I'm buddies with folks who claim they were raised exclusively on fast-food, pizza, and mac & cheese.

I'd never point a recriminating finger at their parent's approach to feeding their kids. I've raised children and understand the incredible challenge of getting healthy foods down their little gullets, much less carving out time to eat around a table.

But every week there seems to emerge additional "data" informing us that regular family time around the dinner table paves a golden road to a child's good health, intellect and emotional well-being.

So back-burner all of your other good-intentions - the after-school sports, cello lessons or math tutorials - that may compromise the dinner hour. You may as well quit your job, in fact, if it means being late for dinner with the family.

You live in fear the "Green Police" will bust you for aerosol cleaners. Ha! We're talking the "Red Parental Patrol Squad" showing up at your door, because if you serve your kids fast food one more time, you may find your photo on their Web site's "Worst Parent" list.

Tonight we're babysitting the grandkids, and I'm exhausted. The kids requested pizza (surprise), and it sure would be easy to pick up the phone and have it delivered; we'd still eat together around the table. But maybe the boxed variety won't cut it because of the fat content - and I certainly don't want my mug on that Red Patrol site!
Justina (their mom) gave me her go-to recipe for a quick-fix dinner that the kids enjoy. It's not the same cheesy, deliciously greasy, sodium-laden pie that we adore (make mine a thin crust with feta, please).

But the kids picked their favorite toppings, constructed the pie, and have come to prefer the flavor of whole grains to bleached and processed crust.

Small steps.

Yield: 6 slices
Cost: Approx. $7
Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients*

1 (16 ounce) whole wheat pizza dough ball (thawed if frozen)
Cornmeal
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons bottled tomato sauce
3 ounces thinly sliced ham, chopped
2-3 cups thinly sliced and chopped pineapple pieces, fresh, frozen or canned
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

*All ingredients purchased at Trader Joe's.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Stretch pizza dough to desired shape. On center rack of oven, place dough on a preheated pizza stone or cooking sheet that has been sprinkled with corn meal. Partially bake crust 5 minutes. Remove from oven. (Depending on crust, you may need to re-flatten the crust with a rolling pin or glass.)

3. Let crust cool slightly, then lightly brush with olive oil and tomato sauce. Decorate crust with ham and pineapple and top with cheese. Return to oven and bake an additional 6-8 minutes or until cheese has melted and crust is crispy.