Beetza, Pizza, Schmeetza and Contest

If you don't already know, we love pizza. However, I'm sure you ALL know that by now. What you may NOT know is that you can put virtually ANYTHING on pizza and it will still taste fabulous. Literally everything, so long as you thoughtfully consider the combination of flavors. So -- at least to us -- it seems there are no sauces, cheeses, veggies, or even fruits that are off limits.

S.e.r.i.o.u.s.l.y.

Why do we focus so much of our blog recipe content on pizza? Because when done right, pizza is not only one of the best tasting lunches/dinners out there. It also has the potential to be one of the most nutritionally complete. Making food work on both levels is important for everyone, especially athletes.


Plus, making at-home pizza is easy. First, choose a crust:

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Pumpkin Pizza Dough
Beet Pizza Dough


Toppings are totally up to you. For our most recent adventure, we made three small pizzas. One of them would be vegan and Mexican-themed. Another would be the classic plain sauce, peppers, onions, and mozzarella. The other was a up in the air, but we went with a new twist on the tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil . . . and that twist was all in the beet-tomato sauce, seasoned with cinnamon and cocoa.

With some Parmesan cheese sprinkled in there, too.


Anchovies sounding good about now? Hahah. If you aren't unsubscribing at the thought of all those flavors together, I'm happy you found our blog. Because we like to push the flavor envelope a bit. If you aren't willing to try weird things, you may not like a lot of what we post :)

Parmesan-beet-tomato-cocoa-cinnamon sauce:

You'll need . . .

• 1/2 cup regular tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup beet puree (see instructions in this post)
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon (or more, to taste) cinnamon powder
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• generous squirt agave nectar
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method . . .

1. Mix everything together and enjoy. We recommend letting the sauce steal the show if you make it. Go with mozzarella and basil to play it safe. 
2. If you're more adventurous, please let us know what you use yours for!

The sauce was DIVINE. Of course, you can always stick with store-bought tomato sauce. Ours was low sodium (again for the peppers and onions pie).


Toppings trick: Roast everything BEFORE baking. We like to grill pizza when we can. However, grilling is difficult when you have a lot of toppings because they take a long time to cook . . . but the crust can burn relatively easily. Solution: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and lay out your toppings (in our case -- corn, onions, zucchini), drizzle with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast until lightly browned. Then set aside until it's go time.

Stephen is a huge fan of pairing hot with cold. Some of his favorite toppings make their way to the pizza after it's done cooking. Thing avocado, sprouts, spinach, and really any other salad-like items. He often starts with a plain pizza and piles on the cold veggies. All I hear is crunching. As long as he's happy -- and we can eat more pizza -- I'm happy!


The cooking method also impacts the flavor and feel of your pizza. Since we like to eat it a lot, we like to vary our routine a lot.

• You can bake in the oven. (Use a pizza stone, please.)
• You can bake it rustic.
• You can grill.
• You can grill fancy.
• You can fold it into a stromboli.

Making pizza vegan isn't as difficult as you might think. And no fake cheese is required to do the job. Our favorite vegan pizzas usually have some kind of tasty, unique sauce. So, yes. Back to sauces again. To make our Mexican vegan pizza . . .

You'll need . . .

• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup vegetarian refried beans
• 1 to 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce

Method . . .

1. Mix everything together with a fork.
2. That's it.

We like to top vegan pizza with veggies -- hot and cold -- and more-times-than-not throw on some avocado. For extra flavor consider the following additions.

• Balsamic reduction
• Cheeze Sauce (from Angela)
• Vegan Pesto (from VegWeb)
• Peanut Sauce (from Party Recipes)
• Nutritional Yeast
• Hummus

FACEBOOK CONTEST

We could write about pizza for days. But now we have an assignment for you! If you aren't already, friend us on Facebook. Then, sometime in the next month (you have till Friday, October 8th), upload ONE photo (at least 500 pixels wide) to our gallery of the most unique (and tasty, not just weird) pizza you have made. Consider the ideas we've provided on our site. But be sure to come up with your own unique creation. Include a link to a recipe (or just tell us what's in your pie -- a basic recipe -- as the photo description).

Vegan and vegetarian recipes only, please.

We'll pick THREE finalists, try their pies, and post them to (never home)maker. From there, YOU'll have a chance to vote on the one you think looks and sounds the tastiest. The winner gets a perfect pizza-related prize -- a pizza stone (because even if you have one, it's always good to have a backup!)! We'll be rating the pizzas on crust, sauce, toppings, and cooking method.


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Healthy Living Week: Chrissy's Story

Chrissy writes:

First of all, let me tell you how much I love your blog: a lot! I've been reading for a few months now, and just about every post is relevant, delicious, inspirational, and fun to look at (your photos are great!). It's always exciting to find someone writing original, accessible content, and you two are on a roll.

You're TOO sweet, Chrissy! Also, please note that all these awesome photos were taken by Chrissy's friend David Kimling.

As for my healthy living story, I am also what you call a "self-made athlete." While I have always tried to be active (mostly by doing aerobics classes via DVDs or my college gym) I never played sports, never thought of myself as competitive, and never really found enjoyment in getting my sweat on. Then, in 2004, I moved to Texas with my boyfriend, and a year after that, I learned that some women were starting up a local roller derby team. Even though I didn't know how to skate, even though I didn't *do* sports, and even though I was pretty sure I would break my neck at the first practice, I signed up.


For the next two years, I not only learned how to skate but worked my way up to team captain, practicing three times a week and going to the track on off days to cross-train. Suddenly, working out wasn't about getting a smaller butt - it was about kicking butt!

The stress of constantly trying to recruit in a small, southern town proved to be too much and after playing just two public bouts, my roller derby league broke up. For a few months, I didn't do much of anything and then, on a whim, I decided to train for a 5K as a New Year's Resolution, and even got some ex-rollergirls to train with me. We used the couch-to-5K plan and I ran my first race in March - 3.1 miles in 34 minutes. After that, I decided I wanted to get faster and go longer, and in February I ran my first marathon.


Running races and roller derby don't have much in common, but they give me the same rush, the same feeling of accomplishment, and most of all, the same reason to stay healthy and active. Because I like kicking butt, and this is the best way I know how!

Thanks for reading!

Chrissy (The New Me)

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!!

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