The Best Pizza Crust You May Ever Make

I have not been able to eat "regular" pizza for almost 6 months.  This should be against the law!  For some reason, any pizza other than one with a gluten free crust makes my stomach sick.  I found some "just okay" pre-made gluten free crusts a few months ago, but the ingredient list was still a little too long for my liking.

So how excited was I when I found a link to a gluten free/Paleo pizza crust on Tina's blog!!  I decided to try it out this Saturday and I was so happy with the results.  It was thick and hearty, which made it great for holding all of our toppings.

You wanna piece of me??  YES!!

Here s the link to the original recipe, but I thought I'd post it for you as well.

Almond Flax Pizza Crust

Ingredients:

• 1-1/4 cups flaxseed meal
• 1 cup almond flour/meal
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp natural baking powder
• 1 Tbs honey
• 1 tsp Italian mixed dried herbs
• 3 large eggs, beaten until smooth
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• ½ cup water

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425° F.
2. Combine flaxseed meal, almond meal, sea salt, baking powder and Italian herbs together until lump-free.
3. Beat together eggs, olive oil, honey and water until smooth.
4. Pour liquid mixture into dry mixture. Blend well until smooth.
5. Press into desired shape.
6. Place on a pre-greased or non-stick pizza pan or sit on a silicon baking mat.
7. Bake for 15 minutes in the center of the oven until cooked.
8. Add favorite toppings and then return to the oven to bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.

I topped mine with some organic tomato sauce, ground beef, sauteed onions and bell pepper, diced tomatoes, mushrooms and just a handful of shredded raw cheddar cheese.  Gary & I were both surprised at how well the crust held up with all those toppings.

I didn't think ahead to make a salad or anything with this, but 1 1/2 slices was plenty for me!  Even Gary struggled to eat 2 slices.

My future self is telling me that this might just have to be a weekend staple in our house (add a salad and we have leftovers for lunch the next day).

Go ahead and drool...I won't tell!

Egg Muffins & Almond Pancakes

Today has been a lazy Saturday at its finest!  I rolled out of bed around 10, made the delicious breakfast you will read about below, and went to my parents house so Gary could work on their computer.  After he was done we took a nice long walk around their neighborhood before heading home.

A few weeks ago, I found the Holy Grail of quick, easy and healthy breakfasts.  I cannot keep it to myself any longer, so you are in luck!

Let's start with these egg muffins:

Do you have 20 minutes?  That's how long it took me from start to finish to make 12 of these national treasures.

Ingredients:

8 eggs
1/4 Red Bell Pepper
1/4 Green Bell Pepper
1/2 Yellow Onion
4 slices bacon, chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms
S&P as per your taste

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

You can either chop the vegetables by hand or do what I did and throw them all in the food processor, pulse a few times and throw it in a mixing bowl.  (As you can probably see below, I forgot to add the mushrooms to the processor, so I did those by hand).

Crack the 8 eggs into the bowl, add the bacon, S&P and mix.  Pour mixture into well greased muffin tins (whether using either oil or PAM, etc., make sure they are VERY well greased) until 3/4 full.

 Cook for about 15 minutes, then let cool on your counter.

This muffin tin alone gave me 3 days of breakfasts and a morning snack (2 for each meal).  Just heat two on a plate for 30 seconds and you have a healthy, delicious meal WITHOUT having to think about what to make.  Next week I am going to start making 2 tins at a time because Gary  is FINALLY dumping his cereal habit (CHEERS, APPLAUSE)!!  Having to make this twice a week will be a breeze because I can cook them while I am cooking dinner.

Moving on to the pancakes...

I bought some almond meal at Trader Joe's a few weeks ago, because it is MUCH cheaper than almond flour.  I am not an expert, but I think the only difference between almond meal and flour is that the flour ground finer than the meal.  For the difference in price, I do NOT mind have chunky meal over the flour!

Since trying to eat Paleo (we are definitely on the right track, but still struggle) I have been craving pancakes!  So this is what I created this morning, alongside my trusty egg muffins:

Sorry for the photo quality, used my iPhone.

We have tried coconut flour pancakes before and they were okay, but I felt that I needed something heartier.

Here's what I came up with.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Almond Meal
3 Eggs
2 TB Coconut milk (or milk of your choice)
1/4 tsp. Almond extract
Cinnamon and nutmeg to your liking (I just add a few shakes of each.  Nutmeg is my go to spice for a hearty flavor)

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix by hand.
Drop 1/8 cup batter into a pan or skillet that has been oiled.
After adding the batter to the pan, I dropped a few blueberries into each pancake.
Cook each side for about 2-3 minutes.

Plate & ENJOY!!

We plan on watching a movie tonight while eating homemade pizza where I get to use some more almond meal that was inspired by Tina.  I read her blog daily and she has such great recipes and is such a positive person and an inspiration.

Hopefully most of you get a 3-day weekend.  Either way, enjoy it to the max!