Hey all,

I am a huge pizza fan. In fact I hope to at some point in my long healthy life open a pizzaria. But, it's probably the worst thing you can possibly eat when on a diet.

I've started gathering ideas on how to make my own healthy pizza. Thus far I've considered using a wheat crust (which is amazingly yummy) and leaving meats out of the equation for toppings (unless someone can find a semi-healthy meat topping.)

The big question is what kind of cheese or cheese replacement can I use?


Any ideas for any part of this project meal would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
-J

Ill be keeping my eye on this post haha

I would use a 2% cheese, or fresh mozz, but more sparingly. Veggies are always great for you, and add chicken breast, turkey breast, or fish as toppings...

Have you tried pizza without cheese? While I do love my cheese, pizza without it is surprising good! I have subbed stronger cheeses (gorgonzola, feta) in small amounts when I make pizza at home.

I'm big on veggie pizzas, so I'll try just about anything. My favorite is a Mediterranean style pizza with artichoke, olives, tomatoes, and feta. Spinach is great too. I love garlic, and I think making the pizza tastier helps keep me from missing some of those fatty ingredients.

If you aren't up for making your own dough, whole wheat pitas are fantastic, fast substitutes!

In your other post, I just plugged a Trader Joe's Margherita Pizza. If you don't want to go through all the work of doing the homemade thing, try cooking up a frozen Trader Joe's Pizza. Hopefully you have TJ's in your area.

making your own whole wheat crust is really easy

recipe quoted from "How it all Vegan"

1.5 cups tepid water
1/4 ounce yeast
1 tsp salt
3 cups whole wheat flour.

I usually add a bit of oregano or garlic to the mix as well to spice it up.

mix salt water and yeast and let sit for a couple minutes. then add flour and kneed into a ball. let sit for 20 minutes. kneed again and let sit for 10 minutes. then roll out on pan and put the topping on.


Pizza without cheese also might sound a bit crazy if you haven't done it, but after trying it a few times you don't miss the cheese at all. Just pile more veggies it tastes great.

That's pretty much the recipe I use to make my dough...

And no matter how many time I try pizza without cheese, it's still not pizza

Use turkey pepperoni instead of regular pepperoni.

They have turkey pepperoni?!?!?!?!?!?!??

*Researching*

They do indeed... I'm a big fan of chicken/broccoli/garlic pizza (with cheese of course!)

this may not sound like pizza but just an idea:

-whole wheat pita/wrap with cottage cheese and add your own veggies
or no veggies (heat the wrap)-optional)

-whole wheat pita/wrap/pizza doe with low fat mozzarella cheese and/or chicken and add lettuce and veggies-have cold or hot-add oil and vinegar

I have the whole wheat pita wrap just like Jen for lunch many times a week. Saute onions, garlic, spinach, red peppers and tomatoes lightly. Then toss it on the pita bread , sprinkle cheese and bake it. Done in 15 minutes. Yummy!

I make a pita "pizza". Take a 4 inch whole wheat pita and cut it in half. Add organic marinara sauce (which counts as a veggie), then you can add veggies and low fat cheese. I use turkey pepperoni all the time. It's very tasty. Bake at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

yummy yummy i am hungry

I went to a local Giant Eagle store and got a Personal Pan spinach pizza. 400 Calories in all. It looks tastey but you never know. Ill have to try it soon.

Ok, so we just found a recipe for pizza and I thought I would post it. we modified it a bit so here is what we used...this is per pizza so we made two pizza's meaning you would double the recipe of course to whatever amount you would like.


Grands Buttermilk Biscuits. (make sure they are the reduced fat kind)
There are 8 in a package so you can make up to 8 pizzas. You just need one biscuit for this recipe.
1/8 cup 2% mozarella cheese (or else if it says low fat but 2% is the same. Fat free takes away from the flavor so I don't recommend it)
Turkey Pepperoni-use 6 slices (we bought the off brand, same nutritional value as store brand).
1/8 cup Pizza Sauce (we used Contadina in a can)
Whatever veggies you want..I did mushroom and onion.

Preheat oven to 375. Flatten out the biscuit (so it looks like pizza dough). Add sauce, pepperoni (and optional veggies), and then cheese. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Eat and enjoy!

This is the nutritional value I have calculated. This does not include calories for the veggies as those are optional. Watch the sodium on this one. it is around 45% of daily value so even though it's a bit healthier than the real thing, you still have to watch the sodium. I am going to try making my own low fat dough to see if I can reduce the sodium down the line. But, this is just an easy simple way to do it for now. Hope it helps!

1 pizza:
11.32 grams of fat
21.61 cholesterol
234.7 calories
.5 grams fiber
32 carbs
1070.8 Sodium

Weight Watchers Points=6

i do the pita pizza's too! very good ^_^ it taste better than one of those frozen pizza's so you might as well go healthy! I added up the calories and one pita pizza averages about 340 calories, not bad for a meal. I think you can microwave them too... if you don't have a toaster oven at work like i do

Off Topic:

David,

Your Chipotle avatar is making me struggle. Mmmmm....Mmmmmm..... Burrito.......



Now back to your regularly scheduled discussion....

I would experiment with different sauces, like pesto or hummus instead of tomato sauce. And LOTS of veggies. Yum.

I recommend adding slices of tomato and a little italian seasoning. Two necessities for my homemade pizzas.

Mrs dash garlic, tomato, and basil...mmmm...mmmm....

If this has already been posted, deja vu, but whole wheat tortillas make the ultimate thin crust.

I agree with Minu...

I like some spinach or rocket (arugula)...mushrooms...olives and of course, some low fat mozzarella just a light sprinklin' of it then bang it under the grill and it is a great pizza fix!

(Off-topic so I apologize in advance!)

I'm a HUGE BBQ guy (and some day also hope to be opening up a BBQ joint, probably when I retire) so I feel your pain here; come BBQ season in Seattle I will be smoking my share of pork butts, ribs, chicken, brisket, etc. so I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to be able to eat those delicious things in moderation.

At least with pizza there are healthy substitutions; not much you can do to a brisket to make it "health friendly" since it's really just meat, rub and smoke...

mmm...brisket....it's sooo hard when you get good brisket from Mesquite, Texas...uuuuuugh!

haha sorry jeff ^_^ today is a chipotle day for me, i'll soon be happy on the inside

ok back to topic... pizza... is good, i will not do a diet that does not allow me to eat pizza,



this made me think of something... back in the day i used to make pizzadieas (spelling?) basically a flower tortilla, with all of your pizza fixings, and another flour tortilla on top, cook on the stove-top, just like a grilled cheese ^_^ YUM!

here's how I make mine (it's in the toaster oven now- I have been eating them like a fiend this past week)

cut a thomas light english muffin in half - 100 calories, 8 grams fiber
1/4 cup contadina pizza squeeze - 30 calories (purists need not apply, but ooh does it taste gooood)
+/- load the suckers with sliced baby portabellas
1/4 cup kraft 2% shredded mozzerella - 80 calories (I think)
10 slices of hormel turkey pepperoni, plus 3 to eat while I'm making it - 70 cal

pop into the toaster oven and go do something. prep is literally 2 minutes, and it keeps my cravings nearly at bay. 4 weight watchers points total, by the way, and you can eat baby carrots or broccoli while it's cooking.