Category Archives: Dinner

A friend of mine approached me to try to make a healthier version of this tasty dish. Most of all she wanted to avoid the use of pre-made dough which is full of preservatives. I had to admit, I had no idea what bubble pizza was. Apparently it’s when you take dough in a can and mix it with pizza ingredients to make a delicious kind of deep dish meets casserole experience. After playing around with it a bit I found a combination that not only worked but we have now added to our own list of favourite not so naughty dishes. The best part? Leftovers can be frozen and reheated. They taste just as good as the original baking. For you freezer cooks this is definitely one I would add to your menu. Alright, enough talking about the holy grail of pizza lets get down to the details!

• 1 tbl honey
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup unbleached white flour
• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• 2 tbl water
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup skim milk (I actually used unsweetened almond milk)
• 2 tbl light butter
• 10 oz extra lean ground beef (or turkey)
• 1 yellow onion chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jar tomato sauce of your choice or homemade (16 oz)
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 cup light mozzarella
• 1/2 cup light cheddar
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• Pizza toppings of choice (optional, not included in nutritional info)

1. Grease a 9×13 baking dish, preheat oven to 350F
2. Combine the first ingredients in either a breadmaker according to your directions or knead together on a floured surface to create a dough. Proof twice.
3. In a deep skillet brown the ground beef, break up any big bunches.
4. Add garlic and onions. Continue to cook until onions are soft.
5. Stir in tomato sauce and basil.
6. Grab small (thumbsized) balls of the dough and add them to the sauce mixture.
7. Stir the mixture very gently until all the dough balls are coated with sauce.
8. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes.
9. Remove from oven, sprinkle with the cheeses and another other pizza toppings you want to include. Bake for another 10 minutes (longer if you really load it up).
10. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting into 6 really large portions.

Makes 6 servings. Each serving contains 339 calories, 13.8 grams fat, 34.6 grams carbs, 4.2 grams fibre, 19.9 protein. So filling and so easy to make into a feast by adding a side salad. My surly dwarf was impressed with how full it made him feel after a long day of work. This might actually find a special place in our freezer to take care of those, aarrgh, let’s just have pizza kind of days. 2-3 minutes in the microwave is faster than delivery and so much cheaper.

This past week or so I have definitely been on a meat, sauce, and sticky rice as comfort food kick. So good, so easy, and so filling! So easy to stick in veggies of choice with dishes like these. The more veggies you stick in the more you can have. The more you can win at eating healthy really. Anytime I think about dishes like these I’m always reminded of what my uncle said to my one day as we considered having leftover Chinese food for breakfast one day. “Hey, 1.3 billion people can’t be wrong.” So true, so tasty. I have said “so” a lot in an intro for General Tso chicken haven’t I? This particular dish is a north American invention, it did not really come from china granted it claims its inspiration from there. Just like so many other dishes we tend to order. Did you know the typical serving from a restaurant tends to include 1,300 calories, 11 grams of saturated fat? Yeah. Let’s see if we can do better than that.

• 1 lb skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into chunks
• 5 tbl white wine
• 2 tbl cornstarch
• 1 tbl oyster sauce
• 2 tbl water
• 2 tbl soy sauce
• 1 tbl honey
• 1 tbl rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp virgin coconut oil
• 1 tbl grated fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 2 shallots, sliced
• 1 tsp sriracha sauce
• 2 stalks celery, chopped (or carrots, or broccoli, any of these or all are tasty additions)

1. Add 2 tbl of white wine and oyster sauce to 1 tbl cornstarch. Add chicken, toss to coat and set aside to marinate.
2. Combine the remaining white wine, water, soy sauce, honey, rice wine vinegar, sriracha sauce, and cornstarch in another bowl. Set aside.
3. Heat pan over medium high heat. Don’t be shy, the heat helps the chicken stay moist with a quick sear. When pan is heated add the coconut oil and swirl.
4. Add the chicken mixture to the pan. Stir-fry until browned and cooked through.
5. Add ginger, garlic, and shallots. Stir-fry until fragrant.
6. Add celery (or veggie mix of choice), stir fry until slightly tender but still crisp.
7. Stir in the sauce set aside earlier. Stir constantly until the sauce thickens.

Makes four servings. Each serving contains 158 calories, 3.1 grams fat, 10.4 grams carbs, .5 gram fibre, and 16.9 grams protein. Delicious over steamed rice. Yup, this is definitely a win for north american style chinese food. A guilty pleasure and comfort food without the sad weight in the next week.