tomato pie " pizza! "

 Pizza,  who doesn't love it ? 
My friend Lisa makes great pizza but, when I asked her how many calories she thought her home made pizza was she laughed and said I never thought about it I make so many kinds of pizza.  So I asked her to figure out how much calories was in her sausage & veggie pizza "mushrooms, onions, and peppers.



OK she got back to me and said Holly Crap!  I say about 355 calories per slice!  I said and how much of that is fat?  if you knew Lisa,  you would know she said shut up! lol

Lets face it,  there's no good news about low fat pizza,  I've tried ALL the so called great tasting low fat recipes and lets say they stunk!  So I decided that I would try my best to make it taste good and not kill us with the fat and carbs.  I also figured we only have it on our treat days.

Here is what you'll need to make 2 8- 10" pizzas

1.  1/2 lb dough for either one large or 2 smaller
2. 2 cloves of garlic minced
3. 2 pints of grape or cherry tomatoes roasted
4. Fresh asiago cheese  " the kind you can grate "
5. Fresh basil if you like  " I used dried myself "

 Now take the sausage out of the casing and saute in a non stick pan until all nice and crumbly along with the garlic,  add a bit of water if it starts to stick
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Now I always make my own pizza dough but you can buy a lb at a bakery or in the freezer dept.

Just make sure you divide it into 4 portions, put 1/2 a side for another day

Let the dough rest a good hour at least, this way you can roll it out as thin as possible with ease.

 Preheat your oven to 425 degrees

Sprinkle a little cornmeal on your cookie sheet or pizza pan,  this makes it crisp and taste authentic"
Place dough on pan, load up your tomatoes, sausage  and grate fresh asiago cheese all over it and baked it 10 - 12 minutes.   Take it out grate some more cheese and put on some fresh basil or dried and let it rest 5 minutes so when you cut it, it will stay nicely on the crust.   Enjoy!.

    Calories in my pizza is about 468 calories which isn't bad when you get your own whole pizza to yourself,  it's not totally guilt free if your watching your carbs but,  it's a smart choice you can enjoy with out all the guilt,  if you have the extra calories to spare you could have a small chopped salad with this to round out your meal as long as you don't go crazy with the salad dressing.  I thought I couldn't eat pizza and lose weight but,  I do and I've lost over 50 lbs so far and still losing.  I make little changes that make a huge difference.

Make Over Monday

 Make over Monday.   Once again this week flew bye.  I had such a busy weekend!  Just trying to catch up with house work took me most of the day.  So I went to my always go to easy meal.   A salad with grilled marinated boneless chicken breast.  You know I always give the bad news of what the calories will be if we eat this similar salad  at our favorite restaurant or even made at home because most of us don't have a clue how much we over do.

 Looks good and innocent but this salad is 970 calories and if you add extra salad dressing well you don't  want to know, and this is with grilled chicken,  not fried.

 So here's what you'll need for my version.
1)  2 Cups of chopped salad greens of your choice.
2)  1/3 of a med size cucumber, sliced, chopped,  how ever you like it.
3)  1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
3) 1/2 cup shredded red cabbage
4) 1/2 shredded carrot!/4 cup sliced or chopped onion
5)  salad dressing of your choice but go with a low fat version or a simple lemon and olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.
6) Top with 4 0z grilled chicken  breast

In the summer I also like to add a grilled peach, slice pineapple, plum,  any seasonal fruit.  Grilling fruit is yummy and only adds  60 - 90 extra calories.

So my salad even with a grilled peach and lite salad dressing is : 410 calories and  it's a large dinner serving!

Make Over Monday

    So it's Monday already,  this week really flew by.  I thought since the kids are still home for the summer that I would make over a reciepe that the you could build a menu on so the whole family could sit down and enjoy.

Chicken fingers.  Who doesn't like them.  I made them over the week and my husband loved them as well as my picky 20 month old granddaughter. 

If you went to one of our favorite chains a typical chicken finger basket will cost you 1,230 calories and if you went with salad with fried chicken fingers thats going to cost you 1,450 whopping calories!  My oldest daughter loves this for breakfast and orders this almost everytime we go out for breakfast.  It's more calories then I consume in a day!

