Arrow-right Camera
Subscribe now

Monster Pizza Will Delight Kids

Merri Lou Dobler Correspondent

It’s a Halloween weekend. Kids are gearing up for Friday night fun. Peruse the Internet and you’ll find lots of food-related Halloween hot spots:

From the editor of a kid’s newsletter: “I love the irony that in this country we teach our children not to take candy from strangers 364 days a year, but on Halloween we go begging at a stranger’s door for it. Go figure!”

From the experiences of “Thomas C.”: One Halloween Thomas C. went to the store and bought candy. This was his stash:

1 large Nestle Crunch bar.

1 (2-pound) bag M&Ms.

1 bag snack-size Mounds.

1 bag snack-size Whoppers.

Unfortunately, Thomas C. ate all the candy. This is what he ended up giving out to trick-or-treaters:

5 packages chicken-flavored ramen.

3 light-bulb dual packs.

2 autobiographies of Ronald Reagan.

3 bananas.

4 boxes macaroni and cheese.

From a story called “October’s Social Ramifications,” by Matthew Colby Young: “There are three categories that a household can fall into on Oct. 31. The first is the rarest and most exalted. Those who give you a whole, real, you-can-buy-it-in-the-store-at-any-time-during-the-year candy bar. You know, the kind that costs 45 cents plus tax …

“The second category is the most common - the middle class of candy givers. These are the houses that give you real, name-brand candy but in miniature form. Those little bars that manufacturers choose to call ‘fun size.’ What’s fun about them? Not much …

“We have one more class to talk about. These people are at the bottom of the food chain … yes, this is the evil woman who thinks that there’s something funny and health-conscious about giving a kid a little box of raisins … Raisins? Treat? No, I don’t think so. And in those little boxes, they’re not even fresh.”

You won’t be on the Internet long if it’s good weather on Friday night; your doorbell will be ringing constantly by eager kids in their costumes.

So what’ll it be this year, M&M’s or raisins?

Monster Pizzas

From Safeway’s “Fresh Ideas” magazine, October/November 1996.

4 (6-inch) Italian bread shells

1 cup pizza sauce

1-1/3 cups low-fat shredded mozzarella or Cheddar cheese

Toppings: 8 slices pepperoni; 4 jumbo ripe pitted olives, halved; red and green peppers, seeded, quartered and cut into shapes for facial features; other vegetables, such as mushrooms, zucchini and sun-dried tomatoes

Top each bread shell with sauce and cheese. Use your imagination with toppings and decorate pizzas to resemble a monster face: pepperoni for eyes, olives for eyeballs, peppers for eyebrows and mouth, etc. Bake at 450 degrees for 8 minutes or as package directs.

Yield: 4 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: Varies, depending on number and amount of toppings.

, DataTimes MEMO: The goal of Five and Fifteen is to find recipes where you can do the shopping in five minutes and the cooking in 15. Merri Lou Dobler, a registered dietitian and Spokane resident, welcomes ideas from readers. Write to Five and Fifteen, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.

The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN, RECIPE - Five and Fifteen

The goal of Five and Fifteen is to find recipes where you can do the shopping in five minutes and the cooking in 15. Merri Lou Dobler, a registered dietitian and Spokane resident, welcomes ideas from readers. Write to Five and Fifteen, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.

The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN, RECIPE - Five and Fifteen