Sausage and Pepper Goat Cheese Pizza

Start to Finish: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
12 ounces extra lean ground turkey
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Olive oil spray
1 cup thin, 1-1/2" long green bell pepper strips
16 ounces all-natural, low-fat whole wheat pizza dough
1 cup all natural low-fat, low-salt, no-sugar-added marinara sauce
2 ounces crumbled goat cheese

Directions:
1. Place an oven rack in the bottom position. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, mix the turkey, fennel, parsley, pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder until well combined. Set aside.
3. Lightly mist a medium nonstick skillet with spray. Place it over medium heat. Add the peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 to 6 minutes, or until tender. Remove the peppers from the pan and set them aside. Mist the pan again with spray, turn the heat to medium high, and add the turkey mixture. Cook the turkey, breaking it into bite-size chunks (do not crumble it), for 4 to 6 minutes, or until no longer pink.
4. Meanwhile press out the dough into a 14" nonstick pizza pan (do not add oil or flour or anything to the pan), being careful not to create any holes. Spread the marinara sauce evenly over all but the outer 1/2" diameter. Sprinkle half of the peppers, half of the turkey mixture, then the remaining peppers and the remaining turkey mixture evenly over the sauce. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top. Bake for 11 to 15 minutes, or until the crust is crisp and the cheese is melted. Allow the pizza to cool for 5 minutes, then transfer it to a cutting board (as not to ruin your nonstick pan) and cut it into 8 equal wedges. Serve immediately.

Variations: Since it is a pizza, you could add any toppings you want. Tomatoes would be a yummy addition to this recipe.

Notes: Maybe this is my first time really eating goat cheese, but it was delicious. The sausage was great in this recipe, but it was noted in the recipe that it should not be eaten on it's own as the saltiness of the dough, cheese, and sauce make it taste great, but on it's own you would need to add salt to give it the flavor of traditional sausage. All of our kids and my husband liked this recipe.

Servings: 4 (1 serving equals 2 slices)

Estimated Price: $9.00

Source: The Biggest Loser Flavors of the World Cookbook
Nutrition Facts per serving: 421 cal., 8 g total fat (2 g sat. fat), 677 mg sodium, 53 g carbo., 8 g fiber, 33 g pro.



Quick and Easy Pizza Crust

Start to Finish: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2) Stir in flour, salt and oil. Beat until smooth. Let rest for 5 minutes.
3) Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. Transfer crust to a lightly greased pizza pan or baker's peel dusted with cornmeal. Spread with desired toppings and bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let baked pizza cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Servings: 8

Notes: This crust had more substance than what I usually make. It was fluffy, and I like that.

Estimated Price: $2.00

Source: allrecipes.com
Nutrition Facts per serving: 189 cal., 4.1 g total fat (0.6 g sat. fat), 293 mg sodium, 31.9 g carbo., 5.5 g pro. Daily Values: 1% vit. A, 1% vit. C, 1% calcium, 21% iron, 37% thiamin, 36% niacin, 2% vit. B6, 4% magnesium, 48% folate

Upside-Down Pizza Casserole

Start to Finish: 35 minutes

Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 can Italian-style tomato sauce (15 oz)
1 can sliced mushrooms, drained (4 oz)
1/4 cup sliced, pitted ripe olives (optional)
1 to 1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 package refrigerated biscuits (10 oz)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large skillet cook beef until brown. Drain off fat. Stir in tomato sauce, mushrooms, and, if desired, olives. Heat through. Transfer mixture to a 2-quart rectangular baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Flatten each biscuit with your hands. Arrange the biscuits on top of cheese. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until biscuits are golden.

Servings: 5

Notes: Good. I'm not a huge fan of mushrooms and thought they were subtle in this meal. Biscuits on top were great (we always use the Grands biscuits- YUM)!

Variations: It is a pizza casserole so you can be creative with the toppings- chicken, pepperoni, ham, pineapple. The ground beef, mushrooms, and olives could really be substituted for anything.

Estimated Price: $6.50

Cookbook: Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook
Nutrition Facts per serving: 507 cal., 26 g total fat (10 g sat. fat) 103 mg chol., 1,251 mg sodium, 33 g carbo., 3 g fiber, 35 g pro. Daily Values: 3% vit. A, 10% vit. C, 16% calcium, 26% iron

Pizza Rolls

Start to Finish: 3-1/2 hours

Ingredients:
1 bag of frozen Rhodes rolls
1 jar spaghetti sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Cheddar cheese
Pizza toppings

Directions:
Follow the instructions on the package to make the rolls up to the part where you cook them. Take each rolls and shape it into a mini pizza. Spread spaghetti sauce over the top of the roll, cover with cheese, and add your toppings. Bake at the temperature marked on the bag of rolls for 10-14 minutes.

