Cauliflower Pizza Crust

There are so many gluten free pizza dough options now (box mixes, frozen, home made recipes etc.), this pizza dough though is one of a kind.

A good friend of ours used to make cauliflower mash (instead of mashed potatoes) and I thought it was delicious!!! The texture was good, it was full of cream and butter and cheese (so not a healthy alternative by any means!), yummy!! So when I started hearing about a cauliflower pizza crust I knew I had to give it a shot!

I found the recipe originally over at SparkRecipes. I think it turned out pretty darn good. I wouldn’t replace my normal choices in pizza dough with it regularly but once in a while its a fun alternative!!

So….here we go 🙂

What you’ll need: (PS I doubled the original recipe!!)

• 2 cups raw, grated cauliflower
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons italian seasoning
• (As well as your choice of pizza sauce/toppings!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°

2. Grate cauliflower (I pulled the cauliflower apart then pulsed it in my magic bullet until it was a rice like consistancy)

2. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray (I use Pam)

3. In a medium bowl mix cauliflower, egg, mozzarella and spices.

4. Once well mixed press mixture evenly on greased cookie sheet.

5. Bake pizza crust for up to 20 minutes (if you dare, you may flip the crust over half way through).

6. When fully cooked remove from oven and add your toppings. (I was feeling Hawaiian pizza :))

7. Place pizza under broiler until cheese is melted.

8. Plate, serve and enjoy!!!

The taste of this crust was fantastic! The texture is nothing like regular pizza dough so be prepared for that! I was pleasantly surprised at how well it held together, I still ate most of the pizza with a fork, but I could have picked it up and ate with my hands if I wanted to 😉

I have since seen more recipes for cauliflower dough that have less cheese, I would try one of those next time around just to reduce the fat/calories and to see how well that option holds together!! Don’t get me wrong, this one was delicious and I don’t often limit my cheese intake but I’m curious to see what some of the other options turn out like!!

Have a great rest of the week ya’ll!! Come back soon…I’m planning a biscuits and gravy breakfast Sunday and will want to post it ASAP!!!!

Bacon Pancakes (I love GF Bisquick!!)

Who here loves the GF Bisquick? I do!!!!!! I have used it for breading chicken and fish, pizza dough, biscuits and gravy and…

PANCAKES….not just any pancakes though, pancakes with bacon! Yep you read it right! Bacon cooked right inside your pancakes! And gluten free (DUH)! Ok enough with the mouth watering, drool inducing verbiage…

What you’ll need:

• 1 cup Gluten Free Bisquick
• 2 tbs. Olive Oil
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 egg (beaten)
• Bacon (somehow I left this out of the picture…oops)

Directions:

1. Cook bacon to desired crunchiness (or I guess sogginess if thats how you prefer :))

2. Add Bisquick, olive oil, milk and egg to a medium bowl and mix well

3. Heat your griddle to 325° and spoon out a strip of Bisquick mix

4. place cooked bacon on top of Bisquick and then spoon another strip on top

5. Cook pancakes until golden brown, then DIG IN!!!

I like mine best with maple syrup 🙂

This is a great alternative to the typical sunday pancakes and eggs, I’m sure it would be a great hit with the kid-o’s too (I’ll let you know when mine is old enough to try!)!

Happy breakfast gluten free community! Let me know what you think about this one!

PS don’t miss out on TONS of delicious GF recipes with Bisquick on Betty Crockers site!

My 5+ Month Blog Neglection

Here is the best excuse for not blogging I’ve ever had…

 

Gluten Free World,  meet Kai Charlie!!

Kai was born with a unilateral cleft lip and palate and is the strongest, happiest, most handsome little man I’ve ever met (biased, I know!)!

He was born on September 15, 5lbs. 2ounces, 18 inches long! He has since more than doubled his birth weight and is long as can be!

Its been a long 5 months and we just got through his first surgery which means that potentially I can sneak in a post or two during naps…no promises but I’ll try!!

In the mean time I could use some help from other GF mamas out there…when were you able to have your little ones tested for Celiac?

My fingers and toes are crossed that little  Kai has had enough to deal with already and has not received the celiac gene from me, but I suppose only time will tell…and whats one more thing to make him stronger, and give him even more character?!?

