BBQ Chicken Pizza with Bacon and Onions

School starts tomorrow for Adam.  Sadly, this means that our fabulous summer, spent as a family, is over.  After our trip to France, French cooking adventures at home, afternoons at the pool and lots of walks to the library this summer, Fox and I will now be alone during the days, missing Daddy.  

After Fox was born, Adam and I joked that we both wanted to be stay-at-home parents, because we love spending time as a family, and this summer that was pretty close to true!  Adam worked on the study abroad, but much of that included all three of us.  When we got back, he worked from home most days, and so we got to spend more time together. 

My family has always been the most important thing in my life, but with a family growing from two to three, the significance of being together and sharing moments has become more special to me. Parenthood is hard and somewhat different than I expected, but there is nothing that I love more than my little family.  I hope you're all squeezing your little ones tight as they start school again!  

Because of school starting, many of you might need another tasty, easy meal to whip together on those busy nights with homework and extra-curricular activities.  This isn't the fastest pizza I have ever made, but it is easy, and you could totally adapt it to be quicker (cook chicken and onions with BBQ sauce in the crockpot, and cook your bacon in the microwave).  And it is fantastic.  Lots of cheesy goodness with bacon and a slightly spicy BBQ sauce. It is sure to be a hit with your entire family!  A perfect way to start off the school year!  

BBQ Chicken Pizza with Bacon and Onions:
makes 1 medium-sized pizza

1 pizza crust (I make this recipe every time and freeze half the dough for the next time I make pizza.  If you are feeding a family, I suggest making the full dough and then doubling the toppings and making two pizzas.)
1/2 onion, diced
4 pieces of bacon
1 Tbs olive oil
1 large chicken breast, cut in half, then sliced
3/4 cup BBQ sauce, divided
1 cup finely shredded, sharp cheddar cheese
1 tsp cornmeal

Put your bacon in a frying pan and cook until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crispy.  Remove the crispy bacon and add the diced onion to the bacon fat.  Cook until the onions are soft and translucent.  Remove onions, set aside.  Once the bacon has cooled, rip it up into bite sized pieces.

Wipe the residual bacon grease out of the frying pan and add the chicken and about 1 Tbs olive oil.  Cook over medium heat until the chicken is just barely cooked through and then add 1/2 cup BBQ sauce right before you pull the chicken off the heat.  Stir until the chicken is coated evenly with BBQ sauce.

Now, sprinkle cornmeal on a silicone baking mat.  Roll out your pizza crust and take 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce and spoon it over the crust.  Spread out with the back of the spoon until it evenly coats the crust.  Begin placing chicken and onions evenly across the top of the crust.  Then sprinkle your cheese over the chicken. Top with bacon bits.

Cook in an oven preheated to 425°F for 8-10 minutes, or until the crust is golden around the edges and the cheese is melted.