Cold pizza

[Fat Guy]

I'm wondering if anyone has any brilliant inspirations regarding cold pizza.

A couple of kids in my son's class often bring pizza for lunch. They just eat it cold -- it has been sitting in their lunch bags all day and was probably purchased the previous day. It sounds gross but my son is demanding cold pizza for his lunch on occasion. (He also went through a cold grilled cheese phase.)

Can anybody think of anything pizza-like that I could make that would be really good at room temperature?

[Richard Kilgore]

I'm with PJ! Cold pizza is great. Love it for breakfast. Lukewarm pizza for lunch, why not?

[maggiethecat]

I'm with PJ and Richard -- ain't nuthin' the matter with room temp pizza. When you make pizza save a slice for PJ, or make a small personal pizza. Your own pizza will be far and away better than his friends' are.

Hmmm. Something muffaletta-like?

[Lisa Shock]

You're in NYC, right? If you're worried about food safety issues, why not have the pizza delivered in the morning so there's a shorter time in the food danger zone? (I'm assuming that when New Yorkers claim that you can get anything 24 hours a day there, they mean it...)

Or how about making him some cheese bread in the morning, sliced bread with mozzarella run under the broiler to brown, and packing a container of sauce (maybe doctored up with his favorite topping ingredients, to dunk with?

[annabelle]

Pizza has a half life of about one week when sitting out on the kitchen counter. At least it did when I was in college and my college attending son says this is still true. Send the kid a slice of your homemade pizza and be a hero, Steven.

[NancyH]

Have you ever heard Christine Lavin's take on this? One of my favorite songs:

There is something about cold pizza or cold pasta that is magical (assuming that the source material is good - come to Cleveland for pizza you wouldn't want to eat hot or cold).

Pack yesterday's pie remains with some ice packs if safety is a concern -but cold pizza rocks!

Edited September 23, 2011 by NancyH (log)

[Tri2Cook]

Pizza has a half life of about one week when sitting out on the kitchen counter. At least it did when I was in college and my college attending son says this is still true. Send the kid a slice of your homemade pizza and be a hero, Steven.

Yep... nothing makes a beer-soaked hangover gut happier than discovering a few slices of pizza still in the box on the table the next morning. I no longer wake up with beer-soaked hangover gut but table pizza and gatorade sent me out the door happy on many mornings when I was younger.

I had leftover pizza (homemade and commercial) that sat in my lunch bag at school all morning many times when I was a kid. Tasty stuff. I'm kinda glad I grew up in a time before all of the things that didn't hurt us were deemed unsafe.

[Fat Guy]

The thing I dislike the most about cold pizza (and grilled cheese) is the cheese that has melted and then congealed. I wonder, maybe a focaccia-like solution would make sense.

[heidih]

But if PJ likes it - why try to improve it? Not to say you want to make him a "follower", but why not let him go with the flow. On the other hand, if you ask him whether he is interested in a tastier version of the same general thing, perhaps you could tackled the reincarnation together. Perhaps a cheese bread with a pizza sauce to dip into along the lines of what has been suggested up topic. (personally I can't stand the congealed cold cheese and flacid dough)

[annabelle]

Now, see here. You are thinking of what youlike, not what PJ, lover of cold grilled cheese likes. Embrace the challenge and be glad he is an adventerous eater the rest of the time. He wants to be like his little friends now.

[Fat Guy]

I try to be relatively accommodating and let him have a good deal of taste independence, but I still feel responsible for his culinary taste. So if I can avoid a congealed-cheese situation I will. If he tastes the alternative -- whatever we come up with -- and likes cold pizza better, I'll probably go with the flow. But I prefer at least to offer a better alternative.

[annabelle]

Are there microwave ovens at his school or is that out of the question? Soft breadsticks, cheese sauce in one container and pizza sauce in another flashed for a minute might do the trick.

Edited September 24, 2011 by annabelle (log)

[Anna N]

I try to be relatively accommodating and let him have a good deal of taste independence, but I still feel responsible for his culinary taste. So if I can avoid a congealed-cheese situation I will. If he tastes the alternative -- whatever we come up with -- and likes cold pizza better, I'll probably go with the flow. But I prefer at least to offer a better alternative.

Ah, but if like me you are a fan of cold pizza there IS NO BETTER ALTERNATIVE.

[Fat Guy]

I'm pretty sure the microwave is not an option. I can check. There is a microwave in the classroom that they use for science stuff and whatnot but I assume the teacher will say that, when it comes to the issue of children using it for their lunches, she's not opening that can of worms. That's what I'd say.

[Marlene]

I'm in the minority because I hate cold pizza. What about a pizza bun, like the type you see in bakeries?

