Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Pizza- quite possibly the world's most perfect food

When did pizza start to get a bad rap? Was it the scantily clad mascot from the “Caesar! Caesar!” commercials of the 80s? Or the low carb diets of the 90s? Or the trans fat hype of the 2000s? When did it start to go downhill?

I’m not sure when pizza was thrown under the bus like Tatiana from American Idol {how bad is it that I HATE that she’s actually a decent singer?}, but our family still loves pizza. Every person loves and eats it. I can’t say that about too many other foods. There is big excitement on any given pizza night. So much so, that Ollie has jumped up and down at doughnut boxes before thinking they were pizza. I guess all foods that come in large boxes are equally scrumptious.

If you think about it, it is a very well rounded food: grains (bread), fruit (tomato sauce), meat (if you like it that way- and who wouldn’t?) and dairy (cheese). I will be the first to set up camp in the side of tomato = veggie, but apparently those aren’t the facts. But I don’t really trust the "classification" people anyway since a dolphin is a mammal and not a fish. Go figure. Back to pizza and fruit, you can also get pineapple on it. Have you had it? It’s good! How many foods can you have pineapple OR bacon on them and still enjoy them?

Pizza and I go way back. Growing up, we would usually get pizza on Friday nights and my sister and I would eat cold, leftover pizza on Saturday mornings at 5:00 a.m. and would watch old reruns of Get Smart followed by the USA Cartoon Express. {Captaaaaaaain Caaaaavemaaaaan always goes with pizza in my mind.} Great memories with pizza that was just a little tough around the edges, but still tasted delish!

Here’s another fact that’s hard to argue with:
Pizza is served at 4.2 million birthday parties a year.
Ok. I made that up, but I’m assuming that it’s correct. Have you been to a birthday party lately without it?

I realize that if you eat too much of ANYTHING that it can be bad for you particularly those things high in fat and calories- oh, how well I know that , but a little pizza now and then is just good family fun.

Here is a recipe that I adapted from a great pizza I had on a trip to Michigan in 2003. It’s somewhat healthy- at least it includes a veggie- and I hope you like it! It works for me (we ate it tonight)!

Chicken Alfredo Pizza
Ingredients:
1 pre-made whole wheat pizza crust
1 packet or pre-made jar of Alfredo sauce (packets will require other ingredients, but I like the warm sauce better)
1 head of broccoli, chopped
2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
2 c. of mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Spread Alfredo sauce on the pizza crust.
Add broccoli and chicken and then cover with cheese.
Cook for 10 minutes (maybe more if you like it more browned).
Enjoy!

And if you eat it while watching Tatiana on American Idol OR Captain Caveman then you get extra points.
For more Works for me Wednesday tips, check out Rocks In My Dryer.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

You should get some sort of blog mega extra bonus points for mentioning the USA Cartoon Express! Flashbacks of Captain Caveman and the gang...ah, good stuff!

Anonymous said...

Pizza is a big hit in our house too. And if you add extra toppings like mushrooms and olives, I count those as getting my vegetables too. And you're right, cold pizza the next day is awesome!

PS - if Tatiana makes it through tonight, I'm going to scream.

Anonymous said...

OMG. We totally LURV pizza. It helps that we live close enough to Philly to get REALLY GOOD pizza -- not the national chain pizzas. Although I still love me some Pizza Hut.

Anonymous said...

pizza does get a bad rap. We all love it and it is better than lots of stuff deemed healthy.

Anonymous said...

this post hits close to home! I am a firm believer that pizza can be a well-rounded healthy food choice. The Radcliffes were brought up on pizza...usually several times a week. And Holly and I continue to eat it at least once a week in Tallahassee. Here is a recent fact that will amuse you: I ate pizza for dinner each night for an entire week and am not ashamed!! :)

Anonymous said...

Well, Hillary, we love pizza at the Bragan household. It is the meal that I can fix and we 3 eat. we have a picky child on our hand.

Anonymous said...

WE love pizza too! My address is 6707 Taylor Ridge Rd. MOntgomery, AL 36116

Anonymous said...

LOVE pizza. I like all kinds. Even those rectangle ones we had in the cafeteria as kids.

My new favorite "healthy" pizza is this: hummus, red/yellow peppers on top, broccoli and MJ cheese. Surprisingly delish!

:)

a

Anonymous said...

mmmmm...I heart pizza too! I fact, I get the pizza dough from the Publix all of the time, and try new versions. Try your recipe with spinach instead of broccoli, and use a jar pesto instead of the alfredo...yummy! you can even get crazy like me and use goat cheese instead of mozzarella since my little one doesn't do dairy ;)

Anonymous said...

Sounds yummy - I never thought of using Alfredo sauce. I will have to try that. Thanks for the great idea!

Anonymous said...

Double yum! Im totally trying that. We love pizza too...had it last night, in fact. ;)

Anonymous said...

Pizza IS the perfect food.

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