Sometimes at the end of a long day, there’s nothing like calling your favorite pizza delivery place and having dinner show up at the door hot and ready to eat.  However, there is another option that is easy, doesn’t take much time, is fun, and puts you in control.  Make your own pizza!

Pizza starts with the dough, and making pizza dough is a snap.  I’ll make a single or double batch, divide it into portions and freeze each portion.  When I’m ready to make pizza, I’ll pull one from the freezer and put it on the counter to thaw.  It is ready to go in under 30 minutes.  And, if you have little ones, they can help make the dough!  Nothing like getting the kids involved in the kitchen.  Chef Kathleen has a great recipe from her Cooking Thin cookbook that I love.  I’ve included it below.

Another reason to make your own is that everyone can make their pizza the way they want – thick crust, thin crust, and add any ingredients.  All it takes is some tomato sauce with some herbs and spices mixed in, or some pesto, and what ever toppings you have around.  If you like pepperoni, try some turkey pepperoni for a savings of about 75 calories and about 8 grams of fat per serving.  You can put just about anything on your pizza – veggies, ham, even pineapple.  Your imagination is the only limit when making pizza.  Again, you can involve the kids by letting them pick the toppings for their own pizza.

And, did you know you can grill pizza?  Grilling gives the crust a smoky flavor and makes it extra crispy.  To grill a pizza, roll out the dough and put it on the grill until one side is set.  Flip it over and add the toppings.  It is done with the other side (the side now facing the flames) is set and crispy.

The pizza alternatives are endless and pizza is easy peasy!  Now, here’s Chef Kathleen’s Easy Pizza Dough recipe.

Yield: Two 12-inch thick-crusted pizzas or four 10-inch thin-crusted pizzas; 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

• 3 ½ cups unbleached flour
• 2 packages active dry yeast1 tsp coarse-grained salt
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1 ½ cups lukewarm water
• ½ tsp olive oil
• Cornmeal for dusting pizza peel or cookie sheet

Preparation

1. Place flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a mixer fitted with a dough hook.  While mixer is running, gradually add water; knead on low speed until dough is firm and smooth, about 10 minutes.  Turn mixer off.  Pour oil down the side of bowl.  Turn mixer on low once more for 15 seconds to coat inside of bowl and all surfaces of dough with the oil.
2. Alternative using food processor fitted with metal blade: Place flour, yeast, salt and sugar in bowl of a food processor and pulse to blend.  Pour water through feed tube with machine running.  Process until dough forms a ball.  Place in oiled bowl.
3. Alternative by hand: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, yeast, salt and sugar.  Stir in water until dough begins to form.  Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth, about 10 minutes.  Place in oiled bowl.
4. Cover bowl with plastic wrap.  Let dough rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.
5. Preheat oven to highest setting (500o or 550o F).  If using a pizza stone, place stone in oven on bottom rack and heat oven 1 hour.
6. Punch dough down and cut in half or fourths.  On a generously floured work surface, place one piece of dough.
7. By hand, stretch dough into a circle.  For think pizza, roll dough into a large circle with a floured rolling pin until very thin.  Don’t worry if your circle isn’t perfect, and if you get a hole, just pinch edges back together.  To prevent dough from sticking to counter, turn dough over; add flour to dough, counter and rolling pin as needed.
8. Sprinkle a pizza peel or rimless cookie sheet generously with cornmeal.  Transfer dough to pizza peel or cookie sheet.  Add toppings.  Slide dough onto pizza stone or place cookie sheet with pizza on bottom rack.
9. Bake 10 – 12 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove pizza from oven, using pizza peel if you used a pizza stone and serve immediately.

Nutrition Information for ¼ of the recipe: Calories 445; Carbohydrates 89 g, Protein 16 g, Fat 2 g

Note:

Dough can be placed in freezer bag, or wrapped tightly in saran wrap and frozen.  When ready to use, place on counter to thaw.

There is just something about having a muffin for breakfast.  They are warm, soft, chewy, sweet. . . YUM!  And, muffins are quick to grab and portable.  However, that muffin can pack a calorie punch.  I recently found a recipe for a Banana Muffins that are only 130 calories per muffin.  Add some yogurt or a glass of milk and you’ve got a great mix of carbs, protein and fat which can help keep you full and avoid the sugar crash that just having a muffin can cause for some people.  Another great thing about muffins – they are easy to make and freeze well!  Just pull a muffin out of the freezer and it should be thawed by the time you reach work.  You can warm it in a toaster oven for a couple of minutes as well.  Making a double or triple batch and freezing them can give you breakfast for a few weeks for a few minutes of investment.

