Back to School with Chocolate Pizza!

Our friend Sheri McMahan’s mom shared her recipe for chocolate pizza, a truly decadently delicious dessert.

8 squares white chocolate bark, 2 oz. each. Save one square for topping.
1 12 oz. bag of semi sweet chocolate chips
2 cups mini marshmallows
2 cups crispy rice cereal (or 1 cup cereal and 1 cup peanuts)
1 bag M&M’s or other small, decorative candy such as gummy fish, cherry sours, etc. 
1 tsp. cooking oil
Cooking oil spray
3 hard plastic plates or 1 large pizza pan

Put 7 squares of the white chocolate bark and the bag of chocolate chips in a mixing bowl and microwave for about 90 seconds. Remove from stove and stir until it liquefies and is well mixed. Don’t overcook! Add the marshmallows and cereal and stir to coat all. Pour mix into the pan or plates you have lightly sprayed with cooking oil. Let the kids decorate their pizza with the candies on top. In a cup, put one square of bark and 1 tsp. of oil. Melt in microwave for 1 minute. Stir and drizzle this “cheese” on the top of your pizza. Put the pan in the fridge to harden. Slice and serve small, rich slices of your chocolate pizza.

***

Are you stuck in the sandwich, chips, apple and cookie lunch bag mode? Be creative and inventive and spark school lunches with some nourishing surprises. Both my children attended a Catholic school which did not offer hot lunch, so they had to brown bag it 4 days a week. (One day a week they could purchase a hot dog lunch.) And both of them refused to eat a sandwich! Like the kid in an old movie I once saw, they wanted their sandwiches on separate plates! That kept me busy trying to imagine a way to pack a full lunch with no sandwich in those brown bags.

With today’s inexpensive plastic ware, you can be a lot more creative than with just “baggies.” Try some mini kabobs. Using bamboo skewers, thread on your selection of the following items:  Tiny cherry tomatoes, squares of cheese, pieces of lunch meat rolled into a tight roll or cut in squares, black olives, pieces of celery, mini-carrots, etc. Pack along your child’s favorite crackers and a small container of ranch dip. For safety’s sake, be sure to take a pair of scissors and cut off the sharp tip of the skewer after you have threaded your kabob. Stuff pita bread with chicken or tuna salad. Roll a piece of cheese and a piece of sandwich meat with a little mustard or mayo inside a flour tortilla. Wrap this with a piece of plastic wrap to hold it together. Try rolling a piece of baked chicken, off the bone, and some thinly sliced apple in a lettuce leaf. Again, the plastic wrap will hold it better than a toothpick and be much safer. Send a small container of ranch dressing or honey mustard for dipping the roll. Buy some Fruit Fresh and mix a little in a small bowl of water. Cut up apples into slices and put them in the bowl for a few minutes before packing them for lunches. This will keep them pretty and avoid the unappetizing “browning” of your child’s fruit snack. Instead of individual bags of chips, bag up your own individual portions of snack mix, pretzels, or popcorn – it’s much cheaper and healthier. Write a love note on your child’s napkin! Make it simple – a happy face and “I love you, Mom” or “Hope your day is special.” Lunches packed with love always taste the best.