Pineapple and Prosciutto Pizza with Cauliflower Crust

Posted on March 17, 2013 by livingfullywithout

SCD Legal Hawaiian Pizza

Game night is not game night without pizza. For the past year, I have tried over ten different ways to recreate our past carb loving, cheese indulging, gut wrenching, no holds barred game night with very little success. While our game closet continue to over-floweth with pretty much every Euro game (and expansion) out there, we usually opt for ordering Papa John’s for Mike and the guys while I eat something awesome. Like a salad.

The problem with SCD legal pizzas is almost universally the crusts. Almond flour is too dense, has the wrong texture and gets too soggy in the middle even if it is pre-baked. A combo of different nut flours gives a dry, lifeless crust that tastes bland and biscuitty. I honestly thought I just wouldn’t be able to enjoy pizza ever again.

Not any more! I’ve also been reading about cauliflower crusts for the past year but been too skeptical to try it out. Shame on my doubting heart, it is AWESOME! This recipe is by no means terribly original as I’m sure it’s an amalgamation of other recipes but it is incredibly tasty, crunchy, and crusty. Welcome to my version of Hawaiian pizza!

Ingredients (cauliflower crust):

3 cups finely grated cauliflower (about 1 medium sized head)
1 egg
1 cup cheese (I used 1/2 adagio and 1/2 muenster)
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon Italian blend (I mix evenly basil, thyme, sage and oregano)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Ingredients (pizza filling):

1/2 cup pizza sauce (I used SCD legal Lucini’s. They carry it at Whole Foods)
1 cup cheese (again, I used 1/2 adagio and 1/2 muenster)
1 can pineapple (make sure they are SCD legal and canned in their own juice)
6 strips of prosciutto (make sure to look at the ingredients as many contain illegals. Trader Joe’s carries a legal type)

Instructions:

After washing the cauliflower, use a hand grater to grate three cups of cauliflower into an oven safe bowl. You could use a food processor but I find that it makes the cauliflower “wetter”.
Pre-heat the over to 450 degrees and put the cauliflower in until it is tender but not mushy (about 5-7 minutes once oven is warm). You could use a microwave for this but I think microwaves are weird so…
Take cauliflower out and combine all ingredients in the bowl until well mixed. Grab a pizza pan and spread out your parchment paper.
Scoop your cauliflower mix onto the parchment lined pizza pan. At this point, don’t expect it to feel like dough. It won’t really be sticking together enough for you to form it into a ball and that’s ok! Using your hands, fashion it into a circle on the parchment paper so that it looks like a pizza crust.
Pop it into the over for 15-17 minutes until the crust is golden brown.
Remove it from the oven and spread pizza sauce and the rest of the ingredients over the pizza.

Turn the oven up to broil and put the pizza in for 3-4 minutes until the cheese is bubbling. Remove and serve right away

Before the oven

After the oven

Before the cheese

After the cheese

It turned out delicious. Both Mike, Kara and I thought that if you didn’t know it was cauliflower, you wouldn’t have been able to tell!

Happy gaming and happy pizza night!

Surviving February: Slow Cooker Pineapple and Chili Pulled Pork

Posted on March 8, 2013 by livingfullywithout

February is hands down, the worst month of the year for mid-westerners. It manages to simultaneously never end and speed by, giving the poor chump stuck in a mid-west induced haze of flu, stress, and blizzards, the feeling of slow motion whip lash. You know it’s happening, but you can’t do anything about it. Mid-westerners, we are the true survivors.

Fortunately, February also gives me this frenzied craving for all things tropical. I window shop for dresses without sleeves and blush inducing lengths. At work, I keep my sanity while holding on the phone by clicking on EVERY SINGLE travel “get-away” package that I see. And I make a series of tropical inspired dishes that give me the illusory feeling of controlling my own destiny. Maybe if I eat enough pineapple. I too will win Travelocity’s “Romantic Caribbean Get-Away” sweepstakes.

It hasn’t happened. But March is here. It’s sunny today and I am happy to post pictures of mouthwatering Caribbean spiced pork turned mid-western by virtue of the crock-pot. I snagged the recipe off of paleopot.com and was glad I did. The sweetness of the pineapple and the heat from the chilies made me ignore the blizzard outside. I was so absorbed in the meal I didn’t even notice the snow plow, dutifully stacking snow around my little Vibe, making it impossible to leave.

Maybe getting stuck inside isn’t such a bad thing after all…

Paleo Double Chocolate Donuts

Posted on March 5, 2013 by livingfullywithout

About 3 weeks ago we celebrated my husband Mikey’s 32nd birthday! The way I grew up, birthdays are not confined to a solitary party or a nice cake and presents. Rather, a birthday is an event stretching anywhere from 24-72 hours in which the sole focus of everyone’s attention is celebrating the awesomeness that is you. My mom even made all of us girls separate tablecloths, used only on our birthdays. Mine was a spangely magenta masterpiece, while my younger sister favored a light pink velour table runner. Nice work Mom.
Anyway, I was determined that Mikey was going to have the best birthday EVER despite my raging flu, his three hour night class, and all day meetings. The morning of, I got up early and drove to get his all-time favorite breakfast: donuts from Dunkin’ Donuts. I pulled through the drive through and leaned out my window into the frigid mid-western morning and said “Hi, I’m grabbing donuts for my husband’s birthday. Do you have one double chocolate and one peanut cluster?” “Sure do”, came the automatic reply. “Will that be all? Or can I get you one as well?”
Yes. Yes I will have a light, fluffy, yeasty chocolate donut with Bavarian cream. Or a thick, dense powdered sugar donut that leaves my lips frosted with a delectable white ring. Or a few coy, round donut holes, the bane of the dieters existence but ever dear to my own heart.
“No.” I replied regretfully. “That’s all.”
Mike’s birthday passed but I haven’t been able to get the vision of those donuts out of my head! Finally I decided to get serious, and get a darn donut! This is my favorite variation of different recipes I have tried to get the perfect double chocolate, paleo friendly donut.
Ingredients: (Donut)

1 cup almond flour
¼ cup cacao powder
¾ tsp baking soda
2 TBS honey
3 eggs
1 TBS strongly brewed coffee
¼ cup melted coconut oil

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the donut pan very well with coconut oil or oil of choice.
Combine all of the dry ingredients and sift to combine. Make sure to use 100% unsweetened cacoa powder.
Combine wet ingredients except for the eggs and stir to combine. Add eggs and beat until well combined. You should be able to pour into molds. If it is too sticky, add a little bit of water.
Pour into donut mold until 2/3 full. Bake for 10 minutes, no longer. Remove from molds while warm.

Ingredients: (Frosting)

¼ cup coconut oil
¼ cup honey
3 ounces unsweetened cacao in bar form
½ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

Heat oil in sauce pan over medium heat until melted.
Add cacao and stir constantly, making sure it doesn’t burn. Adjust heat as needed.
Add honey and whisk to combine.
Remove sauce pan from heat and add vanilla extract. Stir well.
Cool to slightly warm. Dip donuts into chocolate and then let cool. The frosting will slightly harden as it cools. Best when slightly warm.

Dunkin’ Donuts ain’t got nothin’ on me!