Thrifty Holiday Party Ideas – Pizza Party

Entertaining over the holidays is always a nice treat. But, without appropriate budgeting, you might find yourself losing quite a bit of money on Holiday dinners. So, keep an eye out for a few thrifty party ideas that include delicious holiday meals that will make you and your guests happy.

Wine and Pizza
Have a build-your-own pizza party, where you provide all the ingredients for the pizza and your guests each bring a bottle of wine. This is a great way to keep everyone entertained, and you can also accommodate all types of diets. You could mix this up in a potluck in different ways—either ask people to bring a few ingredients for the pizza they want or maybe make a nice salad. One thing is certain: make your pizza crusts before the party.

It’s up to you whether you want to tackle the pizza crust yourself or go with a prepared version at the store. And the same goes for marinara sauce. If you decide you want to get into the spirit and make your own pizza crust, here are a few trusty resources that will walk you through the process.
www.foodnetwork.com tends to have more elaborate recipes, but they also have instructional videos on certain staple recipes, and I’m sure pizza crust has made the list.

www.smittenkitchen.com is another site with beautiful photographs that accompany each recipe.

www.recipezaar.com is one of my favorite sites, with visitors contributing their most successful recipes and rating other posted recipes. You’ll find a tried-and-true-good marinara sauce and pizza crust recipe on here for sure.

Now let’s get to some topping ideas. Here’s where the fun starts, and some major versatility.

Pizza #1 – Traditional Pizza
Pepperoni Slices
Sautéed onions
Mushrooms
Olives
Mozzarella (low-moisture, not fresh)

Pizza #2 – Greek Pizza
Olives
Feta
Onions
Sautéed mushrooms
Spinach

Pizza #3 – White Pizza
Marinara sauce (just a little)
Sautéed onions
Ricotta Cheese
Olives

Pizza #4 – Cheese Pizza
Marinara Sauce
Italian Cheese Mix (Mozzarella, Parmesan, Romano)
Salt
Pepper

Pizza #5 – Meat Deluxe
Marinara Sauce
Ham
Italian sausage
Pepperoni
Onions
Mushrooms
Italian Cheese Mix

Pizza #6 – Veggie Lovers
Marinara Sauce
Bell Peppers
Onions
Mushrooms
Spinach
Olives
Italian Cheese Mix

Notice the overlap in ingredients, which makes your shopping list shorter and on budget. Again, it’s a great way to throw a party that will really please the palate and your savings account.