Jazz up Family Pizza Night!

Friday is my favorite meal-night of the week because it is family pizza night! I wanted to share a few ways that I jazz up this tasty weekly tradition!

After a long week, there is nothing I look forward to more than baking up a delicious pizza and enjoying a seated meal with my family. My own Mom always made sure that we enjoyed at least 3-4 meals together at the table during the week. Busy activities and schedules make it difficult, but on Fridays, we always sit down for Friday Pizza Night!

It’s easy to grab paper plates and stand around the kitchen eating pizza, trust me, I’ve done it! However, I am all about celebrating the everyday so I love finding ways to spice up Friday pizza night. I’ve partnered with Freschetta to share all my pizza night tips!  Let’s start with the pizza and then we’ll get to the tablescape, activities, and drinks! Sound good?

Tips for Family Pizza Night

It’s not Friday pizza night without amazing pizza. Freschetta has always been my go-to frozen pizza. Freschetta is crafted to be better– it’s a scratch-made pizza with 100% real cheeses, premium meats and vegetables, served atop flavorful sauces and preservative-free crust. It’s definitely a frozen pizza I can feel good about! Plus, my family LOVES them! There is just not much better than the aroma of naturally rising pizza dough.

Of the four varieties (Naturally Rising Crust, Brick Oven, Gluten Free and Whole Grain crust), I have to say that Naturally Rising is my favorite. Brick Oven is a close second, however, it’s so good! As far as flavors, Spinach and Roasted Mushroom comes in first place for the adults and Pepperoni is a clear winner for my daughter and her friends. You can’t really go wrong though, they’re all delicious.

Now on to the tablescape! I wanted to share a few simple ways to jazz up your tabletop for Friday pizza night! First up, fun napkins! Swap paper napkins (or paper towels) for colorful, patterned cloth napkins. I love a fun buffalo check, but you can find countless patterns and colors to suit your taste. They’re reusable and perfect for using throughout the year (and every Friday!).

I always like to have something natural on my table, but having fresh flowers might not be doable every single Friday, but it’s super easy to clip a few herbs from my garden for the table. My husband often uses them as drink garnishes or adds them to salads or appetizers. I usually grow basil, dill, mint, and rosemary. My table always smells amazing from the herbs and pizza!

Candles are a must. My grandmother instilled in me the “calming” trick of candles. Meals where we have candles lit are so much more relaxing and stress-free. It’s the fastest way to add a touch of decor as well as set a meal-time ambiance for dinner.

Next up is a fun game or activity to bring everyone to the table and off their screens. No phones or tablets allowed. I love a fun word search or Bingo type game that you can double up as the place card. Place card, you might be saying? For a simple pizza night? Yes! You can use your own computer and printer to create simple word search games and place cards. Of course everyone can find his or her seat, but anytime you can make the everyday a bit more fancy is must in my book! My daughter loves to find her seat each Friday night!

I just found a free word search creator online, added in the words I chose, and it will create a word search game for you. Easy peasy! I love a themed dinner, and this is the perfect way to keep the little ones at the table after they’ve finished eating.

As for drinks, I love to pair pizza with a sparkling red wine. For the kids, I like them to feel a bit fancy too, so sparkling water and cranberry-cherry juice make the perfect “spritzer” for them. I have a set of sturdy plastic glasses that look super cute, but won’t break so these are my go-to for Friday nights! Serve your own favorite drinks or try out my pairings!

I hope you’ve found lots of inspiration for jazzing up your own family’s pizza night. Celebrating the everyday and making memories with our family around the table is something I’m so passionate about! Delicious pizza helps too. ;)

Freschetta pizzas are located in the freezer aisle of grocery stores nationwide. Visit the product locator at Freschetta.com to find a store near you.

This post is sponsored by Freschetta.