Cauliflower Crust Pizza

photo from Eat.Drink.Smile.

Without flour I am left without PIZZA! My family really enjoys pizza including me. It is up there as our favorite meal. I was a little excited when I saw this. It was worth a try. Here is her recipe. I made some revisions (of course). First of all I tried to just cook 1 cup of the riced cauliflower. By 8 minutes it was burnt to nothing. The second time I did a cup and a half which was about 4 ounces in weight and I cooked it for about 3 minutes. Perfect. Second I can't pull off the calories for 1 to 1 cheese to cauli. I did only a little over an ounce of mozzarella and the whole egg (although next time I think I will only do 1/2 the egg). Also, pan spray was not enough...next time I will cook it on a silpat so I don't loose an ounce :) I put sauce, roasted tomatoes, and basil on top with a touch more of cheese. It was REALLY good. You don't taste cauliflower (although I really like cauli). Lee took a little bite and liked it too!

Holden's Golden Salsa

Lee and I want to love canned salsa but just have not up until now. We have really struggled with the flavorless mush we usually get. This year I have had 3 people tell me they have the "best" salsa recipe. Being the student I am Lee and I tried all 3. Jamie Holden truly has the BEST salsa recipe. Lee and I bottled another 19 jars after the last batch....just to last us :) Lee and I named it Holden's Golden because it will pretty much be treated like gold when they get low!

Jamie Holdens Golden Salsa
3 small cans tomato paste (I really think this is the secret!)
20 tomatoes (I used 25 romas)
1 green pepper (I used one small one and one small yellow one)
2-4 hot peppers (I used 4 jalapenos)
4 onions (mine were big so I did 3)
1 T garlic (I minced about 6 cloves)
1 c cilantro
3 T sugar (you can sub steevia)
2 T salt
1 t pepper (I didn't bother)

Chop the tomatoes pretty small. Put in a colander and get some of the juice off. I press on it a bit.
Chop everything else up pretty small. Put it all in a big pot. Bring to a boil then turn down to medium. Cook for 30 minutes. Put 1 Tbsp lemon juice in each jar. I honestly just used bottled. I was lazy. Add salsa to the jar while still hot. Process in a water bath for 20 minutes. She said it makes 12-14 pints. We made her recipe 3x and never got more then 10.

PB Banana Shake

This is a heavenly treat for me. I have it with my breakfast sometimes. It is healthy, cold, and delicious!
Blend:
1 frozen banana
1 banana
4 ice cubes
8 oz milk
1 oz sugar free peanut butter

You can add Steevia if you want. I think it is great just how it is! I have also been known to add a touch of cocoa powder if I am needing a little chocolate!

Roasted Tomato Spaghetti

Oh how I love garden time! We are living right now in the land of plenty. Even though we couldn't have a great garden this year we have had access to plenty of fresh stuff. Lee said this was hands down the best spaghetti he ever had and not a drop came out of a can. To make the sauce I used this method on Our Best Bites. I did 2 cookie sheets full, cut way back on the evoo and added 2 course chopped onions and 2 chopped red bells. I cooked it for 2 hours at 350. When it was done I put it in a pan and took my immersion blender to it. Right before I served it I threw a handful of minced fresh basil.
For the meatballs I used 8 oz ground beef, 8 oz ground sausage, 6 oz cottage cheese blended up and an egg (no breadcrumbs). I mixed in 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning. I made them a bit flat to keep them from crumbling. I browned them on each side then baked for 20 min at 350.
I ate mine on a bed of "peeled" zucchini that I sauteed in Pam spray. Deliciouso!

Sugar Free Canned Peaches

We live in a big agriculture town. We are loving all the cheap fresh produce. This week I got a case of peaches (25 pounds) from the grower for $12. Honestly we ate about half of them. I wanted to bottle the rest for when produce is not as plentiful. I didn't want to make them sugary though. I was thrilled when Costco had this Welches 100% peach and grape juice on their coupon. I used this method to peel the peaches. I sliced them and stuffed them in the jar (don't be shy or you will be sad with how much space you gain when they are boiled). I boiled the juice and poured it over them leaving about an inch of space in the top. Wipe the top rims and add boiled fresh lids. I then put the bottles in a large pot of boiling water (cover the jars by at least an inch). The quarts cooked for 25 minutes and the pints 20 minutes.

Sofrito Mashed Potato

I am a big Guy Fieri fan. I am not only not eating flour or sugar but I am cutting back on starches. To keep it interesting I am trying a lot of new recipes. I LOVED this one (as did the hubby and kids). The beauty of this one is that for my portion I measured half potato and half the sauce so my potato was half veg. Anything that gives me more potato is great in my book. For mine I only did 1/2 a TBSP of butter. In all of them I substituted lowfat buttermilk for the cream. Give 'em a try you will love 'em! Get the recipe here.

Sugar Free!!!!

Going sugar free (and flour free) really seems to work for me. I have flirted with Diabetes with the last 2 pregnancies and I really am trying to avoid going into full blown Type 2. I have gone about 40 days now without a drop of sugar (not even IN stuff). When I make dinner now I occasionally make adjustments which I will post for mine. It really has not been too bad once I made up my mind. For me it is better to be completely abstinent then but back.

This picture is of my FAVORITE treat right now. My sister Meesha makes it and I LOVE it. It is great at night when the kids and Lee are having ice cream or something.

Sugar Free (but YUMMY smoothie)

12 oz raspberry lemonade Crystal Light (you can use any kind but the tang in this is great!)

8 oz mixed frozen fruit (my favorite is blueberry, banana, nectarine)

Blend until smooth. Please note you can also use non-frozen fruit but it is kinda frothy and not as good. If you use banana (even just a 1/2) it makes it really creamy. Enjoy!