Kid's Valentine's Feast (Pizza and Cupid's Cherry Floats)

KIDS’ VALENTINE’S FEAST (PIZZA & CUPID’S CHERRY FLOATS)

My son, Bentley, has been making pizza for us every Sunday night since he was 10 years old. He can make this by himself, including grinding the wheat. It’s a great recipe if you’re looking to teach your kids how to make a meal independently. (It’s also a great confidence boost because most people love pizza and give the chef lots of praise!)  The two variations I’ve included are our family favorites.

Heart Shaped Pizza Dough

(Recipe from The Food Nanny)

Makes two 12-inch thin-crust pizzas

1 TBSP active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

Sprinkle of sugar

2 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP honey

¼ tsp salt

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 425.

Mix the yeast, water and sugar in a small bowl, cover and let stand until foamy, 5-10 minutes.

Mix the oil, honey, salt and yeast mixture in Bosch. Add one cup of flour at a time. Knead in Bosch for about 2 minutes or by hand for 4 minutes or so. (Dough should be moderately stiff.)

Lightly grease pizza stone or pan with oil.

Divide dough in half. Create a ball with dough, then roll out with rolling pin on floured surface. Gently stretch dough to fill the pan. (We used a pizza cutter to create the “heart” shapes.)

Let the dough rise (it won’t rise very much) while you make the pizza sauce.

Pizza Sauce

Makes enough for two large pizzas. (If we decide to make taco pizza and regular pizza, I freeze the other half of this sauce. My kids prefer the frozen version of this sauce although I’m not sure why.)

15 oz can tomato sauce

1 tsp dried basil

½ tsp garlic salt

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

Pinch of sugar

Mix the above ingredients in a small bowl.

Spread sauce on pizza dough, top with your fav toppings, bake at 425 15-20 minutes on lowest rack.

Bentley’s Taco Pizza Sauce & Instructions

(original recipe by my cute boy)

Makes enough for two large pizzas. (If we decide to make taco pizza and regular pizza, I freeze the other half of this sauce.)

1 can refried beans

1 can Campbell’s tomato soup

1-2 TBSP taco seasoning

Mix above ingredients, spread on pizza, add chopped onions if you like them, top with cheese, and follow baking directions below.

Bake at 425 15-20 minutes on lowest rack.

Once baked, top with fresh lettuce and tomatoes.

Cupid’s Cherry Floats

No baking/cooking here. I imagine most of you can figure this one out (similar to root beer floats), but I’ll give the instructions below anyway.

Place 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream into a mug. Pour Cherry 7-up on top. Bite off both ends of your licorice for use as a straw. (Serve hours before bedtime if you want the sugar high to wear off.)

Happy Valentine’s Day!