Here’s the Banana Muffin recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup egg whites
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup Splenda
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup skim milk
• 1 lemon, grated peel

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and baking soda.
3. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites slightly and stir in bananas, sugar, Splenda, oil and lemon peel. Add to flour mixture stirring just until combined. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.
4. Bake for about 18 minutes, or until tops are lightly browned. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then turn out of pans. Serve warm or refrigerate/freeze for later use.

Servings: Serves 12
Calories: 130; Fat: 3.7 g; Sodium: 87; Carbohydrates: 22.8 g; Fiber 2.2 g; Sugar: 9.9g; Protein 2.9 g

Thanks to the gang at Food and Health Communications for the yummy recipe!

Sometimes I see a recipe with odd ingredients and think “Yeah, right.  That’ll taste good?”  Well, when a recipe for one of my favorite foods, especially one containing chocolate, comes across my desk or email, I take a second look.

This past week, I received a recipe for Fudgy Black Bean Brownies.  Yes, you read that right – Black Bean Brownies.  I made them earlier this week and hid the recipe from my in house taste tester (John my hubby).  After they came out of the oven and cooled a bit, I cut them up and gave him one.  He was not able to identify the “secret ingredient.”  And, yes – they are GOOD!  This recipe has demonstrated again that some unconventional, and healthy, foods can be substituted into recipe with good results.  The one modification I made was to use dark chocolate chunks rather than chocolate chips.

Give it a try, and let me know what you think!

My thanks go out to Renata Mangrum, MPH, RD, CLT for sending this recipe along.

Fudgy Black Bean Brownies
Makes 16 Servings

Ingredients:

• One 15 ½-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed very well
• 3 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch salt
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, divided

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8 X 8-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. Place the black beans in the bowl of a food processor; process until smooth and creamy.  Add the eggs, oil, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt and process until smooth.  Add ¼ cup of the chips and pulse a few times until the chips are broken up a bit.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle the top with the remaining ¼ cup chocolate chips.
4. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until the edges start to pull away from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan before slicing.

Nutrition Information per Serving: 120 calories, 5g fat (1.5g saturated, 0.3g omega-3), 95mg sodium, 18g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, 3g protein

Notes:

• A recent University of Tennessee study found that draining and rinsing canned beans washes away 41% of the sodium.  A good thing to do whenever you use canned beans.
• If you like nuts, you could add half a cup of walnuts or pecans, chopped.

WOW! I got more responses about last week’s newsletter about Breakfast Bread Pudding than any other newsletter to date.  And, I’m still getting emails saying how much people like it and suggesting customizations.  This got me thinking about ways to customize the Breakfast Bread Pudding and Breakfast Cookie recipes.  Customize?  You bet!  Most recipes can be customized to suit your tastes.  Now, you do have to be careful with most baking (like cakes), but the Breakfast Bread Pudding and Breakfast Cookie are great for customizing.  One note – when you customize you do change the nutrition content a bit . . . depending on what you customize.

Here are some thoughts for customizing the Bread Pudding Omit the raisins and add one of the following:

• A chopped up an apple or two or some chunky applesauce
• Mashed up bananas and walnuts
• Chocolate chips
• Other dried fruit such as cranberries, blueberries

Or, in addition to the raisins (or other customization) add some chopped nuts – walnuts, pecans, etc.  Nuts will add some healthy fats as well as add some crunch.
Some of the same customizations can be made for the Breakfast Cookie Rather than raisins you can add another dried fruit and add chopped nuts.  You could also substitute chocolate chips for the raisins.  Another customization could be to add some PB2 (a powdered peanut butter which is good for cooking and smoothies) along with some chocolate chips instead of the raisins (I’d also leave out the cinnamon) to have a peanut butter-chocolate chip breakfast cookie.  You may need to add a little water or extra apple sauce to make up for the dryness of the PB2.