Servings: 36 (Yeah right, each roll is supposed to be a serving, but I can easily eat 6 of these in a sitting)

Notes: This is a fan favorite. We make it for dinner, snacks, and get togethers. Everyone loves and devours them, especially the kids! I think Rhodes rolls are the best, but you can really use any frozen rolls you want. You can easily put the rolls out after lunch and let them rise until it's time to make dinner. Also great to make on Sundays and to have the dough rise while you're at church.

Estimated Price: $10.00

Cookbook: High Family Cookbook (My sister Michelle put it together for Christmas one year)
Nutrition Facts per serving: 621 cal., 32.45 g total fat (16.08 g sat. fat), 88 mg chol., 2,034.5 mg sodium, 49.17 g carbo., 2 g fiber, 31.88 g pro. Daily Values: 42% vit. A, 13% vit. C, 64% calcium, 21% iron, 8% folic acid

Taco Pizza

Start to Finish: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

8 ounces lean ground beef and/ or bulk pork sausage

1 medium green sweet pepper, chopped (3/4 cup)

1 11-1/2 ounce package refrigerated corn bread twists

1/2 cup purchased salsa

3 cups shredded taco cheese (12 ounces)

Directions:

1) In a skillet cook beef and pepper over medium heat until meat is brown; drain. Set aside.

2) Unroll corn bread dough (do not separate into strips). Press dough into the bottom and up the edges of a greased 12-inch pizza pan. Spread salsa on top of dough. Sprinkle with meat mixture and cheese. Bake in a 400 degree F oven about 20 minutes or until bottom of crust is golden brown. Cut into wedges.

Servings: 6-8

Notes: This was really good. I might use corn bread for pizza dough more often! There are so many options with pizza, and Katie devoured this one, as did Aubrey!

Variations: I could not find refrigerated corn bread at the store. So, I bought two .49 boxed corn bread mixes. I cooked the corn bread for 12-15 minutes in a 9x13 pan, added the toppings, and then cooked for five more minutes, checking to make sure the corn bread was golden brown. We also were out of salsa so we used spaghetti sauce, and it was really good. You can use whatever toppings you want, but I liked the combination of ground beef and green peppers.

Estimated Price: $7.00

Cookbook: Better Homes and Gardens 500-Five Ingredient Recipes

Nutrition Facts per serving: 465 cal., 30 g total fat (15 g sat. fat), 73 mg chol., 870 mg sodium, 27 g carbo., 1 g fiber, 22 g pro. Daily Values: 16% vit. A, 26% vit. C, 31% calcium, 13% iron

Pepperoni- Pizza Potatoes

Start to Finish: 25 minutes

Ingredients:
4 medium potatoes
1 jar pizza sauce (8 ounce)
3-1/2 ounces slices pepperoni
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (3 ounces)

Directions:
1) Scrub potatoes and pierce with a fork. Arrange about 1 inch apart in a microwave safe plate. Microwave for 12 to 18 minutes or until tender, turning potatoes over after 6 minutes. Remove from microwave. Cover potatoes with foil; let stand for 6 minutes.
2) Meanwhile, in a microwave safe bowl, combine pizza sauce and pepperoni. Cover with vented microwave safe plastic wrap. Microwave for 3 to 4 minutes or until heated through, stirring after 2 minutes.
3) Cut each potato open. Spoon pepperoni mixture over each potato. Sprinkle with cheese. Return to microwave oven. Microwave for 2 to 3 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Servings: 4

Notes: This was out of the "Just for Kids" section of the cookbook, but when we made it my husband said "this is really good!" We always have potatoes and this was a tasty way to eat them. And, yes, our two children enjoyed it as well.

Variations: I used spaghetti sauce instead of pizza sauce. Really you can use any toppings or cheese that you like. Also, if you mashed the potatoes or had them cut thin the toppings would be less likely to slide off.

Estimated Price: $9* (for a tripled recipe)
*This actually could be a lot less expensive as well. A ten pound bag of potatoes is usually $1.98. A jar of spaghetti sauce is not too expensive and if you just had cheese or on hand ingredients for toppings you are barely spending anything.

Cookbook: Better Homes and Gardens 500- Five Ingredient Recipes
Nutrition Facts per Serving: 366 cal., 16 g total fat (7 g sat. fat), 32 mg chol., 611 mg sodium, 42 g carbo., 5 g fiber, 16 g pro. Daily Values: 16% vit. A, 61% vit. C, 20% calcium, 25% iron