Make your own Pizza Lunchables

I loved seeing all the children today at the Children's Museum of Green Bay! It was United Health's Healthy Kids Week, and today's focus was healthy lunches. I enjoyed meeting Becky Engum, Dietitian and author of "Creative Kidney Cooking" who also showed kids how to eat a healthy lunch by making a colorful plate. As promised, here are the recipes used for the Make your own Pizza Lunchables.


 Pizza Sauce

 Ingredients:   28 oz. can diced petite tomatoes, undrained
3 tbsp. olive oil
 1 tbsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
 ½ tsp. dried marjoram
 ¼ tsp. salt
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced

 Directions:   Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit. Use an immersion blender (or potato masher) to break up tomato chunks for a smooth sauce. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

 Recipe adapted from http://annies-eats.com/2009/07/23/pizza-sauce/

 Pizza Crust:
 No Fail Pizza Crust

 2 1/2 - cups all purpose flour
1 - teaspoon salt
1 - cup warm water
1 - tablespoon baking powder
4 - tablespoons butter, softened
1 - 1/4 oz packet yeast (I used rapid rise)

 Dissolve the yeast in warm water and set aside. Mix the flour, salt and baking powder together. Add the softened butter and cut into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or fork. Add the yeast mixture and stir together to combine. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until well blended. Place the pizza dough into a oiled bowl and turn the dough to coat. Let rest for about 20 minutes. Cover the bowl with dish towel or plastic wrap while the dough rests. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Separate dough into 18-20 golf ball size pizza dough balls. Set aside and let the dough rest for about 10 minutes. On a floured surface roll out each pizza dough ball into a 4 inch circle. Place each pizza round on a pizza pan or baking stone. Prick each with a fork a few times. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the bottoms are very lightly brown. Remove from oven and let cool before removing from pizza pan. 

Recipe from: http://www.mommyskitchen.net/2011/08/diy-pizza-lunchables-another-back-to.html

 I also made the crust, rolled it out and cut circles with a biscuit cutter. This yielded a thicker, softer crust. Either way is fine, it just depends on children's taste preference.