Pepperoni Pizza

Ok, so this is nothing all that special. It's just a pepperoni pizza. And it isn't Core, but I've been craving pizza and have been on Flex this week because my schedule is seriously insane. When I don't have control over what I'm eating or I'm not up to fussing much in the kitchen, flex is the way to go. But it'll be back to my regular Core postings next week.

I know this *looks* like an ordinary pepperoni pizza. But it really is homemade, crust and sauce. I stop short of making my own pepperoni.

And if you have a breadmaker it's even easier. It was mixing, kneading, and letting the dough rise while I exercised. Talk about zero effort. The sauce was also simple, mix the ingredients and let simmer away. The dough is the basic dough recipe from Cooking Light and the sauce recipe follows.

Tomato Sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

Heat a small saucepan coated in cooking spray over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and saute 1 minute. Add the oregano, salt, crushed red pepper, and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil then turn down the heat and let simmer about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in parsley.

Steak Quesadillas

It's not easy to photograph a quesadilla, just thought I'd say that. Anyhow, I opted for another non-Core dinner, tonight, but it's not to difficult to make it almost Core.

This week I'm cleaning out my fridge, freezer, and pantry. I found a top round steak trimmed of any visible fat, some whole wheat tortillas, and a red onion. I also had an extra can of black beans and some tomatoes that didn't get used from last week. So, this quesdilla recipe from Everyday Food was perfect.

As written, the recipe is about 14 points. Which is probably more than most people are willing to spend. To make this more points friendly, try 2% cheese, smaller tortillas, or less meat and more veggies. In the bean salad, use half or a quarter of the avocado instead of a whole avocado.

To make this closer to core, make sure you use ff sour cream and ff cheese or soy cheese.

If you can't find a ff/soy pepper jack you can probably use cheddar, although I might then add part of a fresh jalepeno to add some heat.

Either way, this was a quick, satisfying meal no matter how you choose to make it fit into your plan.

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

Every once and a while I like to treat myself on the weekend mornings. And because I had leftover blueberries from last week's snack, I made blueberry buttermilk pancakes.

These were from Simply Recipes, and althought they don't look quite as fantastic as hers, they were fantastic. They were fluffy, just like a pancake should be.

They're not really as points-friendly as some of the pancakes I've made in the past, but just fine for an occaisonal treat.

I think I found my favorite blueberry pancakes.

Nutritional Info: 442 calories, 15 grams fat, 3 grams fiber