Pizza with Minimal Carbs

This is something I make myself; use it as ideas to base your own variations on.

Ingredients

Pastry:
Bread flour
yeast
Topping base :
Napoli Sauce
Shredded Mozzarella cheese; purists can use sliced real mozzarella - but shredded is fine for pizza in my opinion.
Grated Parmesan Cheese.

Suggested Toppings

Any or all, in small quantities:

shredded ham or bacon (pre-cook slightly and drain on kitchen paper if you want minimal fat)
pineapple pieces (for the non-diabetic spouse)
sliced mushrooms
sliced capsicum (bell pepper)
chopped olives
anchovies
sliced onion
sliced tomato
whatever is your favourite
Pastry for four medium or eight individual pizzas.

Methods

Base Preparation

Use your favourite bread recipe and make up the standard amount for one loaf, based on 500gm (just over 1 lb) of flour. I usually use a wholemeal flour with added bran and psyllium husk, but use your own.

Let it get to the stage of final rising. I don't use a machine - if you do, don't let it cook! Then pound it down and divide into eight equal portions.

Shape into balls, cover in cling wrap, and freeze for future use.

Pizza for two

Thaw two dough balls and allow to rise until doubled in size.

Take one ball, punch it down, knead a little (I know it's small) and then roll with a rolling pin or similar into a circle. Keep rolling and stretching until you have a thin circle about 8"-10" (20-25 cm) diameter. Spray your tray with olive or canola oil and spread the pastry on it. I know it looks awfully thin; let it sit for at least half an hour in a warm place to rise a little and get a little thicker. It will rise further in cooking. My wife hates anchovies and olives and I can't eat pineapple, which is why I make two 8" pizzas. Of course, you could combine the two dough balls to make a bigger single pizza and share.

Next time I take a picture - I'll clean up a bit more - at least you know it's real:-)

In the meantime, prepare or thaw a cup of Napoli Sauce, prepare your toppings and warm the oven to 200c (390 F). When the pastry is ready, spread the napoli sauce over it. Sprinkle or arrange your toppings on the pizza, finally spread liberally with the mozzarella and sprinkle with the grated parmesan.

Bake for about 15 minutes, checking after 10.

Nutrition details:

For the base only, per dough ball based on "Kitchen Collection" wholemeal bread mix:
Energy 600 kj
Protein 6 gm
Fat Total 2gm, incl .25 gm saturated.
Carbohydrate total 23 gm, including 2 gm sugars.
Dietary Fibre 4 gm (separate, British system).
Sodium 250 mg.
Add fat/protein/carbs for your topping.

Bon Appetit

Cheers, Alan

Thanksgiving and other Feasts

I have a friend named Jennifer. She's more than a friend - her Test,test,test advice changed my life. Consequently I promote it to every newby I meet.

Jennifer also realises that we are human as well as being diabetic; many of us have problems at holiday and feast times, feeling left out and restricted. She posted this today on alt.support.diabetes. We don't have Thanksgiving in Australia, but the same philosophy would apply for us on Christmas Day.

Re-posted with permission; also see her following comments from an earlier post on a special dietary ingredient called "Birthday Cake".

The Holidaze

I've been thinking about the upcoming season of joy, love and food.

With the holidays coming up, give yourself permission to be human.There is a lot of great food that will be out there soon. Don't try to steel yourself against all of it. You most likely won't be able to, and then you'll have guilt on top of it.

Choose your times. And then enjoy a piece of cake. A dollop of mashed potato. That holiday cookie that only shows up once a year. Make it your CHOICE, not a moment of weakness that will haunt you. That way you'll be able to enjoy it so much more, AND not fall into the "well I messed up, might as well eat the plateful".

The other side is all the family you're likely to be around this season. Some may decide that they know what you should or shouldn't be eating. They'll announce loudly, "Sara can't have that, she has the diabetes". Exhausting. Or they'll push food on you "Oh come on, it's the holidays, you can have a taste". More exhausting.

Whatever you decide to eat or not eat, the most important thing is that YOU control it. If you choose to have some pumpkin pie, make it your conscious decision. Not a mindless "What the hell" or a forced "NO"through gritted teeth. You decide. Only you.

When it comes to food and diabetes, I discovered that I had to change "Can't" to "Don't" in my thinking. I "can't" eat that cookie... means "Poor me, someone or something is not allowing me to eat that cookie". I have no choice. It's beyond my control (which also means that sometimes if I do eat that cookie, then it's a "cheat" and there is the ensuing guilt and shame for being a bad diabetic).

I "don't" eat cookies... means that I have made a choice, it's not something that's part of my life. I am in control (which also means that sometimes if I do eat cookies, I have just decided at that moment to make a different choice... no guilt, it's just my decision at that moment).

A bonus to this way of thinking and talking is when you are out and about and someone offers you something you would rather not eat at the moment,"don't" works better than "can't" to get them to understand.

