Dinner with your family is a special time. Ideally we would like to sit down each night together as a family and share our day’s story while we eat dinner. After school activities, sports, jobs and traveling sometimes make this a difficult, if not impossible, task. So make the days that you do sit down with your family special. Plan a meal together as a family with a favorite food from each person incorporated in one meal. For example- Appetizer ~Mom’s favorite mozzarella sticks. Salad~ Abby’s favorite veggies dipped in salad dressing. Dinner~ Dad’s favorite chicken on the grill. Side~ Matthew’s favorite Mac and Cheese. Dessert ~ Emily’s favorite brownies. This gives everyone a chance to enjoy a favorite.
Mixed ‘House’ Salad with
Italian Dressing
Ingredients:
-1 bag of mixed blend lettuce
- Handful of chopped carrots
- 1 small tomato, cut up
- 1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
Directions:
- Mix all ingredients and serve with dressing on top.
I like to lay the lettuce flat in the bowl, and then place the cucumber around the edge of the bowl in a circle, then the tomatoes, then carrots. Black olives, shredded cheese, and croutons are also good mix-ins.
Make your Own Pizza
There are several ways to make your own pizza. You can use a Pillsbury pizza crust spread evenly on a cookie sheet for the crust. Spoon your favorite pizza sauce on, leaving a thin edge that will be the crust. This will make a rectangle pizza. Then, let your children each have a section of the pizza to add their own toppings or just split the pizza between pepperoni and cheese. The fun part is letting your children put on the toppings themselves. Bake the pizza at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the crust starts to brown.
Another interesting way to make homemade pizza is by using flour tortillas. We like the whole wheat variety. Place the tortillas flat on a cookie sheet side by side or in a pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes until the tortilla becomes a little crispy. Make as many as you need for each person to have their own. Then spread pizza sauce lightly leaving an edge for the crust. Top with any of your favorite toppings and cover with cheese. Bake again for 4-8 minutes or until cheese is melted. Cut into 4 squares per tortilla for a delicious, thin and crispy pizza.
Some favorites of ours are shredded chicken, bacon and feta cheese (no sauce); tomato sauce, pepperoni and shredded cheese; and tomato sauce, green peppers and mushrooms. These individual pizzas give your children a chance to try new toppings and be creative with only a minimal commitment because of the pizza size.
Cookie pizza
Ingredients:
- Sugar cookie dough
- Vanilla icing
- “Toppings” of your choice--kiwi and strawberries, or M&Ms, crushed Oreos, Skittles.
Directions:
- Mix the sugar cookie ingredients as directed on the box or use the premade sugar cookie batter.
- Spread in a round pie plate (for a round pizza) or across a cookie sheet for a rectangular pizza. The larger the pan, the thinner the cookie will be.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 4-6 minutes (watch carefully depending on how thin you have spread the cookie) or until cookie dough is done (light browning).
- Cool
- Spread a layer of icing across the pizza
- Add toppings of your choice. Kiwi, sliced bananas and strawberries make a healthier choice. Any variety of candy toppings are always a hit, of course.
- Cut into pizza slices and serve.
This meal is sure to become a new family favorite. It’s easy, everyone gets to help and there are many healthy options, too. So save the pizza delivery man a trip and make your own tonight!
