Bonus: Family Pizza Night!

I just love having my grand kids in the kitchen "helping" me cook. I think they may love it more than I do. So, instead of ordering Pizza from the local pizza shop, have a "Homemade Pizza Night"! Homemade pizza dough is so much better and if you have a stand alone mixer with a dough hook it is really quite simple to make! So, gather the family and have everyone make their own favorite personal pizza. Or make one large pizza and let the kids each make their own smaller ones. It is fun!

click on recipe so you can actually read it!

Depending on your kids attention span* you can pre-make the dough (an hour or even a day earlier) and have it standing by after they help you 'make' the dough. You can feel like a Food Network Star and bring out the dough that is ready when you set the other up to rise! This dough freezes very well, I split it out into 4 mounds and freeze them in zip lock freezer bags great for using on a night you want pizza quickly. *You can also buy pre-made pizza dough in the bakery/deli area of most grocery stores or the freezer section near the biscuits.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough is my favorite! I modified this recipe using 2 cups Whole Wheat Flour & 1 cup All Purpose Flour.  also adding 1/2 Tbs more Olive Oil & while it is kneading in the mixer I added warm water a little at a time as needed if it was real crumbly.

These are my granddaughters on our pizza night last night.

My youngest granddaughter is almost 2, I gave her some dough to 'make' her pizza and it made her so happy! As you can see it wasn't much but she loved rolling it out. This is great way to instill the love of cooking in children that will carry on when they become parents.

You can purchase kid size rolling pins at TJ Maxx or Ross cheaply or at any kitchen store (that is going to be my next purchase).

Hope this helps give you an idea for bringing the family together, especially with the holidays coming up soon and all through the year!

Jalapeno Chicken Pizza! My son-in-laws Fav.

  "Creating Smiles One Recipe at a Time!"