After school snacks

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Children coming home hungry and needing to be refueled for homework or after school activities is always a fun time at our house. We use this time to catch our breath, hear the latest news from our day and have a fun snack.

My son Peyton enjoys helping me in the kitchen, and one of his favorite things to make and eat is pizza. I make some dough earlier in the day, or sometimes, I purchase it from a pizzeria or grocery store. I have the sauce ready so that when he comes home we can put the pizza together. He likes to roll out the dough and shred the cheese to make individual pizzas. He puts his favorite toppings on and we bake them. We generally eat dinner late, so this is a good snack to carry us from homework to dinner.

Another favorite after school snack or even an after dinner dessert is a dessert pizza. There are several steps in preparing this pizza, but it is fun to make and delicious! My children also have fits over my famous Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies. Peyton likes to dunk them in milk, and Caroline makes homemade ice cream sandwiches. We also have fresh fruit or veggies and some sort of dip to go along with it.

Cheese is another favorite snack at our house. I introduce different ones from all over the world and serve them with crackers.

Cooking with your children is a fun way to discover different types of food as well as to get the kids to try new things. While you spend time in the kitchen, you can learn the latest happenings at school.

Have a great school year from our table to yours!

Pizza Dough

  • 1 teaspoon yeast
  • 1⁄2 cup warm water (approximately 105 degrees)
  • 1 1⁄2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

Dissolve the yeast in the water and set aside for about 5 minutes.

Combine all ingredients and add the dissolved yeast in a mixing bowl. Allow the flour mixture and yeast to combine gradually on low speed.

Remove dough from mixing bowl and place in a lightly oiled glass bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise until dough doubles (about two hours).

Punch dough down and cover again to allow it to rise until double in size (again about two hours). Remove from bowl and shape into desired size crust. Top with sauce and favorite toppings. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-17 minutes.

Pizza Sauce

  • 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, diced
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon red pepper flake
  • 1⁄4 cup fresh parsley chopped
  • Salt and Pepper

Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add oregano, red pepper flake, parsley and salt and pepper. Add crushed tomatoes and simmer about 30 minutes.

Triple Chocolate Pizza

  • 1 recipe pizza dough*
  • Jarred chocolate-hazelnut spread, such as Nutella
  • Dark chocolate chips
  • Milk chocolate chunks
  • White chocolate chips
  • Mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough and place on pizza pan. Bake dough for about 8 minutes. Add chocolate spread and chocolate chips. Bake for about 10 minutes or until chips have melted. Add marshmallows and bake until they brown. Be careful not to burn chocolate.

*You can also buy ready-to-bake pizza dough from the bakery at Publix.

Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • 2 1⁄4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 3⁄4 cup sugar
  • 3⁄4 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 12 ounces of chocolate (dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips and milk chocolate chunks)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix together flour, soda and salt. Set set aside. Beat butter and sugars together until creamy. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop cookies evenly spaced apart and bake for about 10- 11 minutes or until golden.

Yogurt Dip

Serve this yogurt dip for extra flavor with a tray of in-season fruits.

  • 16 ounces vanilla Greek yogurt
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • Honey, to taste

Mix all ingredients together and serve.