Chicken Crust Pizza

I think I've mentioned my love of pizza a few times before.  I've found the cauli-crust makes me pretty happy but someone mentioned a chicken crust to me and then Innovative Aesthetics had it on their Facebook page and I decided I needed to try it.

Besides one of my goals this week is to try a new recipe.  Goal accomplished!!

What better than pizza!!!

Here is the crust getting ready to be baked.

And here it is fresh from the oven and ready for toppings.

I decide to make it a BBQ chicken pizza since the chicken part was built in to the crust.   I used WF Hickory Smoked BBQ sauce, and a bunch of pre-cut fajita veg (red and green peppers and red onions).  I got it all prepped at the grocery store so that made this even easier to make!

Here it is in all its faux flat bread awesomeness

And I truly mean that.  The taste of course was chicken-y but the look and texture reminded me of a flat bread pizza.  How ground chicken, eggs, and cheese turns into that I do not know.  But I will accept my lack of understanding in exchange for another slice!

Here's the recipe if you want to recreate awesome for yourselves...

Chicken Crust Pizza
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS

• 3 chicken breasts, roughly chopped (about 9-10 ounces)
• coarse salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup shredded veggie cheese (I love Go Veggie)
• pizza toppings of choice

I used 
Toppings 

• Walden Farms Hickory Smoked BBQ sauce
• Sliced/diced onions
• Sliced/diced red and green pepper
• Go Veggie mozzarella shreds
• Go Veggie Cheddar and Pepper Jack shreds

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a food processor or a blender, combine the chicken and spices. Blend until finely minced.
3. Add the cheese, and eggs. Process until well combined into a sticky-gluey batter.
4. Spread the chicken mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Use your fingers or a spatula to smooth the batter into an even layer across the sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
5. Top with your favorite pizza toppings and bake for an additional 15 minutes until the cheese is melted, golden, and bubbly and the crust is cooked through.

Weekly Weigh In: week 9

Week 9 is done and so is the April Challenge.  The challenge winner will get a great prize package including a signed Chef Verati cook book (he's one of the chefs in our IP videos and comes up with a bunch of recipes for special occasions and everyday life), a free week of food, and several spa services from the clinic.  I think I heard the total at upwards of $500 value!!!

That was such a motivator!  There were times that knowing about the big prize package on the line kept me honest.  There were a few times (Easter, a work celebration, and 2 weddings!) where I just wanted a taste of something, but I stayed strong.  I don't know if I'll win (its based on percentage weight loss for the month plus extra credit)) but I'm really proud of how I was able to handle everything.  I did really good for the month so no matter what, I'm a winner.  But I'd love to be a winner with a signed copy of Chef Verati's cook book :)

I know there are going to be days in the future where I am more tempted.  I'm sure once I get to maintenance the temptation to just "eat what I want" for a day will be strong.  There are things I miss - bread, milk, real chocolate, deep dish pizza.  I mean I am happy with the substitutes I've found and they do keep me fairly content.  But once the restrictions are gone, maybe I won't be.

But I have a little ways to go before I need to be planning for maintenance.  I want to just keep focused on the here and now and live each day to the fullest


Week 9 Progress: -2.6
Total: -29.7

Breakfast Time: Breadless French Toast

So I am a big breakfast eater.  It sets the tone for my whole day so if I don't make good choices I'm hungry all day.  I've got a good rotation of IP waffles, IP Crispy cereal pancakes and my smoothie, but I heard about a bread less french toast recipe and wanted to give it a try.   

When I googled "bread less french toast" I found a lot of sites, most using the same recipe that called for light soy milk. When I looked at the recipes, I wasn't sure how it would cook up and also wasn't sure how it would fit in the Phase 1 program since it didn't use an IP food, so that didn't seem like a good fit.  

I found one recipe that you bake in the oven that used the IP omelette mix, but that didn't have the best review.   I found the following recipe out on the Wellness Choice clinic website.  

This one looked like it might be a good fit with Phase 1 so I decided to give it a try.

My only change was to use the whole packet of the vanilla drink mix instead of measuring it.  I need 1 IP food for breakfast anyway :) 

Breadless French Toast  

Ingredients:3/4 C. Egg Substitute 
1 pkt  Ideal Protein Vanilla Drink   
dash of salt 
2 dashes of cinnamon  
2 dashes nutmeg  1/2 tsp of vanilla extract 

Directions:
Mix all ingredients.  Cook up in a pan like a pancake.

While I'm not sure I would call this french toast it made a mighty fine fluffy couple of pancakes.  I was really impressed with the texture.  And the cinnamon and nutmeg made for a nice combination with the WF syrup. 

 This is definitely a keeper recipe!!!

IP Chocolate Zucchini Cookies

Found this recipe on the Innovative Aesthetics Facebook page ... there are just so many resources out there! I can satisfy my sweet tooth craving and still be legal and on plan !!!  It just takes a little planning and creativity.  

