How often do you open the pantry door and just stare? Are you opening your refrigerator out of
habit? Nibbling on those cookies and
donuts in the office?
Or
Does your child’s classroom have a designated snack time
every day but not a recess time? Do you
kids ask for a snack at random times-sometimes within an hour of eating?
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| Biking in Moab |
You might be bored and your kids might be bored.
The cure? Go and do
something, anything, outside. When you
done, reward your family with a great meal that everyone help make, Pizza
Salad. Recipe below.
In my own experience, my kids ask for food when they seem
bored, eat snacks purely out of habit, and I find myself doing the same thing. As a family, we make a very conscious effort
to go outside, find a project, or otherwise occupy ourselves. The iPad doesn’t count!
As parents, we are the examples of choices and habits that
we eventually expect out of children. It’s
okay to challenge them, make them look at the world differently, and to expect
great things.
Pizza Salad is a great way to start looking at the world
differently, as it is a twist on pizza that is almost unheard of (unless you
live in my town). Pizza Salad is the creation
of a local pizzeria and it is a large salad atop a pizza crust. Minimal cheese, lots of greens, and I added some
smoked salmon. Every plate was cleaned!
Pizza Salad
Dough:
½ cup of flour
1 ½ teaspoons of active dry yeast
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 cup of warm water
Mix above ingredients and allow to rest for 15 minutes. This creates the ‘sponge’. Add 2 cups of flour, 2 tablespoons of olive
oil, 1 teaspoon of salt. Knead for 10
minutes and allow dough to proof in a warm, sunlit area of your home for 1
hour. Divide dough into 6-7 equal balls
of dough and roll out dough into plate sized rounds.
- Clean salad greens and tear into small pieces.
- Add sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, green onion, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, etc.
- 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
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| Go for hike |
Bake dough in the oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or
place dough directly on a hot grill (400 degrees) for 3 minutes on each side. Top each pizza dough round with a mixture of salad greens,
vegetables, cheese, and balsamic dressing. Serve each person their own
pizza salad.
Making this dinner is also a great cure for your boredom.
