Mini Polenta Pizzas (Gluten and Dairy Free)

These little mini pizzas are the result of some creative thinking to feed my two boys who don't eat gluten or dairy food (let that sink in for a second, no ice cream, cheese or regular bread). Anyway, we've learned some good meals that are not only pretty good for them, they taste good and aren't even that hard to make.

Tonight's dinner was Mini Polenta Pizzas.
Ingredients:
1 Polenta "chub" sliced into as thin discs as possible without the polenta crumbling
Marinara sauce
salami cut into eighths or sliced hot dogs pan fried to look like mini pepperoni
cooked white rice
dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

I baked the polenta slices on a lightly greased half sheet in the over at 350 degrees for close a half hour. The package says 20 minutes but that wasn't working for me. Use your judgement though, if the slices are thin they'll cook faster and scorch faster too.
Heat up the marinara (I used the Tomato & Basil Marinara from Trader Joe's) and added the oregano after rubbing it into your hand and using a mortar and pestle to break it up. The rice can be room temp or warmer, cold doesn't work.
Assembly is pretty straight forward.
Polenta slice, top with marinara, a layer of rice (playing the part of the cheese here), top with salami or hot dog pepperoni pieces.
A little salt and serve.
My finicky son wolfed down two and then two more and my not so finicky son ate a total of five and a half mini pizzas.

Stupid Easy Tostadas

One of the difficulties of having a kid who doesn't do well with food that had gluten in it or food that has dairy products in them is keeping some kind of variety. One of the best and easiest meals we had last week was worth sharing here.

Stupid Easy Tostadas
Ingredients:
tostadas or corn tortillas cooked to stiffness in oil
canned black or pinto beans
rice, white or spanish
cooked ground beef or chopped sausage or pepperoni or other meat
salsa, if wanted

Heat up a can of black beans or pintos or whatever kind of beans you like, we use the organic beans from Trader Joe's. Add some spices to give it some personality. Mash them up.

Spread a dollop of mashed beans onto a tostada, trying not to crack it. Once spread, add warmed up white or spanish rice. Top with browned ground beef, chopped sausages or whatever other meaty protein you like. If you like you can put a spoonful of salsa and a splash of hot sauce too but my kids aren't into salsa or hot sauce.

And if you can swing cheese then this is just begging for a layer of cheese and then a melting before adding the rice, beef and salsa on top. Other things you could swap in, corn, avocado, guacamole, tomato, grilled/sauteed onions, fried rice. Whatever you think might taste good just might taste good.

Its pretty easy to whip out six or eight of these in a quick period of time though you'll need a second can of beans. They are fast, pretty healthy, pretty easy and surprisingly awesome tasting. And you can enlist the help of your kids to assemble these too!