Artsy Pizza

A child's experience with food can be just as important as the actual eating of the food. Make a child's first experience with a certain food a good one and they are more likely to eat it. I think it is especially important to get your kids involved in the kitchen. When kids know where food comes from, what goes into preparing it, etc, they are more likely to take pride in their food and hopefully eat a little healthier!

Now Pizza isn't something that most kids turn their nose up at...but vegetables can be another story! However, Pizza can be the perfect vehicle for getting some fruits and vegetables into your picky eaters tummy!

Now you can make this as simple as you want, or really play it up and turn your kitchen into a pizzeria complete with dough tossing, red checker tablecloth, menus, use your imagination!

Think of as many toppings as you can (healthy ones preferably), try and get as many different colors on your table as possible. Here are some ideas.

White sauce (Alfredo) Really make it artsy and put paintbrushes in the sauce

Red Sauce (tomato)

tomato chunks

pineapple

mushroom

pepperoni/bacon/sausage/chicken/or make it a meatless meal!

cheese (white and yellow)

peppers, get one in every color!

red onions

olives

Spinach*

Broccoli*

cauliflower*

peas*

corn*

carrots*

* You may want to steam these before putting them on a pizza

For the crust I like to use premade Pillsbury stuff or Rhode's rolls, but if you want to make your own more power to ya! I also like to bake my dough for about half the suggested time before putting toppings on them, it keeps them crunchier.

Now give each kid their "canvas". Tell them to use the ingredients on the table to make a work of art (word it however you want). Sit around the table and talk about what each of you are making. Family dinners are about more than just shoveling food into our mouths. Have a conversation!

Stick the pizzas on a cookie sheet, put it in the oven and bake!

Will this be messy? Yes! Will it be fun? Yes!

Bon Appetit!