If you tell them you can't have ice cream, they will tell you can...that just a little won't hurt. If you tell them you don't eat ice cream...what are they going to say? Yes you do? And if they say, "well you used to"... you can always say "I don't anymore". ; )

Hang in and Happy Holidaze!!

Jennifer

Birthday Cake

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
Modern research has determined that "Birthday Cake", ie: A highly decorated sweet flour/fat/sugar based dessert, generally festooned with YOUR name, has NO CALORIES, NO CARBS, AND NO FAT.

Shocking? Sure.

But it appears, the joy felt once a year when we eat a piece of this comestible surrounded by our loved ones immediately dissipates all CALORIES, CARBS AND FAT!

There are a few important caveats:

1. It must be YOUR birthday.
2. You must only have ONE birthday a year.
3. Cake must be consumed AFTER appropriate musical accompaniment ("Happy Birthday" or "For He/She's a Jolly Good Fellow/Person" or the like).
4. Candles, while low carb, low calorie and low fat must NOT be consumed... especially when lit.
5. BEWARE! Foods consumed before and after cake maintain their original carb, fat and calorie count.

This has been brought to you as a public service announcement.

Jennifer

Yes, the "Ice Cream AND Cake" variable was addressed in the study.

Should "Ice Cream AND Cake" be consumed, as separate items, each will release HALF of it's calories, carbs and fats. So an option would be to only eat the HALF that is now CCF-FREE. Determining which half is now CCF-FREE is easy... it's the half closest to you.

As for an "Ice Cream Cake" ie: Baskin Robbins/Haggan Daz/Carvel... normal sized slices fall under the original CCF-FREE study and can be consumed with pleasure.

Hope that clears it up.

Jennifer

It certainly does - thanks Jennifer:-)

Cheers, Alan, T2, Australia
Everything in Moderation - Except laughter

Napoli Sauce

My apologies to anyone of Italian extraction - I know it's not like Momma used to make.

I cook this sauce up in bulk, then use it in various other recipes like Spaghetti Bolognese, Stuffed Mushrooms, Minimal-Carb Pizzas etc. I'll post recipes for those later. I also like it as a low-carb sugar-free alternative to ketchup on steak, hamburgers and other cooked meats.

It will keep for a few days in the fridge, but I mostly freeze it in two ways. About half of a bulk lot I freeze as ice cubes which I then transfer to an old ice-cream container in the freezer for ready use. Then I can defrost the number necessary without waste, as I often cook for one. The remainder I freeze in larger 1 or 2 cup serves in plastic containers for use as needed. I always have a thawed one in the fridge for ready use as a ketchup or sauce.

All of my recipes are very flexible. In this case vary ingredients, particularly herbs, to your own taste. However, it's best to follow the recipe with a small test try first.

Base Ingredients

1 can (about 400g or 14 oz) peeled tomatoes, or fresh equivalent.
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup tomato paste (optional)
1 clove of garlic, minced
olive oil
1 teaspoon of dried basil or a few chopped leaves. If you like other herbs such as oregano, thyme etc, just adjust to your taste, but basil is basic to the recipe.
cracked black pepper to taste
salt to taste

Method

Sweat the chopped onion in a large pot over medium heat until translucent but not brown. Use a little olive oil to prevent sticking to the pot.

Add the minced garlic and cook until also translucent.

Chop the tomatoes and add to the pot with their juice. For large quantities drain the liquid into the onion mix and use a processor for the solids in batches. Or, if you have a stick blender, blend it in the pot - it doesn't need to be a puree, I prefer some texture; it will also break down further as it cooks.

Add the basil/herbs and bring to a slow covered simmer. Allow to simmer as long as possible, but at least an hour, until the tomato breaks down and the onion seems to almost disappear.

Check and stir occasionally to prevent sticking; add a little water if the mixture gets too thick.
When the sauce is cooked it should be thickish but still liquid and pourable. Adjust seasoning near the end.

For a richer, thicker sauce add the tomato paste towards the finish and cook while stirring until it is cooked in. If you add it too early you will need to watch more closely for sticking.

For bulk cooking

I just multiply; usually I cook about six cans worth. How much you cook depends on the size of your saucepan/cooker and storage/freezing facilities. As you increase the quantity you may need to adjust the onion, garlic and basil quantities down a little in proportion.

Up-date May 1 2009
Nutrition Table. This is approximate and will vary a little. The total fat content is from the olive oil.

Per cup of Napoli Sauce
Calories......................140
Protein..................2.5 gm
Total Fat..................7 gm
Sat. Fat ....................1 gm
Mono. Fat................5 gm
Poly Fat....................1 gm
Carbohydrate.........18 gm
Fiber.....................9.5 gm

Bon Appetit

Cheers, Alan, T2, Australia
Everything in Moderation - Except laughter