Healthy Pizza

You don’t have to give up all your favorite foods to watch your waistline. Many foods can be made over into delicious, healthy alternatives.

A slice of cheese pizza from a restaurant can have 230 calories, 9 grams of fat, and 520 mg of sodium. By making your own, you cut down on the fat, calories and salt, turning it into a nutritious meal.

Here’s my favorite whole wheat pizza:

Whole Wheat Pizza

SAUCE:
1 quart tomato juice
1 Tbs. Splenda
2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. black pepper
4 Tbs. cornstarch (dissolve in cold water before adding)

Combine and simmer until thick (about 20 minutes).

DOUGH:
Combine and let set 5 minutes:
3 cups warm water
1 1/2 Tbs. yeast
1 Tbs. sugar

Combine:
3 cups all purpose flour
6 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp. salt
4 1/2 Tbs. olive oil
Warm water

Combine wet and dry ingredients. Knead for several minutes. Add up to 1/2 cup extra water. Cover and let stand for 20 minutes to rise. Divide dough into five balls. Roll each ball out on floured surface until dough is thin and round to fit a pizza pan. Put in pan (sprayed with cooking spray) and top with 3/4 cup sauce and a thin layer of reduced-fat cheese.

Cover (plastic wrap and foil) to freeze extras. You can use aluminum pans for freezing then transfer to pizza pan for baking. Add toppings before baking (grilled chicken, green pepper, onion, lean hamburger, turkey ham, pineapples). Bake at 425 degrees for 18-20 minutes.