These cookies can be for lunch (6 cookies is 1 IP food and 1 c. of veg (unrestricted)) or a snack.  If you use it as a snack make sure to lower your veg count at either lunch or dinner.  Next time I am going to try the Torani syrup.  I'm guessing that will be even better!

Ideal Protein Chocolate Zucchini Cookies
Ideal Protein Crispy Cereal
Ideal Protein Chocolate Drink Mix
2 egg whites
1 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp coconut oil (I used grapeseed oil)
2 tsp Torani Sugar Free White Chocolate Syrup or 1 pack of Splenda or Stevia
Dash of cinammon
Dash of Sea Salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups shredded Zucchini

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Using a rolling pin, gently crush the Ideal Protein Crispy Cereal while still in the unopened package.
3. Mix all ingredients together except for zucchini until thoroughly mixed.
4. Then add shredded zucchini (blotted dry with a paper towel) and incorporate into chocolate mixture.
5. Spray your non-stick Whoopie pie pan or a muffin pan with a non-stick spray and then evenly add your chocolate mix to make 12 cookies.
6. Place in oven for 12-15 minutes and then let cool in pan.

Notes
1 serving is 6 cookies which is 1 Ideal Protein meal and 1 cup of vegetables.
Nutrition InformationServing size: 6 cookies/Makes 12 cookies

Weekly Weigh-in

I had a little bit of a problem last week.  I wasn't hungry.  I mean really wasn't hungry to the point of not wanting to eat.  With as little as we get in Phase 1 (somewhere from 900 to 1200 calories per day) not eating isn't a good thing.  It could throw your body into "starvation mode" where it starts hoarding fat again. I really don't want that to happen.  I've begun to enjoy my lower fat figure immensely :)

So I made myself eat.  I ate mostly protein when I didn't want to eat.  It seemed to be at dinner time.  I had a regular breakfast and lunch and although I wasn't super hungry  at those times, I did eat what I needed to.  Then all of a sudden it was 8 PM and I hadn't had dinner and I really didn't want any.  This lasted 2 or 3 days in a row.  I was starting to get worried, but I found my appetite again.

When I mentioned it to Lindsay today she thought there might have been a bug going around.  I don't know about that, but my appetite seems to have returned to normal so that's a good thing.  Maybe it was to just get me through a wedding and Easter all in the same weekend.  I certainly wasn't tempted to go off plan because I barely wanted the legal stuff.

It was a pretty typical weigh in this week.  Which is also good.  I didn't want the weirdness to cause a plateau either.  So far so good.  Still plugging on down..  I might have to make a graph though.  I like graphs and I think it would be pretty to see the line go down every week :)

Week 8 Progress: -2.5
Total: -27.1

Cauli-bread sticks

I feel like I'm on a cauliflower kick lately.  And for a girl who has hated cauliflower for 45+ years that's saying something.  Today for lunch I made IP pasta and cauliflower bread sticks. Again this felt like a normal meal - not something on a diet.  Sure I used Ideal Protein pasta and Walden Farms sauces but when it tastes this good, I don't even think about that kind of thing!

The original recipe is on The Iron You blog

This version just swaps soy cheese for the mozzarella and Egg Beaters instead of an egg.

Also note you should not have any restricted IP foods on a day you have this.

Cauliflower Crust Garlic Bread sticks                                            

Ingredients 
Makes 10 bread sticks

Cauliflower crust

1 small head cauliflower, cut into small florets (should yield 3 cups of cauliflower rice)
1 egg, lightly beaten (or 1/4 c. Egg Beaters)
½ cup / 1.7 oz / 50 gr Go Veggie mozzarella shreds
2 cloves garlic, grated or minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
½ teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Toppings

2 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese
A pinch of dried Italian herb season

Marinara sauce, for serving (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a loaf pan with parchment paper so that the excess paper hangs over the sides; lightly grease the parchment paper. Set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a small pan over low heat; add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute max. Turn the heat off and set aside.
In a food processor rice the cauliflower florets (it should be evenly chopped but not completely pulverized).
Transfer cauliflower rice to a microwave-safe dish and microwave on high for 8 minutes, until cooked.
Place the cauliflower rice in a tea towel and twist it to squeeze as much moisture as you can (I usually squeeze out over a cup of liquid). This is very important. The cauliflower rice needs to be dry, otherwise you’ll end up with mushy bread sticks.
Transfer the cauliflower rice to a mixing bowl, add egg, mozzarella, Italian herb seasoning, garlic oil, salt and pepper and mix well.
Spread cauliflower mixture in the prepared loaf pan.
Bake until the loaf is set and starting to turn golden, about 25 to 30 minutes.
In the meantime, line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
When the “loaf” is cooked, use the parchment paper to lift out of the loaf pan and carefully flip it over onto the lined baking sheet (so the bottom is on top).  
Bake for further 10 minutes until golden.
Take it out of the oven and preheat the broiler. Sprinkle cheese and Italian herb seasoning on top of the loaf.
Broil a couple minutes until the cheese is melted and golden in spots.
Let cool a couple of minutes before cutting into (10) sticks.
Serve hot or warm or cold (if you let it cool the crust will harden and it will be easy to hold.)

