My children attend a Jewish daycare that I absolutely love.  Now we are not Hebrew, and on occasion that can make for some awkward moments.  But I am slowly learning about some of the traditions and I even know a couple of Hebrew words, mainly related to preschool classroom terminology.

Case in point of my Hebrew culture crash course: Passover.  During the Passover you cannot eat a litany of foods, mainly those that are grains.  That sounds pretty easy, but it's taken me a few years to figure out how to pack lunches that my kids will eat and will hold them over.  You'd be amazed at how dependent we are on grains for kids foods, especially when you're caught in your morning rush. 

Here is a short list of foods that are not allowed during Passover, thus these big no-nos in my kids lunch bags:

Legumes: peas, beans, soy (including edamame and tofu) and lentils
Corn: also includes things sweetened with corn syrup
Rice
Grains: wheat, rye, spelt, oats and barley
Leavened bread

So this week I have to be creative with my kids snacks and lunches.  For years they just got cheese, eggs and fruit all week, but this time around I decided to try and make something special.

You might have noticed that grocery stores have their Kosher foods out right know.  Foods that are usually given about three feet of shelf space in the back of the ethnic foods aisle are now front and center.  One of those items is matzoh, which kind of looks like huge crackers.

Matzoh is unleavened bread that is OK to eat during Passover.  To me it tastes like saltines without the salt, making it a little bland.  But it's essentially like a giant, crispy cracker, and with that property it really is a great snack pizza crust.   So we made matzoh pizzas today and they were terrific- crispy and super tasty.  For those of you that follow this blog you know that my little guy can't do cheese, so he got his own with salmon and hard boiled egg.

So whether you follow Passover guidelines or are just looking for a fun new snack, definitely try these out.  They're easy to make and fun to eat as you snap them apart for your portion.  Just about any vegetable will work, and you can also add tomato sauce below the cheese if you like.  My daughter is not a tomato fan so I made portions with it and without.  Thus our pizza had lots of different options, which is also a bonus when you have kids with different tastes.  Enjoy!

Passover pizza snacks
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook time: 8-10 minutes
Serves: one cracker makes 4 snacks

1 matzoh cracker
4 tablespoons tomato sauce (optional)
Sliced Havarti cheese
Cut up veggies like carrots, cucumber and tomatoes (alright, so I know those latter ones are really fruits....)
Fresh chopped basil, oregano or thyme (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F.

If using tomato sauce, add a spoonful to four areas on the matzoh.  Top with cheese slices, then a few veggies.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.  Let cool for 5 minutes.  When ready to eat, simply break off pieces and enjoy.