We all know pizza is almost every child’s favorite go to for a tummy filler. (Probably because it’s nearly every adult’s favorite comfort food, too!) The great thing about pizza, besides how good it tastes, is that it allows for creativity! We have a few ways you can get kids involved in making pizza pies that are not only healthy, but involve a creative baking process along the way! Prepare for five healthy pizza recipes:
1. Homemade Hot Pockets
Ditch the Pizza Pockets and make delicious homemade hot pockets instead! Simply make a miniature calzone with pizza sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni inside! Find step-by-step instructions here. Benefits include knowing exactly what your meals are made of, flexibility to make different sizes depending on children’s appetites, customizing your flavor, and they’re easy to make! Oh, and did we mention you can make 16 hot pockets for only $4.50? Pizza pockets hacked.
2. Cool Ranch Veggie Pizza
Looking for a way to get your kids to eat veggies? Then the Cool Ranch Veggie Pizza is the way to go! Use low fat cheeses and whole wheat pizza crust and you just might have a winner on your hands! This colorful, cold-served pizza uses ranch dressing, giving it just enough zest to keep kids invested. Find the ingredients you’ll need and instructions for making it here.
3. Pizza Muffins
We know, we know, not the usual shape for pizza, but they’re still delicious! It’s a great way to monitor portion control and makes for a creative snack. Simply pick out your preferred toppings, roll them up in dough, and bake in the oven for 20 minutes for stuffed pizza muffins! Easy to eat with little hands. Browse pictures of the creative process here.
4. The Pizzadilla
This one’s super easy and super healthy! Simply take out flour tortillas, let your children choose their favorite ingredients, put them inside with 1/3 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese, fold it over and cook on a skillet until crispy! Give your kids pizza dipping sauce and they’ll be good to go and had fun in the process! http://www.budgetbytes.com/2011/08/pizzadillas/
5. "The Traditional"
Finally, we thought we would point out that rolling up your sleeves and deciding to make your pizza the “old fashioned” way is always a great way to spend quality time with your kids and make homemade pizza pies as healthy as you want them. Here’s how The Budding Chef suggests setting up Pizza Shop! Ingredients:
- Cheese, shredded
- Pizza sauce
- Prepared pizza dough (to make more than one pizza, split the dough in half)
Topping Options:
- Meat (pepperoni, sausage, ham, etc.)
- Green pepper
- Mushrooms
- Onion
- Pepperoni
- Pineapple
- Red pepper
A Book to Share: Pete’s a Pizza by William Steig
Instructions:
- Have your child put pizza sauce, shredded cheese, and any other ingredients into separate bowls.
- Cover the cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
- Encourage your child to roll out the pizza dough according to package directions. Place it on the cookie sheet.
- Demonstrate how to put a scoop of sauce on the dough and spread it around.
- Encourage your child to sprinkle cheese on top of the sauce. Then they can choose other ingredients to put on top.
- Bake for 10 to 15 minutes-or until the cheese is melted! Let cool and serve.
- Give your child a round of applause for making a delicious meal to enjoy without the cost of ordering in!
What’s your signature dish? Share your family recipe below!
