Guiltless pizza? Does such a thing exist!?

wolveslovemee
wolveslovemee Posts: 156 Member
Hey everyone!

Please dont laugh at my post because I am dead serious! lol
I am looking for a recipe for guiltless pizza. Not to eat everyday, or replace meals with it, but because once a week, or during the um...lady..times...I like to kind of loosen my grip JUST a little bit.

I know there is no such thing, but perhaps there are some supplements I can make?

For example...maybe using Polenta as a crust?
Low fat 2% mozerrella cheese (1/4 a cup is only 80 calories)
Some lower sugar sauce?

Surely such a thing can be made right?

lemme know if you have any ideas!
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Replies

  • Sapporo
    Sapporo Posts: 693 Member
    Whole wheat tortilla or pita, spread with crushed tomatoes (crush your own, no added perservatives or sodium), sprinkle italian seasoning, add mozzarella or veggie cheese (I found a real good soy one years ago and now it's nowhere to be found :( ), add veggies, maybe grilled chicken if you like.
  • NaurielR
    NaurielR Posts: 429 Member
    Well, you can start your pizza off with a cauliflower pizza crust. I've made it before, and its actually really good. Its pretty low calorie (definitely more low cal than flour based crusts). The recipe calls for regular cheese, but I've found that you can decrease the calories even more by using fat free cheese. The odd texture of fat free cheese actually lends structure to this pizza crust.

    After you have the crust, creating your own pizza sauce is a healthy option. Cans of plain tomato sauce are around 40 calories per half cup. Jars of premade pizza sauce can be upwards of 90 per half cup! Just find a can of plain tomato sauce and add your own herbs and seasoning.

    Next we move onto the cheese. Use reduced fat cheese. You can use fat free cheese if you want (regular cheese has a little over 100 calories per ounce. Reduced fat cheese has about 80. Fat free has 45). Its quite a reduction in calories, but the texture can be very rubbery, especially when its sprinkled plain and exposed to dry heat.

    Also, with the cheese, it helps to add a little pamesan. Parmesan is a strong flavored cheese, so you can use less mozzerella and still get a good cheesy taste (plus parmesan adds an "umami" taste, also known as savory)

    As for the toppings, veggies are your friends. Pile on the peppers, onions, mushrooms, and whatever other vegetable floats your boat. It you like protein on your pizza, stick with lean sources like chicken breast.

    Use lots of seasoning so that you get good flavor and are satisfied by the pizza.

    Hope that helped! :)
  • JessicaMurch5515
    JessicaMurch5515 Posts: 150 Member
    I make mine on whole wheat tortillas like Sapporo suggested. I spread a tablespoon of marinara sauce on it and top with 1/4 cup of reduced fat shredded cheese and whatever veggies I have in the fridge. My favorite combo is mushrooms, green peppers and onion.
  • maddiedog22
    maddiedog22 Posts: 116
    As said above cauliflower crust really good
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    Any pizza is guilt free if it fits your calories.

    When I want pizza... I want REAL PIZZA. Thick crust, lots of sauce, lots of cheese, and delicious toppings. If I wanted vegetables on a cracker, I'd have veggies and crackers.

    I just can't wrap my mind around pizza-guilt. I have half of a DiGiorno on a regular basis... at least once a week. That's about 800-1000 calories for those four slices, which is just about the same amount I eat for dinner any other night. After exercise, I have about 2000 calories a day to play with, which usually works out to about 300 for breakfast, 400 for lunch, a couple hundred here or there for snacks, so it fits. The only "problem" is that it's high in sodium, but as long as you're not expecting to see a loss on the scale the next day and don't have any health issues that would be aggravated by sodium... not seeing any problems. :smile:
  • Papillon22
    Papillon22 Posts: 1,160 Member
    I'm not sure if you're looking for something with less calories or a healthier version of regular white flour pizza.
    I use this recipe as an alternative to delivery pizza because it's made with whole wheat flour:

    http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/Recipes/Recipe/CE-Whole-Wheat-Pizza-Dough.aspx
  • ebaymommy
    ebaymommy Posts: 1,067 Member
    Any pizza is guilt free if it fits your calories.

    When I want pizza... I want REAL PIZZA. Thick crust, lots of sauce, lots of cheese, and delicious toppings. If I wanted vegetables on a cracker, I'd have veggies and crackers.

    I just can't wrap my mind around pizza-guilt. I have half of a DiGiorno on a regular basis... at least once a week. That's about 800-1000 calories for those four slices, which is just about the same amount I eat for dinner any other night. After exercise, I have about 2000 calories a day to play with, which usually works out to about 300 for breakfast, 400 for lunch, a couple hundred here or there for snacks, so it fits. The only "problem" is that it's high in sodium, but as long as you're not expecting to see a loss on the scale the next day and don't have any health issues that would be aggravated by sodium... not seeing any problems. :smile:

    Amen to that!