Nutrition facts

One bread stick yields 34 calories, 3 grams of fat, 2 grams of carbs and 2 grams of protein.

Midweek Dinner: Spanish "rice"

I do love me some Mexican food.  One of my girls favorites from back in the day is Spanish rice.  Its a nice side with tacos or enchiladas or a great addition to a taco salad.  I wanted to come up with a Spanish cauli-rice version.  I searched the internet and found several recipes ... all looked really involved and had either restricted or off limits food.  I figured I could use a flavor profile similar to the taco seasoning that I make (a recipe from my friend Lisa ... its at the bottom of this post.) just not as much of everything.

Doesn't that look marvelous!   It came out super the first time (which kind of surprised me).  I had it with some taco meat leftovers.  I opted out of the lettuce, but I could see a nice bed of shredded iceberg under all of this for a great taco salad!

Spanish "Rice"
1 T olive oil
1 1/2  c grated cauliflower
1/4 c diced pepper
1/2 leek, diced
1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp . paprika

1/2 tsp. cumin

pinch of sea salt

1/8 tsp. onion powder
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 packet Goya Sazon

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat.  Saute peppers until beginning to soften, about 1-2 minutes.  Add leeks  and cook another 1-2 minutes. Add grated cauliflower and spices and saute for 5-10 minutes or so, until all the spices are distributed and it looks like an even color.

Bonus Recipe:
Taco Seasoning

This makes a huge batch.  Store it in a jar or ziploc bag for future use.

3/4 c. chili powder

3/4 c. paprika

1/2 c. cumin

3 T     sea salt

1/2 c. onion powder

1/2 c. garlic powder

For tacos brown ground turkey.  Add 2-3 T of taco season and a 1/4 water to a pound of ground meat 

Weekly Weigh In

I'm finding that I'm not trying so many different kinds of foods these days.  I've got a nice rotation that will work for about 2 weeks of dinners and that seems good to me.  I do need to get some better lunch options going though.  As good as the IP chicken soup is, its getting a little old.

I did try brussel sprouts over the weekend.  They didn't turn out half bad.  I have always hated them really but  thought I would try them and they were good.  The recipe isn't post worthy yet (I'm not even sure of the measurements as I just sort of tossed stuff in the bowl :) )  But it was good enough that I might work on them some more.

I also have an urge to try and make Spanish "rice" out of the cauliflower rice. I've been looking into homemade Spanish rice recipes and trying to come up with something that would be phase 1 friendly.  Stand by for that.  When I get some free weekend time I am definitely trying it - probably several batches  - until it comes out really good.  That might make a good lunch option too since it would be all unrestricted veg.

Well, enough rambling.  Have a great Monday!!

Week 7 Progress: -4
Total: -24.6

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

I love pizza.  A good thick bready crust, nice sauce, loads of cheese.  Its like a slice of heaven.  And a slice that I thought was out of reach right now until I found some really good cauliflower crust pizza recipes.

I love this calzone recipe from The Iron You.  Its delicious and Mike has great tips for making the crust perfect.  He also has a cauliflower bread sticks recipe that I want to try sometime.

See look at that - right from the oven ...

Here are the calzones baking:

The recipe I got from Innovative Aesthetics is good too.  There isn't a serving size on this recipe so I am guessing it serves 1-2 (although you may have trouble eating it all.)  This is the one I am sharing with you today.  That way you have a couple of options if you want to try them both out. I tend to blend the recipes together a little bit (some of the spices from one, cooking times from the other) so it never comes out the same way twice.  But its always delish, and filling and really does satisfy my pizza urge while getting in my vegetables.

Couple of things to remember:  (1) Do not use any restricted IP products on the day you eat this.  (2) Only have it once per week (because of the soy cheese).  (3)  If you make calzones only broil for like a minute to get the cheese all melt-y.  And if you make pizza, watch the broiling close (yes I over broiled it once.  It still tasted OK but was a little off putting to look at :) )

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

CRUST:

1/2 LARGE head cauliflower (or 2+ cups shredded cauliflower)
1 large egg
1 cup finely shredded GO Veggie mozzarella shreds (Play with it - I have also mixed the mozz and cheddar shreds and also used a little of the new Go Veggie Pepper Jack with the mozz and cheddar)

1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic (or fresh garlic)
1/2 teaspoon onion salt

