Pizza Crust

This Pizza Crust is healthy and simple :).

Pizza Crust

Ingredients

-4 tsp yeast   -1 cup + 2 tbsp warm water   -1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour  -1 3/4 cup white flour  -2 tsp salt   -3 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

-Mix 4 tsp yeast and 1 cup + 2 tbsp warm water together and let sit for 5 minutes.

-Mix in the rest of the ingredients.
-Knead for 8-10 minutes and roll into ball.

-Place into lightly greased bowl and cover with a towel, let sit for 30 minutes.
-Knead dough and separate into 2 sections.
-Roll out each section into thin round crusts and fold about 1 cm around the edge of pizza to form the outer crust.

-Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celcius or 302 degrees Fahrenheit.
-Bake until crust is slightly browned.

-Add sauce and pre-cooked toppings and bake until hot.

Makes 2 pizzas  1 pizza makes 8 slices
1 slice is app. 90 calories

For a more mexican flavored pizza crust

-Replace 1/4 cup of whole wheat and 1/2 cup of white flour with 3/4 cup corn meal.
All other ingredients and procedures are the same.

I top mine with my tomato sauce recipe, roasted peppers, roasted onions, roasted chili peppers, sauted spinach, sliced and cooked zucchini, sauted mushrooms and chili powder =).

Onion Rings

Yesterday I had my boyfriend and some friends over for dinner. I decided to make pizza but wanted to have some sort of appetizer. I finally decided to give baked onion rings a try =), I have never been a huge fan of onion rings but most of my family likes them and my boyfriend loves onions. They turned out really good and crunchy, everyone loved them and every single onion ring gotten eaten! The cream dip I decided to make was a huge hit as well and I had to make a double batch.  

Onion Rings

Ingredients

-2 large onions  -1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. of whole wheat flour  -1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. white flour  -2 tbsp. corn starch  -1 cups of cold milk  -1 1/2 cups of bread crumbs  -1 tsp. salt  -3 tsp. olive oil

Instructions

-Cut the two large onions into ½ inch thick slices, if you like thicker onion rings make the slices thicker. Make sure you slice the onion on its side not from top to bottom.

-Separate the onions into rings and place into a bowl.

-Place the 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. of w.w. flour, 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. white flour, 2 tbsp. of corn starch and 1 cups of cold milk into a bowl, whisk until all the clumps are out.
-Put the 1 1/2 cups of bread crumbs, 1 tsp. of salt and 3 tsp. of olive oil into another bowl and mix together.
-Get a baking pan, cover it with aluminum foil and lightly grease the aluminum foil.
-Now, set everything up from left to right. Onions, batter, bread crumbs and pan.

-Dip an onion ring into the batter with one hand and with the other sprinkle the bread crumbs all over and lay onto the pan.

-Do this with all of the onions and do not let them touch on the pan or they will stick.
-Pre-heat the oven when you are almost done to 150 degrees Celsius or 302 degrees Fahrenheit.
-Bake the onions for about 10 minutes, until they start to turn golden brown, flip and bake for about 5 more minutes.

Onion rings served with broccoli rabe florets, carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, and veggie dip. (The onions rings shown here are less than half of the recipe so it makes a lot more than it looks!)

The entire thing is 1100 calories.

If you are counting calories just divide them into a certain amount of servings and divide J.

Pumpkin Risotto

This is what I made yesterday for dinner. It is SUPER healthy, simple and tastes good too =). It can be served as a side dish or as the main part of a meal.

Pumpkin Risotto

Ingredients

-1 cup uncooked rice   -2 cups vegetable stock -1 cup pureed pumpkin -1/4 cup crushed almonds  -1 cup pumpkin, cooked, cubed small  -2 cups peas, cooked  -1/2 tsp. salt -1/2 tsp. pepper

Instructions

-Mix 2 cups vegetable stock and 1 cup pureed pumpkin in a pot and add 1 cup uncooked rice.

-Bring to a boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the rice is almost completely soft and cooked; add more water if necessary.

-Add ¼ cup crushed almonds, 2 cups cooked peas, ½ tsp. salt and ½ tsp. pepper and stir well.

-When everything is almost done cooking, add the 1 cup of pumpkin cubes.

Makes 4.5 cups
1 cup is app. 200 calories

If  you are cooking it as the main meal for 4 o more people I would suggest doubling the recipe. It is great for left overs!

Veggie Dip

This is the dip I made up after my dad suggested I make a dip for the onion rings. It turned out really good and everyone loved it =D.

Veggie Dip

Ingredients
-1 cup almonds   -1 ¼ cup water   -3/4 tsp salt  -1/4 tsp pepper  -1 tsp lemon juice -1/2 bulb garlic  -1/4 tsp. paprika  -1/4 tsp. oregano  -1/4 tsp. black pepper  -1/4 tsp. red pepper  -3/4 tsp. salt  -1 tsp. lemon juice  -2 tsp. tobacco sauce

Instructions

-Soak 1 cup almonds in 1 cup water for 2 hours.
-Peel off the almond skin.

-Combine in blender with remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.

-Pour into a small pan and cook until slightly thickened. This will take the bite out of the raw garlic.

-Chill and serve.

Makes 1 ½ cups

2 tbsp=50 calories

No Bake Cookies

Yes I have noticed that I seem to be posting a lot of desserts for a health site xD. Yesterday I cooked potatoes with cream sauce but did not have enough soy milk to make as much sauce as I wanted. It still turned out good but I am going to wait on putting that recipe up until I can do it right. Also, there is nothing wrong with eating desserts in moderation. These cookies are also quite rich so one does the trick for me!

No Bake Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients

-1 ½ cups of sugar   -1/4 cup of oil  -3/4 cup of milk  -1/2 cup of cocoa  -2 ½ cups of oatmeal -1 tsp. vanilla -1/2 cup peanut butter (I use 100% peanuts, peanut butter)

Instructions

-Add the 1 ½ cups of sugar, ¼ cup of oil, ¾ cup of milk and ½ cup of cocoa to a pot and bring to a boil.
-Simmer and stir well for 4 or 5 min. Combine all remaining ingredients and stir well.
-Scoop out 1/8 cup of cookies at a time and flatten on a plate or tray.

-Repeat until all the mix is gone and place cookies in the freezer.

-Cookies can be eaten at any time but are best when firm.
-After the cookies are firm you can move all of them to a tupper wear or single plate and keep in freezer.

Makes 24 cookies

1 cookie is app. 140 calories

I am completely out of flour and the only store that sells whole wheat will be closed until next Friday! So I decided to just do something simple and delicious and eat a yummy bowl of sliced strawberries with thick strawberry cream/milk :). 

Simple Noodle Soy Sauce Soup

Today I made a simple noodle soup. It is easy, does not require a lot of ingredients, and can be altered and adjusted in so many different ways.

Noodle Soy Sauce Soup

Ingredients

-2 cups instant rice noodles   -1 cup spinach, shredded or bok choy, divided into separate stalks  -5 tbsp. light soy sauce    –1/8 cup peanuts   -2 carrots sliced in long thin strips  -1/2 tsp. salt   -2 cups water  -1 tsp ground red pepper  -1 cup peas (or soy beans)
-other vegetables can be substituted but will change calorie amounts.
Instructions
-Bring water to a boil and add all ingredients except 1/8 cup peanuts and 2 carrots sliced in long thin strips.
-once everything is cooked add the rest of the ingredients and simmer, stirring until fully mixed into the soup.

Makes: 7 cups
1 cup is  app. 83 calories. (If there is a fairly proportional amount of each ingredient)