For those of you who have picky children, take heart! Most of the ingredients, including the mushrooms and olives, were suggested by formerly picky eaters. I’m talking seriously picky eaters! So picky, I could count the foods they would eat on my hands. So picky that I packed a cooler of food they would eat whenever we visited friends or family. So picky that I seriously wondered what I had done wrong to create such picky eaters.
I had one rule that I stuck to during those trying years: I asked my children to taste the food I cooked, even the food they were sure they tried a month before and hated. By try, I don’t mean eat. I realized that taking a whole bite might have been too much for them, so I let them just stick their tongue to it and taste it. Tastes led to bites often enough that I didn’t escalate my food trying rules. Occasionally, I let a sniff satisfy the taste test if the child was convinced that the item was too horrid to taste. Slowly, they added more food to their diet. And at some point they started acquiring new foods at an exponential rate. I still remember the day I was in the produce section of our store and my oldest son announced everything smelled so good, he wanted me to buy one of everything.
I used my Slightly Healthier Gluten-Free Garlic and Herb Pizza Crust and my Chunky Pizza Sauce recipe. My oldest son’s reaction to dairy has become a lot more extreme, so I sprinkled a little Daiya Dairy-free (and soy-free) Mozzarella on the top, but feel free to smother it if you can. To compensate for the minimal cheese, I tossed the meat and veggies in Italian dressing to add more flavor.
Even though this has some exotic ingredients, I was able to keep the price down by taking advantage of sales and using small amounts on the pizza. I also saved money by using frozen artichoke hearts.
- enough pizza dough for a large pizza
- 1 cup pizza sauce
- ¾ cup cooked chicken, diced
- ¾ cup artichokes hearts
- ¼ cup mushrooms, diced
- ¼ cup olives, diced
- 2 tablespoons Italian dressing
- cheese (optional)
- Prepare pizza dough according to directions.
- While pizza crust is cooking, combine chicken and vegetables in a bowl. Pour the dressing over the top and toss to coat.
- Spread pizza sauce over the pizza crust.
- Top with chicken and vegetables.
- Sprinkle cheese over the top.
- Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.
I only got one piece. 🙁 In the interest of full disclosure I should tell you that my 5 year old took one look at it and said, I’m only eating the sauce and the cheese. One taste at a time and pretty soon he will be begging for seconds or even thirds like his big brother. 🙂
More Pizza Recipes:
This post is linked to $5 Dinner Challenge, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, and Hearth and Soul Hop.
Donna Blake says
Great recipe these are some of my favorite foods and would live to try it on pizza. I think I will use flour tortillas for my crust with a little less ingredients to make it easier to eat.
Wonderwoman says
Ooooh…sounds scrumptious! Just bought some canned artichoke hearts. Next time will look for frozen ones, never have looked for them.
Swathi says
I haven’t tried artichoke in pizza sure it is going to be delicious. Thanks Alea for this wonderful recipe sharing and hosting with Hearth and soul blog hop.
Beth @ Aunt B's Kitchen says
Nice flavourful combo Alea. I’ll bet this was delicious. 🙂
Loved your “one taste at a time” comment. Kids’ tastes change from day to day. They won’t like everything but you’re quite right in thinking that, if encouraged to develop an adventurous palate, they’ll be open (and likely) to enjoy most foods.
April @ The 21st Century Housewife says
This pizza sounds delicious. I like the idea of tossing the toppings in Italian dressing first to add flavour too.
You have some wonderful ideas for encouraging picky eaters to be less picky in this post. I’ve recently learned that our taste buds are replaced approximately every two weeks, so it’s definitely a great idea to keep re-introducing foods to children as you suggest doing.
mjskit says
We love homemade pizza so I’m always on the hunt for new recipes. I love this one! Fresh, healthy and delicious!