Last night for dinner, we had a treat. Gluten & dairy free taco pizza. I know, does this even sound healthy? Taco and pizza together as one. I wanted to try to make something that would sound and taste extremely delicious for my son. I’m always trying to make healthy choices when it comes to eating, and sometimes I feel like my ten year old is missing out on all of the fun kid meals. But this meal lets me feel a little less guilty about pleasing my sons palette.
With a gluten and dairy free diet, sometimes it feels like the pickings for fun yummy kid meals becomes less and less exciting. But I’m thinking, perhaps praying, there’s a way to get my family excited about healthy food the way they get excited about burgers, hot dogs, and pizza.
Don’t get me wrong, my husband is totally on board with eating good for you healthy munch. When I make dinner, he always compliments how pretty the vegetables look on the plate. I think the man could live off my kale alone the way he rants and raves over it. But there’s something missing in their tone of voice when they scream “let’s go get pizza!!”
My husband was working late when I made this dish. So it was a table for two, just me and my boy for dinner. I wanted to make something I knew my son would enjoy and maybe even get a little excited about. To be honest, I kind of wanted something to get excited about too.
When I mentioned the idea of making taco pizza, there was immediate excitement. When it was done 30 minutes later, as we ate it, there were moans of delighted taste buds. It was a complete success. All he kept saying was, “this is so good”, “I’m having more”. This was simply wonderful to hear.
Food is a big part of culture, and while wanting to make the right choices, I also want to make pleasant meal time memories. Let’s face it, our society doesn’t make it easy for our children to grow up making healthy choices when it comes to eating food. When I was a kid I knew other kids that were living on French fries and grilled cheeses. It’s hard to compete with those fancy wrappers and catchy jingles for fast food too. When I was a kid, I used to love McDonalds.
Now things are different. I care. I care about what we put in our body because I want to do my part to keep us healthy. Also, I realize that certain foods just simply make me feel good, while others don’t.
I’m not saying this is healthiest dish ever. However, on my journey this is a step in the right direction to getting my son on board with learning to make healthy choices. Next time I would experiment with different types of sauces and vegetables. Definitely be on the look out for Taco Pizza II.
The Recipe: This is the fast and easy version. If you’re pressed for time and need to get dinner on the table quickly, this recipe works great. When ever I get prepared crust or seasoning packets I like to make sure they are at least good choices and are GF, Non GMO, and I recognize the ingredients.
Taco Pizza
Udis’ Gluten Free Pizza Crust (whatever GF pizza dough mix or recipe)
1b Ground Beef (Hormone and antibiotic free, grass fed) Or Ground Turkey or Shredded Chicken
1 tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
Taco Seasoning Mix (GF)
2c Shredded Lettuce (enough to cover entire pie)
1c Fresh Salsa (diced tomato, onion, garlic, green pepper, jalapeno, cilantro)
Sliced Jalapeño Peppers to garnish (optional)
Instructions
1. Cook ground beef and Worcestershire sauce in pan until it is no longer pink and fully cooked. Once cooked, add taco seasoning. Let cook another 5 minutes and then set aside.
2. Heat pizza crust according to directions. I like to spray with a little olive oil.
3. Once crust is ready, cover with meat. Next cover with lettuce, salsa, jalapeños.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