1. Shred/grate the cauliflower into small crumbles. You can use the food processor if you'd like, but you just want crumbles, not puree. You'll need a total of about 2 cups or so of cauliflower crumbles (which is about half a large head of cauliflower). Place the cauliflower crumbles in a large bowl and microwave them (dry) for 8 minutes. Give the cauliflower a chance to cool. Put the cauliflower in a tea towel and squeeze the water out of it,

2. Prepare the crust: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Spray a cookie sheet or pizza pan with nonstick spray (or use a nonstick surface). In a medium bowl, mix the cauliflower crumbles (about 1 1/2 cups since they shrink after cooking) with the remaining crust ingredients. Pat the "crust"
into a 9 to 12-inch round on the prepared pan. Spray the crust lightly with  nonstick spray and bake for 15 minutes (or until golden). Remove the crust from the oven and turn the heat up to broil.

3. Prepare the pizza: Spread the sauce on top of the baked crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge. I use WF Tomato Basil and WF Alfredo mixed in equal portions.  Use about 2 T of each, depending on how big you spread your crust out.  Sprinkle 1/4 cup cheese on top. Add any other toppings you might like. Broil the pizza 2-3 minutes, or until the toppings are hot and the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve immediately.


Enjoy

Zucchini Chips

Its fun to have meals that are pretty close to "normal" - how I used to eat - but have them be healthy and on plan.  Last week I made slow cooker french dips.  The meat cooked all day in the crock pot until it was fork-shreddable.  John ate his on a hoagie roll with chips.  I had my meat on my plate with chips - zucchini  chips that is.

This was a fun way to get some veg in ...

I found this recipe on Pinterest - via Eve Anderson

Zucchini Chips
1 large zucchini (I also used a yellow squash too)
2 T EVOO
Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 225°.  If you have a convection cooking option use this as it bakes them more evenly but set the temp to 250°.  They'll be fine in a regular oven too, just might have to rotate the pan a few times.

Line a large jelly roll pan with parchment paper.

Slice your zucchini into rounds about the thickness of a quarter.  I used my Pampered Chef mandolin with the slicing blade set on the larger setting.  Wrap the slices in paper towels and press out the moisture.  Don't squish them, but press firmly.  The drier they are the faster they will cook.

Line up your rounds on the prepared sheet pan.  Notice I didn't use parchment paper in the picture.  A lot of my chips stuck to the pan.  I used it on my second batch and it was a much happier result!

Brush with EVOO and sprinkle with sea salt.  Be a little cautious with the salt as the flavor will intensify as the chips bake and shrink.

Bake for 2+ hours until they are browned and crisp.

Eat and enjoy

Weekly Weigh In

Week 6 is in the books.  I think I'm still riding a little high from last week.  Seeing the numbers for overall inch loss just was unbelievable.

This week was really good as well.  We were home so the routine returned, which I'm such a creature of routine that that's really in my comfort zone.

The weekend was so nice ... we took Abby, our black lab mix, for a really long walk Saturday morning.  We would pass a cul-de-sac and John would ask if I wanted to detour down the cul-de-sac or head home.  I picked the detour every time!  It was a beautiful day and I just wanted to be outside.  I even took Abby out Sunday afternoon because I just felt like being outside.

I love the fact that I have all this energy.  I'm actually looking forward to summer (this is definitely a new thing!)

Week 6 Progress: -2
Total: -20.6

I'm working on 2 new recipe posts for this week. Hopefully I'll have some time this week to get everything put together.

Enjoy the rest of your Monday!

Midweek Dinner: Make it Spicy Sweet

Did you ever notice how certain flavors just go together ... chocolate and well anything pretty much, but lets not go there. How about spicy and sweet?  You get the heat you get the sweet ... it makes your tongue happy and your tummy too

This recipe came from Innovative Aesthetics, where I go for Ideal Protein meetings.  All the recipes in the packet are from either Dusty or Lindsay( my awesome-tastic coach).  I'm not sure who came up with this recipe but it is fantastic and oh so easy.  Perfect for spicing up a hump day!

Sweet Chicken Bacon Wraps
Makes 12-15 wraps

• 4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
• 1 (1-pound) package sliced turkey bacon
• 2/3 cups firmly packed Splenda brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons chili powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch cubes. Cut each bacon slice into thirds. Wrap each chicken cube with bacon and secure with a wooden pick or skewer. Stir together brown sugar and chili powder. Dredge wrapped chicken in mixture. Coat a rack and broiler pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place chicken wrap on rack in broiler pan. Bake 350 for 30 to 35 minutes or until bacon is crisp.

That's it.  So simple and so delish!!

This is about 4 servings so I tend to cut it in half and just make enough for the hubs and me.

I also cook it all up with the veggies right on the same pan.  That minimizes clean up too - only 1 pan to wash :)

Enjoy!!!