Pizza Night!

Want your kids to eat all their supper? Have them cook it! This is something we have been doing for a while and it works great. Caleb is my fussy one, and somehow every meal he makes is the best meal EVER!

Generally each child has 1 night per week that they help cook. They pick the meal (usually on Sunday’s we plan the week) then they come in the kitchen at 4:30 and unload the dishwasher and help get supper going. This time we did pizza, but it was no ones night to help, and almost everyone wanted to help! So it was a group effort.

I made the pizza dough: Recipe disclaimer, I am a fiddler, this recipe gives a nice elasticy dough, but the taste could be better. I will tell you how I did it this time and then how I would tweek it later.

This makes 3 big pizza’s… Easily cut in half or thirds.

7 1/2 cups of Flour

3 tbsp of yeast (next time I will only use 2)

3 tbsp sugar (next time I will use 1/4 cup)

3 cups warm water

1/2 cup oil

1 tbsp italian seasoning

1 tsp salt

Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl (I use my trusty Empire Red Kitchen Aid) mix for a bit. Add the water and oil. Knead for 5 minutes or so. If it seems to dry add a bit more oil. (I use Olive)

When it is well mixed put it in a oiled bowl, cover and let sit 15-30 minutes. I always put the bowl somewhere warm, on the stove, under a light, near a candle… Not sure if it is necessary, but my breads and buns ALWAYS turn out.

I like to divide the dough, work onto a pizza pan and then bake for 10-15 minutes (until its just about cooked) then add toppings. Clearly I have a large family, so this makes just enough , the girls like their own, so we make 2 really large pizza’s and two individual pizza’s.

Here is the where the kids took over (Meliah the 6 year old usually is very involved in the mixing the dough, but she had more pressing things to do, like riding her scooter with Molly her Waldorf doll).

Working on crustTerann laughing at why she isn’t making hers on the pan!Caleb is a bit of a perfectionist! Of course his goal was the best Pizza ever! EVER!

Rationing the Olives.The hand print pizza…Snoopy! Pepperoni, Olive and Cheese.Meliah’s Cheese and Olive Hand Print!Caleb’s best Pepperoni Pizza Ever!Mom’s Ham and Pineapple, with a bit of Olives!Dinner is ready!Terann’s Snoopy is just so cute!

Terann’s Pizza’s past!Hello Kitty!

Cook with your kids! It’s amazing the things you can learn, they become the biggest advocates at the table to try new things, and everything tastes that much better to them!

Favourite Kid’s meals that they help cook:

Breakfast Burrito’s

Pasta

Pizza

Taco Soup

Roast Beast with mashed potatoes and gravy

Not Shake n’ Bake Chicken

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Enchilada’s

Baked potato’s and Chicken

Waffles

Have fun everyone!