day 8: pizza with nate

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Today was a long day. Struggling through home schooling plus working—conference calls and kids at home don’t mix. I wound up working in our big closet. Today’s specials were weak (one was frozen pizza) and one of my customers complained about eating pizza and pasta all the time. Welcome to covid-19. You’re punished.

I did do a desperate cooking “elective” with the kids. They were fighting non-stop so I just screamed: Who wants to do a cooking project and who wants to do TypingPal? Cooking was suddenly very popular. I quickly thought of a recipe while they wrestled on the floor—one I wrote about on this blog when Nate was about four. When I made Nate read the post aloud, he realized I’ve been writing about him for years. (Is this me? he asked incredulously.) We made the amazingly easy two-ingredient dough (which is a great quarantine kid-cooking project by the way!)

Then Nate had a Zoom call with a buddy. (Two 10-year-old boys trying to chit-chat can be painful but also cute. And also just shows us how strange this whole period is: when is the last time two fifth grade boys asked each other about their kitchens?)

And who hasn’t been outside or showered in 3 days, raise your hand!

pizza bagels

We ate these all the time as kids—made with mini Lenders of course. I didn't have minis or Lenders but I did have some whole wheat everything bagels which I scooped out and gave to the boys with a bowl of tomato sauce and cheese. The boys liked making them, probably more than they liked eating them though Nate finished most of his. We all agreed next time--less cheese. When I asked what other ingredients we might add, Mack suggested a fried egg and Nate said bacon. Duh.

two ingredient pizza

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A few months ago Kirsten, babysitter extraordinaire who works for Remi's family, told me about a recipe she had found online. Pizza dough made from 1 cup yogurt and 1 cup flour. That's it!! I was skeptical but she swore by it. I  first tried it out at my inlaws and it was a hit, even with the adults. The dough was crispy and soft and full of flavor.

Since then I make it frequently, always including the kids in the process because it's so super simple and I like the idea of them learning to cook or at least appreciate cooking. But the other day when I suggested we make yogurt pizza for dinner, Nate said he wasn't interested.

"What if I make the dough and you guys do toppings?" I suggested

"Yeah Sure." His new response to everything.

This actually worked much better because it was faster and not nearly as messy without the kids throwing flour all over the floor and rubbing yogurt in their hair. 

Two-Ingredient Pizza

  • 1 cup plain whole yogurt (I use Fage)
  • 1 cup self-rising flour (or add 1 tsp baking powder  and 1/4 tsp salt to all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 450.

Mix in large bowl and then knead (I do this in the bowl to save cleanup) for 5 minutes, adding flour if needed, until it's tacky but not sticky. At this point I cheat a bit and add a few drops of olive oil to the dough, but you don't have to. Roll the dough out thin and place either on a board (if you're transferring to a hot pizza stone) or on the oiled underside of a sheet pan. Then hand it over to the kids with a bowl of tomato sauce (canned) and a bowl of shredded Mozzarella. You can put the pan right in the oven or slide the masterpiece onto your stone.

Bake about 10-12 minutes until cheese is bubbly and crust is starting to brown.