Cauliflower Crust Veggie Pizza

I adore pizza, always have. However, I was skeptical of the cauliflower crust pizza recipes cycling around on the internet these days. I only decided to actually try this when a co-worker of mine mentioned this to me and said it was good. Since I am gluten intolerant and am often missing pizza, I had to give this a try and put my own spin on this. This is especially for those who are gluten intolerant, are watching their carbs, or have celiac. This can also be a tasty way to sneak in more veggies and fiber into your day. I attempted my own version of this roughly based on the recipe here: http://gapsdietjourney.com/2012/04/recipe-review-cauliflower-pizza-crust-dairy-free-and-gaps-legal/. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Cauliflower Crust Veggie Pizza - Serves 1-2 people

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 3 1/2 cups of fresh cauliflower, chopped into florets
• 1 whole egg or egg beater equivalent
• 1 TBSP of Parmesan Romano Cheese (grated kind from pasta aisle is fine)
• 1/8 tsp of garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp of italian seasoning
• Wax or parchment paper
• Cooking spray, olive oil, or butter for greasing the pan

Toppings:

• 1/3 cup of pizza sauce or tomato sauce of your choice
• 1/2 cup of shredded part skim mozzarella
• 1/2 cup of veggies of your choice (I used broccoli)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place cauliflower in your food processor. Pulse until cauliflower is about the size of rice grains.
3. Steam cauliflower in the microwave on high for 5-6 minutes.
4. Drain cauliflower in strainer and then place cauliflower into a dish towel and squeeze out the excess liquid.
5. Place cauliflower into a small bowl and mix in eggs, parmesan romano cheese, garlic powder, basil, and oregano.
6. Put cauliflower mixture onto small cookie sheet lined with wax or parchment paper and spray liberally with cooking spray.
7. Shape "dough" into circle and make sure dough is on the thinner side. This will help the crust to crisp up.
8. Place crust into the oven for 30-40 minutes or until crust is lightly browned on the edges.
9. Remove Parchment paper, spray pan liberally, and place crust directly on the cookie sheet.
10. Put sauce, cheese, and toppings on the crust.
11. Place pizza back in the oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
12. Remove from oven, slice and enjoy!

* My verdict is that this was good and I would make it again, but would not replace pizza for me all the time. Another words, this is good in its own right and does taste like a pizza, but it is not identical to a "real" pizza.

Deviled Egg Salad

I really enjoy eggs, they are one of my favorite breakfast foods that I eat on the weekends and some weekdays. Nothing like over easy eggs or a omelet served with hashbrowns, maybe some breakfast meat like bacon or turkey sausage, and wheat toast for a big breakfast. On the go I also enjoy a good breakfast sandwich either homemade or from somewhere good.

I also enjoy this egg salad recipe I made up and am going to share with you all. I have been making my own egg salad using dijon or spicy mustard for years in place of the mayonaise since I do not like mayonaise at all. To me it tastes good and I even had my mom try some that I made once and she enjoyed it as well. I considered that a compliment since she likes mayonaise. This is a variation of my normal egg salad I came up with recently that incorporates black pepper and paprika like you see in deviled eggs. Came out great and similar to eating deviled eggs.  Here is the recipe:

Deviled Egg Salad - Serves 4 smaller portions or 2 large portions

Ingredients:

* 4 eggs, hard boiled
* 1 TBSP of dijon mustard
* 1/8 tsp of paprika
* 1/8 tsp of black pepper

Directions:

1. In a medium sized bowl, mash eggs with a fork.
2. Add mustard, paprika, and black pepper.
3. Throughly Mix eggs, mustard and spices together until everything is mixed together.
4. Serve as a sandwich using your favorite bread, in a wrap, stuffed into pita bread, or on a bed of lettuce. and enjoy.

Buffalo Style Grilled Chicken

One of my husband's favorite appetizers when we go out to eat is buffalo wings. While buffalo wings are usually greasy and unhealthy, this chicken is not. I made a homemade marinade that is similar to the one usually used on buffalo wings, except I tweaked it a bit to have less butter and still have a good balanced, hot wing flavor. I also switched out the wings for boneless, skinless chicken.This recipe will give you a mild to medium spicy buffalo chicken, which is what I prefer and most people I know like. If you use the optional cayenne pepper on the chicken, it will be on the hot side, but not "suicide" hot. Here is the recipe:

Buffalo Style Grilled Chicken - Serves 4

Ingredients:

* 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
* 1 cup of hot sauce
* 2 TBSP of butter or margarine, melted
* 1 TBSP of white vinegar
* 1/4 tsp black pepper
* 1/4 tsp garlic powder
* Cooking Spray
* a few sprinkles of cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:

1. Mix hot sauce, melted butter, vinegar, black pepper, and garlic powder together to make your buffalo sauce marinade.
2. Put chicken in a large container or bowl and pour marinade over the chicken.