 Here's what you'll need:

1) 3-4 oz chicken tenders
2)1 oz panko  bread crumb2
3) 1/4 egg beaters

Dip tenders in egg beaters,  dip in panko.
Put on a non stick cookie sheeet sprayed lightly with pam and bake at 375 degrees in a preheated oven for about 15 minutes  or until crispy on the outside

This is a portion for 1 and it's 201 calories



 I love to dip things when I am just sitting on the computer.  I use this dip with the chicken above,  and I use it for so many other things like, spring rolls,  raw veggies,  baked potato,  low fat chips and the list keeps going.

One serving:

2 tablespoons of low fat " not fat free "  yuck!
1 teaspoon of splendor
zest of a 1/2 of lime or lemon if you want.
Mix it and eat.  This dip is so refreshing and light and only 70 calories

Freedom

With Independence day having come and gone and Labor Day just around the corner I think of all the men and women of present and past and all they sacrificed for our freedom.   It saddens me to watch our Country and everything our fore fathers bled and died for is just crumbling right before our very eyes.  Even with the changing times as so many of our present politicians like to use as an excuse for trying to work around or change our Constitution, or change the meaning of the amendments to fit their needs at the moment.

Being on face book and twitter I have many many friends from around the world and  I have to say I don't think most of us have a clue how wonderful or the meaning of freedom really is.

Our younger generation takes much for granted or they  are just plain ignorant to whats going on around us and whats going on in the world and even sadder just plain don't care.

I like to think I am an independent American woman who can't begin to imagine having a government telling me what to do or threaten me with jail if I don't it,  or who to worship, or even take care of me! 

I want the old America back,  it was wonderful.   We weren't afraid of hard work,  didn't expect entitlements, we took care of our own and fought to the death to keep it that way.  It seems in just a blink of a second we have changed so much that  the old America is hardly recognizable anymore.   We need to stop making new laws go back 100 years or so and follow those.  Make people be held responsible for their actions and be self sufficient,  It's simple to think if we applied those past laws, reason, common sense,  we wouldn't be in debt up to our eyeballs  and men and women wouldn't join the armed forces just for what they can get out of it from the government but because they believe what they are fighting for.   I know not all of our men and women feel that way and I appreciate each and everyone of them but,  we as Americans should try and remind these people they work for us.

As I leave you  it's sad that we actually had get a law passed a few years back that our soldiers  can salute when a flag is being raised or lowered,  in a parade,  or any where they may be in the presence of our great flag,  and they can do that whether they are in uniform or not !  and we the people can put our hand over are hearts to honor our America if we so please.


Lets take a moment to ourselves and remember all these men, women, and families that have gave and give so much ~

 

Always so busy!

 It's only 10 am and I have already run errands for the holiday weekend,  cooked food,  fed all the pets,  did some laundry,  moped floors  and the list continues.   I just sat down to try and catch my breath for a few minutes before I roll up my sleeves and get cracking again while still try to listen to the Casey Anthony trial.

I have so many project and things that need to be done and there is never enough time.  I have the great need to have everything in order but I just can't seem to have enough hands .  So I have to always decide what can wait and what can't.

I want to do something different for desert this year and make some kind of different cupcakes.  I'm thinking about root beer float  and lemonade cupcakes,  not everything has to be red, white, and blue, lol

Now I am  a Yankee who has moved South so we always have to have something from the ocean like clams,  lobster, or shrimp.  Luckily I have peeps where I can get them on line shipped right from the ocean to my front door.. Thanks to our American fisherman!!!
I can't always buy made in America because it's not always easy to find.  I try hard to and support our local farmers and crafters as well.

I hope when we are all having fun over this holiday we all take a minute to remember all the troops of men and women from the past as well as the ones who are away from their families and the families who have sacrifice the absence of the loved ones from either them giving their lives or still serving our country,  I know Steve and myself will think of them often,  hang our flag proudly and always be grateful for our freedom!