Cauliflower Power Pizza Crust

This Grain-Free, Guilt-Free & Low-Carb Pizza Crust is to die for!   

Ingredients
1 head of cauliflower
1 egg
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup GF breadcrumbs
Fresh herbs or Italian herb seasoning
S&P to taste

Supplies: Cheese Cloth, parchment paper or Sil-eco liner, pizza stone or baking pan

Directions

1. You'll 1 head of cauliflower (the bigger the head, the bigger the pizza). Depending on how many people you are feeding, you may want to make 2 pizzas at a time. Even though your cauliflower may seem big, they are comprised mostly of water and will shrink down to a much smaller amount than appears.

2. Clean cauliflower, take off outer leaves and separate into small florets

3. In a sturdy blender (I have a Vitamix) pulse the florets-a small amount at a time- until they appear to be the texture & look of rice 

4. Place all of the riced cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 6-7 minutes.

5. Let the cauliflower completely cool & then place all of the cauliflower into a cheese cloth-Easy to find at most grocery stores-This is important in order to squeeze out all of the excess water 

(Tip: If you do not have a cheese cloth you can use a strainer and squeeze the cauliflower with a paper towel on top in order to get rid of some of the excess water)

6. What will be left is a nice, round ball of cauliflower. Add 1 egg, 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, S&P to taste, Italian blend herb seasoning or fresh herbs, & 1/4 cup (Gluten Free) Breadcrumbs.

7. Line a pizza stone or baking pan with parchment paper. I used my trusty Sileco liner again and roll out 'dough' or flatten with your hands until a thin pizza crust forms.

8. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees until golden brown.

Topped my crust with a little black pepper & Crushed Red (my fave)

9. Top with whatever your little heart desires and bake for another 15 minutes. 

*I topped my pizza with homemade gluten free meatballs, fresh garlic & onion, fresh basil, mozzarella & ricotta cheeses.  

WHAT!

Nutritional Info (crust only, no toppings)

Amount Per Serving = 1 slice:
Calories: 63
Total Fat: 2 g
Cholesterol: 28 mg
Sodium: 150 mg
Total Carbs: 6 g
Dietary Fiber: 3 g
Protein: 5.5 g
WW Points+: 2

Egg White Coconut Macaroons

Ok- so I don't really love to bake, but I do love sweets. It is super hard to find gluten free/healthy versions of desserts, even in NYC, where I live. Often times, the bakeries will have one or two GF offerings and they are usually chocolate-I am not a chocolate person. 

Anyway-check out my easy GF/DF macaroons below-perfect for Rosh Hashanah coming up-the holiday for sweet foods! 

Coconut Macaroons

Aren't these Anthro measuring
cups just gorgeous?

Ingredients:
3 cups sweetened coconut flakes
6 egg whites (use real egg whites here-not liquid egg whites)
1/2 cup oats (steel cut or instant)
1/2 cup organic honey
1 tbsp vanilla
1/4 tbsp of salt (kosher or sea salt works just fine here)








Directions

*Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

1- Use a hand mixer to mix egg whites & sea salt (6-8 minutes until stiff peaks form)
2- Incorporate honey & vanilla, continuing to beat with hand mixer
3- Add coconut 1 cup at a time, folding into egg white, salt, honey & vanilla mixture
4- Use a small spoon to form tablespoon size cookies onto a parchment or silicone lined sheet pan
5- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until macaroons are golden brown 

 Note: If your mixtures seems to liquidy, use your judgement to add 1/4 cup of (GF) flour at a time to thicken up your batter

I LOVE my Sile-Co Non-Stick baking liners

Back to School Edition {Parte Dos} Tortilla Egg McMuffins

Who doesn't love the Egg McMuffin? Salty, Sweet & Satisfying. 
Unfortunately, it has 300 calories, 13g of fat, 750mg of sodium {WHAT?} & is most definitely not Gluten free. 
I've been toying around with different variations of an Egg McMuffin for years & today I whipped one up that I'd love to share with you!

Note: This recipe it great for breakfast, lunch or even dinner!