    I don't eat frozen pizza but we make homemade pizzas once a week (Friday night is pizza & movie night at our house) and I made a big (dinner plate sized) pizza with a nice medium thick crust and lot of toppings & cheese. Depending on how much dough I use and the toppings I can get it as low as 500-550 calories but usually it's more like 700 for a BIG pizza and it's totally worth every calorie.
  • Charlottejogs
    Charlottejogs Posts: 351 Member
    I have heard of making the crust from quinoa flour- I haven't tried it but plan to do so. Anyone else?
  • SuperSneaky
    SuperSneaky Posts: 43
    Check out "Poor Girl Eats Well" for a polenta pizza crust, and (never home) maker has all sorts of "healthy" crusts -- some even use beet and pumpkin puree.
  • beckyinma
    beckyinma Posts: 1,433 Member
    Any pizza is guilt free if it fits your calories.

    When I want pizza... I want REAL PIZZA. Thick crust, lots of sauce, lots of cheese, and delicious toppings. If I wanted vegetables on a cracker, I'd have veggies and crackers.

    I just can't wrap my mind around pizza-guilt. I have half of a DiGiorno on a regular basis... at least once a week. That's about 800-1000 calories for those four slices, which is just about the same amount I eat for dinner any other night. After exercise, I have about 2000 calories a day to play with, which usually works out to about 300 for breakfast, 400 for lunch, a couple hundred here or there for snacks, so it fits. The only "problem" is that it's high in sodium, but as long as you're not expecting to see a loss on the scale the next day and don't have any health issues that would be aggravated by sodium... not seeing any problems. :smile:


    Always so full of wisdom. THIS!
  • reka74
    reka74 Posts: 70
    I agree too.
    The real pizza I vote for. I just eat less than I used to... lol
  • Love2HikeMT
    Love2HikeMT Posts: 42
    Okay, weird as it may seem, this is my very favorite pizza:

    Homemade pizza dough...
    Pesto base first, then
    shredded carrots (put on paper towels first and press out juice), then
    chopped fresh spinach, then
    low fat mozzarella shredded cheese, then
    shredded Parmesan cheese (good stuff), then
    crumbled dried basil....

    Bake at 400-450-degrees for 10-12 minutes...

    Sooooo yummy....

    If you eat meat, you could add ~ after the spinach ~ crumbled, cooked pork sausage or shredded chicken or whatever...
  • Escarda
    Escarda Posts: 131 Member
    Any pizza is guilt free if it fits your calories.

    When I want pizza... I want REAL PIZZA. Thick crust, lots of sauce, lots of cheese, and delicious toppings. If I wanted vegetables on a cracker, I'd have veggies and crackers.

    I just can't wrap my mind around pizza-guilt. I have half of a DiGiorno on a regular basis... at least once a week. That's about 800-1000 calories for those four slices, which is just about the same amount I eat for dinner any other night. After exercise, I have about 2000 calories a day to play with, which usually works out to about 300 for breakfast, 400 for lunch, a couple hundred here or there for snacks, so it fits. The only "problem" is that it's high in sodium, but as long as you're not expecting to see a loss on the scale the next day and don't have any health issues that would be aggravated by sodium... not seeing any problems. :smile:

    I agree with this post!
    I see this as a lifestyle change not a diet. Which means indulging in the foods i love, but all in moderation!!
    And i think that is the key!
    A few days ago i picked up this 900 calorie meat feast pizza from asda. Cooked it and had half of it for breakfast, and put the other half in the fridge for the next day.
    So for breakfast 400 calories of heavenly pizza, filled me up for about 5 hours, where i then had a healthy dinner with veggies and the rest.
    And had calories to spare at the end of the night.
    And trust me i have a low daily calorie goal..
    It can be done! So in essence; all pizza is guilt-free pizza. As long as you plan the meal before you have it..
    I say enjoy, live your life! And loose weight at the same time! =)
  • Amy_nz
    Amy_nz Posts: 145
    I love pizza! It's my favourite thing EVER.

    I make my own pizzas, I know exactly what goes into it and I can put all sorts of things on top. Bugger the whole 'proper pizza only has a few toppings' school of thought, the more the merrier for me!

    My pizza dough is a homemade flour-based dough, and is probably the most calorific part of the meal. But I roll it really thin (love thin-crust pizza). I do my own tomato sauce with a tin of tomatoes and herbs and spices. Then I go to town on the toppings - am yet to find something that doesn't 'go'! A new favourite is broad beans - seriously, a few blanched (and peeled) broad beans thrown on are delicious AND a fantastic splash of colour! I don't use a lot of cheese on my pizza, but the cheese that I use packs a punch. Often I'll use a few shavings of parmesan or something like that - tasty but not over-the-top.

