Eat Real Food: Pizza Night
The healthcare and wellness community has a good response to the question, “what is the best type of exercise?” The answer is “whatever exercise your will do.” Unfortunately, this does not translate to food. The best type of food is not “whatever food you will eat”, but at it’s simplest level, “whatever REAL food you will eat.” Convenience foods…frankenfoods…are the foods that are killing us slowly with inflammation and chronic diseases. But, eating real food doesn’t mean that flavor and favorite foods need to exit the building.
REAL food has become fun at our house. Our son and daughter, 17 and 12, are becoming adept in the kitchen, learning the skill of melding chemistry and art to create culinary delights that are pleasing to the tongue and to the heart. Our son has even started an instagram page, @chef_conordee, where he is sharing the recipes that he is exploring. Recently our family has started the tradition of Friday night pizza night. Instead of ordering in delivery, we have started making our own dough and hand crafting our own pies. The kids knead and roll the dough, shred the cheese, pick herbs from the back deck, grill and dice the toppings, and make their pizzas.
Our pizzas really are REAL food. We use Einkorn flour (the only flour that has never been hybridized - Einkorn wheat only contains 14 chromosomes versus the 42 chromosomes found in durum wheat and is linked to lower inflammatory responses in those with non celiac gluten sensitivities) and fresh mozzarella. The kids pick herbs and vegetables from the potted garden they started in the backyard. If don’t make sauce during the week’s meal prep, we use marinara sauce that is free from sugar and additives. If we use meat, we aim for free range/pastured animal products because more responsibly and compassionately raised animals also yield better nutrition for us. After delivery fees and tips, we are not spending much more money, and we get the added mental and emotional benefits of memories being made with our family.
Eating REAL food - “food that is closer to the farm than the factory” - doesn’t have to be miserable, bland, or boring. And the switch can be made one tiny step at a time. It requires a little more time and a little more intentionality, but it is an exciting adventure into new worlds, new flavors and textures, and new experiences that will benefit not only your physical health, but your mental, emotional, and even spiritual health.
Check our recipe page for the pizza dough recipes that we use. There are two: one for Einkhorn flour and one for regular durum flour. Enjoy!