Tortilla Egg McMuffin

I buy this Corn Tortillas  at my local supermarket {made in Brooklyn!} for $2.29 for around 50! They last weeks in the fridge & are great for tacos, quesadillas, & of course, tortilla mcmuffins 

Ingredients:
2 Corn Tortillas
1 organic medium sized egg -Umami-      
1 slice of Provolone Cheese -Salty-
1-2 slices of Honey Turkey -Sweet-
 2 slices of tomato
Handful of mixed greens/arugula
S&P to taste
Hot Sauce to taste

Directions

1-If you have a gas stove, I cook these tortillas RIGHT on the burner on LOW for 2-3 minutes on each side. If not, you can pan cook them or pop them in the oven for around 10 minutes
2- Melt the cheese on one side of the tortilla
3- Fry or poach the egg until the yolk is hard
4- Assemble your McMuffin & Viola! 

This reheats well too-30 seconds in the micro! 

Variations: Use a gluten free English Muffin as your bread, use any kind of cheese, and lastly, substitute ham or Canadian Bacon instead of turkey!

Back to School Edition: Quick & Easy Egg Muffins

Tick ..tock Tick ...tock 
Back to school in t-minus two weeks
For those of you that are teachers or need quick-on-the go breakfasts, you've come to the right place. 
Sidenote: If you haven't seen my magical overnight oats, definitely check those out.

Today I'm going to focus on the 'use what you have' egg muffins I have been whipping up for years. 

Ingredients:

1/2 container or 8 oz 100% Liquid Egg Whites (I buy the Costco Brand, Kirkland)
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
1 cup spinach
Handful of Parmesan Cheese
S&P to taste 





Directions: 
Mix all ingredients together and pour an even amount into a greased, non-stick muffin tin 
Cook for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees or until fully cooked

Nutrition Facts Per Serving

Serves: 8-12

Serving size: 2 muffins

Calories: 74

Fat: 2.7 grams

Carbs: 5.3 grams

Dietary fiber: 1.7 grams

Protein: 8.3 grams

I like to call these 'Use What you Have muffins' because you seriously can use whatever veggies you have in the fridge. Especially if something is going bad, and you need to use it like, ASAP, you can whip these up.

Variation Examples:
String beans, onion, asparagus, broccoli, zucchini, arugula, peppers, I even just made a batch last week with some lentils I had lying around!

They stay for over a week in the fridge!

I heat them up for 30 seconds in the micro for my commute or when I get to work!

Bon Appetito, a great & healthy way to start your day

Peachy-Corn Summer Salad

If you are tired of eating corn on the cob & want a new way to eat this summer veggie before it goes out of season, you will love my recipe for Peachy-Corn Summer Salad below!

Tip: Always have a bowl handy when you do prep work to throw all of the pits and peels inside.
Makes clean-up easy-peasy !

Ingredients:
1 large cucumber
1 small red onion
2 small peaches
1-2 small beets
2 ears of corn
1/2 large tomato 
Fresh basil
S&P to taste
2 tbsp. Olive Oil
2 tbsp. Lemon Juice

Directions:
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
Place ears of corn with the STALK ON right on the rack or on a baking sheet
Cook corn for 20-25 minutes 

*While corn is cooking do your prep work

Chop onion, tomato, cucumber, peaches, beets & basil
Remove corn from the oven & peel, the stalk will peel VERY easily! 
Shave kernels off the cob & add to salad
Toss in bowl with S&P, Olive Oil, Lemon Juice

                              The stalk slips off like a little black dress after a long night out! 


Variations for serving:
1. Add arugula & goat or feta cheese & serve as a salad
2. serve with tortilla chips & eat as a salsa
3. serve over chicken or fish 
4. serve as a salsa with your fresh made tacos OLE! 

Simply delicious. Enjoy! 

Eggplant Rotoli

     What's for dinner tonight?  How about these easy eggplant roll-ups ?! Without the breading & frying, makes dinner a chinch! Vegetarian too! 

Who needs a mandolin? Hand sliced this sucker !

