Cauliflower Crust Pizza

The boys and my husband are all big fans of our "homemade" pizza.  We usually make 2 large very thin crust pizzas and for the most part it all disappears.  I was looking for an alternative to pizza night because for some reason the dough we use (not really homemade, it comes from the refrigerated section at the grocery store) hasn't been agreeing with me the last few times we have made the pizza.  I found this recipe on my Beachbody coach's blog and thought I would give it a try.

Serves 2
Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked, riced cauliflower

• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

• 1 egg, beaten

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano (I used Italian seasoning)

• ½ teaspoon crushed garlic

• ½ teaspoon garlic salt

• olive oil (optional) 

• pizza sauce, shredded cheese and choice of your toppings

1) Rice the cauliflower: Take 1 large head of fresh cauliflower, remove stems and leaves, and chop the florets into chunks. Add to food processor and pulse until it looks like grain. Do not over-do pulse or you will puree it. (If you don't have a food processor, you can grate the whole head with a cheese grater - I tried this at first and do not recommend it.  It was really hard and I just made a huge mess). Place the riced cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 8 minutes. There is no need to add water. One large head should produce approximately 3 cups of riced cauliflower. The remainder can be used to make additional pizza crusts immediately, or can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

2) Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
3) In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup cauliflower, egg and mozzarella. 
4) Add oregano, crushed garlic and garlic salt, stir. 
5) Transfer to a cookie sheet (I do not recommend using an "air bake" style of cookie sheet), and using your hands, pat out into a 9" round. Optional: Brush olive oil over top of mixture to help with browning.

6) Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven.
7) Add sauce, toppings (need to be pre-cooked) and cheese. 

8) Place under a broiler at high heat just until cheese is melted (approximately 3-4 minutes).

This turned out well, with the exception of the fact it didn't really crisp up in the middle.  I think this was due to the type of cookie sheet I used.  Next time I will use a dark non "air bake" style sheet, or maybe I will use our pizza pans and put a cookie sheet on the rack below.  Our pans have holes in them and as the crust bakes some of the liquid from the cauliflower comes out so if you have "holy" pans you will want to put something under it.  I just used mushrooms this time because that was about all I had left by the end of the week.  Next time I will definitely load up the veggies on there - probably peppers, onions, mushrooms, olives, maybe some tomato....  Remember to cook your toppings before you top your pizza.  3-4 minutes under the broiler is just to melt the cheese and not meant to cook the toppings.  I will make this again, probably on our next pizza night and add a side salad as well.  Remember, this serves TWO.  I ate almost the whole pizza in 1 sitting!  Next time I will be sure to watch my portions.  

What are your favorite pizza toppings?

Turkey Meatballs

We had whole wheat spaghetti and turkey meatballs for dinner tonight.  Since there are several sporting events going on tomorrow I thought it would be good to get some carbohydrates and protein in those bodies.  Spaghetti and meatballs isn't a regular dish around here so it was a treat for the boys and they loved it.  Whole wheat spaghetti has been the norm here for several years so they probably don't even remember what regular spaghetti tastes like.  I like the texture of whole wheat pasta better myself, it is a bit of an acquired taste but it was probably one of the easiest switches we made as far as eating healthier.  The turkey meatballs were new.  In the past we would use a combination of lean ground beef and Italian sausage for our meat sauce.  Today I did the turkey meatballs and I threw in a few sausage meatballs for old time's sake.  Just in case the turkey meatballs caused some kind of mutiny.  Overall I would say it was a success.  Two out of three boys agree turkey meatballs are good.  The third boy, not so much.  The fourth boy lives on his own now and will eat anything so I know if he were here he would have liked them too.  They are definitely more dense than a regular meatball and have a drier texture but these will be added to the rotation.  So here is the recipe (as taken from The Gracious Pantry website).

1.5 Pounds lean, ground turkey

1 Tbsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp onion powder

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1.5 Cups Clean tomato sauce (I used Muir Glen Organic Tomato Basil - this isn't necessarily a clean sauce)

1/4 Cup grated parmesan cheese (I didn't use this in the recipe, but the boys sprinkled it on their servings)

In a large mixing bowl, knead the turkey together with the spices.  Roll meat into 22, walnut sized meatballs and place in a single layer in your crockpot.  Pour the tomato sauce over the top, being sure to cover the meatballs evenly.  Sprinkle the cheese across the top and set the slow cooker to low heat for 4 hours. 

Nutritional Content (for 2 meatballs as per The Gracious Pantry website)

Calories: 117

Total Fat: 6 g

Carbohydrates: 4 g

Dietary Fiber: 1 g

Sugars: 2 g

Protein: 12 g