When the moon hits your eye...

I know this is weird....I have never really liked pizza.

At elementary school and middle school slumber parties my friends were all so excited when they knew pizza was just a doorbell away. So I played along. I would jump up and down with excitement when the awkward pizza boy came to the door. But after eating one slice I felt bloated, gassy, and crampy. I was amazed that my friends could eat 4 or 5 slices- a whole pizza even! Little did I know that a little protein called gluten was waging war on my intestines.

Pizza night at my house left me eating one slice to appease my parents and then eating bowls of cereal later on after they had gone to bed.

In college the way to get any student to attend a meeting, join a club, or to get them to attend church was to lure them in with fliers boasting "Free Pizza". This never worked on me.

I can't say I never ate pizza in college though- as many of my friends frequented a place called "Decent Pizza" that actually had great pizza. Lots of fresh ingredients like zucchini, eggplant, roasted garlic, and ricotta cheese. I occasionally indulged. I found it to be enjoyable- that is until my insides started hurting.

I just decided I didn't like pizza, and I never would.

Until now...

I'll use the word now loosely, as in the last 2 years I have eaten quite a bit of pizza. The difference being- pizza I make myself. I used my hands to mold the herbed dough into odd shapes, fresh mozzarella cut into slices and melted on top of the tomato sauce, toppings I chopped on my cutting board just minutes before they went in the oven. I was love my pizza- but it still wasn't loving me back. Now I know that Celiac was to blame.

On my first gluten free shopping trip I stumbled across Gillian's Foods Gluten-Free Pizza Dough in the freezer section at Whole Foods. I decided I would give it a go and boy was I glad I did! The dough had to be rolled out with a rolling pin instead of the traditional methods of pushing stretching and for the talented- throwing. Once I pulled my pizza piled with ingredients out of the oven I knew it was going to be good and I could leave my gluten filled dough in the past.

The crust was nice and crispy on the edges and just enough softness in the middle. I could have GF Pizza that was delicious! Pizza that left me joyful while making it, eating, AND digesting it. That's something I can smile about! So until I get my stand mixer and can make my own pizza dough- thank heavens there is Gillian's Foods Gluten-Free Pizza Dough when I need a slice- or a pie.