Pizza, healthified!!

Ah new year, I have high hopes for you. Last year sucked in so many ways (to read an actual list, as put forth by my Step Mother click here).

In 2009, I plan to lose that friggen baby weight (I call it baby weight, but it's really just all the fat I've gained since I got preggers with the twins), get our house completely fixed (still damaged from Gustav **), get Pickles to go to sleep on his own and at a decent hour, pay off our flooring bill and the Tahoe note...but that's just to name a few things!

In an effort to slim down (my mother in law's Wii Fit totally called me obese!!!) I'm trying to cook healthier....some. Stop laughing. I subscribe more to the Paula Deen cooking philosophy than say, Ellie Kreiger, but whatever. So kids, last night I made pizza! Ah, but it's a healthier version of our fav.

I made the pizza sauce from scratch (you can control the salt and oil content this way) and the crust was an easy, no fuss (no rising or kneading!) honey wheat! I know that sounds odd, but stay with me here. The sweetness of the honey is not overpowering at all. It's actually a nice counter to the savory pizza toppings.

Honey Wheat Pizza Crust

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1 C warm water

2 C whole wheat flour

1/4 C wheat germ

1 tsp. salt

1 T honey, plus more for brushing crust

Preheat oven to 425. Proof the yeast in the warm water. Let stand till creamy (5-10 mins).

In large bowl, combine flour, wheat germ (look by the oatmeal at the grocery), and salt. Add honey and yeast mixture. Combine well. Once it took on a ball shape, I kinda kneaded it around the bowl, mostly to pick up the rest of the flour. This dough is a little sticky. You didn't do anything wrong, that's just how it is. Don't be throwin in extra flour to try and counter the stickiness, you'll ruin the dough. Cover with damp towel and set in warm place to rest for a few minutes (I left mine about 10 minutes).

I used a rimmed cookie sheet. Flour that bad boy up really well. REALLY well. Press the dough into the pan. Poke a bunch of holes in the dough with a fork. Brush edges with honey. Bake 5-10 mins, or until crust starts to brown just a touch.

Cover with desired toppings and bake at same temp. for 10 mins more.

Purdy Good Pizza Sauce

2 T olive oil

1/3 C chopped onion

2 T chopped garlic

1 (28 oz) can tomatoes, undrained

2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste

1 tsp dried basil (1 T fresh)

1 tsp dried parsley (1 T fresh)

1 tsp. dried oregano (1 T fresh)

1/2 tsp black pepper

Heat oil in saucepan, saute onions till tender. Add garlic and saute 1 minute more. Crush tomatoes into pan (I used a pastry cutter cuz I couldnt find my potato ricer). Add paste, and herbs. Simmer 10 mins.

I love that this sauce has a little bit of chunk to it. Adds a heartiness to your pizza. This made enough sauce for my pizza and enough to do another (I froze the extra).

Honestly, start to finish, this dinner took about an hour to do.

The Dude's response to this pizza was astounding. He said it was the best pizza he'd had and that I should ONLY ever use these two recipes for homemade pizza again. Sha-what?! If only he know I hid spinach under the cheese! Mwuahahahahahaha!

**Hurricane Gustav** I've come to learn that hurricane recovery takes for-friggen-ever! I used to wonder what the heck was wrong with the people recovering from Hurricane Katrina, not any more. It is SOOOOO hard to find a contractor, for starters. Aside from that, getting money from an insurance company is like pulling teeth, THEN you have to turn the money over to your mortgage company, THEN you have to get the money out of them....slowly, very slowly. Oy. Anyway yeah, so for anyone sitting there wondering why so many people were in FEMA trailers for forever, now ya know why.

On a totally unrelated note...The SITS queens are having a cool giveway. Oh, fancy coffeemaker/tea maker/hot chocolate maker, how I want thee. Anywhoo, check 'em out please!.