3. Cover chicken and marinade chicken in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

4. Spray the pan with cooking spray and put chicken in a large pan over low to medium heat. Lightly sprinkle chicken with cayenne pepper if you want your buffalo chicken on the spicier side.

5. Cook 7-8 minutes and then flip each piece of chicken.  Lightly sprinkle chicken again with cayenne pepper if you want your buffalo chicken to be hot and spicy.

6. Cook another 7-8 minutes or until juices run clear.

7. Serve on its own with your favorite side dishes, with ranch or blue cheese dressing on side, or on a bun with ranch or blue cheese dressing as a sandwich.

Honey Mustard Chicken

I came up with this recipe tonight after a long, hard workout today. I have been battling a cold all week and today was the first day that I felt like my normal self. I am dedicating this one to one of my oldest and best friends Susan who loves honey mustard, which I also happen to like a lot. I am not a fan of mayo and have always enjoyed mustard on my sandwiches, especially spicy and honey mustard.

Ingredients:

* 4 chicken breasts, thawed
* 4 TBSP of honey mustard dressing (I used Ken's Lite Honey Mustard)
* 1/8 tsp of black pepper
* Canola oil cooking spray

Directions:

1. Put honey mustard, spicy mustard, and black pepper in a small bowl and mix both of them together.

2. Coat chicken with honey mustard mixture one at a time. Make sure the chicken is thoroughly coated. Cover chicken and marinade chicken in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

3. Spray the pan with cooking spray and put chicken in a large pan over low to medium heat.

4. Cook 10-15 minutes or until juices run clear, flipping chicken halfway through.

5. Serve on its own with favorite side dishes or use chicken in a salad, sandwich, or wrap with additional dressing. Enjoy!

Garlic-Dill Vegetable Medley

I came home knowing I wanted make a vegetable recipe, but was stumped on what I wanted to make. Ended up using the fresh vegetables I had left in the house since I had to go grocery shopping tonight. I have been very busy and did not make it there over the weekend. I also tried to do some different spices this time, variety is key to a healthy lifestyle. Enjoy!

Garlic-Dill Vegetable Medley - Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients:

1 Cup of shredded carrots (I bought them shredded in a bag in the produce section)
1 Cup of sliced mushrooms (used already sliced baby bella mushrooms)
2 Cups of baby spinach leaves
1 TBSP of Butter or Butter Spread (I used whipped Earth Balance)
1/8 tsp of garlic powder
1/8 tsp of onion powder
1/8 tsp of dill (I used dried dill from the spices section)
1/8 tsp of black pepper
1/8 tsp of sea salt

Directions:

1. Turn a medium sized non-stick pan on medium heat and add butter along with spices (garlic, onion, dill, pepper, and salt) to pan.
2. Add carrots and cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring them occasionally.
3. Add mushrooms and cook for 2-4 minutes, stir vegetables every minute or two
4. Turn pan off and add baby spinach, continue to stir for 1-2 minutes. The heat from the pan and vegetables will wilt the spinach.
5. Put vegetables into a bowl and serve. I served this with brown rice and lemon pepper chicken. Also would work well mixed with rice or served with potatoes. Enjoy and please provide me with feedback!

Italian Style Mozzarella Mushroom Chicken

Recently I was given a challenge to come up with a clean eating or gluten free recipe to feature on their blog. I decided to rise to the challenge. I also noticed there aren't any protein rich dishes on the blog yet. Here is a gluten free and clean eating chicken recipe which will pair well with asparagus, green beans, or spinach and some rice. This also would pair well with the Spinach Parmesan Orzo recipe that was featured on Monday. I am having this with brown rice and spinach tonight.

Italian Style Mozzarella Mushroom Chicken - Serves 4


Ingredients:

* 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
* 1 1/3 cups of fresh mushrooms, sliced (I used already sliced baby bella mushrooms)
* 2 TBSP of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
* 1 tsp garlic powder
* 1 tsp black pepper
* 1 tsp dried basil
* 1/2 tsp sea salt
* 4 Slices of part skim mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over low to medium heat. Place chicken in the skillet, and season with garlic powder, basil, sea salt, and black pepper on both sides. Cook 10-15 minutes or until juices run clear, flipping chicken halfway through. Set chicken aside on a plate and cover the plate to keep the chicken warm.

2. Stir mushrooms into the skillet, and cook until tender, stirring them with a spoon to cook them evenly. Return chicken to skillet and top each piece of chicken with mushrooms and then with a slice of cheese (feel free to cut slice to fit each piece if needed) . Cover skillet, and continue cooking 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

3. Serve with favorite side dishes and enjoy. Here is a picture of the chicken with brown rice and baby spinach.

That was my dinner tonight, let me know your thoughts on this dish! I thoroughly enjoyed this chicken.