Today we are talking about America’s favorite food--Pizza. This is quick, easy, kid-approved and calorically reasonable pizza. What more could you ask for?
I saw this picture the other day:
I honestly laughed out loud because it is so true!! I don’t know what it is, but Americans definitely have a passionate love affair with pizza. Even my sister-in-law who DOES NOT under any circumstance eat cheese still eats pizza.
With a love so strong for a food that is (admittedly) so delicious, I know there is no way in the world I could convince pizza-lovers to stop eating pizza. But there is certainly room to discuss how to do pizza better. In fact, I am dedicating two weeks to this topic.
I made this chart to give you an idea of what I’m talking about. This is comparing apples to apples, as you can see the weight of each of these pizza servings is pretty close. It comes down to what you pile on top of that crust.
This week’s meal is Flat Bread Pizza. This is great for so many reasons. First of all, it takes 5 minutes to make. The hardest part is opening the lid on the jar of pizza sauce!
Next week we’ll talk about home-made pizza and I’ll give you my whole wheat pizza dough recipe, as well as some tips for how to simplify the made-from-scratch pizza process.
Flat bread pizza is literally simplicity at its best. Place the flat bread on a cookie sheet. Spread the sauce, sprinkle the cheese, place the toppings, and broil for about 5 minutes until the cheese is browned and bubbly.
The biggest thing to remember is go easy on the cheese. It melts and spreads out so you really don’t need as much as you think you need. This pizza has 1 ½ ounces of cheese on it. And you can see it’s pretty well covered. Every bite will have the melty cheesy goodness. This is truly a case for “More does not equal better”.
The other thing to consider is what you pair with your pizza. Garlic bread, pastas, and cheesy bread sticks may be popular in pizza chains, but honestly, that is WAY overdoing it. Keep it simple with plain old fruits and vegetables. This time I did cucumbers. Grapes, watermelon, carrot sticks, or garden salad are also great choices.
A half flat bread pizza was sufficient for my little kids. I was still a little hungry after eating 1 full flat bread, and so I added another half. I’m using 6 quarter slices as the serving size for the meal/recipe.
Meal:
1 ½ flat bread (6 quarter slices)
¼ cup pizza sauce
1.5 oz cheese
1.5 oz polska kielbasa sausage
5 grape tomatoes
3 Tbsp green bell pepper
1 cup cucumbers
Recipe Used in this meal:
Flat Bread Pizza
Serving size: 1 ½ flat bread pizzas
Servings per Recipe: 4
Ingredients
6 Greek Pita Flat Breads
1 ½ cup Pizza sauce
9 oz Mozzarella Cheese (part skim, low moisture)
6 oz Polska Kielbasa
Grape Tomatoes
Green Bell Pepper
Other toppings: Pepperoni, olives, mushrooms, spinach, Canadian bacon, pineapple, chicken, etc.
Directions
Lay out the flat bread on a cookie sheet. Spread ¼ cup pizza sauce on each one.
Sprinkle with 1.5 ozs of cheese. Add desired toppings.
Broil on high for 4-6 minutes, until the cheese is browned and bubbly.
Slice into quarters, and serve.
Nutrition Facts Label for Entire Meal:
Nutrition Facts Label for 1 flat bread pizza (4 quarter slices):
