Low Carb Individual Pizzas

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Low Carb Individual Pizzas

Right now we’re trying to cut carbs and eat a little healthier. My blood sugar, while in the normal range at the moment, tends to sit on the high end of that, especially if I eat a lot of junk. Cutting carbs and getting more exercise always helps with that. But, I love pizza. I could honestly eat pizza for every meal and never get tired of it or want anything else.

The solution? Come up with some low carb pizza options. My family gets tired of pizza, though, so I thought I’d experiment with an individual portion and see how that went.

I started off with a couple of recipes online, but they weren’t quite cutting it. One used cream cheese. Can I just say that the texture was yuck? The taste was good, though.

Then, I tried another but the crust was too thick. I like a thin, crunchy crust. Sure, there are some mixes you can buy that are low carb, but they have this awful taste to them that I hate.

Almond flour is too dense and coconut doesn’t have the right taste. Finally, I settled on the recipe below. It is great for smaller portions (this recipe makes one pizza about 5-6 inches in diameter. It is also extremely low in carbs and had that crunch at the edges that I wanted.

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Low Carb Individual Pizzas
Author: Crabby Housewife
Ingredients
  • 1 egg
  • 1 ounce shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1 ounce shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 ounce of other shredded cheese of choice I used more moz, but you could use pepper jack or more cheddar, etc.
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon basil
  • Toppings of choice
  • Pizza sauce low in carbs read the labels, a lot have added sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Crack the egg and beat it thoroughly.
  3. Add garlic powder and basic.
  4. Sprinkle in cheese and mix together by folding into the egg. I use my hands to mix this without breaking down the cheese.
  5. Place mixture on parchment paper placed on a baking pan. (Learned this the hard way, so you don't have to)
  6. Now, use a fork and spread it out as thin as possible but still covering the parchment. So, if you spread it and start to notice holes, fill them in.
  7. Bake for 6-7 minutes. The crust will be slightly brown around the edges.
  8. Pull from oven and reduce heat to 375. Place sauce and toppings on pizza and a bit more mozzarella cheese. Cook for an addition 7-8 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Watch carefully because every oven cooks a bit differently. You don't want to burn the crust but it's okay if it gets a bit brown, especially around the edges.
  9. Allow to cool for a minimum of 7 minutes before you attempt to cut it and eat. So good. I can barely tell the difference from real pizza and actually kind of prefer this version.
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Make Your Own Fall Letter for the Front Porch

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Make Your Own Fall Letter for the Front Porch

Recently, I’ve noticed a trend where there are family surname letter decor items in all the stores. However, these items are often pretty expensive, running as much as $40 each. Since I’m a cheapskate, I don’t want to pay that. I decided to make my own with the types of decorations I like and this is what I came up with (picture above). I also stenciled an “S” on a white fake pumpkin, which I think adds to the effect.

You’ll Need:

  • 18″ wooden letter with the first letter of your last name.
  • Chalk spray paint (I chose white because I plan to repurpose this letter for other seasons, but you can use the colors of your choice)
  • Burlap in a burnt red
  • Yellow fall silk flower
  • Wooden buttons
  • Glue gun with glue

Instructions

This is a super easy project, but there are a few things that make it look even better.

  1. Lay your letter out on plastic or papers and spray paint it. You may want to do this outside. My husband let me use his little garage workshop.
  2. Apply even pressure to the spray paint can as you go from side to side. Do not spray too much on any one spot or you will get runs.
  3. Allow the paint to dry for 20 minutes and add a second coat.
  4. Now, I started to turn this over and paint the other side but then I realized that was silly. No one will see that side. I did a single coat to seal the wood, but didn’t worry too much about being perfect with it.
  5. Once the letter is completely dry, bring it inside and wrap the burlap. Start with the end on the back. You can add a dab of hot glue if you want to hold it in place. Wrap around a couple of times. You will need to glue it down here and there to make the burlap tight around your letter. This can vary depending on your letter. “S” is curvy and was harder to get straight. If you have a letter like “L”, this will be much easier.
  6. Tuck the stem of the bunch of fall flowers into the top of the burlap. I actually didn’t secure this. I want to be able to easily swap it out for Christmas with a poinsettia.
  7. Hot glue the buttons on top of the burlap. If you want to swap out the burlap color later on, then you might want to make sure you don’t press down too hard as the glue will attach to the wood if you do.

That’s it. I chose to lean mine up against the house next to the front door. You can also hang it up if you’d like. Easy and adds a very personal touch to the house. I’m in love with it!

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Made from Scratch Cheddar Cheese Biscuits

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Made from Scratch Cheddar Cheese Biscuits

So, you’ve probably read my lazy woman’s guide to making Cheddar Bay biscuits like you can get at Red Lobster. Don’t get me wrong… These are truly delicious and so easy to make. However, there are times when you want something a little more substantial to go with say pasta or soup.

For years, I would try to make biscuits and they would be a flat, lumpy, heavy mess. I just could not get the formula right, no matter how many different recipes I tried. Then, one day I was watching Food Network and a bakery owner was making pie crust. She was explaining the science behind folding the flour into little pats of butter and how the butter heats and creates these lovely air pockets that makes the crust light and flaky.

