ON FOOD ~ Healthy Pizza Night...

Image courtesy Edward Pond @ Clean Eating

Every Friday night, after a long week of hard work, Andy and I like to take it easy by ordering a pizza and watching a movie from Netflix. However, in recent months we have stopped ordering pizza delivery. First of all, it is pretty expensive. Second, it isn't exactly the healthiest option.

Over the past eight months I have worked very hard to lose that baby weight that sweet Sammy left with me. After New Year's I was frustrated with my weight plateau despite exercise and a decent diet. I purchased (via a daily deal) an online weight loss package from Fit Healthy Moms that provided a series of downloadable exercise programs along with a nutritional guide and recipe suggestions. Over the next couple of months I did see some pounds fall away and my waistline slim, though I think the fact that I had the flu, strep throat and several head colds during that same period of time may have contributed to those results.

This package stressed lots of good eating habits that I already followed and some that I decided to ignore because they didn't seem worth the sacrifice (no beer? expensive organic everything? hardly any grains allowed?). The program pointed me to some websites for additional recipes that could provide caloric counts and touted a healthier outlook. In turn, I pointed Andy to those websites since he cooks and I do not. And since his cholesterol is always pushing limits that it shouldn't, I thought an infusion of food that was good for you would be helpful to him as well. Our little boy needs his elderly parents to stick around as long as they can, after all.

One website that Andy has really enjoyed delving into is Clean Eating, based on the magazine. I have no idea how user friendly their site is, since I only eat the food their recipes generate. Andy hops on there every day and searches for a new recipe to try out for dinner. Sometimes he looks for a recipe that falls under a certain prep time. Other times he searches based on a specific ingredient that we have lying around the pantry that needs to be consumed before it expires. No matter what he selects, the results are almost always delicious. He has discovered that he can have a tasty, filling meal without it loading him up with fat, salt and sugar.

After abandoning our Friday night pizza tradition in deference of our budget and our "clean eating" ways, I can't tell you how excited I was when he came home with a pizza recipe. It takes less time to prepare and cook than it can to wait for the delivery guy to arrive with a lukewarm pizza in a greasy box. It doesn't require any bizarre, expensive ingredients. It tastes delicious. And it is loaded with calcium (who knew spinach gave you calcium?) and only 230 calories a slice. Thank you Clean Eating for giving us back our Friday night tradition under our terms.

INDREDIENTS:

• 6 ozs. spinach leaves
• One 14.5 oz. can of drained, no-salt-added diced tomatoes
• 1 whole wheat thin pizza crust (Boboli 12" 100% Whole Wheat Thin Crust)
• 2 fully cooked, all natural deli chicken sausages, sliced into 1/4" thick pieces
• 3 ozs. part-skim mozzarella cheese, grated (about 3/4 cup)
• Olive oil cooking spray
• Ground black pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Coat skillet with cooking spray and heat on medium low.  Add spinach and cook until wilted, about 4 minutes. Season with pepper, to taste.  Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Place 1 cup tomatoes in a fine mesh strainer and press out as much liquid as possible.  Spread tomatoes onto pizza crust.  Top with spinach, sausage and mozzarella.
4. Bake 10 minutes, or until sausage is lightly browned and cheese is melted.
5. Rest pizza on cutting board for 5 minutes, slice into 6 pieces and serve.

NUTRIENTS:
(Per slice) Calories = 230.  Total Fat = 8g.  Saturated Fat = 4g.  Carbs = 25g.  Fiber = 5g.  Sugars = 3g.  Protein = 12g.  Sodium = 205mg.  Cholesterol = 25mg.