Cauliflower Pizza -- Weight Watchers Recipe

As soon as my boyfriend and I returned from New Orleans in January, I started the Weight Watchers program.  If you've read my blog for sometime, you are fully aware that I love indulging in sweets and good food. After having trouble shedding those pounds, I decided to test out the WW program and see what happened. 

The past two Saturdays, we've created a cauliflower pizza crust from scratch and it's been a tremendous success! I was very hesitant to test out this method, but we were very pleased with the results.

Chef Scottie Rob

It helps when you have someone handsome (as seen above) who is willing to grate a head of cauliflower for your meal. :) Tasty Kitchen has a great step by step guide to making your crust. Find it here. 

Our first pizza was a Hawaiian pizza with Canadian bacon and pineapple. We used this recipe from Recipe Girl as a guide. The crust came out thin and rather tasty. I think the shock was evident on both of our faces when we were realized how good the crust actually was. We came to the conclusion we really couldn't tell the difference. (side note: If you were to hand me a Shakespeare's Pizza, I could tell the difference. Just so we're clear!) In addition to this, one slice was 3 points plus opposed to the pizza we had a few weeks ago where one slice was seven. I was able to eat more pizza and I loved every minute of it. 

Our second attempt at making the pizza crust went much smoother. We used more of the cauliflower head and utilized parchment paper in the cooking process. This batch was much thicker than our previous crust, so it needed to cook much longer before adding all of our toppings. Week two's pizza was a BBQ Chicken Pizza adapted from this recipe. 

Ready to be baked!

The final product, both weeks, was absolutely delicious. The worst part about the whole process was grating the cauliflower (I don't own a food processor). However, as I mentioned earlier, convince a handsome lad to do the hard part for you. wink wink!

BBQ Pizza with a Cauliflower Crust

Have you used cauliflower for a substitute in any recipes? 

We've also made a garlic bread recipe that was delicious. Share with me your other cauliflower experiments! 

Tastes Like California

On our vacation in California earlier this month my bf and I had our first experience with cantaloupe and prosciutto pizza. When we ordered, we didn't really know what to expect we just crossed our fingers and hopped the pizza would turn out tasty. 

Yum. It was the strangest and and one of the most delicious pizzas I've ever had. So different from pizza I'm used to back in Missouri. Since coming home, we were longing for a little taste of Southern California, so we made our very own Cantaloupe and Prosciutto Pizza. :)

You'll Need:

• Pizza crust (we used Jiffy Pizza Crust Mix)
• Cantaloupe (sliced thin)
• Prosciutto (sliced thin)
• Mozzarella cheese
• Pizza Sauce
• Basil

Make It:

• Prepare pie crust as directed on box or package and bake for 2-3 minutes. 
• Add pizza sauce and mozz cheese to pizza crust. 
• Next, layer prosciutto on top of mozzarella. Hold onto the cantaloupe!
• Bake your pizza (note: this depends on what type of crust you use/make) for 18-20 minutes at 425 degrees.
• Top your pizza with cantaloupe and fresh basil. Enjoy!

Our Spin on Chicken Taco Pizza

Last night, my bf and I were craving something a little different than our Sunday night Soup tradition. After bouncing several ideas, we decided to create our own version of a Taco Pizza. If you have a Casey's General Store in your area - you've probably experienced one before. :) We borrowed ideas from this recipe at Jo Cooks here. 

Chicken Taco Pizza

You'll Need:

• Pizza Dough (we picked up the premade kind)
• 1 cup refried beans 
• 1 pound of chicken breasts, cut into strips 
• Shredded cheese
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 package of chicken taco seasoning
  
  Toppings (go wild!)
• Lettuce 
• Tomatoes
• Green peppers
• Salsa
• Cilantro
• Plain Greek Yogurt (substitute for sour cream)

Make it!

• Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. 
• Begin assembling your pizza from the bottom up. We covered the pizza with refried beans and salsa while the chicken cooked in the taco seasoning. 
• In the mean time, cook your chicken in a skillet with the taco seasoning. We followed the directions on the packet of seasons.
• Add the cooked chicken and shredded cheese to your pizza. 
• Pop it in the oven for 8-10 minutes.
• Polish off the pizza with toppings of your choice. We went with: lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, green peppers, cilantro, and yogurt. 
• Slice your pizza up and enjoy!

I don't mean to toot our horns or anything... but this was a delicious dish. I'm looking forward to the leftovers tonight for dinner. We watched ours with an episode of Walking Dead and the NFL playoffs. Are you a fan of Walking Dead too? We are catching up on season three and things are getting emotional. 

Happy Monday!

Zucchini Pizza - St. Louis Style!

I'm a huge sucker for Italian food. I could eat pizza and pasta everyday. If I did this, I would eventually have to move into a zoo because I will have transformed into an elephant. So, I resist temptation and only eat pizza and pasta on occasion. I'm sure many of you have seen zucchini pizza pinned over the Pinterest world, and I've had my eye on it for awhile. Last night, we gave it a whirl!

