Cooking with Kids: Pizza

My daughter loves to help me in the kitchen. Ordinarily, I'm pretty patient when teaching her new things. Like running behind her bike holding the seat for an entire summer until she was ready to two wheel it on her own. But put me in the kitchen with her and I make Gordon Ramsey look like Mother Theresa.

To encourage her interest in the kitcheny arts without sending her screaming into the therapist's office, I've starting picking projects that go together quick, are something she will eat and don't require precise measuring.

Pizza dough is sold ready to go in just about any supermarket and it's so easy, just follow the directions on the bag. I buy pizza sauce or  doctor up a jar sauce with some garlic and italian seasoning. My daughter and I take turns stretching and patting out the dough into a round pizza sized shape.

While we shape the dough on the pizza peel, the pizza stone preheats in the oven. Then we brush the crust lightly with olive oil, spread the sauce very lightly over the crust and sprinkled on a mix of part skim mozzarella, finely shredded cheddar and parmesan. A heavier brush of oil on the edges of the crust followed by a sprinkling of seasoning and parmesan ensure it will be good to the last bite.


It's so much fun pulling out the bubbling finished pizza cause we made it ourselves! Some carrot sticks and dip on the side and we have a fun weekday meal that also helps me spend some quality time with my baby girl.