Day Seventy Four

6.35am Breakfast

Scrambled egg whites!!! - Stupid idea, it tasted really odd and I can still taste it now and its gone 8am!!! I just had the whites left over from my ice cream I attempted last night, so thought I'd use them!

Speaking of the ice cream, I read that I could put it in the freezer and take it out every 30 mins to give it a stir if I don't have an ice cream maker! Well, I stirred it once last night, gave it a quick defrost in the microwave this morning and stirred in again, 30 mins in the freezer, then stirred it again, and its back in the freezer! It looks like a soft ice creamy texture but does taste very creamy still! (I liked the fork I stirred it with)

Similar technique to the one I found last night:

Making Ice Cream Without A Machine

1. Prepare your ice cream mixture, then chill it over an ice bath.

2. Put a deep baking dish, or bowl made of plastic, stainless steel or something durable in the freezer, and pour your custard mixture into it.

3. After forty-five minutes, open the door and check it.

As it starts to freeze near the edges, remove it from the freezer and stir it vigorously with a spatula or whisk. Really beat it up and break up any frozen sections. Return to freezer.

4. Continue to check the mixture every 30 minutes, stirring vigorously as it’s freezing. If you have one, you can use a hand-held mixer for best results, or use a stick-blender or hand-held mixer.

But since we’re going low-tech here, you can also use just a spatula or a sturdy whisk along with some modest physical effort.

5. Keep checking periodically and stirring while it freezes (by hand or with the electric mixer) until the ice cream is frozen. It will likely take 2-3 hours to be ready.

Obviously being at work now, I can stir it every 30 minutes, so I might try what I did this morning again when I get home.

I'm going to try the homemade pizza recipe tonight!! :D

DEEP DISH PIZZA
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 1 ounce (I used the kind in a can)
1/4 teaspoon oregano or Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
8 ounces Italian cheese blend or mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup pizza sauce
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
Assorted toppings: pepperoni, ham, sausage, 4 ounce can mushrooms, green peppers, bacon, ground beef, etc.

Dash of garlic pepper or garlic powder and some Italian seasoning for top of pizza

In a medium bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Whisk in the eggs until the mixture is well-blended and smooth. Add the parmesan and seasonings, then stir in the 8 ounces of mozzarella until completely moistened. Spread the cheese mixture evenly in a well-greased 9x13" glass baking dish or lightly greased and lined with parchment paper (see note below). Bake at 375º 20-25 minutes or until evenly browned, but not too dark. Let cool completely on a wire rack. When nearly cooled, take a metal spatula and carefully pry up the edges to loosen from pan. Ease the spatula under the whole crust to loosen. Keep the crust in the pan. This makes it easier to remove the finished pizza later. Refrigerate, uncovered, until shortly before serving time.

Spread the chilled crust with the pizza sauce, then the cheese and toppings of your choice. Lightly sprinkle with the seasonings of your choice. Bake at 375º about 15-20 minutes or until toppings are bubbly. Let stand a few minutes before cutting.

Makes 8 servings
Can be frozen

Per Serving: 304 Calories; 25g Fat; 17g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 2g Net Carbs

I don't recommend making this in a metal baking pan as it will stick making the pizza very difficult to remove and the pan very hard to clean.

I think I may have discovered the secret to a crispy crust. I left the baked crust uncovered in the refrigerator for several hours. I think that allowed it to dry out a bit so that it became crisp during the second baking with the toppings. I was able to pick the pizza up in my hands.

NOTE: If you lightly grease the pan and line it with parchment paper, you'll have no trouble removing the pizza from the pan later. Greasing the pan makes the parchment stick to it so you can easily spread the crust batter.

8.30am Pot of Green Tea

10.00am Snack

Mini Pepperami

10.30am Pot of Green Tea

12.30pm Lunch

Chicken (with a small amount of mayo as I'd run out!) salad with lettuce, cucumber tomato and parmesan cheese.

17.30pm Mug of White Tea while I cook the pizza

I didn't have 8 oz of mozzarella, I only had 4, so I added some more Parmesan and cheddar to make up for the lack of mozzarella. So here is the cheese pizza base going into the oven...

I was too busy doing 20 minutes of Wii jogging to keep an eye on the cheesey base and I think it went a bit more brown than it was meant to, but it was okay, it didn't burn! I was too hungry to wait for the base to chill in the fridge, so I let it cool until it was slightly warm then put the tomato sauce and toppings on it:

Here it is out of the oven...

And on my plate!

I have loads more slices left, so might have a couple tomorrow with a salad or something and then freeze the rest. I was able to pick them up and eat them with my fingers, they were slightly floppy and greasy, but it actually tasted like pizza and pizza is a taste that I miss doing low carb. So, this low carb pizza recipe gets a big thumbs up from me!! :) - Next time I will make it when I have time to let it cool and try it with 8oz of mozzarella!! ;)

19.30pm Mug of Green Tea