What Do YOU Do with Pineapple?

Guest Blogger, Laura Fillbach, Nutrition Education Manager at Hunger Free Vermont

When I drew “pineapple” out of the hat of blog topic assignments, I could think of just one thing: pizza.  At my house we make homemade pizza at least 2-3 times a month and it’s often the meal of choice when my kids have friends over.  The great thing about pizza is that almost everyone likes it, and by making it at home it’s both more affordable and more nutritious than ordering take-out.  For example, whole wheat crust is not so easy to find in commercial pizzas, but when I add whole grain flour to the dough at home no one bats an eyelash.  Especially when I let everyone shape their own ball of dough and add their own toppings.  This is easier for me AND everyone gets exactly what they want.  One of my favorite pizza combinations is corn, garlic, onions, broccoli, olives (if we have them), just a little bit of cheese, and probably a bit more garlic.  My son loves pineapple on his pizza, my daughter prefers pesto and broccoli, and my husband will often add a little of everything (except the pineapple).  We frequently have pizzas in the shape of first initials or animals and EVERYONE eats the shape they created for themselves.  Pizza is also great to pack for lunch the next day, and I’ve even found that my kids will resort to eating MY veggie-laden pizza as leftovers when that’s all that’s left! 

Every participant in Hunger Free Vermont’s Learning Kitchen program gets a chance to learn to make homemade pizza.  The recipe is so easy because it only requires the dough to rest for 10 minutes and then voila – it’s ready to add toppings!  You can roll it out as directed below, or divide it into 4-6 balls to make individual pizzas.     

I have always loved this photo of a group of young adults in a Learning Kitchen class as they prepare to put their newly created pizza into the oven.  For many Learning Kitchen participants, cooking from scratch is a new experience and the pride they feel after successfully producing a home-made meal reinforces their desire to do it again.  You can see this pride reflected in their faces.  I get to experience this newfound sense of accomplishment every time I visit a Learning Kitchen class, which is one of my favorite parts of a site visit (not to mention to yummy the food they proudly encourage me to taste!).   I can’t really tell if they used pineapple on their pizza or not, but I can see that they used different toppings on each half to get exactly what they wanted.  I also know that they used that whole wheat pizza crust recipe above, and you can bet that they ate every bite of it!