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Posts tagged under Pizza. Show all posts.
Once a week I take a break from lunch in the office and pick up my kids and their two friends from school for lunch. Midweek lunchtime is always a rush (factor in removing and finding places for four sets of snow boots, snow pants, gloves, hats to dry, etc). Fortunately, the lovely March Break weather permitted us to take advantage of the warmer temperatures and enjoy a leisurely lunch out. No hats and mitts meant more time to relax. We took a vote and as usual, pizza won (I’ll allow it since it’s healthier and less expensive than most fast food alternatives). One of our favourite local pizza parlours makes their pizza on thin crust, and more times than not, whole wheat or multigrain crust. The kids are happy with tomato sauce and cheese (which can’t be that bad), while I prefer to load up on fresh veggies. Unfortunately, their beverage selection is limited. Juice and milk are sold in large bottles and cartons only and they don’t keep cups in stock. Good thing I brought along their Klean Kanteens and a couple of juice boxes from home.
If you have more time, consider having a pizza party at home with this easy homemade pizza recipe from EatSavvy.
What are you having for lunch?
Photo copyright Holly Sisson Photography
As you all know, we all love to eat here at SavvyHQ, enjoying sandwiches to sushi (and everything in between) at lunchtime in the office. I have a bit of a reputation here for bringing in exotic lunches including my fave Ethiopian dish, Shalan Foul, but there’s one classic meal that I adore—pizza.
I used to work in a pizza restaurant years ago making versions such as the Bacon & Baked Potato Pizza (still a fave at parties). Even though I make my own versions often, I relish the opportunity to enjoy a thin crust pizza cooked in classic wood oven.
Maggie, our new National Account Manager, and I ventured out into the sunshine today to enjoy lunch together. We shared a Caesar salad, before indulging in a spicy sausage pizza with roasted red peppers, red onions and mushrooms.
In the spirit of our ‘get to know you’ lunch, I asked Maggie what her top five fave pizza toppings were, along with her beverage of choice. She picked gorgonzola cheese, salami, zucchini, tomato and mushrooms, all washed down with a Coke.
Myself? I love a thin crust ‘za with pepperoni, mushrooms, red peppers, green olives and goat cheese. For lunch, I enjoy my pizza with water. For dinner, a cold glass of Pinot Grigio is a nice accompaniment.
(Our publisher, Sarah, weighed in as well: she likes mushrooms, sliced tomatoes, green olives and hot peppers.)
What do you like on your pizza?
Is Pizza a Vegetable?
Did you know, if you live in the United States and your children ate a slice of pizza for lunch at school, it would count towards the recommended 5 to 10 servings of vegetables they’re meant to eat each day?
Well, maybe not the pizza itself, but the tomato paste slathered on each slice is going to continue to be recognized as produce, according to the United States congress.
Last week, the American Congress voted for a bill that keeps the pizza on school lunch menus classified as a vegetable because of the approximate two tablespoons of tomato sauce (per slice) found in the ingredients list. The Department of Agriculture wanted that amount upped to ¼ cup per serving in order for it to qualify. However, last week the US House of Representatives refuted the request and determined that as long as there is ⅛ cup of sauce per serving, it can continue to be called a vegetable.
Naturally, plenty of parents are outraged. With childhood obesity rates on the rise, they would prefer pizza and French fries be removed from lunch menus altogether, instead of being falsely categorized as healthy options. If tomato paste is considered a vegetable, is it also fair to say that a glass of wine offers a serving of fruit? And not to be picky, but a tomato is technically a fruit, so why it is being considered a vegetable is even more confusing. But I digress…
My kids don’t have a cafeteria at school, so they either pack a lunch or come home and eat with me. At least once a week I make them a pita/English muffin/panini pizza. I don’t consider that I’m feeding my kids poorly because I give them this option (which they love), but I’m also confident that I’m not offering them any fruits and/or vegetables. I serve those alongside the pizza because, let’s be honest, even a few slices of mushroom or some chopped spinach isn’t going to amount to much nutrition when used as a topping on pizza.
Do you consider the tomato sauce on a piece of pizza equivalent to a serving of vegetables (or fruit)? Are we being too sensitive? And who should decide what is acceptable for our kids to eat—the parents or the government?
Hey, guess what? I hate tomatoes.
I know, I know. How can I possibly be a food writer and despise the vibrant and heirloom orbs that are currently lining the stalls of every market and store I visit? In short, I don’t know. But I like to blame it on the fact that until I went to university, I never saw anyone eat tomatoes other than the way I did growing up: thinly sliced, plated and covered in thin blanket of sugar. True story.
I’ve tried to embrace them now, and the only way I can is if they’re cooked in such a way that they no longer actually taste like tomatoes, or if they’re turned into a pizza sauce, which inevitably means they get covered with cheese and a slew of other toppings (hopefully!).
So I bought a basket of romas last week and turned them into pizza sauce.
The quantities listed below in the recipe make a small batch of sauce—I’m thinking it will cover 3–6 pizzas.
Find the full printable recipe here: Roasted Tomato Pizza Sauce
Now that we’ve been back to school and in the swing of things for three weeks, two things are for certain:
- Letting my children make their own school lunches was a very good move on my part.
- We need more skillet dinners like the one pictured above.
The lunches were a no brainer. With a child going into Grade 7, it was time to pass the lunch-making torch into his capable hands. I’ve only seen him trying to pack a peanut butter sandwich once, and two pieces of fruit are making it into his stainless steel tin each day, so we’re off to a good start.
With respect to the dinner, this chicken and kale pizza bake was definitely one of the most popular things I put on the dinner table lately, and I’m glad because it was so easy that it will certainly be making an appearance each week for the next nine months. Well, maybe not this meal exactly, but definitely a variation of it.
The thing with skillet dinners is that most of them are made the same way, and the ingredients are easily interchangeable. If you don’t have kale on hand, use zucchini, or maybe even mushrooms. Feel free to replace the chicken with pork chops or shrimp. Swap the pizza sauce for crushed tomatoes or white wine, and feta can be used in lieu of mozzarella if you’re in a pinch. The point is, take the method below and use it to make a slew of simple skillet dinners for your family.
Find the full printable recipe here: Chicken and Kale Pizza Bake
Pantry Pizza Sauce
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Last summer, I took on a canning project unlike any other I’ve attempted, and I successfully preserved eight months’ worth of my favourite pizza sauce recipe. The final jar was opened a few days ago when I prepared a few pies for our weekly pizza night, and I’m sad to know I have to wait another four months to get my hands on some fresh tomatoes.
In the meantime, I’m making this pantry pizza sauce. I can’t stock my cupboards with jars of it, but one batch makes enough sauce for eight to ten pizzas, so I tuck half of it in the fridge for up to three weeks and the rest is stored in the freezer for another month—or until it runs out.
The recipe makes use of items you’re certain to have on hand in your pantry, and can be adjusted—dried basil in place oregano, more salt, less sugar—to suit your family’s taste.
Making homemade pizza sauce is nearly as easy as making the dough, and I encourage you to give it a try. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Find the full printable recipe here: Pantry Pizza Sauce
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