A recipe even your kids can make

LIMA — Eating healthy — and helping your children eat healthy — is Cheryl Cusick's job.Cusick, a registered dietitian, is a health professional at Allen County WIC. That agency helps women, infants and children with supplemental food purchases, nutrition education, breastfeeding support and more. A family of four has to make $41,348 or less to qualify, more inclusive than some think.Cusick often brainstorms to find ways to make healthy food more interesting for children. She suggested www.choosemyplate.org for help.“I think if you train them when they're young, hopefully those habits will follow through,” she said. “Offer, encourage and set an example. That's the best you can do.”Today's recipe is a riff on the traditional vegetable pizza we've all probably made at some point. The traditional recipe calls for a crust of crescent rolls, spread out to line a baking sheet and baked for 375 degrees for about 13 minutes. From there, the rest of the ingredients are layered on. Sliced into bars, the traditional recipe is a cookout classic.One of Cusick's favorite cookbooks is a homespun affair from the Celina Welcome Wagon, dated 1986. Its covers are stiff pressboard, which allows it to be set up on the counter like an easel, and Cusick reaches for it often. The Lima resident has no tie to Celina other than a friend who used to be involved in the group.Cusick was inspired to make a child-friendly vegetable pizza, and today's recipe was the result. “If you leave (the ingredients) in the refrigerator, they could come home and just do it,” she said. “They'll eat this because it's attractive and they can help do it. When they become a part of it, then they're more likely to try it.”Cusick has enjoyed cooking for as long as she can remember.“I actually started when I was about 5 years old with my first Easy-Bake Oven,” she said, explaining she still has the 50-year-old piece of her childhood. “In fact, on my days off, I would say I spend 75 percent of my time in the kitchen. I've just always enjoyed experimenting with foods.”Have a suggestion for who should be featured in this spot? Email amcgee@limanews.com.