Cauliflower crust pizza!!!!

I saw this recipe today and, since I have a head of cauliflower laying around, thought I MUST try this!  So I am posting it here to be able to remember it.  Perfect for gluten-free pizza!  It has rave reviews too.  And if you want to make it even healthier?  Try doing a 1:1 ratio of steamed broccoli puree with marinara for the sauce!  Recipe here:  http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/2012/05/cauliflower-for-the-pickiest-eaters-yep/

Cauliflower Pizza .
Ingredients
.
1/2 Head of cauliflower (mine was a smallish head)
2 C shredded cheese divided (I used mozzarella, but any medium/hard cheese will work)
Italian seasonings (I used oregano, parsley, fresh garlic and some onion)
1 egg
Pizza sauce or marinara sauce of your choosing
Toppings (we used sausage, black olives and pineapple)
.
Instructions
.
Grate your cauliflower. I used a food processor with the grater blade (cause you don’t want it to become pureed, just shredded). Place the grated cauliflower into a medium microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 6-8 minutes (depending on your microwave). You want to make sure the cauliflower is soft but not mushy. Do NOT add water or anything to the cauliflower.
.
While the cauliflower cools off (I put mine in the freezer to cool it quickly), preheat the oven to 450* and prepare a cookie sheet or pizza pan by spraying it with cooking spray. This is also a good time to prepare your toppings – cook your sausage, cut up your pineapple, whatever…
.
To the cauliflower add 1 C shredded cheese and spices and combine. Add egg and mix well with your hands. Press the crust onto a pan and shape into a 9-12″ pizza (depending on how thin you want the crust). I did mine closer to a 12″ and it worked great! Spray the top of the crust with cooking spray (to help brown) or brush with oil.
.
Bake the crust for 15 minutes (or until golden brown). When you pull out the pizza, turn your oven to broil.
.
Add your toppings (we did 1/2 sausage and 1/2 pineapple/black olive) including 1 C cheese and put pizza under the broiler for 3-5 minutes. Just broil it long enough to melt the cheese and caramelize the toppings a bit.
.
Seriously delicious! My husband will eat cauliflower, but doesn’t love it. I am one of the pickiest eaters on the planet. My daughter is another one of the pickiest people on the planet. We ALL loved it!! I made this Sunday and they are already asking for it again!! Cauliflower! Who knew??

Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

I got this recipe off www.utahdealdiva.com and have already made it a few times (and am making it for dinner tonight!).  I've decided it's my favorite thing to make with cauliflower.  You can get this soup at Cafe Zupas too, and we all know how good their food is!

Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

2 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk**
1 1/2 cups water**
1 can (13 3/4 to 14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
1 head (2 1/2 pounds) cauliflower, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup Pepper Jack cheese, shredded

**Can substitute 1 can {12 oz} evaporated milk and 2 cups water for the 2 cups milk and 1 1/2 cups water.

In a large saucepan, melt margarine or butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until golden, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Whisk in flour and salt. Gradually stir in milk, chicken broth, and water.

Add cauliflower and heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 15 minutes.

In blender (with center part of blender cover removed to allow steam to escape), blend cauliflower mixture at low speed in small batches until very smooth. {Don't let this step deter you from making the soup! Blending it is really easy and so worth the extra 3 minutes. The most annoying part are the added dishes!}

Return cauliflower mixture to saucepan; heat over medium heat until hot, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in mustard and 1 1/2 cups cheese until melted and smooth. Serve soup with remaining cheese as a garnish.

Enjoy!

.:Squash Spaghetti:.

Our friends gave us a squash from their garden, and we really are not the biggest squash eaters. Luckily my friend gave me a tip on how to make spaghetti from squash, so we decided to give it a try last nite.

What you need:
- squash
- olive oil
- salt/pepper
- foil

The first thing you need to do is cut the top off of your squash, and then cut it down the middle. Our squash was really really hard - I had to have my husband cut it! Even he struggled with it!

Then you want to scoop out all of the seeds and guts.

Brush a layer of olive oil over each half.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

I cut my foil to be long so that I would be able to wrap it around my squash halves.

Wrap your foil loosely around your squash halves.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, un-cover your squash and bake it again for 10-15 more minutes. Our squash was really hard, so we popped it in for an extra 8 minutes.

Use a fork to shred your squash into 'noodles'.

Top with sauce and serve!

My husband and I both agreed that there was really no taste to the squash, so it is a much healthier alternative to traditional noodles. The problem I had was that the squash was still pretty crunchy, which I struggled with. (Blame it on those pregnancy hormones I guess!) But if you like your pasta al dente, then this might be perfect for you!

Veggie Wraps

So a friend of mine just made these awesome veggie wraps for dinner and posted the recipe on her blog. And I figured I would share. Thanks Amy!

1/4 cup tub-style fat-free creme cheese
4 (10-inch) fat-free tortillas (i got the spinach ones)
4 curly leaf lettuce leaves
1 cup alfalfa sprouts
1 cup shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped tomato
1/4 cup crumbled cheese of your choice (feta, blue cheese etc.)
2 tablespoons finely diced red onion

Spread one tablespoon cream cheese over each tortilla; top each with a lettuce leaf. Divide sprouts and remaining ingredients evenly among tortillas; roll up. Cut each rolled wrap in half diagonally. Enjoy!

.:Pico de gallo:.

This is another great recipe from my sister! It would go great with the Cafe Rio salad!

4 fresh tomatillos chopped

1 white onion chopped

1/4 bunch cilantro chopped

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 tsp lime juice

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Easy Pasta Salad

1 bag of multi-colored rotelli macaroni (cooked of course)
1 small can of sliced olives
1/2 bottle of (fat free) Italian dressing
1 can of Mexicorn (corn mixed w/ peppers)

Mix it all together and enjoy! It's great for lunch or dinner (about 4-6 servings), and keeps great in the fridge. Tastes good hot or cold.

Twice Baked Potatoes for 2

2 potatoes
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 can cream of broccoli soup
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Bake potatoes at 400 degrees for 2 hours. Remove, slide in half longways and scoop out insides. Mash with butter, sour cream, soup, and half of cheese. Add salt, pepper, and garlic salt to taste. Refill skins and top with remaining cheese. Return to oven for 15 minutes. Serve.

Crockpot Chicken

2-3 chicken breasts
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can french onion soup
1 bag of mini carrots

Place all items in your crockpot and stir to combine. Cook on low 6-8 hours. I like to make mash potatoes on the side and use the soup sauce as a gravy. You could also put the potatoes right into the crockpot as well. **Use this same recipe to cook a roast instead of chicken!

.:Glazed Carrots:.

I got this from my friend, Jeanette's, blog. I haven't tried it yet, but I plan to! I thought it was a fun spin on veggies.

Start with however many carrots you need for your family. Cook them as you desire. (We like to steam our carrots in our steamer, but you can also do this stovetop.)

Use 1 1/2 tablespoons of brown sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter.

Mix it in with the carrots. The heat from the carrots should melt the butter and the brown sugar. If the brown sugar looks grainy, you may want to put everything in a pan on low heat to finish melting it.

If you want, you can sprinkle the carrots with dill weed.

The serving size on this is really as big or as small as you'd like it to be!