    I think I worked out before that two slices of my pizza (which is all I can fit in by the time I've overloaded it with toppings) comes out at about 500 calories. Maybe 600, depending on what meat I used. I'd literally eat it every day if I could, but the dough takes a while to rise, knock back, rise again etc. But if it wasn't for the timing issue I'd eat pizza EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.

    Honestly, if I had to choose between being healthy and eating pizza I'd totally choose pizza. But you can have both! Anything's guilt-free as long as you've planned for it and have the calories free.
  • Kashi, California Pizza Kitchen, Newman's Own all make yummy thin crust frozen pizzas!
  • runfatmanrun
    runfatmanrun Posts: 1,090 Member
    Any pizza is guilt free if it fits your calories.

    When I want pizza... I want REAL PIZZA. Thick crust, lots of sauce, lots of cheese, and delicious toppings. If I wanted vegetables on a cracker, I'd have veggies and crackers.

    I just can't wrap my mind around pizza-guilt. I have half of a DiGiorno on a regular basis... at least once a week. That's about 800-1000 calories for those four slices, which is just about the same amount I eat for dinner any other night. After exercise, I have about 2000 calories a day to play with, which usually works out to about 300 for breakfast, 400 for lunch, a couple hundred here or there for snacks, so it fits. The only "problem" is that it's high in sodium, but as long as you're not expecting to see a loss on the scale the next day and don't have any health issues that would be aggravated by sodium... not seeing any problems. :smile:

    Don't know her but she's smart and hot. Pizza is delicious. Pizza on portion control is even more satisfying. I had half a personal last night. It was real and only 380ish calories. No substitute for the real thing.
  • chelledawg14
    chelledawg14 Posts: 509 Member
    I just made myself a pizza on a new grill pan I bought for cooking outside on the grill. I used the Flatout light original flatbread, sliced tomato thin to cover it, then topped with 1.5 ounces of freshly shredded low fat mozzarella along with some fresh onion and sprinkled with oregano. All for around 240 calories!!! DELISH!!!!
  • tsh0ck
    tsh0ck Posts: 1,970 Member
    why does pizza = guilt? guess I missed the memo .... because I had two slices of hawaiian stuffed crust for lunch today.
  • toysbigkid
    toysbigkid Posts: 545 Member
    bumping for later
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Guilt and food should not have anything to do with each other. If eating a particular food leaves to feelings of guilt, then there are much more serious issues to deal with than food choices.

    When I want pizza, I eat pizza. I don't understand this crazy obsession with trying to change food into something else.
  • Agree with the Flatout Flatbread crust. Also the Hungry Girl Flatout Foldits for a little thicker crust.
  • patricia909
    patricia909 Posts: 205 Member
    bump
  • neaneawy
    neaneawy Posts: 146 Member
    i make real pizza fit. I have to have it. I've made a few changes that make a big difference. Thin crust is a huge calorie saver over hand tossed everywhere. Go with plain cheese or stick with veggie toppings. My family has to have a meat, so we've switched from pepperoni or sausage to ham. If I've planned my day well I can have two pieces of a large and then I eat a big salad. It's hard to stop at 2 pieces, but I get my pizza.
  • Charlottejogs
    Charlottejogs Posts: 351 Member
    I love pizza! I am so willing to make a healthy version that I can enjoy whenever I want knowing I am taking good care of myself at the same time. Knowing about the process that goes into making many popular delivery options is enough for me to not want to put it in my body- every really. To each there own- but, I understand wanting to find a healthier way to incorporate something you enjoy into a healthy lifestyle. Cheers!
  • suziecue66
    suziecue66 Posts: 1,312 Member
    Like a lot have said any pizza can be guilt free. If you eat pizza and then feel guilty and down, and then believe your world is falling down, I may aswell eat a chocolate now and may aswell eat whatever I want and not exercise - the world is about to end. Or, eat the pizza, continue as normal.
  • wolveslovemee
    wolveslovemee Posts: 156 Member
    I feel as if perhaps my words may have been misconstrued into people thinking I may have some sort of psychological problem with eating pizza.

    May I please note that when I said "guiltless pizza" I meant it more as a funny/general meaning. I wasnt trying to imply I had an issue with food or eating what I like in moderation.

    Sorry if that made people upset or annoyed. I really just wanted to some cool recipes for some good pizza I could make that wasnt like DiGiornos or Dominos (which are my weight down falls).

    I feel kind of bad for even posting this topic now :(

    Thanks to those of you who suggested those recipes, I wrote them all down and will make sure to try them.
  • HMVOL7409
    HMVOL7409 Posts: 1,588 Member
    We make a 100% whole wheat pizza every week and I have it down to 110 cals a slice and it's delicious.
  • wolveslovemee
    wolveslovemee Posts: 156 Member
    We make a 100% whole wheat pizza every week and I have it down to 110 cals a slice and it's delicious.

    Wow how do you manage to get it such a low calorie?!
    Thats awesome, share your secret please!
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    I recommend just getting pizza from your favorite place. Eat it and don't feel guilty about it.