Pizza 3 times a week?

SingALong

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 3:22 pm

I used to make pizza at home with them and add veggies but their not into it, said they want pizza from the store only. I would live to get them whole wheat pizza but they won't touch it. I'm not worried about cholesterol from the cheeses since they hardly eat cheese/dairy other than pizza.

spring13

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 3:57 pm

SingALong wrote:

I'd put my foot down on that because of the EXPENSE as much as the health issue. I grew up in a town without a kosher pizza place, and frankly I miss my mother's homemade stuff. If it comes down to buying pizza or letting them go hungry to teach them a lesson, I'd let them go hungry a couple if times (unless, as others have said, there are sensory or other specific factors that complicate the pickiness).

Have they ever helped make it? Could you use a trip to the pizza store as an incentive to try more things during the week? Ie: they have to eat X bites of regular dinner food for a week. Use a sticker chart to keep track of who earns the right to go out for dinner Sunday night.

flowerpower

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 5:04 pm

I don't think its terrible. Its good that you serve salad with it. Try using whole wheat pizza instead. Also, try to serve it as a " side dish" sO they can explore different dishes and not get used to eating pizza only.

bbmom

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 5:43 pm

I disagree with a blanket statement that pizza is junk food. You can make very healthy pizza at home. Store bought pizza is junk food and expensive! Will your kids eat grilled cheese? I'm not saying its healthy but it might be an acceptable alternative

ChavieK

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 6:11 pm

We can order hot-lunch of pizza 2x per week. My son insists on it. (No parenting lectures please). We also have homemade pizza once a week. He will not eat any vegetables with pizza, but he gets fruit & vegetables at all other times. He is not too picky at other meals so I don't worry about it.

Chocoholic

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 7:02 pm

amother wrote:

I'll be the voice of dissent here. I think pizza is junk food. It's very American to eat pizza as a regular meal. It is CERTAINLY by no means a health food! We have it probably about 5 times a year.

It's just bread, cheese and some sauce.

Sherri

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 7:08 pm

Amother- You have it 5 times a year? Because you think it's so unhealthy?

OP-the only reason I would say it's an issue is really the reason that I would discourage having any same meal a few times a week. Another poster mentioned it, how it's an easy trap to fall into, to only serve foods your kids like. Kids do need to be exposed to a variety of food. My pediatrician has definite opinions about it, I guess you could ask your for his/hers! Smile

Last edited by Sherri on Tue, Jan 15 2013, 7:11 pm; edited 1 time in total

ElTam

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 7:08 pm

I think the issue is not that you have picky children, it's that you have children who boss you and you listen. They are demanding pizza from the store only?

I would nip this in the bud now. It will only get worse as they get older.

Sherri

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 7:11 pm

ElTam wrote:

Right. I think it's more about this than picky kids, nutrition, etc.

naomi2

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 7:24 pm

ElTam wrote:

Make it at home so it's healthier. My ped suggests mixing pureed veges into the sauce, like acorn squash, etc. for extra nutrition.

I will tell you what I started recently with my picky kids because they were honestly ruining dinner for me and I couldn't take it any more. It has really been helping. We have a menu. It's the same every week. There are some things they like, some things they don't like. The meals are very kid friendly. I'm not asking them to eat fried tilapia and lima beans.And I alternated meals they like more with meals they like less. So if Monday is grilled cheese and a veggie, which DD2 doesn't love, Tuesday is pancakes, veggie sausage and fruit, which she loves.

There is that night's dinner and nothing else. No bowl of cereal. No make yourself a sandwich. If you don't want to eat, you get ready for bed and you can lay down and read. Any extra fun time after dinner is lost. There is also no whining and no complaining allowed. You whine or complain about dinner, you go to bed. Each week it has gotten better. After the second week, when they saw we were serious, no one has gone to bed without eating. And dinner time is actually a pleasure again. We sit, we talk about our day. No yelling, no kvetching.

I like this idea but would add an alternative of plain bread

amother

Slategray

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 10:33 pm

You do realize that the slice of american cheese you are likely to use on their grilled cheese is a whole lot less healthy than the mozzarella that is likely to be used on the pizza... right?

Great. Now I want pizza. Mmm.

Last edited by amother on Thu, Mar 31 2016, 10:33 pm; edited 1 time in total

adina

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 11:11 pm

I serve homemade pizza (half white half WW) one night a week. I always make it with a pureed veggie/lentil soup on the side. They get once slice of pizza and then have to eat a bowl of soup. After the soup they can have another slice. They like to dip the crust in the soup. I also cut up veggie slices or salad.
Its my one night a week that there are no supper arguments and everyone walks away from supper full.

etky

Wed, Jan 16 2013, 12:09 am

shnitzel wrote:

For all the pizza isn't healthy people, do you feel the same about a cheese sandwich?

Or mac and cheese, or grilled cheese (which don't even have the advantage of the tomato sauce) or lasagna or baked zitti for that matter.Why is just the pizza stigmatized? Because it's also available as a fast food version in a pizzeria? When you make pizza from scratch is sure 'aint fast food.

amother

Wed, Jan 16 2013, 12:15 am

etky wrote:

shnitzel wrote:

For all the pizza isn't healthy people, do you feel the same about a cheese sandwich?

I am the amother who commented earlier that pizza is junk food - and yes, I consider ziti, lasagna, mac n cheese, etc. equally unhealthy.

StrongIma

Wed, Jan 16 2013, 2:41 am

I've made a side career out of working to turn my kids' food likes and dislikes into healthful, nutritious, tasty dishes that they would eat and enjoy. one of them is homemade pizza -although I admit that now that they're older, when they ask for pizza, I ask for their help making it. another is mac and cheese - with homemade sauce that incorporates wheatgerm (super-easy - I use canned crushed tomatoes - no sugar added) with salad on the side. another is WW pancakes - verrry light on the sugar.

Tablepoetry

Wed, Jan 16 2013, 3:20 am

amother wrote:

etky wrote:

shnitzel wrote:

For all the pizza isn't healthy people, do you feel the same about a cheese sandwich?

I am the amother who commented earlier that pizza is junk food - and yes, I consider ziti, lasagna, mac n cheese, etc. equally unhealthy.

This. They are all unhealthy and extremely fattening.