In my house, we have Pizza Movie Night every Friday. This involves eating pizza for dinner, rotating through who gets to choose the movie (youngest to oldest), and some kind of dessert (usually ice cream). The purpose of Pizza Movie Night is twofold. The first is that I wanted to provide an experience for my children to have unlimited access to a dessert at some point in their normal dietary pattern. My aim in this is to help reassure them that while I may say no to dessert-like things sometimes, there is always going to be some in the future.

I started unlimited ice cream night when it seemed my oldest started to feel restricted when it came to sweets. While I don’t want to offer unlimited ice cream every night, because our bodies need all kinds of foods to run well, I don’t want them to feel restricted. Feelings of restriction can lead to obsession or preoccupation with the restricted food, sneaking sweets or other restricted food, and an inability to self regulate fullness when presented with restricted foods. Anyone who has ever dieted can probably relate to this. I want my children to be able to see treats as just another food. I want to provide freedom within boundaries I am comfortable with. This concept comes from Ellyn Satter and her Division of Responsibility in Feeding. I talk more in depth on this topic here.

Long story long…I wanted a food that I knew was a whole house winner to pair with unlimited ice cream night in the hopes that there would be a chance at consuming something with protein and/or fiber. Enter: pizza. We often pair ice cream and pizza with some veggie or fruit we have kicking around the fridge.

The second reason for Pizza Movie Night is that I am tired by the end of the week and so are my kids and husband. It’s exhausting doing all the things that are expected of us, so it is a nice way to start the weekend with a bit of freedom and fun. Pizza is easy. I love the communal aspect of watching a movie together as a family and having that shared experience. It is a gold star tradition that I hope we keep doing as long as possible.

On occasion, I will make the pizza. I was gifted a portable pizza oven a few years ago, and I love busting that out over the summer. Usually though, we rotate between take out pizza, frozen pizza, and to add variety, the realm of pizza-related snacks. What is a pizza-related snack, you ask? Think pizza rolls, pizza bagels, pizza quesadillas (usually when I have forgotten to buy pizza), and of course, Pizza English Muffins.

Pizza English Muffins are a classic kid food for a reason. I have seen it on more kid cooking lists and blogs than I can count. It is easy, cheap, and a very good recipe for kids to help with. This recipe uses grated mushrooms to introduce kids to this vegetable in a fun, tasty way, but you’re welcome to sub with your veggie of choice. Zucchini, squash, carrot, bell pepper, and tomato are all great options. Carrot may benefit from being cooked a bit with the sauce to soften it, but the rest should melt into the sauce when the whole thing is broiled. Pair with Mushrooms in the Rain by Mira Ginsburg for a fun little mushroom exploration.

English Muffin Pizzas

Ingredients

4 oz mushrooms

1 cup pizza sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

4 whole wheat English muffins

Instructions

1. Preheat broiler on high in oven or toaster oven. 
2. Grate mushrooms. 
3. Break apart English muffins. Spread 1-2 Tablespoons sauce on top of each muffin slice. 
4. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon grated mushrooms. 
5. Sprinkle with 1 Tablespoon cheese. 
6. Toast in oven or toaster oven until cheese is melted, 2-3 minutes. 

Notes: 

• Can include other favorite pizza toppings as options. 
• Optional to make silly faces using favorite toppings such as sliced black olive eyes, pepperoni mouth, red onion slices hair, etc. 
• Present pizza as “pizza” and not “mushroom pizza”, but tell them there are mushrooms if asked. 
• Great activities for kids: chopping mushrooms as small as possible (using kid-safe knife), sprinkling mushroom shreds and cheese, spreading pizza sauce, and setting timer. 
• Other options for easy pizza crusts: thin round bread, waffles, whole wheat bread slices, tortillas, and pita pockets.