Thanks to anyone out there with some mommy support/answers, I really appreciate it!!!

I’m hoping to be back with more recipes soon (and most likely baby pictures)!

Zucchini Muffins!!

Hurray for zucchini season!!!

We don’t have our vegetable garden planted yet (maybe we will have home grown veggies next year…) but we’ve been getting fresh veggie gifts left and right lately including monster zucchinis!! We don’t ever complain about veggie gifts and I LOVE zucchini so I figured, why not share with you this easy, tasty and relatively healthy zucchini muffin recipe that I tried out earlier this week!!

Thank you Karen In Real Life for this fantastic gluten free recipe!

What you’ll need:

• 1 cup Mott’s cinnamon applesauce
• 3 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups zucchini, grated
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups gluten free all purpose baking flour (I used Bob’s Red mill)
• 1 teaspoon gluten free pure baking soda (I used the generic Stater Brother brand)
• 1¼ teaspoon baking powder (I used the generic Target brand…yeah, I don’t know why the baking powder I have is Target brand…)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Grate your zucchini (I use my good ol’ standing cheese grater for everything shredded or grated…just watch out for your knuckles, I’m forever fearful of grating my fingers instead of the food, which is why I wont get anything sharper or fancier for slicing/grating!!!)

2. Mix all ingredients together

 

2. Grease a muffin tin, pour in batter and cook at 325° for 25-30 minutes or until the tops of the muffins are no longer sticky. Remove and let cool (or eat one while its hot out of the oven, I eat mine warm with a little butter or cream cheese ;))

 

YUMMY

 

Seriously delicious, quick, easy and as always gluten free!!

I’m sure I’ll have more summer veggie recipes coming your way soon. Hope you all are having a fantastic week, thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you soon!

 

Home Made Albondigas Soup!

Hello everyone!

I know its getting into the hot summer season and soup may not be top on your list for dinner but I just came across this meal in my photo album and couldn’t pass up posting the recipe. This soup came out fantastic and made for great left-over lunches! If you’re a fan of this traditional mexican soup you’ll have to try making it from scratch, like everything else from scratch, it’ll save you money and get you a much larger quantity than you’d get at your local mexican restaurant, without sacrificing the taste!

A big thank you to Mommyofamonster for the original recipe, view ingredients below to see my additions!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3/4 cup finely chopped onions
4 (or more!) garlic cloves, minced
2 small bay leaves
64 ounces of beef broth (approximately 4-5 cans)
28 ounces of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of chunky salsa (we like heat and so we use hot)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 pound of bulk pork sausage (again, we use hot)
6 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup of milk (I used almond milk just because 90% of the time thats the only kind of milk I have in the fridge!)
1 large egg
1/2 cup long-grain white rice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

(I also added 2 kinds of squash and carrots for an extra dose of veggies and a few spicy peppers, because around here we like spicy food!)

Cooking Directions:

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add 1-3/4 cups onions, 2 garlic cloves, and the bay leaves; saute 5 minutes.

Add sliced squash and carrots and continue to sauté for another 5 min

While the veggies are sautéing, place your peppers in the oven at 400° for about 5 min (or until they start to get wrinkly)

Add broth, tomatoes with juices, salsa, and 1/4 cup cilantro. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

While the broth simmers, combine ground beef, pork sausage, cornmeal, milk, egg, cumin, rice, salt and pepper, and the remaining onions, garlic, and cilantro (as well as your roasted peppers if you choose to add them!). Mix well. Shape meat mixture into 1 to 1-1/4 inch balls. And if you like a lot of heat, add 1/2 tablespoon of crushed red pepper flakes (I do).

Add meatballs to the soup and bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until rice and meatballs are tender, 20-30 minutes.

Once your meatballs are cooked through and the rice is nice and soft, your soup is ready to be served!! I served mine topped with avocado and a cheese quesadilla on the side 🙂

This is a warm, hearty, delicious meal that is healthy and easy to make. Again, maybe not the best time of year to be posting this recipe but hey, maybe there are one or two of you soup lovers out there who can fit in another hot meal before the real summer heat kicks in!

I promise to have more light, cool, summer food posts coming soon!!

Have a great weekend everyone!