Another friend found a way to speed up the breakfast cookie preparation even more.  She puts all the dry ingredients in plastic baggies during the weekend.  Then, when she is ready to make her cookie, she puts the applesauce in the baggie and squishes it until it is mixed.  Then, she cuts out a corner of the baggie and squeezes the mix onto the parchment paper and bakes it.  Done with no dishes!  How cool is that?

Get inspired.  Think about what flavors you like and play around with the recipes.  You may need to make a few adjustments (like adding a little more of a wet ingredient to make up for adding more of a dry ingredient such as the PB2).  Some modifications will work, some may not.  But, it is fun to try!

Let me know how you customize your Bread Pudding and Breakfast Cookie!

Just about everyone I talk to is looking for quick and easy options for breakfast.  They need something that is “grab and go.”  Or, they just skip breakfast and use coffee to put off eating until lunch.

Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day.  It gives your body the fuel it needs to make it until lunch.  Research has shown time and again that eating breakfast helps with weight maintenance and weight loss.  In fact, research is starting to turn our daily meals around with the idea that breakfast should be the largest meal of the day – not dinner.

Breakfast also seems to be a meal that people fall into a rut with – always having the same thing.  Why not spice it up a bit?  Like with bread pudding!  I hear you – “Bread pudding for breakfast?   She’s got to be kidding!  That’s dessert!”  Well, yes it is dessert, but you can use the idea of bread pudding to make an amazing breakfast that freezes well and is grab and go.   You can make a couple of batches in muffin tins, put one or two to a freezer bag and freeze them.  Then grab a bag as  you head out and they’ll be thawed by the time you get to work.  Or, pop into the oven for a few minutes and you’ve got a tasty, filling breakfast.  They also go great in combination with a low-fat yogurt.  I wish I could take credit for this recipe, but it came out of the Canyon Ranch Cooking cookbook.  Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups non-fat milk
• 2 tbsp corn oil margarine, melted
• 4 egg whites
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 12 slices whole-wheat bread, diced into ½ inch cubes
• 2/3 cup dark raisins

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350oF.
2. Lightly spray a 9×12-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. (Can also be made into 12 sprayed muffin tins or custard cups.  Shorten cooking time by about 5 minutes.)
3. Combine all ingredients, except the bread and raisins, in a large bowl and mix well.  Stir in the bread and raisins and allow to soak for 5 minutes.
4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared dish and bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until firm and nicely browned.  Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before cutting into squares 3×4 inches in size.

Yield: 12 servings.

Calories: 143; Fat 3g; Sodium 195g; Carbohydrates: 25g; Protein 4g

Remember – make breakfast a part of you day!  Enjoy!

I’ve talked to some of you about the Big Breakfast Cookie and said I’d include it in an upcoming newsletter.  Well, today is the day!

If I haven’t told you about it, the Big Breakfast Cookie is just that - a big breakfast cookie.  Actually, you can eat it any time of day, but wouldn’t it fun to start the day with a big cookie?  YES!  And, this is a very popular recipe.  I e-mailed it to a friend who had her assistant make a couple of copies.  Her assistant came back and said “I hope its OK but I made a bunch of copies and gave it out around the office.  It sounds so good.”  I’m amazed how this one simple recipe spreads like wildfire once someone gets a hold of it.  In fact, I got it from someone else . . . .

Breakfast can be a hard meal for everyone.  Mornings are busy with workouts, getting yourself ready, getting others ready, etc.  Finding time to squeeze in a meal can be a real challenge.  That is another reason the Big Breakfast Cookie is a great option.  It takes minutes to throw together.  In fact, you can put all the dry ingredients together ahead of time and mix in the apple sauce in the morning and bake it (unfortunately, it doesn’t hold well over a couple of days; I haven’t tried freezing it though).  Personally, I’ll put together the dry ingredients for three or four days in storage bags at one time over the weekend.  This takes probably 10 minutes and sets up my breakfasts for the week.  That way in the morning all I have to do is turn on the oven, dump it in a bowl, add the apple sauce, mix, spread it on a piece of parchment paper, put it in the oven, go shower, pull it out when I get out of the shower and eat.  Simple – right?

Want to make your own?  Here’s the recipe.  You can also add nuts, chocolate chips, or use other dried fruit than raisins.  Just be sure you realize that those extras add calories.