Homemade Pizza Crust- healthy and high in protein

Delicious healthy homemade pizza crust. And it's simple, quick and healthy.

Pizza Crust
1 scoop of plain protein powder
add whole wheat flour to add up to 1 cup
pinch of salt, oregano and garlic powder to taste
3/4 cup plain greek yogurt

Mix until a nice dough is formed.  Then roll out on a floured surface until about 1/4 inch thick.  The thinner you roll it out, the crispier the crust will turn out. Mine isn't exactly round but it sure tasted great!!

Bake at 450 degrees.  I used my pizza stone to try and get a crispy crust but I think a regular pan would make is just as crisp. I baked it for 7 minutes and then flipped it over for 5 more minutes.  Then I pull it out of the oven and topped it off. 

Today's pizza had plain tomato sauce, canadian bacon, turkey pepperoni, green bell pepper, black olives, spinach leaves and mozzarella cheese. 

 

Then cook for 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted!!!  Yummy. 

 

Hopefully this won't cause too much trouble for my diet in the future!!  Yes I ate this whole smallish pizza by myself. After the gym of course :)

Protein Pita Chips

I love to eat hummus!!  I mean I REALLY love to eat hummus!!  I occasionally eat pretzels or pita chips but usually eat carrots and celery.  After eating so much hummus, you get a little tired of carrots and celery.  I decided to try and make my own pita chips.  Since I often substitute protein powder for flour in waffles and pancakes, I decided to try it with these chips.  I think it turned out great.  Jeff really liked them too, so I know they are good.  He can easily eat a half bag of pita chips in one night!

Protein Pita Chips
2 scoops unflavored protein powder (about 2/3 of a cup)
add whole wheat flour to make a total of 1 1/2 cup
pinch of salt
1 1/4 plain greek yogurt

Mix dry ingredients.  Add yogurt and mix well.  Roll out and cut into any shape or size. Bake at 450 degrees for 4 minutes.  Turn over and bake another 4 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.

I made 1/2 the chips regular.  To the second half, I added dried rosemary and garlic powder.  Yum!!

I divided my chips into 5 portions.  Each portion has 98 calories, less than 1g fat and 16.4g protein!!  Way better for you than those other pita chips!!  Enjoy!!  Guess I need to make more of my homemade roasted garlic hummus!!

Healthy Layered Banana Pudding

My great-grandmother loved to make her famous banana pudding, from scratch.  She'd make the vanilla pudding on the stove then cool it and add gobs of whipped cream.  Once the pudding mixture was ready, she'd start the layering; nilla wafers, pudding and sliced bananas.  Repeat till piled high with deliciousness!!

I wouldn't want to calculate the amount of fat or calories in that!!  I often have a craving for banana pudding so I have been working on a recipe for a while.  The cookie layer is what I have been having trouble with.  But I think I have finally perfected it!!

 

 

Healthy Layered Banana Pudding

1 ripe banana

1/4 cup rolled oats

23 almonds

cinnamon

splenda

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup fat free greek yogurt

1 tsp butter

 

For the cookie layer.  Put rolled oats and almonds in the blender until coarse and crumbly.  Add a pinch of cinnamon and splenda. Melt the butter.  Add the oat mixture and blend until combined.  The mix will have the texture of an apple crisp topping.

 

For the pudding, mix yogurt, vanilla and a pinch of splenda to taste.  Slice banana.  Then layer the cookie mix, yogurt and bananas!!  Makes 2 servings.

 

Quick, easy and much healthier for your waistline!!

 

Calories 220, Protein 11.2g, fiber 4.2g and only 22.8g of carbs!!



Scrambled eggs with cottage cheese

So I was in the mood for something a little different this morning and decided to try a recipe I came across a few weeks ago.  I have never been a big cottage cheese fan but I am working on finding ways to eat it that I will like.  This was a success!!

