19 April 2011

Pita Pizzas

Pizza Toppings.

 Pita Pizzas. My adult variation of my most beloved "pizza nights" growing up. My family was frugal. When I was young I thought it was stingy, but frugal and stingy are two very different things. My parents didn't take us out to eat much, and ordering pizza for delivery counted as eating out. Healthy eating was also instilled in us as kids so a greasy Domino's pizza was a rarity. Instead my mom would pick up some bagels, pizza sauce, cheese and toppings and we would have a family game night where we would each get to build our own personal pizzas. This was so creative of my mother and made it feel like a privilege, just like eating out would have been. 


Building our pizzas.

There were a lot of things, like these pizzas, that I didn't understand until later. My brother and I remember them as the coolest projects, a real splurge! I remember being in my teens and reminiscing about the past with my mother. For a time after my parents divorce, when my brother and I were still very young, we were raised by single parents. At my moms house we ate lots of spaghetti and sauce with Jell-O jigglers for dessert, and at my dad's we had a standard meal of sloppy joe's, cheddar Pringles and canned peas. My brother and I thought these things were such treat! It wasn't until we started reminiscing that we discovered that these treats were the cheapest of the cheap and our parents effort to make due with little to no cash.


Warm, melty, veggie pizza!

Pita Pizza is my variation and I've substituted the bagels for whole wheat pitas. Also our version is vegetarian and has a lot more veggie varieties than you or your kids may like. But I'll tell you and your kids the same thing your momma always said, "you need to eat your veggies!!!" 


Pita Pizzas

Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Pitas
1 jar of pizza sauce
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Baby Spinach
Thinly sliced tomatoes
Chopped veggies:
    Onion
    Mushroom
    Green and red bell pepper
    Squash
    Zucchini
    (any others you prefer)
Salt
Pepper
Oregano

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with a silpat or foil. If you use foil you may want to brush the undersides of the pita with olive oil as they tend to stick.

Build your pizza to your desires and place them in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until melted and bubbly and the pitas are crisp on the edges.



What are some fun, inexpensive projects your parents did to make food fun?


 

30 comments:

  1. My boyfriend made a bacon, duck, and mushroom pizza from scratch last night. I know it sounds kinda weird, but trust me, it was delicious!

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  2. Thats so sweet, it isn't until we get older that we realize why our parents did the things they did. This pizza looks beautiful, I am a veggie enthusiast so you don't have to tell me twice to eat my veggies. I'll have to try this. Seems easy and delicious!

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  3. I love pita pizzas! I actually prefer home-made versions like this rather than order-in. They're delicious made with naan bread as well if you can find it. Great blog btw! :)

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  4. Vivian- Your boyfriend gets major man points for making you such a gourmet pizza!

    Polyvorina- Naan bread! Why didn't I think of that. That would be perfect for a yummy flatbread version. I am ON it!

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  5. ohhh I have to try making this. I'm trying to eat healthier this year and this pizza is yum :)

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  6. Yummy! I love homemade pizza better than anything else. Luckily my mom never had to worry about me not wanting to eat or wanting to go out and eat. :) Going to McDonald's was something I literally looked forward to just like the presents on my birthday. ;) And hamburgers done at home taste so much better too. ;)

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  7. Okay, this post just made me REALLY want some pizza and its only 9:45 AM! Love the recipe. I've never tried this on pita bread, I usually use whole wheat tortillas, but this is a great idea for a little thicker crust! I usually grow some basil and oregano and love throwing those herbs in the mix!

    I do LOVE NC! I was born and raised here and I know there are a lot of great places to live in the US, but in my opinion this this the best! :) We are 2 hrs from the mountains, 4 hrs from the beach, its hot in the summer we usually get a good snow every year in the winter and the spring and fall are just right in the middle! ... what more could you ask for?!

    Thanks so much for visiting my blog! Keep in touch!

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  8. Those look delish! Can't wait to make some.

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  9. Ok seriously. I'm going to have to stop reading your blog when I'm hungry. :)

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  10. Yum! My husband and I love making pita pizzas, but unfortunately we don't use as many veggies in ours like y'all do. We should really change that! Love the way the photographs and the pizzas turned out. Delish!

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  11. um omg Hannah, please come to slc and make these for me! looks so yummy!!
    xo, Alexandra

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  12. oh.my.ammmmmazing.
    i was already hungry and then i read this post. i am seconds away from taking a bite out of my phone.

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  13. That veggie picture is gorgeous! ...Homemade pizza is definitely one of life greatest pleasures :)

    The trick I remember my mom doing for us when we were little was cutting faces (eyes, nose, mouth) out of our sandwiches-- somehow sandwiches with smiley faces tasted better than the plain Jane kind. Even better, when the weather got warm enough (i.e.: Summer) she'd take us outside for picnic lunches in the backyard!

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  14. Ok, that's officially the most pretty pizza baby I've ever seen! mmmmmm

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  15. Aw! This post really made me smile! My mom use to do the same with mince (or ground beef in America??), we had it coming out of our ears! She always use to joke that she was going to write a cookbook called "101 Wonders of Mince", I vowed never to eat it ever again! But now I'm older I realise that it's cheap and versatile so we have it all the time! I love love love the idea of a pita pizza! Thanks for the idea Hannah!

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  16. Yum! We often make our own pizzas, but I don't think I've tried it on a pita - great idea :)

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  17. I love that so many of you are homemade pizza people! Let's hear it for DIYers! :)

    Meghan- It's amazing all the ways parents cut corners just to make do. My mom got to be a pro at that through the years. And it rubbed off on me.

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  18. Those are the most easiest and yummiest pizzas to make. Yours looks delish and I'm getting hungry and it's only 3pm!!

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  19. YUmmm!!!!!! I am such a sucker for anything Pita's :)

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  20. Healthy, quick pita? Holy cow, I may never eat anything else every again.

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  21. Now I want to make pizza! We've made pizza bagels before with just sauce and cheese but these look a lot better and are probably better for you! :)

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  22. Funny- I feel the same as you. When I was little I thought my parents were cheap. Now that I am an adult, I look back on all of the cool & creative things we did, like making pizza. After my dad died, my mom went back to school and I had to make my own dinner at night. It usually ended up being French toast or cereal. Maybe that's why I don't like cooking (?) Anyway, I missed our dinners at home.

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  23. great idea - they look so yummy and simple!

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  24. So Delicious! At my dorm cafeteria they make pita pizzas as well; however, they don't look nearly as delicious as yours do! And the toppings you put on it sound great! I may have to make these at home sometime!

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  25. oh i love pita bread! looks delicious :) we used to make homemade bread...always smelled & tasted so good

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  26. My mother was actually horrible at making food fun. Honestly, I don't know how I turned into the foodie that I did. But I like the idea of pita pizzas. I thought I was finished with dinner, but I'm suddenly hungry again.

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  27. Wow! I love pizzas, makes me crave to indulge, thanks for sharing..

    help for single Dads

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  28. Mmmhmmm We make these ALL the time!! Best homemade pizzas EVER!!!

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