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.

Cheesy Baked Ziti

I have been in the process of adjusting to living gluten free for the past few weeks for health reasons. As a result of this dietary change, I have been missing things like pasta, bread, and baked goods. One of the first things I tested out was making baked ziti using corn pasta. That worked very well and it tasted almost exactly like regular pasta and the texture was good. While the majority of my starches now I eat brown rice, potatoes, and sweet potatoes now, I do eat gluten free swaps like corn pasta about once a week to fulfill my pasta cravings. As many in my life know, I am a big fan of Italian food and I spent many of my childhood years in an Italian neighborhood. For me, Italian food is one of the things I consider to be special and many dishes like the one I am going to share with you today brings me back memories. This is also one of my husband's favorite meals that I make. Here is the recipe:

Cheesy Baked Ziti -  Serves 8

Ingredients:

* 1 box of any ziti or penne pasta of your choice
* 1 jar of pasta sauce
* 1 8oz bag or 2 cups of shredded mozzarella (I used reduced fat mozzarella)
* 1/2 of a 15 oz container of part skim ricotta cheese
* 1 TBSP of Parmesan Romano Cheese (The kind from the pasta aisle is fine)
* 1 TBSP of basil
* Olive oil cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Cook pasta to al dente according to instructions on the box in a large pot of water.
3. Heat and mix pasta sauce, ricotta cheese, 1/2 TBSP of Parmesan Romano Cheese, and 1/2 TBSP of basil together in a large saucepan over low heat.
4. Once the pasta is done cooking, strain pasta and mix pasta into the sauce in the large saucepan.
5. Turn off the stove and add 1 cup of shredded mozzarella in with the pasta mixture and stir until pasta is coated with sauce and cheese.
6. Spray 13 x 9 with cooking spray and dump pasta into the pan. Make sure the pasta is an even layer in the pan.
7. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup of shredded mozzarella, 1/2 TBSP of Parmesan Romano Cheese, and 1/2 TBSP of basil on top of the pasta.
8. Bake the ziti in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
9. Remove from the oven, leave ziti to cook for 5 minutes, and serve with a spatula. Enjoy!

Blog announcement/Updates

I have currently dealing with a new allergy challenge. I am currently going through the process of adjusting to eating a gluten free diet. This was due to stomach/digestive issues I have been having for the past few months as well as rashes I have been getting around and on my neck. My doctor wanted me to see if gluten intolerance was causing my issues lately. Now I have been eating gluten free for just over a week and am feeling better than I have in a long time.I did have one accidental slip up with asian salad dressing that had soy sauce in it a few days in and had a skin rash and stomachache reaction. That is proof enough for me that my body isn't tolerating gluten so well anymore, which makes me sad. That being said it's getting easier each day and the benefits are outweighing the drawbacks. I will likely be gluten free for the rest of my life based on the results so far in eating gluten free.

As a result, the majority, if not all of recipes moving on forward will be naturally gluten free using items easily found in the supermarket and with 10 items or less. Going to need to do that since I would not be able to test the recipe myself otherwise.

More recipes will be coming shortly, including a gluten free asian dressing recipe that I am working on perfecting that will be easily made at home.

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.

Veggie Fajita Black Bean Chili

With the weather turning cold and life getting busy again, I took out the slow cooker to do some easy, healthy cooking. I thought about foods I like and haven't had in awhile and realized that chili was one of them. While this recipe would also be good with ground chicken or beef added in, the veggies and black beans make this a hearty, vegetarian meal.

Veggie Fajita Black Bean Chili - Serves 4

Ingredients:

* 2 14oz cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
* 2 14oz cans of tomatoes with green chilis or jalapenos ( use regular tomatoes if you like your chili less spicy)
* 3 bell peppers cut into strips
* 1 onion, chopped
* 2 cups of sliced mushrooms
* 2 tsp of cumin
* 1 TBSP of chili powder
* 1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper or to taste
* 1/4 tsp of garlic powder

Directions:

1. Dump all ingredients into the slow cooker and mix them together.
2. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
3. Serve topped with shredded cheese, sliced avocado, and/or sour cream. Also great served over brown rice, whole grain pasta, or a baked potato for a more filling meal. Enjoy!

Sugar N Spice Baked Apples

I am a person who has a sweet tooth and often likes to have something sweet at the end of the day. Generally I try to serve myself lower calorie, healthier options for my dessert the majority of the time. While cookies, cake, pie, and other sweets have their place, they are not things I want to be eating large amounts of for the sake of my health. I tend to save those for the weekends, holidays, and other special times with friends and family. On those "regular" nights I go for healthier desserts or snacks. Here is one I have been enjoying for years, ever since my days of doing Weight Watchers in my early 20's.

Sugar N Spice Baked Apples - Serves 2

Ingredients:

* 2 apples (I used gala apples today, but most kinds of apples work for this)
* 1 TBSP of dark brown sugar, packed
* 1/4 tsp of ground cinnamon
* 1/4 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
* Cooking spray or about 1 TBSP of melted butter/margarine

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Wash and dry apples. Cut the apples in half and remove the core but leave any stems intact.
3. Place apples on a small, non-stick cookie sheet with the cut, flat side facing up.
4. Mix brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
5. Spray the top of each apple with cooking spray or brush each top with melted butter.
6. Coat each apple half with sugar and spice mixture.
6. Bake apples for 25-30 minutes or until apples are fork tender and soft.

These can be eaten on their own or served with the following for a tasty treat: Vanilla ice cream, vanilla yogurt (greek or regular), or whipped cream. Enjoy this healthy, but still sweet dessert.