My husband isn’t always thrilled to participate in my meatless Monday meals. This week I decided to make Meatless Monday Pizza, but only half of it was meatless. The other half had pepperoni for him.
Meatless Mondays
Since last December I started working on changing my eating habits. I started by looking into the Plant-Based Diet. I know I could not be a vegetarian, I really do like meat, but I wanted to cut my meat down a lot. So, I needed to incorporate more vegetarian type meals into my diet. This is not easy when you live in Oklahoma, and even harder in very rural Oklahoma. I don’t have a Whole Foods store nearby, and can only find so much at the local grocery store. Luckily, Woodward is only 30 minutes away and I can stock up on a few vegetables when I go there. It’s still not the same as being able to just run over to Whole Foods (3 hours away), or a similar store anytime I want.
Anyway, I recently decided to start Meatless Monday. This is my second Monday to do meatless Monday, and it really isn’t so bad. Last Monday I had a banana and orange for breakfast, I had chickpea salad on whole wheat bread, pickles, cherry tomatoes, and a few potato chips (not super healthy but at least not meat) for lunch. For dinner, I made vegetarian enchiladas. I’ve linked the recipes that I found on Pinterest.
Today for breakfast I had a banana, a couple of healthy cookies, and a few cashews. For lunch, I made some Cashew Noodles last night and brought an Asian Salad (pre-packaged from Walmart). For a snack, I had a small orange. For dinner I made pizza. I made half pepperoni and mushroom, the other half red peppers, onion, and mushrooms. My husband would not eat pizza with vegetables only.
Pizza Crust
My crust is homemade, here is the recipe I used, it will make 3 large thin crusts or 3 personal pan pizzas (Pizza Hut style). I usually use one crust the day I make up the dough, then freeze the other two. I wrap each one in plastic wrap and put them in a large freezer bag. When I know I am going to make another pizza or use the dough for other recipes, I just pop it in the fridge that morning to thaw. This makes for a pretty quick dinner.
Crispy Crust Tip
I usually pull it out of the fridge and roll it out thin, to the size I want. Then shape it on a regular pizza pan with about a tablespoon of olive oil spread across the pan. Next, I place it in a warm spot like on top of my preheating oven (400-450), cover it with a towel and let it rise just a bit. This takes 30 minutes to an hour. I put my pizza stone in the oven to get warm. When I’m ready to place my ingredients on the pizza crust, I just pull my pizza stone out of the oven and carefully place the dough on it. It will sizzle for a minute or so.
After I put my choice of ingredients on, I put it in the oven and cook for about 10 minutes. The crust is nice and crisp, and so delicious!
Meatless Monday with Pizza
Ingredients
- Pizza Crust click link above for recipe
- 1 jar pizza sauce
- 1 C. Mozerella Cheese
- 1 package of sliced mushrooms
- 1 bell pepper diced
- 1/2 onion diced
- pepperonies for half of the pizza
Instructions
- Preheat oven 400-450. Make crust according to directions or use a premade crust and follow directions. Add sauce to desired amount. Add cheese, vegies and pepperonies. Place in oven for 10 minutes.
- TIP If using a stone pizza pan, place it in the preheating oven, then add the pizza to the stone for a crispy crust
- TIP 2: For a super crispy crust brush olive oil on the bottom of your crust with a basting brush before baking.
Conclusion
What are your Meatless Monday recipes? Are you a Vegetarian, or just working for a healthier lifestyle? Check out some of my other Meatless Monday Recipes:
Garden Roasted Vegetables with Squash
Cheese Enchiladas with Chili Gravy
Loaded Vegetarian Mexican Rice