Pizza Eggrolls – and an unlikely little chef

by Amanda Smith | Eat Like A Firefighter, Everyday

Food can be so much more than simply nourishment for your body. Cooking itself brings people together, and sometimes doing it with the ones you love opens channels of communication you didn’t know were closed. With Eat Like a Firefighter we hope to bring the special dynamic of the firehouse kitchen and table into everyone’s home. If doing that touches just one family then we’ve done our job.

We already know that being together in the kitchen has changed the lives of one of our members in amazing ways. Fire Wife Shasta Saunders and her husband Justin have five incredible babies. The oldest three are from Shasta’s first marriage and are autistic. Blended families are a struggle no matter who you are. Add in a spouse who is gone about half of the days each month, a crazy unusual schedule and special needs; well struggle doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Shasta’s oldest children, in addition to having special needs, also have dietary restrictions. When her husband came to her with an idea for “pizza eggrolls” that met the restrictions that was also simple enough for the kids to help with Shasta was thrilled. She had this to say about her experience:

“When Justin and I first started thinking about marriage, he was really worried about the fact that because of their needs, we would never be that typical family. He was also really concerned about being able to meet their special needs. This recipe was a way he could help me feed them, and he figured out that he could work with the kids one on one to let them help. It was a defining moment for him; that was when he knew that he could help me and that we could be a family and have family time.”

This recipe was also how the Saunders family learned that Bradley (the second oldest boy) had a passion for cooking. He’s been an aspiring chef ever since; Shasta said it “unlocked” something inside of him.

So, without further ado, the magical pizza eggoll recipe!

Pizza Eggrolls

Ingredients

1 pkg. pre-made won ton wraps

1 jar pizza sauce

2 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 pkg. bite size pepperoni

1 c. water

canola oil

Instructions

Lay out a single wrap on a dry flat surface so that one point of the square faces you. Just below the center of the wrap, smear a tablespoon of sauce. Top the sauce with shredded cheese and 2-3 pepperoni. Fold the bottom corner that is closest to you toward the top leaving about 1/2 inch of clearance all the way around; this should have created a triangle shape. Dampen your fingers in the water and wet the edges of the won ton. Fold out side corners in to center and then the top corner down. Repeat with each wrapper until you have used all of your fillings. In a deep frying pan or a deep fryer, heat enough oil to cover eggrolls completely to 325-350F. Drop prepared rolls into preheated oil, and fry until golden brown on all sides. Remove eggrolls with a slotted spoon and place on a plate with paper towels to drain excess oil. Serve warm.

Want to Eat Like A Firefighter?

“Eat Like A Firefighter” is a collection of recipes and tips from firefighters and their families who have learned that staying healthy saves lives, staying flexible saves marriages and staying together through it all is family.” This cookbook is a padded cover 3 ring binder with full color tabbed dividers, 300 recipes and 20 additional pages full of cooking tips for health, simplicity and other firehouse tips that anyone can employ.

Healthy and Simple. Scalable for large or small crews. Perfect for families and anyone needing flexible, tasty and easy to fix dishes.

~~Limited Qualities remain. Get your copy while supplies last.~~ There will not be reorders of this cookbook so be sure to get your orders in before we run out! *Now only available in eBook version. It’s still a great way to get all of these great recipes and tips from the Firehouse and their families.

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