Scrambled Eggs with Cottage Cheese

2 eggs, I always buy organic free range
1/4 cup low fat cottage cheese
pinch of salt and pepper

Mix the ingredients in a blender until smooth.  Scramble like usual.  I wish I would have had some leftover veggies or even ham to add in.  But I did not.  I topped mine with some sriracha chili sauce.  They were delish!!

Calories- 180, 10g fat and 18g protein.

By using 1 less egg then normal and adding the cottage cheese, I saved 30 calories and 3.5g of fat for the same amount of protein. 

Future recipes will include spinach, squash, onions, ham or any other leftovers I see fit!! Enjoy!!

Whole wheat greek yogurt biscuits

Easy, healthy and absolutely delicious!!  I am a good southern girl who loves her biscuits but even homemade, they are full of fat.  This recipe made a delicious biscuit that would make any southern grandma proud.  At only 71 calories a biscuit, 0.2g fat, and 4.8g protein, this makes a much healthier alternative. I should have let these below brown a bit more, but I was impatient and wanted to eat them.  The bottoms got nicely browned.  Very impressed with such a simple recipe!!

Whole wheat greek yogurt biscuits
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup greek yogurt, made need a little more or less depending on the wetness of your yogurt

Mix all the dry ingredients together.  Add in the greek yogurt.  Don't overwork the dough, or they will not rise well.  Either drop biscuits or you can roll them and cut out biscuits.  Bake at 450 degrees for 9-12 minutes, until golden. Serve warm.  Makes about 8 biscuits, can easily be doubled for more.

Garlic Cheddar biscuits- similar to Red Lobster's
Add 1 tsp garlic powder to the dry ingredients and add 1/4 cup finely shredded sharp cheddar with the yogurt.  Mix, roll out and bake as usual.  I really like garlic so I would add at least 2 tsp garlic powder!

Dessert option- I love making strawberry shortcake with sweet biscuits.  Simply add 1/2 cup splenda or honey to the above recipe and 1/4 tsp vanilla.  Mix, roll out and bake as usual.  Split the biscuits and fill with sweetened strawberries.  You can top with a mixture of 2 tbsp greek yogurt, 1 tbsp splenda and 1 tsp vanilla.  Simply delish!!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Date balls

Want a delicious treat that tastes a bit like reese's peanut butter cups without all the added sugar??  I do!!  I have changed this recipe almost every time I have made it.  To really taste like a peanut butter cup be sure to use peanut butter and peanuts for the recipe.

Here we go:

1 square of Ghiardelli 100% cacao (in baking section)
1 TBSP unsweetened cocoa
18 pitted dates
2 TBSP rolled oats
2 TBSP natural peanut butter, can also use almond butter
3/4 cup nuts, peanuts, almonds and walnuts all taste great

Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blend until fine.  Shape into balls, I was able to make 14 small ones.  Refrigerate to help hold their shape.

Just right when I need a little something for my sweet tooth!!

Today I used almonds because I was out of peanuts, so each ball had 71 calories, 2g protein and 1.5g fiber!!  You can add just about anything you can think of.  The more you add you might need to add a little water to keep the dough wet enough to form into balls.

**For the bottom three in the right picture, I added a little unsweetened coconut. Yum!!

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Three simple ingredients

2 ripe bananas
1 cup rolled oats
2 tbsp cacao nibs or mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (adds sugar and maybe extra calories)

Mix. Roll into balls.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 8-10, until just golden. Delish and easy.

I made 8 cookies with 80 calories each.

Delicious Beet Fruit Smoothie

This is one of my favorite breakfast smoothies! Fresh, fruity and very filling.

Beet Fruit Smoothie

1/2 cup steamed, chopped beets
2 cups baby spinach
1/3 cup frozen blueberries
1/3 cup frozen strawberries
1/3 cup frozen pineapple (or any combination of frozen fruit, 1 cup)
1/2 cup orange juice
about 1/2 to 1 cup water to make slushie

Combine all ingredients in the blender and blend.  I add a little water at a time until desired consistency.  I have substituted kale for spinach and sometimes I add 2 tablespoons of rolled oats for a more filling smoothie.

approximate Calories 190, Protein 5g, Fat 4 g