Quick, Easy, and Healthy Homemade Pizza

Pizza is my absolute favorite food.  It took me a long time to realize that I can still eat it and watch my calories at the same time. You just have to make it yourself. Making homemade pizza has become one of my favorite dinner options. Not only can you make it healthy, but it's easy and can be ready in less than 20 minutes. An added bonus is your kiddos can help you create the masterpiece.

Think about this, one slice of Pizza Hut pepperoni pizza is 300 calories. Y’all, if you eat 3 slices, that’s almost 1000 calories. Those pizzas are loaded with cheese, fatty meats, sodium, and carb-loaded crusts.

So how can we make pizza healthy? Here’s how:

• Replace that carb-loaded crust with a thin, cauliflower crust. That will have significantly less calories than that thick dough. You could also use a thin, whole-wheat crust if you don’t like the cauliflower crust. (I use Caulipower Pizza Crust and it’s sold at most grocery stores)
• Use flavorful pizza sauce to give you a big flavor without all the calories. (I use Rao’s Pizza Sauce and add a little of Melinda’s Pizza Hot Sauce)
• Limit the cheese. Instead of loading on the cheese, use a small amount and load on the toppings instead. Use cheese with fewer calories like part-skim mozzarella or naturally lower-fat Parmesan. (I use the part-skim mozzarella)
• Add a lot of veggies. Vegetables will give you the vitamins and nutrients you need, plus add great flavor. For example, arugula and baby spinach is full of nutrients. Let this be where most of your flavor comes from. You can add anything from mushrooms, tomatoes, bell peppers, the list goes on and on. (I use arugula, spinach, bell pepper, onion, fresh tomato, artichoke, black and green olives. TIP: You can sprinkle the Guidry’s precut seasoning for your onions and bellpepper)
• If you want to add protein, make it fat-free. By swapping fatty meats with leaner choices will help a lot. If you have to have pepperoni, try switching it to turkey pepperoni. If you can skip the pepperoni, that would be great. Cook some ground chicken or turkey and sprinkle that on your pizza. Or cut up some grilled chicken  to add to it. (I cook ground chicken for mine and sometimes I add turkey pepperoni)
• Add some spice. Fresh jalapenos or red pepper flakes will add that extra spice.

It’s super-easy and you can do it in these six simple steps:

1.  Preheat oven to the temperature listed on the package of your crust.
2. Lightly brush olive oil on top of the crust.
3. Lightly spread sauce on top using the back of a spoon.
4. Add the toppings.
5. Bake in the oven following the directions on the package of the pizza crust. Usually about 10-12 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Since ovens vary, check it at the 10 minute mark to make sure it doesn’t burn.
6. Slice and serve.

Get creative with your healthy homemade pizza.  Happy eating. Happy body.