Take out Pizza Vs. Homemade

If you are anything like me on Friday night the last thing you want to do is cook, so at my house its take out. But I recently discovered take out pizza actually cost more, and takes longer to order and have delivered. A  homemade deep dish pizza only takes 15-20mins and  the benefits to homemade pizza are tremendous, but I think the biggest benefit is that you and your kids get to experiment with healthy toppings! 

Usually I do a "this" VS. "that" but in our house it's no competition, it's homemade pizza all the way. Here is our favorite deep dish pizza dough recipe, and a list of healthy toppings and alternatives that will keep your kids excited about eating right.

Ingredients

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 1/2 cups bread flour (or 2 cups whole wheat flour and 1/2 a cup flax seed for high fiber pizza)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt (optional) 
• 4 tablespoons corn meal
• You will need a CastIron Skillet (you can also use a deep dish pizza pan)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Stir in flour, salt and oil. Beat until smooth. Let rest for 5 minutes.
3. Using about 1/4 of the dough turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a thick round(about the size of your skillet) . Sprinkle 1 table spoon of cornmeal on to a cold Cast Iron skillet and transfer dough to skillet. Bake plain dough in oven for 8 minutes,  Then spread with desired toppings and bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let baked pizza cool for 5 minutes before serving.

TIPS:  Instead of a bland pizza sauce try using my diced tomato sauce instead. It's 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 teaspoon olive oil, a dash of sea salt, 1 teaspoon crushed garlic, 1 fresh diced tomato.

There are also other pizza sauce alternatives, for a low calorie pizza try using just a table spoon of olive oil over the prepared crust, crushed garlic, basil, and heeps of parmesan cheese.

For a healthy gourmet alternative try pesto sauce or a healthy light Alfredo (recipe here only 124 cal )

Healthy Kid Friendly Toppings:
Black Olives
Bell  Peppers
Corn
Fresh Tomato Slices 
Pineapple 
Spinach
Cilantro 
Mushrooms
Broccoli
Feta Cheese 
Thinly sliced peaches 
Zucchini 
Eggplant 
Scrambled Eggs  *add after pizza and other toppings are baked
Black Beans  Left over roasted Chicken, Pork, or Beef.  

*Usually my kids pick 3 or 4 toppings and we usually tops with a mix of mozzarella cheese and provolone. Believe it or not Scrambled eggs and broccoli are the award winners at my house, corn and left over chicken are close seconds.