I have been having many conversations with friends and family around healthy and clean eating lately. It’s probably the impending warm weather that will eventually come that is inspiring people to give more thought to what they are eating.  The visions of fresh, local produce dancing in our heads…UM, or maybe that’s just me. Or it could just be that we all sat around this LONG, COLD winter eating the bread, milk and eggs we got in preparation for the next snow storm.  Whatever the reason, I have given my “list” of foods to a couple of people who are contemplating their eating habits.  Inspired by the book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker where she writes about excess in food, clothes, spending, waste, possessions, media, and stress, I made a list of 7 food categories that I would eat for 7 days. JH (that’s what I call her because we are tight now…I follow her on Instagram) went so far as picking 7 foods and ate only those foods for 30 days.  So I’m not that crazy, but my little experiment made me think about the foods I was eating and totally eliminated processed foods and sugar.  That’s good!  But I also felt really weak and headachy so I added some grains to the mix because I’m just not good with totally eliminating grains.  It’s just not sustainable for me personally.  So here are my adjusted food categories:

1. Fruits/Vegetables

2. Meat/Eggs

3. Nuts (inclues nut butters and almond milk)

4. Plain Greek Yogurt

5. Beans

6. Grains (sprouted grain breads, oats, brown rice and quinoa)

7. Healthy fats (Like Olive Oil and Coconut Oil)

I’m not a nutritionist and I know that these categories are broad and up to interpretations, but in general if I eat this way, eliminating processed foods and sugar, I feel good.  You can adjust the list to what works for you.  I’m certainly not perfect, and have a hard time eating like this all the time. One way our family can keep on track to start off the weekend is to have pizza night on Friday night.

Friday nights we are usually tired and just want to get take-out, but if we plan to make our own pizza we can have something that is healthier.  And it takes the guess out of what to make for dinner.  Sometimes I make my own whole wheat pizza crust and sometimes we get already made pizza crusts from a local bread maker-Thom’s Bread.  We get it at a market close by and it’s really good and made with simple ingredients- flour, water, olive oil, salt and yeast.  Today I wanted to try another gluten free option.  I’ve made cauliflower crusts in the pasts, but this time I tired a zucchini crust and it turned out great.  Now, this is not real bread pizza crust….I think I will always prefer real bread, but for gluten free and veggie-packed, it’s good!  Give it a try!  Top with your favorite pizza ingredients.  I put turkey sausage, kale, tomatoes and cheese on this one.  I know that cheese is not on my list…case in point that I’m not perfect and have my weaknesses!!

Ingredients

2 smaller zucchinis, shredded (or one larger/med zucchini)

1/2 c. almond flour

1/4 c. parmesan cheese, grated

1 egg

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

salt and peper

Preheat oven at 450 degrees.  Grate the zucchini and to and get as much moisture out as possible, lay out a dish towel with a paper towel on top.  Put the zucchini on the paper towel and dish towel, wrap it up and really wring it out.  You want the zucchini to be as dry as possible so the crust does not get soggy.  Then mix all of the above ingredients together.  Place a piece of parchment paper on a pizza stone or a baking sheet and brush with olive oil.  Spread out the mixture to form the crust.  Brush crust with olive oil. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.  Then flip the crust over right on to the pizza stone and bake another 5-10 minutes on the other side.  Then put on the pizza ingredients of your choice and bake another 5-10 minutes until your cheese is melted.  Enjoy!!