[Lisa Shock]

The thing I dislike the most about cold pizza (and grilled cheese) is the cheese that has melted and then congealed. I wonder, maybe a focaccia-like solution would make sense.

I had thought of that, dunno if PJ would agree or not. He's got to be the final judge here. I've had some wonderful versions with grilled eggplant, caramelized onions, roasted garlic, etc. The bonus is that it's easy to make in a sheet pan, and faster to assemble than pizza because you aren't dealing with as much toppings-wise. -I also find it faster to press dough into a pan than to stretch a pizza into a circle.

[Katie Meadow]

Another year or two of making lunches and you will be so happy to have some cold leftover pizza from the night before. Cold pizza was a treat for my daughter. And since I don't particularly care for leftover pizza, especially cold, I was always so glad she wanted it. Talk about easy. Those tuna and turkey and PB & J sandwiches can get awfully tiresome. (Of course those were the days when peanut butter and guns were allowed in school.) Sad to admit, I was never the bento box kind of mom. At least I wasn't like the mother of one of my daughter's friends in elementary school. This woman used to actually call me up at 7 in the morning and tell me she ran out of bread, and could I please make Zoe a sandwich! The truth is it makes college life a lot easier if you like cold pizza.

Not exactly relevant here, but we just made a discovery this year. Microwaved leftover pizza is pretty awful, and reheating in the oven takes too much time, and we have never had a toaster-oven. But pizza, if not a thick, piled-high type of pie, actually can be put by the slice into a toaster and turns out pretty well. Weird, I know.

Edited September 24, 2011 by Katie Meadow (log)

[annabelle]

You could do some kind of crusty rolls with a soft cheese like meunster or fontina. The lunches are not refrigerated, yes? It'll soften up for him by lunch time.

[Tri2Cook]

I think the stumbling block here is that he wants to eat cold pizza with the boys. You want to show him that there's something better but if it doesn't look something like what his buddies are having, it probably isn't going to do the trick no matter how tasty.

Edited September 24, 2011 by Tri2Cook (log)

[Fat Guy]

I realize there are various positions on the parenting aspects of my question, and I assure you I have considered them. But assuming I am wedded to the idea of offering a better alternative, I'm still hoping to get some great ideas.

[annabelle]

I think the stumbling block here is that he wants to eat cold pizza with the boys. You want to show him that there's something better but if it doesn't look something like what his buddies are having, it probably isn't going to do the trick no matter how tasty.

That's what I was driving at, too. He wants to be like the other boys.

[thock]

Steven,

YOU may not like melted-then-recongealed cheese, but PJ might. I would try any experiments out on the weekend, when he doesn't have to either eat it or starve at school, but just like I hate avocados, I wouldn't force my kid to NOT eat them, if I had a kid and he/she liked avocados. I might turn up my nose at preparing them for said kid, but I wouldn't keep him/her from eating them.

You may feel responsible for his culinary tastes, but consider for a moment that you may be the one in the wrong, here, culinarily-tastily speaking . LOTS of people like cold pizza. It tastes a lot different than hot or warm pizza, but that doesn't make it wrong to like it.

I used to love cold pizza, but now I'm less fond of it cold than I am of it hot/warm/reheated. So PJ may grow out of this without you doing anything to influence him. Granted, it may take 15-20 years.

[Shelby]

I grew up in the Colorado mountains....Pizza Hut was an hour away. AND Pizza Hut (at the time) was a treat. I CHERISHED and still remember the days that I got a piece of cold pizza in my lunch box. I promise, it won't spoil...and I promise, it tastes like heaven to a kid at school.

[annabelle]

I realize there are various positions on the parenting aspects of my question, and I assure you I have considered them. But assuming I am wedded to the idea of offering a better alternative, I'm still hoping to get some great ideas.

Oh, I have no doubt you are wedded to your idea of a building a better cold pizza or its alternative. I'm only offering my perspective as the sister of three boys and the mother of three boys. Believe me: boys will be boys. The day will come when you'll thank your stars it's only cold pizza he wants. In the meantime, I like your idea of foccacia with cheese and a pizza-type sauce. Does he like olives?

Edited September 24, 2011 by annabelle (log)

[Tri2Cook]

I realize there are various positions on the parenting aspects of my question, and I assure you I have considered them. But assuming I am wedded to the idea of offering a better alternative, I'm still hoping to get some great ideas.

Understood. And I'm not raising any questions regarding your parenting... that's none of my businees. I'm actually trying to politely question whether you are in fact responsible for his culinary taste. But I agree that you are responsible for trying to steer him in a good direction so hopefully some good ideas will surface. I was just thinking that if you can come up with a substitute that satisfies what you want to accomplish while somewhat resembling what the other kids are eating, it may make the job a lot easier.