Mini Tortilla Pizza

When feeding a family on a budget it's tempting to buy cheap filler-foods, like frozen pizza.

I know ready-made meals are convenient; I posted a blog titled More Meal from Your Frozen Favorites.

Yet I also have concerns about the impact on a family's health and happiness if mealtimes are reduced to consuming food that is made in a factory, frozen, and then sold cheaply.

It's actually very easy to fill up on cheap calories, if that's what eating is all about -- filling up.

But to me, nourishing oneself and a growing family is a holy and sensual act that can't be bought in the frozen-food section of your grocer.

If at the end of the day, time is the reason you seek the convenience of ready-made meals, consider involving your children in the preparation of dinner. Enlist their help and make cooking the family meal a fun and engaging way to be together.

As a kid, I followed my mother around the kitchen as she cooked, I'd tell her about my day at school and she'd give me things to do to help, like shelling peas or peeling potatoes, and this is how I began to appreciate the joys of cooking.

Then as a tween, one of my favorite meals to make was pizza, because like most kids of that age, I loved pizza! I made it on the weekends because I used yeast to create a traditional pizza crust, and as you probably know, when you use yeast, you need plenty of time.

With time in mind, the pizza I'm proposing here is simple, quick and easy. And it's definitely a meal kids will enjoy helping you make, and then enjoy eating even more.

Mini Tortilla Pizza
(using ingredients from my friend's shopping list)
1) Lay tortillas out on a baking tray. As you can see in the pic above, I used the mini corn tortillas so I allocated two per person.
2) Cut up several tomatoes and place slices around the tortilla.
3) Wash and chop leafy greens and or broccoli, then toss into a pan with some garlic, chopped onion and olive oil. Saute gently till greens are tender.
4) Dot the tortilla with sauteed greens.
5) Grate cheddar and mozzarella and spread cheeses over tortillas.
6) Drizzle olive oil over pizza. Pop in oven.
7) Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 mins or so.

Olives, of course, are great flavor pals to mild cheese and sweet tomatoes, but sometimes the salty, brine-like flavor of olives is a bit strong for kids.

It's easy to make family-style pizza without olives, instead, use whatever cheeses you have in the fridge and whatever veggies you have in the crisper. And if you want to add a little protein, dot pizza with ground beef.