with loads of gooey and good mozzarella cheese.

The pizza was very good for a frozen option, especially at the bargain sale price ... but it just wasn't big enough!  I had intended to only eat one of the pizzas, but after eating one slice, I was still hungry.  I started to wonder how many calories are in a typical slice of pizzeria pizza and how many total are in the three slices or so that I usually eat.  Maybe I'd rather just enjoy and not know.

Heinz Field - Pittsburgh

It was a beautiful fall night at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh - and the Steelers were winning by ... a lot. What could make the night even better?

Food, of course! We were happy to find a kiosk close to our section selling personal pan pizzas.

Heinz Field offers a choice of a pepperoni or cheese pizza for $5.75. The cheese pizzas were sold out, so by default, we chose pepperoni. We were surprised to find out that the pizzas are Freschetta brand frozen pizzas with self rising crust. The pizza comes in a Freschetta branded box and is cut into 4 slices. The kiosk vendor said that the pizzas are a fan favorite and one of their biggest sellers.

It had been a long time since we tried Freschetta and liked the mild spiciness and the chewy, flavorful crust.

But even more than that, we liked the Steeler victory!

California Pizza Kitchen - Frozen Margherita Pizza for One

We have so many wonderful take-out pizza options available, that we don't normally make frozen pizza. Sometimes, though, it's handy to have a frozen pizza on hand, and we were lucky enough to have a California Pizza Kitchen's Pizza Margherita Pizza for One waiting in the freezer. As a bonus, it turned out to be very good!

The box had directions to cook the pizza by either microwave or in the oven. We chose the oven, but the lined box does fold over to double as a pizza pan if you'd like to use your microwave.

The crust was light and crispy, and much tastier than we expected. The pizza had a light sauce with small chunks of tomato and flavorful pieces of basil on top. It was topped with a mixture of four cheeses - Parmesan, Asiago, Romano and Mozzarella.

The California Pizza Kitchen website suggests pairing the Pizza Margherita with a Chardonnay. They have a fun "Wine Pairings" gadget on their website that allows you to select a crust and pizza, and they will give you wine suggestions. The website also suggests cooking a Pizza Margherita, cutting it into strips and serving with a trio of dipping sauces - pesto mayo, marinara and olive oil - for a quick appetizer.

All in all, it was a very tasty pizza that we would definitely buy again.