Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Oh my word.... I gotta tell you about the dinner I just made...  seriously, I'm kinda in heaven!!!
I made pizza.. and i ate like 4 big pieces.  Four.  And my blood sugar didn't go up.  Like, at all. Seriously.
(Can you tell I'm excited.... I can't even speak in full sentences!?!?!?)

How did I manage this phenomenon???? 

CAULIFLOWER!!!!!!
(Yes, I'm serious.)

It was sooooo good... I didn't even get a good pic!  Just a last second cell phone pic.

And it's blurry.  Cause I was so flippin' excited! :oD

Here's the recipe! (I used this recipe as my starting point).

1 head cooked, riced cauliflower (about 3-4 cups)

2 cup shredded cheese (i used a combo of mozz and sharp cheddar)
3 eggs, beaten
2 tsp (or so) Italian Seasoning
Good size sprinkle of onion powder
Good sized sprinkle of garlic powder
Salt & Pepper
pizza sauce, shredded cheese and your choice of toppings

To "Rice" the Cauliflower:

Take 1 large head of fresh cauliflower, remove stems and leaves, and chop the florets into chunks. Add to food processor and pulse until it looks like grain. Do not over-do pulse or you will puree it. (If you don't have a food processor, you can grate the whole head with a cheese grater, or use a magic bullet, but only put in a little at a time). Place the riced cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 8 minutes. There is no need to add water, as the natural moisture in the cauliflower is enough to cook itself.
One large head should produce approximately 3 cups of riced cauliflower.
To Make the Pizza Crust:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, stir together the cheese, egg, and seasonings, then add the cauliflower and mix well. 
Transfer mix to either a cookie sheet or a 13x9 glass casserole dish.  I used both and I like the glass dish better.  I feel like it made it a more crispy crust and allowed me to spread my ingredients all over.
 Optional: Brush olive oil over top of mixture to help with browning.
Bake at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
Remove from oven. To the crust, add sauce, toppings and cheese. Place under a broiler at high heat just until cheese is melted (approximately 3-4 minutes).

Now... I'm not going to lie... it doesn't taste like a wonderful doughy flour pizza crust... but it was really good.  It didn't really taste like cauliflower at all... especially with all the yummy toppings.  My husband and daughter both HATE cauliflower and then both enjoyed... a lot.  With this recipe, we made 2 pretty thin crusted pizzas, but next time, I think I would just put it all in the glass dish and make a thicker crust.  But it was nice to have 2 pizzas because between the 3 of us... there is one piece left!!  If you had a pizza stone, you could use that, but it would probably make about 3 crusts.  Or one super thick one! :o)

I'm so excited to experiment with this recipe!  Next thing to try with this recipe.... STROMBOLI!!! :o)

Flour-less Peanut Butter Cookies

Every year, my wonderful aunts, Barb and Sis make TONS of cookies for friends and family.  For years now, we have had a wonderful tradition of have a "cookie day" the Saturday before Christmas.  Its one of my favorite traditions... I love spending all day with them making yummies.  This year, Madi was sad because she couldn't eat any of the cookies.  She was still (and probably is even still) trying to accept this whole gluten free business.  So I decided to try to find a SUPER easy cookie recipe... and of course I didn't plan ahead, so it needed to only use ingredients I had on hand, none of that flax seed or xantham gum craziness. 
As I searched, I came across 3 different recipes for flour less cookie and kind of put them together to make this recipe.  And it seriously is this easy and this simple. Seriously.  :o)

(Madi had a fun time adding carob chips and Christmas colored sprinkles!)

Ingredients:

4 egg whites

2 cups peanut butter (we used regular cause that's what I had, but all-natural would be healthier and wouldn't have as much sugar.)
1-2/3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons
In a bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. In another bowl, combine peanut butter and sugar and baking soda; fold in egg whites. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto lightly greased baking sheets. Flatten slightly with a fork. Bake at 325° for 15-20 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool.

We topped them with the carob chips before they went into the oven instead of mixing them in so that batter didn't collapse.  I liked them because they were light and almost airy (thanks to the egg whites!).

Hopefully this weekend, Madi and I will attempt to make these again... this time with Splenda instead of sugar.... then these would be a low carb AND gluten free snack!

Black Bean Brownies

So, in my search for things that are low carb or no carb, things with no sugar, or no flour, or gluten free, I've been finding some interesting ideas.  One of them was black bean brownies.  Now... before you say EW and skip this post, hear me out.
I will be flat out honest.... you could tell they weren't plain 'ol traditional brownies.  BUT... they did taste good.  They had more of a dark chocolate, fudge brownie-ness to them, and the texture wasn't quite like a flour-filled treat, and they are better cold, or room temperature (for me at least).
In the recipe, I used Splenda, but next time, I think I will try Stevia so there is no faux-sugar aftertaste.

Black Bean Brownies

1 (15 oz.) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 c. Splenda (if your like us, you might want them a little sweeter, so add another tablespoon or two of splenda)
2 large eggs
1/3 c. butter, melted
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. chocolate chips

Drain and rinse black beans as thoroughly as possible. Add eggs, beans, and melted butter into the bowl of a food processor (I used my magic bullet since I don't have a food processor). Blend until smooth. Add in cocoa, vanilla and salt and blend until completely pureed. Gently stir in chocolate chips then pour into an 8"x8" pan sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.
You could add walnuts to this... and I will be experimenting with this recipe to see how peanut butter brownies or even cheesecake brownies could be made.

What I LOVE about this recipe is that it didn't raise my blood sugar.  And I felt good about eating it.  I did serve it with a "whipped topping" that I made, but I didn't measure when I made it, so here is my estimates for it. 

1/4 cup Sour Cream
1/2 a block of cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup of whipping cream
3 tablespoons of Splenda
5 heaping spoonfuls of unsweetened cocoa powder
Using mixer, beat until smooth and fluffy.  It should expand a good bit.  Since I didn't bother to measure, and I'm only guessing... taste it as you go.  Add more or less, this is not an exact recipe.  (The brownies are tho... I have learned to MEASURE measure measure when I bake!!!).