Ingredients:
* English Muffins, pita bread, tortillas or pizza crusts
* Pizza sauce
* Shredded cheese~  mozzarella or cheddar
* Vegetables~  mushrooms, bell peppers, onions
* Fruits~  pineapple, olives
* Meat (optional)~ chicken, turkey sausage

Preparation:

1) Wash the vegetables for the pizza.
Little ones as young as 1 or 2 years old can help wash bell peppers, carrots, mushrooms, etc..

2) Cut up the veggies.
Older children can participate in prepping the vegetables for the pizzas.

3) Prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Pouring the cheese, chicken and olives in separate bowls can be a  job  for nearly any age.  The veggies can be scooped up by little hands  and  be placed in bowls as well.

Important:  If homemade pizza sauce is cooked, or canned pizza sauce is heated up, please take care to cook it on the back burner. (See pizza sauce recipe below.)

4) Set out toppings and let everyone make their own pizza.
After putting sauce on your little one’s pizza crust, allow them  to  sprinkle on their toppings or at least choose which toppings they  would  like. With toddlers or picky eaters, it’s always good to have a  nice  variety of veggies, and protein options as well.

When using tortillas, or pita bread, be mindful not to pile on the toppings. The weight, and the moisture, of these ingredients keep the bread from getting crispy.

5)  Put the pizzas in the oven.
Adolescents can preheat the oven at 350 degrees.  Bake the pizza  for  approximately ten minutes, depending on how crisp one wants the crust.

6) Let the pizza cool down a bit.  Eat! 

Pizza Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:
1  160z can of tomato sauce
salt  & pepper to taste
1 teaspoon each of basil, oregano, parsley
(Add marjoram if there is no oregano.)

Heat up the tomato sauce in a sauce pan or small, shallow skillet. Stir in salt, pepper and herbs.  Let the sauce simmer for awhile, (stirring occasionally), so that the herbs' flavor can permeate the sauce.

Caution: Brush sauce onto pizza for your little ones. When heated up, pizza sauce can easily burn  if touched or spilled.

 If there is leftover sauce, let it cool. Then freeze the sauce, for the next time that you make pizzas.

Ingredients:
 
* 2 large chayote (or 3 medium)
* 1 large garlic clove
* 2 scallion leaves (green onion)
* 2 tablespoons of cilantro
* ½-1 teaspoon of unsalted butter
* 2 cups of water
* salt to taste (a sprinkle or more if needed)
* optional: ½ teaspoon chili flakes
  or ½ teaspoon jalapeño pepper
 Note: Since chayote has a mild taste, the chili pepper or chili flakes will add additional flavor.

Prep ingredients before cooking. Mince garlic, scallions, and jalapeño pepper (if you decide to use it). Fine chop cilantro. Skin chayote and remove seed. Medium dice chayote.
 
Put butter, scallions,  garlic, and jalapeño pepper/ or chili flakes in a sauce pan. Cook on low for four minutes. Stir occasionally. Mix in the diced chayote, a sprinkle of salt, and third of the cilantro. Cook for a few more minutes, and then pour in the cups of water.

Turn up the heat, and simmer the soup for 20 minutes. Stir periodically. Make sure that the water hasn’t evaporated from the sauce pan. Add a ¼ cup more water, if necessary. If more broth is desired, put in additional water. (The more broth, the thinner the soup. It's a matter of preference.) Cook until chayote becomes tender.
 
Carefully pour the chayote, broth, and the rest of the cilantro into a blender. Make sure the top of the blender is on tightly. Hold down the top while blending. Puree, or pulse, the soup for 1-2 minutes. Taste the soup; add more salt if needed.
 
Garnish chayote soup with cilantro leaves. Serve.

Chayote is a squash that is a Mexican native. It's popular in Asian cuisine. Chayote is low in calories, high in vitamins B, C, and fiber.

Ingredients:

* small yellow onion
* garlic (2 large cloves)
* chard (5 mid-sized leaves)
* cherry tomatoes (5)
* black pepper
* vegetable oil

Small dice half of the onion. Mince the garlic. Wash the chard leaves thoroughly. Chop the chard leaves and stems. Slice the cherry tomatoes into eighths.

Turn the burner on medium-high. Pour 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil to a frying pan, and let it heat up. Begin sautéing the diced onion. After a few minutes, add the minced garlic. A minute later stir in the chard leaves and stems. Sauté these ingredients for about five minutes.  Toss in the cherry tomatoes last. Sprinkle in a pinch of black pepper. Stir and serve.

This dish is enough to make two servings. Add more of each ingredient to make sautéed chard for the whole family. :)