Cauliflower Crust Pizza - My life is forever changed :)

I had heard stories of pizza being made with a cauliflower crust....my first thought was, THIS HAS GOT TO BE TERRIBLY DIFFICULT!!  The time couldn't be worth the result, I mean it is a veggie as a crust ?!

I looked into it, read multiple recipes, asked some other healthy eaters for their opinions and/or advice and after all that, decided I couldn't be judgmental if I didn't try it for myself.

This is the recipe I used as my guide:  Cauliflower Pizza Crust  via Pinterest


You have to start with "riced" cauliflower....to get "riced" cauliflower you will need to cut the florets off the head of cauliflower and food process until it looks similar to rice.....yep, "until it looks right" - my favorite recipe mantra.

Does it look like rice to you?

Then place the riced cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 5-8 minutes...DO NOT ADD WATER!!

1 head of cauliflower will produce about 3 cups of riced cauliflower.  I don't believe in waste, so I tripled the recipe and baked on a cookie sheet (makes about 15 slices)

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Spray your cookie sheet with a non-stick spray

Combine your cauliflower, egg and cheese (dependent on the size batch you are making...I tripled mine)  Also add your Italian or other seasonings at this time.  It will be the consistency like meatloaf oddly.

Spread onto your pan...for a single recipe, spread in a small circle on your pan.  For a tripled recipe spread across your entire pan.  Softly patting the mixture into place.

Bake the cauliflower crust for 15-20 minutes, until golden and you do not see any wetness left.


At this point you can top as you wish.  We used spicy Italian sausage, basil and mushrooms along with a combination of our left over mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

Place under Broiler until cheese is melted and bubbly.

You get a nice thin crust and a delicious pizza!

~Happy Husband Approved~

~Ginger Princess Approved~

**Warning...this is delicious!  HOWEVER....yes there are less starchy carbs, but the high amount of cheese really only reduces calories by about 50 from a regular slice of pizza, as cheese has a high fat content.  STILL FREAKING DELICIOUS :)

Spring Rolls....that's what I make with holiday leftovers!

Oh the times of week long turkey or ham sandwich left overs, I have a fond memory but no desire to go there.  After a great Ham Dinner for Easter, I wanted to do something fun and different with our left overs.

We made SPRING ROLLS!

Baked Spring Rolls - found via Pinterest

I was excited!  I took the Ginger Princess to the store to get vegetables.  She chose broccoli and a green pepper...it must have been "green day" for her.

I employed my handy dandy electric food processor and ground up my left over ham, some onion, green pepper and my steamed broccoli.

Then I created my own sauce:  I used an equal parts ratio for the following items:
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Lemon Juice
Dijon Mustard

Then I added Siracha to taste :)

I mixed the sauce in to my meat and veggie mixture, 

covered and refrigerated a few hours to let the flavors mingle.

* This is a great way to prep items in the morning or night before and just do assembly and baking right before you plan to eat.


I preheated my oven to 450 degrees and then began wrapping my spring rolls.  Set a shallow bowl with water in it near your work space, as you will need this to seal your spring rolls.  Use a non greased baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. Lay your spring roll/egg roll wrappers at an angle and fill the inside (roughly 2 tablespoons of mixture)

2. Fold the bottom side up to the top corner and then slide down tightly to your mixture.

3. Fold your outside edges in tight to the center, once you have folded as seen below, use your finger tips and dip them in the small bowl of water.  Brush the water across the top edges and then roll the bottom of the Spring Roll up to the top.

4. Place on your cooking sheet

5. Lightly brush olive oil over the tops of the Spring rolls, place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes on each side.

 

 

 

I made a quick soy and siracha drizzle for mine.

 

1 spring roll is approximately 115 calories :)  And they were delicious!  ~Happy Husband Approved~

Hummus in under 2 minutes!

As I look for great protein alternatives, I decided it was time to learn how to make homemade hummus.

I found some amazing ideas on Pinterest, but decided to go simple for round 1.

I again used my electric food processor.

In the food processor I combined:

1 drained can of garbonzo beans
3 gloves garlic
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. lemon juice

BLEND!

Then I stirred in some chipotle seasoning for an extra kick!

Scoop into a bowl and serve with chips.  Make Pita Chips or spread on sandwiches.

For supper last night we enjoyed Flax seed and Blue Corn tortillas with the hummus spread on it.  We then topped with greek seasoned (Pampered Chef seasoning) ground turkey, feta cheese, spinach and avocado......it was amazing!

2 wraps were under 500 calories and this was once again ~Happy Husband Approved~

Here are my ingredients, I have more than I used...just wasn't sure how it was going to go :)

Final wrap

Buffalo Chicken Baked Ring

So as I planned the meals for this week, I picked 3  recipes to try that would also stay within my 400-600 calorie supper meal guidelines. I also wanted items that were "soul foods" in our house.

The first recipe is  Buffalo Chicken Ring which I found while skimming Pinterest.

This recipe serves about 6 people and is about 500 calories per serving.

I started with by placing 2 chicken breasts in my Deep Cover Baker.  I lightly coated the chicken with olive oil and sprinkled about 1/4 package of Hidden Valley Ranch mix over the top.  I then placed the covered dish in my microwave for 5 minutes, flipped the chicken and cooked another 5 minutes until fully cooked.

While the chicken was cooking.  I mixed my ranch dip.  I added the remaining mix to 1 - 8oz package of fat free cream cheese and stirred until fully incorporated.

I then set this mixture aside and prepped my baking pan. 

 I continue to wish I had a Large Pizza Stone, but used a baking sheet at this time.

This is 2 cans of reduced fat crescent rolls.

When my chicken was fully cooked ( the deep covered baker makes the most moist chicken ever!) I cut into chunks and used my electric food processor for the first time in my life : ) This was fantasic!

Once my chicken was finely chopped, I combined with my ranch mixture.  You may notice that I am not adding the celery that the original recipe calls for, I truly dislike celery so this was my option of change.

Add your desired amount of Frank's RedHot...I like it spicy. I used about 3/4 cup.

I added about 1/4 cup of shredded fiesta style cheese to the mixture as well.

Now to scoop the buffalo chicken mixture into your ring.

again, I added 1/4 cup of shredded cheese to the top of the ring.

When you wrap your ring, lift the crescent up and then angle to one side, continue in the same direction with all crescents all the way around.  

I pinched the dough together in the center of the ring and any holes around the edges.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Cut into 6 pieces and serve :)  This is most definitely ~HAPPY HUSBAND APPROVED~ he was grinning ear to ear with this one!  Because I made this to our adult taste, it was not served to the Ginger Princess.

This recipe took about a total of 35 minutes, start to finish.

Next time I may make with a blue cheese seasoning instead of ranch.