Homemade veggie pizza
I truly believe that the act of dialing up some stranger and asking them to make your dinner is bad news for both your health and your wallet. Here’s what I mean:
The other night we were sitting around, thinking of what to eat for dinner. We decided on pizza. We went online to a local pizza place and started looking at the options. We fully intended to keep it healthy, so we considered a whole wheat crust, lots of veggies, and we were negotiating on the “easy cheese” option. By the time we had theoretically created our pizza, we were looking at a bill of about $25 (remember, this was vegetarian!). Now, this particular pizza place doesn’t list nutritional information, but I can guarantee that, despite our healthy intentions, this pizza was going to arrive loaded with calories, saturated fat and sodium in addition to the veggies.
At this point I suggested that I just make us some pizza with what I had on hand. So, here’s what I did:
Took some whole wheat pitas out of the freezer and put them on a baking sheet.
Opened a jar of sun dried tomato pesto and spread some on each pita.
Loaded on fresh baby spinach (a huge pile!)
Piled on some frozen grilled mediterranean vegetables ($3.99 for a whole bag from Food Basics!)
Grated some low fat mozzarella and sprinkled a bit of crumbled goat cheese on top.
Popped them in the oven at 375 for about 15 minutes, until they were heated through, the crust was crispy and the cheese had melted.
YUM!
I think I figured out that the total cost for the 3 pizzas I made was about $5 or so, and I guarantee that mine had a ton more vegetables, a healthier crust, and a lot less sodium, cheese (and fat) than the ones that would have come from the pizza place. As a bonus, the whole thing took about 5 minutes to throw together!
Just out of the oven
So, the next time you’re about to dial-and-dine, re-think that option and make something yourself instead. Your body and your wallet will thank you!
Ready to eat!
