BUILD YOUR OWN Pizza Station!
Recipe
When I was growing up pizza was for Fridays. My middle school offered pizza lunch on Fridays and I would be so excited to have pizza for lunch. It was the best end-of-the-week meal. Friday nights were often pizza and movie night too. Instead of ordering in, make your own with all the fixings you want. Building a pizza making station can be fun for us adults too. A quick gathering for a game night and don’t know what to make, get your guests to do the work for you. Build a pizza making station and share stories along the way. In order to make this a complete meal that’s an acceptable reimbursable meal for the school lunch program, serve your pizza with a garden salad and some fresh fruit. The USDA requires that all grains served in school meals programs are whole grains. This is why it’s important to choose a whole wheat crust. Whole wheat lavish bread is tasty and meets this requirement. I like using lavish bread because I like a thin crust pizza over a pan crust pizza. Plus, it toasts up so quickly. To make your pizzas, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray, lay 1 - 2 pieces of lavish bread on the sheet tray. Spray lightly with cooking spray. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove pan from oven. Flip lavish bread over. Top with your favorite toppings. Try a thin layer of pizza sauce (1/2 Cup), Shredded mozzarella cheese (enough to cover the pizza, ~1/2 to 3/4 Cup), pepperoni slices, sliced mushrooms, and sliced onions and bell peppers. Or try pesto, Parmesan cheese, fresh sliced mozzarella cheese, and fresh cherry tomatoes. Place your pizza back into the oven for 5 minutes until the cheese melts and is ooey and gooey. Slice and serve. It’s so quick that you can make them in batches without having to wait for a long time.
Serves as Many as Like
What’s Needed • Whole Wheat Lavish Bread (Or Another kind of Whole Wheat Flatbread) • About 1/2 cup Pizza Sauce per Pizza • All the Toppings You Love, and Some to Try. (See Suggestions on the previous page) • Mozzarella Cheese Steps 1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray baking sheet and lavish bread with nonstick spray. 2. Place lavish bread on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 3 minutes on one side. Remove from oven. Flip on other side. 3. Place desired toppings on lavish bread. 4. Place back into oven and cook for 5 minutes until cheeses have melted. 5. Slice and Serve. Repeat as desired.
Baltimore County Schools (MD) Bites With Applewhite Bettina J. Applewhite, SNS
One Way to get your kids to eat better is to get them involved in the process. Who doesn’t like pizza? It’s even better when you get to add in your own toppings. This do-it-yourself pizza comes together really quickly so it’s great for a mid-day activity that also serves as a delicious lunch. I don’t like many hands in the kitchen while I’m cooking but if those hands are little hands that are learning, I’m excited for it. Children learn by doing and observing. Working together to prepare a meal, gets them excited for the meal in front of them. It gives them ownership and for us trying to keep them fed, it helps them choose exactly what they want for their meals. Putting together a pizza making station can be pretty simple. I use whole wheat lavish bread which is already cooked so it toasts quickly for a delicious thin crust pizza in no time. The day before or a few minutes before put several different toppings in little bowls. You can have a few basic ingredients like pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni or you can have a smorgasbord full of ingredients like mushrooms, mini-meatballs, pesto, fresh basil, and fresh mozzarella.
What You Need to Build a Pizza Making Station: • Whole Wheat Lavish Bread • Pizza Sauce • Mozzarella Cheese • Your Favorite Toppings • Pepperoni • Mushrooms • Mini-Meatballs • Italian Sausage • Fresh Tomatoes • Sliced Onions • Sliced Bell Peppers Even Some Unique Toppings • Pesto • Parmesan Cheese • Anchovies • Fresh Sliced Mozzarella • Fresh Basil • Sliced Chicken Breast • Broccoli The key is to choose some foods that your children will like and a couple that you’re unsure if they’ve even tried before. Variety is key. They can learn while they build. Maybe they haven’t tried black olives before but it’s an option for a topping. They can taste one before they put it on their pizza to see if they would like it. Or maybe they’re familiar with broccoli but they’ve never had broccoli on pizza. Let’s try it to see how it turns out.
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Enjoy!
Bettina is a Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist, School Nutrition Specialist, and all-around Foodie. She’s had a passion for food and sharing that love of food with others since childhood. In her teenage years, she started cooking at home for her mom. She learned from watching cooking shows and studying cookbooks. As she continued to cook family dinners, I was able to explore more foods and exotic dishes. When I had to start a career, It was important for her to blend her love of science with her love of food. Bettina gained her masters’ degree in Integrative Bioscience with a concentration in Nutrition and became a Registered Dietitian- Nutritionist. School nutrition is where she’s found her niche and became a credentialed School Nutrition Specialist. She enjoys sharing her love of food with younger generations. Seeing students taste something new sparks joy in her life. Bettina J. Applewhite, SNS Baltimore County Schools (MD) | Bites With Applewhite
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