Chicken & Veggie Pizza with "Cheesy" Avocado Sauce

While I'm not a huge fan of using packaged food items when you can easily make your own, sometimes there just isn't enough time to make everything from scratch. Because I'm so busy, I've had to resort to eating more packaged foods just because they're quicker to prepare... but I make sure they are still healthy! While I love making my own pizza crust, especially because wheat and other grains tend to hurt my stomach, I found this organic pizza crust at Stop and Shop called Rustic Crust Organic Great Grains Pizza Crust. What I like about it is there are no artificial preservatives, hydrogenated oils, or added sugar, and there's a short list of recognizable ingredients. Another good pre-made crust that I like is Udi's gluten-free pizza crust (but it's so hard to find!). This is a good option for those of you that are on a gluten-free diet. You can also use a pita, flatbread or pre-made dough. Anyway, because the pizza crust is already made, this pizza is so easy to put together!

Ingredients for sauce:
2 oz ripe avocado (or a little less than a half of an avocado)
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese (I use lactaid brand)
2 tbs unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or milk of choice)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbs nutritional yeast (optional but gives it more of a cheesy flavor)

Toppings that I used (you can obviously use whatever you'd like!):
5 oz 99% lean chicken breast, already cooked & cut into pieces
1 oz broccoli florets
2 oz red bell pepper, chopped
Baby spinach
1/2 cup reduced fat mozzarella cheese (The cheese isn't necessarily needed because the sauce has a cheesy taste...but I felt like adding it :) )

Directions:
Preheat oven according to crust instructions. Put your crust on a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Combine all of the ingredients for the sauce in a food processor or blender, and blend until smooth. Spread the sauce onto the pizza crust. Then add whatever toppings you'd like! Pop it in the oven and use the bake time according to your pizza crust instructions (the crust I used only takes about 8-10 minutes!) Enjoy! :)

If you use my exact ingredients, the nutritional information for 1 slice (1/8 of pizza) is: 180 calories, 4g fat, 26g carbs, 5g fiber, and 12g protein.

Mini Breakfast Breads: 3 Variations

Hey everyone! Like I mentioned in my last post, grad school consumes my life so I haven't had time to post a bunch of things that I've been meaning to! I decided to take a super quick break (which never happens...I actually spend literally every second of my free time doing work) and post this recipe that I've been making a lot lately because it's quick and easy. Originally I came up with this mini banana bread recipe, and then I decided to substitute applesauce for the banana to make a mini apple bread. And then of course I had to try using pumpkin puree instead in the spirit of fall to make a mini pumpkin bread. All 3 versions are delicious and they're the perfect size for a quick snack (especially a pre-workout snack!) or for breakfast.

Ingredients for the Banana Bread version:
3 tbs oat flour (you could also grind up rolled oats in a blender/food processor to make oat flour)
1/2 of banana, mashed
3 tbs liquid egg whites
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of sea salt
1 packet stevia (or use a sweetener of your choice)

Apple Bread version:
3 tbs oat flour
2 heaping tbsp unsweetened applesauce
3 tbsp egg whites
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp apple spice (optional)
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of sea salt
1 packet stevia

Pumpkin Bread version:
3 tbs oat flour
2 heaping tbsp pumpkin puree
3 tbsp egg whites
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp pumpkin spice
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of sea salt
1 packet stevia

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, and mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Then add wet to dry and mix well. Spray a mini bread loaf tin or ramekin with non-stick cooking spray and pour in the mixture. Bake for 14-16 minutes. I've found that the banana bread usually takes 14-15 minutes, while the pumpkin and apple breads take a little longer. But my oven is weird... so just make sure to watch it! I usually just check them with a toothpick around 14 minutes. Top with more bananas/apples, peanut butter, greek yogurt, anything you'd like! Enjoy!