Zucchini Pizza 

2 zucchinis (depending on how many will be dining with you!)

Cheese (we picked provel!)

Pizza Sauce

Turkey Pepperoni (surprisingly delicious)

Here's our step by step take on creating our healthy dinner. Someday, I'll become a fancy food photographer. :)

1. Chop your zucchinis in half and scoop out the insides.

Scoopin' 

2. Spoon in the pizza sauce of your choice.

Spoonin' 

3. Load up your toppings. We went for pepperoni, but go crazy!

Toppin'

4. Top with cheese! Our pizzas were St. Louis style with provel cheese. The provel made it gooey and extra delicious.

Cheesin'

5. Pop in the oven at 375 for 30-35 minutes (depending on your oven of course). The end result will surprise you. The pizzas are very juicy and full of flavor. Next time, I plan to add my spices on the zucchini before adding the pizza sauce.

Cookin' & Eatin'

Party Rock Anthem

Once again, my blog has taken the back burner to the rest of life. (i.e. 5th grade, Mizzou football...) You get the idea!

As I was driving back to the lake this afternoon, I was 98% sure I would be headed right to my couch for a nap and a Bravo marathon (insert a Real Housewives title here). Instead, I decided to make a craft and cook!

As always, Pinterest never lets me down. A few weeks ago, I pinned a recipe for mini deep dish pizzas. I checked out Dashing Dish's post and started pulling ingredients from my fridge.

Now, let me just say that my little pizzas did not turn out as cute and bite-size as the photo above.  Mine were a little... how should I put this? Bloated.  Yes, they were bloated. Were they delicious? Absolutely. I will be having my leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Here's the recipe Dashing Dish posted on her blog. Head over to her page here to see photos and read how she made her mini pizzas!

Ingredients:

• 3-4 whole wheat wraps (try to find ones with at least 3 grams of fiber or more per wrap)
• 1 (15oz) can pizza sauce (you may have some left over, depending on how much sauce you like)
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 48 mini turkey pepperonis (or the 12 whole turkey pepperoni’s, each cut into 4 even pieces)
• 1 tsp basil/oregano mix OR Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• pinch of sweetener, (sugar/stevia/splenda)
• pinch of black pepper

*Put your own spin on these by adding anything that you would normally like on a pizza just before popping them in the oven!

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a 12 count muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Start by laying each tortilla out individually on a flat surface, and use an empty can, cup, or cookie cutter to cut 3-4 medium circles out of each wrap. I used the empty pizza sauce can, which worked well!

Have you met Mr. Gobble Gobble? He's the newest member of room 52! My students wrote what they were thankful for on each of his feathers. Now, he is gobbling proud in our classroom for the rest of the month. 

How about those Missouri Tigers? Sorry Texas, just wasn't your day!

PARTY ROCK!




Linking up with another messy gal in blogland! Marvelously Messy!

Up in the Gym... Workin' on my Fitness!

Oh, Fergie.. always so eloquently spoken. Is it really Thursday? Awesome! Which means only one day separates me and a weekend with my girly-friends.

Today, I participated in my first zumba-like dance class. Before, I continue there is something you must know about me. I think I can dance. I love to dance, but I'm not talented whatsoever. To give you a mental image of my dance skills, I have provided some pretty sweet clips for you to enjoy. After the clips, we can proceed with my post.

Are we on the same wave length now? Okay, gooood!

Even though I love to cook, I'm notorious for eating a lot of fast food. You know why? It's fast. Sometimes, I don't want to spend 15 minutes preparing, 15 minutes baking, and an hour cleaning. Sometimes, I need something quick! So lately, I have banned myself from eating excessive fast food and been eating wayyy too much ramen.  It's a little thing I like to call, "Rama-Thon". A marathon of ramen. Yes, this is what my life has come to... a cheap and easy dinner solution.

Drool worthy

Well the tides have turned tonight, ladies and gents!
Time out. I say "gents" a lot, but I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that not many males are avid readers of my blog.

Time in.
After I got my groove on tonight and had a great day in the classroom, I felt like making something in the 'ol kitchen.

Say "I" if you love margherita pizza!
I, I!
Have you ever been to an Italian restaurant and they give you a pizza the size of your face? That's the best kind of margherita pizza! Maybe not the most healthy or "portion-size" friendly, but you catch my drift.

Est! Est! Est! Pizzeria, Rome

Once again, I found a little gem on Pinterest.  Feast your eyes on the Cheesy Margherita Pizza!

Brought to you by the Pillsbury Doughboy Hoo-Hoo!

Ingredients:

1

can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations® refrigerated seamless dough sheet

2

teaspoons olive oil

1 1/2

cups shredded Italian cheese blend (6 oz)

3

medium plum (Roma) tomatoes, sliced

2

tablespoons fresh basil strips

Directions:

Separate or cut dough into 2 long rectangles (if using crescent rolls, press perforations to seal). Place on ungreased cookie sheet; press into 12x8-inch rectangle. Brush with oil. Top with tomatoes and cheese.Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. 
Yum.