People keep asking me to post my recipes and methods for how I manage to do everything I do with regards to having homemade breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks packed for everyone all of the time. I will eventually write a post on it, because I have it down to a science. Until then, I will just give a few pointers. I work a lot, so it's not during the week (although I stayed home for a year and found it to be impossible to get anything accomplished as well). I use serious time management, and a free app called AnyList, which allows me to import my recipes and then populate ingredients directly from the recipe to a shopping list. It also allows for multiple user-sharing, so if my husband stops by the store to grab diapers and sees that we need olive oil, he can just grab it and cross it off our lists. I also divide up my washing of vegetables, chopping, cooking and cleaning so it's as efficient as possible. I don't bother to clean up after making one meal when I'm about to make another mess for the next meal. I also make everything in 3-5 times the amount of any recipe, so that we have it for the week (or to freeze) and I make things that taste good after a few days. Soups, stews, grilled meats, etc. The only exception to that are scrambled eggs, quiche or frittatas which just don't taste good after 3 days.
That information is nice, but I'm sure that's not why you clicked this link. More on that in another post, hopefully before Christmas 2014.
So, onto pizza! Everyone knows that pizza can be the easiest way to incorporate vegetables into your kids diet by adding them to pizza. But when you're serving it to them on crust, it kind of takes away from the awesomeness, because it's really just vegetables on bread, with lots of cheese. Not a big deal for a party, but if you want to serve your babies a healthier (and easier) pizza, I have finally found the answer. Spaghetti squash! This is twenty times easier to make than making pizza crust from scratch, but definitely more work that purchasing a frozen pizza. It is cheaper than pre-made crust though, if that helps!
I know about the popular cauliflower pizza crust, and I've done that too, but it's very time consuming. It is extremely delicious, I just don't have that kind of time to make a pizza. I find this to be just as tasty and doesn't require much commitment or special equipment (like WTF is a tea towel?).
The only negative thing is that I can't quite figure out how to keep this crust from sticking to the aluminum foil after baking it. I haven't tried a pizza pan or parchment paper, and I've been asked a few times to post this, so please experiment and let me know what works best for you! Perhaps baking spray?
And for an added pinch of vegetables and flavor, I threw in a cup of chopped spinach mixed with 1.5 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese.
My boys annihilated this after I made it, and didn't question a thing. The "baby" (he's almost 16 months old) eats absolutely anything so that means nothing. The 3-year-old is a tougher critic.
If you're looking for an update, we are doing well. We went through a very difficult season in our family last year. Trying to keep our kids separated because they simply couldn't be left to play together safely, coupled with one stomach flu after another, and other very serious adult problems, 2013 was hard. Now that our boys are both toddlers, and it's summer - everyone is healthy and happy!
Please enjoy this healthy pizza and let me know how your kids like it!
Spaghetti Squash Pizza (Crust) !!!
Ingredients:
(for crust)
1 Medium Spaghetti Squash (yields about 4 cups of cooked spaghetti squash)
2 eggs
1/2 cup flax seed
1 teaspoon salt
Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees. Split the squash in half with a large knife and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Lay the halves in the oven, husk down and cook them for about 70 minutes. Let them cool completely and scoop the spaghetti into a bowl. Make sure the squash is pulled apart without clumps.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a medium-to-large mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, flax seed and salt until evenly combined. Add the spaghetti squash and fold it together with a wooden spoon until it's evenly mixed.
Line a baking pan with something other than aluminum foil - because that hasn't worked for me. I would try parchment paper next time. If you try the foil, spray it down with baking spray. Non stick doesn't do it. Press the squash into the pan until it's flat and evenly distributed. Bake it for about 45 minutes or until slightly browned. It shouldn't feel wet when you press down on it.
To turn this into a pizza, take it out of the oven and turn the broiler on low. Put as much sauce as you want on top of the pizza and add your cheese and toppings. Don't forget it you want to chop up some fresh spinach to mix in with the cheese! Broil the pizza on low for 4-5 minutes until the cheese is melted.
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