It was like a light bulb literally went off in my brain. I had never added butter to my biscuit mix. That was the missing link. I began experimenting and now my biscuits are truly delicious works of art that any bread lover would envy. Even though I’m not supposed to be eating them because they are so carby, sometimes I can’t help myself. The key to this recipe is to use a ton of cheddar cheese. It will look like to much when you add it in, but trust me it isn’

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Made from Scratch Cheddar Cheese Biscuits
Author: Crabby Housewife
Ingredients
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour if you only have self-rising on hand, reduce baking powder by 50%
  • 1 1/3 Tablespoons baking powder
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons Splenda you can sub in sugar
  • 1/4 heaping teaspoon salt
  • 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil high, high quality or it will have a funny taste - can sub canola
  • 1/2 stick cold butter
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 3/4 cup milk I like whole for biscuits, but you can sub in what you want
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Mix together flour, salt, sugar and baking powder.
  3. Cut butter into 1/2 inch squares (just get close) and mix into flour with your hands. Don't overwork the mixture, but make sure you mix the butter until it looks like corn meal. The only way to do this is with a pastry tool or by squeezing the flour into the butter over and over, but gently.
  4. Add EVOO.
  5. Add milk and mix completely. Again, be gentle. You don't want to overwork the dough.
  6. Add cheddar cheese and fold into dough. Be gentle. Don't over mix. It's okay if not all the cheese is on the inside. This will just create a beautiful golden crust on your biscuits.
  7. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
Recipe Notes

I like to take a pastry brush and brush a mixture of melted butter with minced garlic (1 clove) and about a Tablespoon of parsley. It creates a buttery, cheesy, garlic taste that is so good.

 

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Clean Out the Fridge Ten-Minute Pasta

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Clean Out the Fridge Ten-Minute Pasta

Pasta is a great go-to dinner for those nights when you want something fairly quick and filling for your family. Plus, you can add in some veggies from your fridge instead of throwing them out because they went bad. You’ll save money and you’ll up the nutritional value of the meal.

Tonight was one of those nights. I chose to make my cheddar biscuits as well, and boy did they turn out fabulous this time. Grab that recipe tomorrow from me. In the meantime, here is how I make my Clean Out the Fridge pasta.

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Clean Out the Fridge Ten-Minute Pasta
Author: Crabby Housewife
Ingredients
  • 1 box penne pasta
  • 1 carton chicken stock
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 bag frozen diced chicken
  • 1 jar Ragu four cheese sauce or sauce of your choice
  • Veggies in the drawer that you need to use up such as broccoli, carrots, zucchini, mushrooms
Instructions
  1. Mince 1 clove of garlic and toss it in the olive oil in a large family size skillet. Cook until garlic starts to sizzle and the aroma fills the air.
  2. Add carton of chicken stock and bring to a boil.
  3. Add pasta and broccoli (if I don't have fresh broccoli on hand, I add frozen because I love the taste of chicken and broccoli paired with pasta)
  4. Cook until pasta is tender.
  5. While pasta is cooking, heat precooked diced frozen chicken.
  6. Chop up any other veggies you'd like to add.
  7. Once the chicken stock boils down and pasta is tender, add the jar of sauce, additional veggies and chicken.
  8. Stir together and cook on low for 5-7 minutes.
  9. Sprinkle grated Parmesan on top and serve.
Recipe Notes

Goes great with cheddar biscuits. See recipe on this site.

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My Favorite Bread Machine Pizza Crust

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My Favorite Bread Machine Pizza Crust

Y’all probably remember that I have started to experiment with making my own pizza at home. First, I want to control the ingredients in my crust. I want to know what my family is eating. Second, I don’t like most of the pizza places round here.

Saturday, my daughter got home from work and said she really just wanted a homemade pizza to eat, so I thought it was a good opportunity to try out an idea I’d been tossing around for bread machine pizza crust. It turned out great and I think this one will be our favorite.

The only thing I want to say is that this recipe makes a lot of dough. It is enough for two very large pizzas. I didn’t roll it out nearly thin enough. next time, I’m going to divide it in half and make it much thinner. The dough will keep in the fridge for about a week or you can freeze it and use it another time, if you don’t need to make two pizzas.

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Bread Machine Pizza Crust
Author: Crabby Housewife
Ingredients
  • 1 packet of dried yeast or about 2/14 teaspoons
  • 3 cups of all purpose flour you can also use a finer flour, such as bread flour, or whole wheat
  • 1 teaspoon table salt some people say use sea or kosher, but I think plain old Morton's tastes best
  • 2 Tablespoons of sugar the yeast needs this, so no, Splenda doesn't work the same
  • 2 1/4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup of water plus 1 Tablespoon of water the water MUST be warm - not hot, not cold
  • Sauce toppings, and oil to cut the dough
Instructions
  1. Just throw all the items into the bread machine. No need to mix and I don't really worry about the order, although I did put them in as listed above.
  2. Also, you will want to set your bread machine to "dough".
  3. Note that I did use some really high quality olive oil my parents brought me back from Spain. Oh, is it good. It literally has no discernible taste, which is what you want in a good olive oil.
  4. So, let the dough mix about ten minutes. Then, go take a look at it. It should not be sticking to the sides. You may need to add a little flour or water at this point if it is too sticky or too clumpy. Mine was a little too sticky, so I grabbed a couple pinches of flour and let it mix in, which made it perfect.
  5. Allow the bread machine to complete its full cycle. It should take about an hour and a half. Mine counted down from 1:22.
  6. Once the bread machine beeps, take the dough out and place in in a bowl you've coated with a very light brush of oil. Also put oil on the dough ball and then cover the bowl. Allow to sit for 20 minutes.
  7. Divide in half and roll out dough. The less you can mess with it at this point, the better, but you want to also get the crust thin in the middle and thicker on the edges for that true pizza parlor taste.
  8. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit without toppings for 8 minutes. Pull out...
  9. Top with what you love and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. When the cheese is bubbly and the crust a golden brown, you are done.
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