Pizza Night and Taking Charge

Earlier this week I was commiserating with a fellow friend and mother of two about how difficult it is to prepare, serve, and actually get our kids to eat healthy food.  We were swapping ideas, and when I told her of our Pizza Night, she asked me for the recipe.  I started telling her the ingredients and directions, but she quickly stopped me and said, "You have got to write this down.  There's no way I'll remember it all."  She suggested I put it on my blog, sort of like how Darby does.  So here it goes, Kim:

I should start by saying I realize I'm not the first to make pizza for my family, but I think we often categorize pizza as a junk food rather than the healthy (or at least healthier) food that it can be, so I've made a few alterations to "health" it up a bit.

First, I buy the Mama Mary's 100% Whole Wheat Mary's Pizza Crusts (found at HEB and Wal-Mart).  They sell them in a two-pack of large ones or a three-pack of minis.  The minis come with a sauce packet -- BONUS!!!  We prepare the minis since they're sized perfect for little kids and individual tastes.  If we lived near a Trader Joe's, I might even buy their fresh whole wheat dough and roll it out myself.  And if I was really good (and had a gazillion extra hours on hand) I might even make it from scratch...

...or maybe not. :) 

I preheat the oven according to the directions.

I decided to take pictures after I had slashed open the package.  Whoops!

Before assembling the pizzas, I thaw out a few of these under running water...

These babies are so versatile in so many dishes.  Usually I buy the fully peeled and deveined ones, but these were on a mega sale.

Then I start cooking up some of this...

Notice the ingredients...

Pork and spices. 

Sure there's quite a bit of sodium, but I think even Oprah and Dr. Oz would approve.

While the sausage crumbles drain, I saute the shrimp in a little white wine, garlic, salt, and pepper...

These guys only take a minute or so per side.

Shortcut:  swap butter or cooking spray for the wine, and McCormick's Montreal Spice (or any other season salt) for the garlic, salt, and pepper. 

Then it's just assembling them, which can be done with or without the children's help, depending upon your patience level at the time of assembly. :)  Note:  Kids are more likely to eat food that they helped prepare.

I drizzle a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil over the crusts...

Or pour a lot and then spread.

Basil Pesto for the shrimp pizza...

Some day I'll grow basil plants so big and beautiful that I'll make my own, but until then I buy this at Sam's and use it for tons of recipes.  I realize it's not quite a vegetable, but I figure getting my kids to eat anything green is one step closer to discovering a love for veggies. 

The sausage pizza gets a red sauce, either your own or the one that comes with the crusts.  After the sauce is a good time to sneak in some diced green bell pepper (for the pesto pizza) or diced fresh tomatoes (on the sausage one).  Next up is the shrimp (I cut mine up first) and sausage.  Then the cheese (whatever you have around - mine is a cheddar and jack mix) and McCormick's Garlic Pepper Blend (per my grandmother).  I swear McCormick's isn't paying me...

Notice Steve gets a half and half, cooked to order after the kids are in bed.  Awwww!

Where is mine, you ask?  I don't really do pizza. *GASP*  I know, I'm a big disappointment to my Italian family.

Pop 'em in the oven for seven minutes, slice 'em up, and BAM! (as Emeril would say) you have dinner in less than 30 minutes!  Think of the variations: pineapple and pepperoni, chicken with alfredo sauce, artichoke hearts and mushrooms (okay, probably not that one for the kids).  The leftovers are great for school lunches, too! 

One of the best parts is it's super affordable, about $6 for the three mini pizzas, including the toppings.  Sometimes I cook up a few extra shrimp and throw them on a salad for myself or keep them for quesadillas the next night. And if you cook up a little extra sausage, save it for breakfast the next morning.  Or better yet, freeze the shrimp and sausage so the next time you make pizza, they're already made. 

I'll stop now; you get the point.

Here are my happy pizza-eaters...

In other news...

If you've spent any amount of time with our family recently, you know that we've been struggling a bit with some of Luke's behavior.  At first it was just a little "potty talk" here and a little talking back there, but it seemed to be escalating.  I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say that absolutely no punishment has been working and he's been flat out lying and defying us on just about every little itty bitty teensy weensy thing imaginable.  We've always described him as independent, slightly stubborn, and fairly demanding (among other things...see my last post for his nicer qualities). Even some of his best traits can quickly turn into his biggest opportunities, and lately we've been getting concerned.  Me in particular, as I seem to have the most trouble with him.  I've found myself questioning every parental move I make:  Am I too hard on him?  Am I too easy on him?  What am I doing wrong?  Why is this so difficult?  When and how will things get better?  I even felt completely defeated and at one point and decided this was just how our relationship would be.  It was terribly sad. 

We've also been worried how this would affect Zach, being that Luke is one of his biggest influences.  I'd already been feeling guilty for not giving Zach a lot of one-on-one time, something that I realize just comes along with being the second child, but still, I knew I could do better.  And realizing that he was about to enter the "Terrible Two's" in which I would have potentially two out of control kids, I decided to take charge.  There had to be something I could do to make our family life better.  There had to be an answer.  Surely I am not the crappiest mom out there or the first to feel like all control has been lost.  I was going to quit sitting around feeling sorry for myself, be the adult, and make things happen.  One of the first goals was for me to take Zach to the monthly Toddler Time at our local community resource center.  We went on Wednesday and had a blast!  We're so often doing things geared towards Luke's age, that I forgot how much fun it is to do "toddler" things.  Instead of trying to keep a watchful eye over both boys, I could sit and focus on Zach and the way he interacted with kids his own age.  I met a woman who's six-year-old has been diagnosed with autism and her two-year-old is being seen for delayed speech.  This most certainly helped put things into perspective for me, but I think we also might have made new friends.  After the class, I went to their library in search of Parenting the Strong-Willed Child, a book that had long ago been recommended to me both by a close friend and our pediatrician.  I actually had checked it out from the library twice, both times returning it before ever getting a chance to read it.  Bad Mom!  I borrowed it again with the promise to myself to actually read it this time.  I picked Luke up from school, put the boys down for a nap, left the house a mess, and starting reading the book.  It was incredible!  Within the first few pages I received the diagnosis:  Luke is a strong-willed child!  For sure!  He fit almost every description of the term.  The thing about a strong-willed child is that they're not necessarily bad, in fact many of the behaviors are quite positive: they tend to be independent, determined, social, confident.  They just need to be handled a little differently.  The book is set up as a five-week program.  Again, I won't bore you with the details, but I'm not supposed to even read about the next step until we can accomplish week one's goal.  That works for me! :) 

I've also started attending the Love and Logic parenting classes which have gained popularity lately.  It's early in the course still, but it seems like the goal is to teach parents to guide their children to make good choices by allowing them to learn from their mistakes.  The classes are taught by a Parenting Specialist and are provided by the group, STARRY, which I've found out is a (mostly) state funded organization which "provides services that protect, educate, and promote strong families".  Yet another resource I may look to in the future.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not counting on the book and classes to solve our issues overnight (or even in five weeks), but I do think just being able to recognize the problem and work towards a goal or goals will be extremely helpful.  No longer will I allow myself to feel helpless and defeated; I will take charge and make a change.  And perhaps I will use this blog to recap my weeks and track our progress.  Not because I think you all are interested, but because I have found that writing things down (or typing) is incredibly therapeutic, and if nothing else may help to hold me accountable.  Oh yeah, and that ultimate goal of showing our kids we're trying our best.

And I may not be growing my own big and beautiful basil plants or organic tomatoes, but look at these beauties popping up in our planters...

Spring has SPrUnG!!!!  Thanks for the bulbs, Julie and Gary.  We're loving them!