Tortilla Pizza—{with “speech snacks” for /t/ and /p/}

The versatile tortilla! I love using them in so many of my recipes. They are a great substitute for bread. I use many different types of tortillas—whole wheat, low carb, whole grain–and today brown rice tortillas— to make a quick, delicious, easy Tortilla Pizza.   Kids love helping with this one and, depending on their age, will be able to fully assemble one by themselves. This makes a great quick lunch or dinner. Feel free to add other toppings (shredded chicken, broccoli, red peppers, different cheeses). Just don’t over load the tortilla or it can get too heavy and not hold up well. Enjoy this incredibly simple and delicious quick pizza!!

Ingredients: rice tortillas (or another type of tortilla of your choice)
extra virgin olive oil
pesto (homemade or store-bought)
ricotta cheese **(omit cheese if following an ADHD or ASD diet)
fresh, chopped tomatoes
fresh herbs

Brown rice tortillas are gluten/wheat free and contain 0 grams saturated fat

Spread a little extra virgin olive oil on your baking sheet and your tortilla. This will prevent sticking and provide extra crispness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kiddos can spread the olive oil on the pan….

 

 

 

 

 

 

……and spoon and spread  the pesto on the tortilla—-a simple, kid-centered task!

Spread a thin layer of pesto onto your tortilla. Pesto contains basil, garlic and pine nuts and adds a great garlic flavor without having to add minced garlic separately. And the garlic flavor is more easily distributed with the pesto. You can use homemade pesto or store-bought. Look for the refrigerated store-bought instead of the jarred if possible—it tastes much fresher!

 

 

Adults should chop any veggies (tomatoes, broccoli, peppers) and kids can layer them onto the tortilla—–talk about VEGGIES—-name as many green, red and yellow ones as you can!  This will build their vocabulary and categorization skills!

Spoon dollops of creamy ricotta cheese evenly over the tortilla

 

 

 

 

LEAVE OFF THE RICOTTA WHEN FOLLOWING A CASEIN-FREE DIET!

I added some fresh basil (from the garden). I like to add fresh herbs to my meals whenever possible

 

 

 

 

 

Can your kids name other herbs????  See how many you can name—pull out your dried herbs from the spice rack—compare what they look, smell and taste like!   Growing an herb garden—identify the names of the fresh herbs, compare the different shapes and colors of the leaves!

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hot out of the oven and ready to be sliced with a pizza cutter and served! Enjoy!

 

 

 

SPEECH SNACKS FOR /t/:

• To make this sound…Put your tongue behind your front teeth on the bumpy part of your mouth. Push out a little puff of air and pull down your tongue. While this sound is generally mastered by age 4 years, children who have difficulty with tongue strength and weak oral motor skills may be challenged.

• I also tell students to show me a big smile with their teeth. Then I ask them to press their tongue against their teeth and push out the air. See the Turkey Tortilla Wrap for more /t/ speech snacks!

• We practice counting things in “two’s” —like the body parts on a stuffed animal. I will say “How many?” as we point to two eyes, two ears, etc….

• For the Tortilla recipe, practice repeating the sound or syllables (ta, te, ti, to, tu) as you spread on the olive oil and pesto.

• Count the tomato pieces as you place them on the tortilla–“one tomato, two tomatoes….”

• Describe the tortilla to work on VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT and SENTENCE STRUCTURE and the target sound at the same time: “The tortilla is round.” “The tortilla is made of rice.” “Tortillas taste good.” “Put the tomatoes on the tortilla.”

• Talk about other objects shaped like a CIRCLE to build vocabulary through CATEGORIZATION.

• After you cut the tortilla into wedges talk about the words PART and WHOLE.

• Cut out the pictures of this recipe and sequence the steps together, then mix them up and see if your children can put them back in the correct order.

 SPEECH SNACKS for /p/:

• The /p/ is one of the first sounds produced by most children, generally between 2-3 years of age, however if lip strength is weak, he/she may have difficulty pressing the lips together and popping out the air from behind the lips.

• Other exercises I use to help strengthen the lips: Using a tongue blade (also called a tongue depressor or wooden stick), I have the student squeeze his lips together while holding the stick horizontally between the lips—no teeth allowed!! For added resistance, I place the tip of the tongue blade between the lips and have the child squeeze the lips together and try to keep the stick from falling out of the mouth.

• We also have fun with a PEPPERONI PIZZA GAME: Draw a pizza on a piece of paper. Draw circles to represent slices of pepperoni. For every good /p/ production, the child gets to color in a piece of pepperoni.

• Practice words from the recipe: PESTO, PIZZA, SCOOP, SPREAD,SPOON, CRISP. Practice these words in phrases and sentences once they have been mastered at the word level.

 STORY TIME FOR /p/:

Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss

The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Lowrey

If you Give a Pig A Pancake by Laura Joffe Numeroff