Since we are a family of 8, it is a very rare occasion for us to fly somewhere. If we flew, we would have no money for vacation when we got there! We drive everywhere. Seriously. We consider a 16-18 hour road trip nothing and easily done in one day.
You should be further impressed when you understand that there is no form of movies/tv for our kids to watch in the van. Mainly, they just read, listen to music and sleep….with the occasional “He’s touching me!!” thrown in so God can test my patience.
We just returned from our family vacation in the beautiful mountains of Park City, Utah. It was a 16 hour drive to get there and as always, my biggest concern was what to eat in the car. I know the easiest option is to hit a drive-thru, but our family gave up on eating that stuff awhile ago. My kids are tired of eating sandwiches in the car, so I wanted to come up with something fun that would be a treat at the end of a very long day!
I made them these pizza sticks for dinner in the car and they were a huge hit. I didn’t make them with any sauce (because I prefer the inside of my car clean), but you could easily add a little sauce on the inside of the rolls and whatever type of toppings you like on a pizza. Use your creativity and go wild!
My other new experiment for this trip was what I kindly titled “The Box of Carbs.” I packaged all my kids favorite snack foods in snack sized ziploc bags and stowed them in a copy paper box behind the driver’s seat. When someone wanted a snack, or needed a distraction, I tossed them a bag. The first snacks to go were the double batch of my homemade granola bars followed closely behind with rice crispie treats. It was a huge success and I will definitely be using my Box of Carbs in a few weeks on my 16 hour drive to Ohio.
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Pizza Sticks
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 recipe pizza dough (here is my favorite)
- 1 lb mozzarella cheese, cut into sticks
- 1 package pepperoni (I use turkey pepperoni)
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 450 degrees and lightly spray two cookie sheets with oil.
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Roll out 1/2 of the dough until it is thin. Cut into rectangles big enough to place two pieces of pepperoni and a hunk of cheese. See my example above!
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Fold in the short ends of the dough first, then the long sides. Pinch together well, or you will lose a lot of cheese when they bake. Place on greased sheet. Repeat for the remaining dough. Allow to rise about 15 minutes.
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Bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/10th
- Calories: 398
- Sugar: 3g
- Sodium: 823mg
- Fat: 21g
- Saturated Fat: 10g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 32g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 22g
- Cholesterol: 45mg
ButterYum says
Cute idea!
jenna says
I just found your blog when I was googling a recipe and I LOVE it! I love to bake (cook dinner – not so much) and you are really inspiring with all of your fun ideas. I only have three children, so I think, “she’s doing it! So can it!” Kudos to you and thanks for the inspiration. I plan to follow your blog!
Carole says
Glad to have you join us Jenna! Don’t ever say “only three children” because no matter how many you have, they are more work than you ever imagined 🙂