Pinspired and Produced #5^{9}

I had a little help with this one.  The kids and I made these fantastic pizza rolls the other night.  As soon as I saw this idea on Pinterest from Krissy at B.Inspired, Mama, I started to think about how I could change it up to make it work for my kids.  I think Krissy’s kids are much younger (they run in the cheese stick and butter knife set).  My two are quite a bit older.  I’m really enjoying this age.  At 7 and 10 they can use all but the biggest knives and they can even do some cooking projects completely on their own.  Recently when I wanted to spend a few hours working in the garden and they wanted to do a baking project – everyone was happy!  Though I would caution that baking really requires attention to detail that might not be present in a 7 year old girl and a 10 year old boy. . .  For baking, exact amounts of wet and dry are necessary to come up with an edible product.  There is chemistry involved.  Now, something like pizza rolls is a different story.  If it looks good when you pile up the ingredients – it is going to taste even better when it comes out of the oven.

There is another important aspect to this project.  I’m putting these kids into training.  I am fully expecting them to be able to handle entire family dinners on their own.  Soon.  And a dinner doesn’t have to be complex.  I think these pizza rolls next to a nice green salad make a perfect meal.  My kids love to work in the kitchen.  With very little prep work on my part, a project like this one nearly guarantees a peaceful, squabble free evening.  The kids stay busy and engaged and they are proud of their finished product.  We did this on a week night, too.  It’s pretty quick.  (even quicker if your mom doesn’t keep making you stop what you’re doing so she can take pictures)

Here are the ingredients I gathered and how I prepped them for the kids:

Whole wheat pizza dough – our store has a pizza making section – but most groceries have this.

Part Skim Mozzerella – shredded

Pesto – if it were summer, I would have fresh made from the garden – but some ready made versions are decent.

Red onion- I sliced them myself – mainly because I like them a certain way. . .

Chicken Sausage – I cut it into thin half moons

Diced Tomatoes – If you can get them, please try Red Pack petite diced tomatoes. I buy the ones with sweet onions but this brand is really superior to all of the others I have tried for taste and texture.

Kosher Salt, Garlic Powder, Flour – these aren’t in the picture. . .

 

I did help the kids a bit with deciding how much dough to use for each roll.  I plucked off a chunk that seemed reasonable and (this is important) dunked it in flour before giving it a shake and handing it over to a kid with a rolling pin.  If you’re wondering how thick or thin to make your dough – go for thin.  The only not-so-perfect part of ours was that they were a bit too bready. . . but rememebr, if they look good when you put them together. . .they’re bound to taste great when they’re done.

My advice would be to keep your ingredients to one end of the roll as you see it in this picture.  As far as the shape of the dough – I wouldn’t worry too much about that.  I was trying to approximate the triangular shape of B.Inspired, Mama’s crescent rolls but really, as long as you have a spot to place your ingredients and some more dough to wrap it in – you’re good to go!

After you get them all rolled up and placed on an oiled cookie sheet, give them a sprinkle of garlic powder and Kosher salt.  The amount of time you need to cook them will vary depending on how thick your crust is.  We cooked ours for about 20 minutes at 350.  Next time I would  1) make the crust thinner  2) cook them at a higher temp (400)  3) make more of them!

Here is a look at how they came out!  I was very pleased and the kids were ecstatic!

Obviously, you can put whatever ingredients your family enjoys inside of these rolls.  I think now that they have made them once with my help, the kids might be able to pull this one off on their own.  I’m on the hunt now for dinner recipes that they can manage.  It’s not just to give me a break in the kitchen but to foster their independence and give them skills and confidence in the kitchen.  They’ll need that their whole life long.

Do your kids cook?  What do they make?  How much help do you offer?  I’d love to hear what’s going on in your kitchen! Drop me a line – leave a comment!

 

 

 

 

 

By Breida Category: Cooking, Kids Tags: cooking for kids, easy kids recipe, healthy pizza rolls, home made pizza, kids making dinner, pesto, Pinspired and Produced, whole wheat pizza