Ingredients:

1 medium purple eggplant

1/2 white onion, cubed

1 medium green zucchini, cubed

6 cherry tomatoes, cut into fourths

1/2 cup part-skim Ricotta cheese (or Fat Free)

3/4 cup shredded mozzarella or italian blend

2 Medium eggs

Salt

Pepper 

2 Shakes Oregano

Handful of Fresh Basil chopped  (I used purple & green leaf varieties)

1 Can/Jar Tomato Sauce (I use Tuttorosso brand)

Directions:

1. Hold the eggplant upright on a cutting board & slice the eggplant lengthwise, making the slices as thin as you can. If you have a mandolin, you can use that

2. Place the eggplant slices on a baking sheet. Sprinkle them with salt & pepper

3. Bake the eggplant for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. 

When removed, eggplant will be soft but still able to roll.

 *While the eggplant is baking prep your filling*

4. Cube the zucchini, tomatoes and onion, eggs, add ricotta & mozzarella, salt, pepper, oregano, and basil.

5. Mix all ingredients together

6. Spoon mix onto the center of the eggplant

7. Roll eggplant up and place in Pyrex pan 

8. If necessary, place a toothpick through eggplant to keep together

9. Top with more fresh basil

10. Spoon approx. 2 tablespoons of sauce onto each Rotolo 

11. Bake covered at 350 for 1 hour

12. Top with more shredded mozzarella and bake for another 15 minutes 

*Note, if you do not have zucchini in the house, you can substitute broccoli, spinach, mushrooms etc! 

Enjoy! 

*Will post finished product-Stay tuned :)

First Recipe! Overnight Oats

Vanilla Peach Overnight Oats 

I have been making Overnight Oats for about 6 months now. My boyfriend calls them #MagicOats because he doesn't know how I can make 'oatmeal' without any cooking involved. If you haven't heard of overnight oats, stop what you are doing and make them right now! 

This time around, I decided to keep it simple & seasonal, using peaches from the local farmer's market. Feel free to use any and all variations of fruit/nuts/and spices! Feel free to share you variations below!

Note: These oats are great for on-the-go-breakfasts. They are healthy, filling, satisfying and downright delicious!

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats (I get mine at Trader Joe's)

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 peach, cut up into small pieces

1 container of Vanilla Greek yogurt 

Instructions

1.  In a large bowl or container, combine all ingredients, oats, milk, and fruit.  Place in a mason jar or any sealed container.

2.  The following morning, or at least two hours later, scoop out soaked oats into desired portions. I usually just eat it right out of the jar! 

3. If you'd like, add sweetener according to taste such as agave syrup, honey, maple syrup, or sugar/brown sugar. 

4. Garnish with desired toppings and serve. (garnish ideas: additional fruit, almonds, coconut, granola)

The final result-a delicious & easy breakfast topped with cinnamon, drizzed honey & some dried orange cherries from Trader Joe's

Welcome, First Post-OMG

I have been thinking about creating a gluten free blog for a while-I am excited I have finally decided to do it. I have been Gluten Free for about a year now. 

After suffering from stomach issues for including bloating & acid reflux, I put myself on a trial Gluten Free diet. The results were life changing and I haven't looked back. 

Before I start posting my recipes & favorite products, I would like to begin by posting some of my favorite Gluten Free Items & websites!

Websites
-A Long Island Mom's website with Amazing recipes-- Often Gluten Free or with a GF option! Skinny Taste
-A totally Gluten Free website with yummy recipes: A Girl Defloured (I just love the name)

Products
- Bob's Red Mill Flours -Cooks & tastes just like regular flour! I like the Oatmeal flour for baking & the Brown Rice flour for cooking!
-Udis Gluten Free-I love the Millet-Chia bread best. 
Jovial Pastas-Ever since I went Gluten Free- I miss having different kinds of pasta options. This Jovial Pasta is great-The Tagliatelle is my favorite! 
Wow Cookies! -Finding a GF cookie that isn't hard like cardboard is hard to come by-these Wow cookies are buttery & soft. I love the Snickerdoodle Flavor.