Pizza Dough

                              

Making your own pizza is a much healthier and cost effective way than ordering out.  Made with whole wheat flour, this pizza dough is high in fiber and protein.  Serve it up with the toppings you love (make sure those are healthy too!) and have a great meal or appetizer.  You can even use it as a dessert base (see below for recipe suggestions).

Pizza Dough

Ingredients in Pizza Dough (makes enough for 2 pizzas):

• 1 cup of wrist warm water
• 1 1/2 tsp yeast
• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 2 3/4 cups of whole wheat bread flour (you can choose to use 1/2 white flour, but this isn't as healthy of an option)
• 3 tbsp vital wheat gluten (adds protein)
                                 
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• *optional fresh herbs of your choice (we added 1/2 cup of fresh basil)

*due to the whole wheat flour, this dough will be a little bit harder to work with than your typical store bought dough.  The crust formed will also be thinner, not as doughy (this is better for you though!)

                               

Instructions for Making Dough:

1. Sprinkle yeast onto warm water and let sit until begins to foam (about 3-5 minutes)
2. Add olive oil to yeast mixture
3. Place remaining ingredients into a food processor or mixer (we like making it in a food processor if adding fresh herbs)
4. Pulse ingredients
5. While processor or mixer is running, gradually pour in yeast mixture
6. Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl and allow to rest for about 1 hour 

Best part it you can mk ahead of time and place into fridge or freezer! Just allow to come to room temp before using (if from freezer, tk out and let sit on counter all day for dinner that night)

Instructions for Making Pizza:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Separate above recipe into 2 balls
3. Roll dough out onto a pizza stone (prefered) or a cookie sheet.  If using a cookie sheet, you may want to lightly oil the pan or sprinkle some corn meal to prevent sticking
4. Place sauce and your ingredient toppings on top of dough
                  
          
5. Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until cheese browns

Ideas for Pizza Topping:

Vegetables (high in vitamins and fiber, essential for healing):

• Mushrooms (high in protein)
• Spinach, kale, or other greens (high in Calcium, great for strong bones & teeth)
• Grilled/roasted eggplant
• Olives
• Peppers (high in vitamin C 1 cup=199% of daily needs-great for healing!)
• Onions-carmelized red onions are yummy!
• Tomatoes (high in Lycopene, an anti-inflammatory and immune boosting vitamin)
• Fresh or dried herbs like basil, oregano, parsley

Sauces: pesto, tomato

Cheeses (high in protein for building and repairing tissues & high in calcium, for maintaining strong bones and teeth: 

• low-fat mozzarella (lower in fat)
• fresh mozzarella (high in fat, use in moderation)
• goat cheese 
• Parmesan (lowest fat and lactose)

Other ideas for using pizza dough:

• Use as an appetizer: spread a little pesto or olive oil on dough, sprinkle with Parmesan, top with fresh tomatoes and basil
• Use as a dessert: rub in coconut oil, drizzle honey or maple syrup (high in calcium!) over dough, sprinkle on cinnamon, and top with goat cheese.  This would also be awesome topped with apples!
                    

Braised Chicken

Looking for a great meal that's impressive enough for company but can be a weeknight supper (like this one was for us tonight)? Here it is! This meal is high in protein and fiber, while being low in fat and calories. A great healing meal.

Braised Chicken

Ingredients:

3 pounds of bone-in chicken legs and thighs (or 1.3-1.5 pounds of boneless chicken thighs)

1 tbsp olive oil 

1 1/2 c of onions (1 large onion) chopped

1 cup of celery, chopped

1 c of carrots, chopped

1 cup of mushrooms

1 green pepper

1/2-1  tsp salt

3 cups of tomatoes (or can use a 28oz can of stewed tomatoes)

1 c of dry red wine

1 cup of water or broth

1 tbsp garlic

Fresh basil to top off after
Salt/pepper to taste

Instructions:

1) Add 1 tbsp pill to pan and sear chicken on both sides until browned, about 8-10 minutes.  Remove from pan. If using boneless/skinless thighs, cook for 1-2 minutes.

2) Pour off all but 1tbsp drippings, if more than that.  If skin stuck in pan then remove to cut down on fat.  If you'd like to remove more fat, de-skin chicken.

3) Sauté onions, carrots, celery, pepper, & mushrooms

4) Add tomatoes & salt sauté for 2 minutes

5) Adds stock, wine, garlic, and return chicken to pot

6) Place into oven at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until cooking liquid cooks down (chicken should reach 145 degrees).

7) Stir in fresh basil, additional salt and pepper to taste.  Serve over rice. 

**We had a large bowl of sauce left.  Great for a next day soup!

Benefits of Tomatoes: High in Lycopene, an anti-oxidant that prevents cancer
Benefits of Peppers: High in Vitamin C, promotes healing and disease prevention (199% of daily needs!-1 cup has more than 2x's the amounts of an orange)

Benefits of Garlic: Anti-inflammatory and aids in blood circulation/cardiovascular health

Benefits of Carrots: High in fiber, high in Vitamin A: beta carotene, which is an anti-oxidant that prevents cancer, healthy immune system and promotes cell growth/tissue repair (1 cup has 308% of your daily Vitamin A needs)

Benefits of Mushrooms: High in protein and low in calories

Benefits of Chicken: Low in fat, high in protein, helps to repair and rebuild tissues

Nutritional Information in Entire Dish

Tomatoes: 

Calories: 97

Carbs: 21g

Fiber: 6.5 g  

Potassium: 1280mg

Vitamin C: 114%

Vitamin A: 90%

Onions:

Calories: 101

Carbs: 24g

Fiber: 3.4g

Protein: 2.2g

Potassium: 346mg

Vitamin C: 26%

Carrots:

Calories: 52

Carbs: 12.3 g

Fiber: 3.6g

Protein: 1.2g

Fat: 0g

Vitamin A: 308% of daily value

Mushrooms:

Calories: 15

Carbs: 2.3g

Fiber: .8g

Protein: 2.2g

Fat: 0g

Peppers:

Calories: 30

Carbs: 7g

Fiber: 2.5g

Protein: 1.3g

Fat: 0g

Vitamin C: 199.7%

Chicken Thighs (1.3 #s)-boneless and skinless

Calories: 750

Fat: 40g

Carbohydrates: 0g

Protein: 100g

Fiber: 0%

Iron: 30%

Olive Oil:

Calories: 120

Fat: 14g

*nutrition values from: My fitness pal