Saved by the bell pepper?<\/p>\n
It can be really difficult to get kids to eat vegetables<\/a>, much less salad. But Tiffani Thiessen has a juicy secret to inspire plant pessimists to gulp down greens \u2014 put a chef or Caesar salad topped with ranch on their pizza.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the first time it kind of clicked [was when] I actually put salad on my pizza,\u201d Thiessen, 52, told The Post about getting her 10-year-old son, Holt, on board.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd he was like, \u2018Wait, you could do that?\u2019 And I was like, \u2018Of course, you can,’\u201d she added. \u201cHe liked that sort of concept, with a lot of ranch on it. And so he\u2019s been eating salads ever since, and that was a couple of years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Tiffani Thiessen, of \u201cSaved by the Bell\u201d fame, parlayed her love of salads into a partnership with Fresh Express. Courtesy of Fresh Express<\/p>\n Thiessen, a mother of two, loves salad, like really loves salad \u2014 and not just because she has a partnership with the packaged salad company Fresh Express<\/a>.<\/p>\n You may remember her as a diner denizen in the \u201990s, first at The Max as popular cheerleader Kelly Kapowski on \u201cSaved by the Bell\u201d and then at The Peach Pit as the deliciously vengeful nightclub owner Valerie Malone on \u201cBeverly Hills, 90210.\u201d<\/p>\n Gone are the hot fudge sundaes and mega burgers \u2014 now her Instagram page is bursting with salad recipes. Think Italian chopped salad with shrimp<\/a>, Caesar supreme salad<\/a> with herby meatballs and Mediterranean charred vegetable salad<\/a> with tzatziki vinaigrette, to name a few.<\/p>\n She\u2019s even maintained her salad steadfastness while shooting the upcoming supernatural Disney+ series<\/a> \u201cCoven Academy\u201d in Vancouver.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the week, when I can\u2019t go out and I\u2019m shooting really long hours, I definitely eat more salads,\u201d said Thiessen, who penned the cookbooks \u201cHere We Go Again\u201d<\/a> and \u201cPull Up a Chair.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cBut then on the weekends, that\u2019s where I give myself a little bit of grace, and I go out and have a restaurant meal with some friends who are in town or my castmates.\u201d<\/p>\n Thiessen has even gotten her children to eat salads. She advises putting salad on pizza to encourage kids to eat veggies. Courtesy of Fresh Express<\/p>\n Thiessen likes to follow an 80\/20 balance \u2014 salads for the 80% and Chinese food<\/a>, oysters, wine and other indulgences for the rest.<\/p>\n Thiessen has two more recipes for maintaining a healthy balance: good sleep and water, water, water!<\/p>\n 9021-H20<\/p>\n \u201cI know a lot of people who are not water drinkers, and I have to say there were moments where I was not a water drinker. I would have to put lemon in it,\u201d Thiessen said.<\/p>\n \u201cThen I just kind of forced myself into the habit of drinking water constantly,\u201d she continued. \u201cNow it\u2019s like my body needs it, and so it\u2019s not a chore anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n Thiessen is pictured here with her husband, Brady Smith, their daughter, Harper, and their son, Holt, at the \u201cZombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires\u201d premiere held at El Capitan Theatre on July 8, 2025. Variety via Getty Images<\/p>\n Thiessen wouldn\u2019t say exactly how much water she consumes from her Yeti water bottle<\/a> \u2014 \u201cI was told a long time ago that you should drink half your weight in ounces at least, not that I\u2019m going to give away my weight\u201d \u2014 but it\u2019s \u201ca lot of water.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, she limits her intake to 12 to 15 hours and cuts herself off at 7 p.m., so she\u2019s \u201cnot up all night.\u201d<\/p>\n Saved by the alarm bells<\/p>\n And sleep is very important to Thiessen, who tries to log seven hours a night.<\/p>\n \u201cNow that I\u2019m 52 years of age, I definitely know that I need more sleep,\u201d she shared. \u201cMy happy place is eight, but I don\u2019t always get it.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s especially difficult to get while filming in Vancouver \u2014 where she\u2019s been since December \u2014 because of night shoots that keep her working until 3 or 4 a.m.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why she depends on her sound machine to lull her to sleep. She said she\u2019s relied on one since the birth of her daughter<\/a>, Harper, 15.<\/p>\n \u201cI even travel with it,\u201d Thiessen said.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing against my husband \u2014 I love sleeping next to my husband, but he does snore,\u201d she added, referring to her husband, Brady Smith, whom she married in 2005.<\/p>\n \u201cSo when I\u2019m home, I actually do wear these really amazing earplugs that actually are like wax-based, and you can mold them to your ears, and they stay in all night, and they\u2019re amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t