The BEST 3 Ingredient Paleo Pizza Crusts

Pizza. The one thing I can't live without and refuse to cut out of my diet, so I'm always on the hunt to find a healthy alternative if at all possible. I love the idea of the cauliflower crust, but gosh that is a lot more work than I feel like doing sometimes, plus I don't always have cauliflower and parm cheese on hand. I just want a crust that's ready to go that I can throw toppings on and pop in the oven. This crust is literally 3 ingredients and takes two seconds to make. I loved how easy it was and of course how quick it was. Pizzas we're done and on the table within a half hour max.

Pizzas are one of my favorite meals to cook with Nick because it's a meal that we can do together. It's fun to pick the different toppings and create all kinds of different versions. He usually goes heavy on the meat though, and I go heavy on the greens, as you can see from these photos. We love adding truffle oil to pretty much every flavor that we make though - it just takes them up a notch. You don't need many ingredients to make a delicious pizza. Some of my favorites are olive oil, tomato sauce, parm cheese, mozz cheese, sausage, prosciutto, mushrooms, squash, arugula, spinach, truffle oil, and the list could go on and on. 

Now let's talk about these pizza crusts. 3 ingredients people. That's IT. And they are ingredients you'll always have on hand, so you can whip them up anytime (that is, as long as you own and/or purchase some coconut flour). Eggs, coconut flour, and any time of milk you have on hand (I used almond of course). This is one of my new favorite recipes, and perfect for a girls night or a stay in date night. The recipe below is for 8 flatbreads/crusts. Enjoy!

Recipe

• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 5 large eggs
• 1 & 1/4 cup almond milk (or any milk you have on hand)
• Salt & pepper, oregano & any other spices you'd like to add
• Pizza toppings!

Directions

1. Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. Let sit for a minute or two to allow the batter to thicken. Batter should be runny enough to pour into the pan though - if it isn't, add slightly more milk.
2. Pour 1/4 cup of the batter into a heated, greased skillet. Immediately tilt the pan in all directions to spread the batter around until it is evenly distributed on all sides of the pan.
3. When the edges start to curl up, flip the crust over and continue to cook. Continue flipping until both sides are evenly browned.
4. Do this with the rest of the batter until all is cooked. The recipe will make about 8 pizza crusts.
5. Top the crusts with all your favorite ingredients, throw in the oven on a pizza stone at 450 degrees Fahrenheit, and cook for about 20 minutes or until crispy and bubbling.

The Deliciously Ella Sweet Potato Brownies

I finally hopped on the bandwagon and tried the famous Deliciously Ella sweet potato brownies that everyone seems to rave about. Honest opinion? I wasn't obsessed with the flavor and texture of them, but these are almost completely added sweetener free and pretty darn healthy. That is the appeal of them though, right? Eating dessert without actually getting the bad side effects of it? I just think they taste a little more like a Luna bar then a brownie, but I'd make them again. That icing though... I'm planning on making just that and eating spoonfuls of it. It was AMAZINGGG. 

Sweet potatoes are the star of this recipe as they are the base of the brownie. Nothing like mixing some healthy starch and fiber into dessert right? This recipe also calls for almonds and coconut oil, so they're also a very good source of healthy fats. They're super simple to make and full of good for you ingredients... Read on for the recipe if you're willing to give them a try.

Ingredients:

• Brownies:
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes
  • 12 medjool dates
  • 6 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup ground almonds
  • 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup ground oats
  • 6 tbsp cacao powder
  • a pinch of salt
• Icing:
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 2 tbsp almond butter
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp cacao powder

Directions:

1. Preheat the over to 350 degrees.
2. Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into chunks and steam them until they are soft. I believe you could also boil them in water until soft too if you'd like.
3. Place cooked sweet potato and pitted dates in a food processor together and blend until well mixed.
4. Mix remaining brownie ingredients in a bowl together and stir.
5. Next, pour the sweet potato/date combo into the bowl with the remaining brownie ingredients and mix well. 
6. Grease or line a brownie pan with parchment paper, and pour the brownie mix into the pan.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until you can pierce the brownies with a toothpick and it comes out dry.
8. Remove from the oven and let it sit for about 10-20 minutes - do not touch it! It is important for them to cool down before you cut them up.
9. To make the icing, simply put all the ingredients into a bowl and melt them in the microwave (about 30 seconds to 1 minute). Stir well and place in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes to harden it up a bit so you can spread it! 
10. Allow the brownies to cool before icing, otherwise it will melt fast! Or just eat the icing on it's own like I plan to do. :) 

Gluten Free Blueberry Breakfast Oatmeal Bake

Now I'm not usually a huge fan of sweet breakfasts - I like to start my day with smoothie, and/or eggs and avocado. I'm a savory over sweet kind of girl early in the morning. But when I saw an oatmeal type breakfast bake online, I got some inspiration to create my own. I also just bought some Monk Fruit sweetener that I've been dying to use, so thought, why not test it out in a new recipe?! 

Monk fruit is a newer sweetener that is becoming popular quite quickly. This is due to the fact that it's natural, has high antioxidant levels, is sweeter tasting than regular sugar, and yet it has no calories and no effect on blood sugar. Sounds pretty darn awesome, right? It also substitutes 1:1 with regular sugars in any recipe, so just use it in place of sugar. This is the first recipe I used it in, but I've got all kinds of ideas I plan to use it for in the future.

So I also take every opportunity I can to add extra protein to a recipe, especially breakfast. I try to get about 30 grams of protein in at every meal (about an average of 100 grams per day). Yes it sounds like a lot, but I'm super active and having protein in your diet is extremely important, but we'll save that discussion for another post. I added some collagen peptides to this recipe since they're tasteless and a great source of protein, plus they strengthen your hair, skin and nails. For more on that, visit my post here.

Check out the recipe below - hope you guys love it!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1/4 cup almond meal (or flour)
• 3 scoops collagen peptides
• 2 tbsp ghee (or coconut oil)j
• 1/4 cup monk fruit sweetener (or coconut sugar)
• 2 cups cashew milk (or pretty much any kind of nut milk)
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 2 cups frozen blueberries (or any type of berry)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a large baking dish with ghee or coconut oil.
2. In one bowl, combine all the dry ingredients: oats, almond meal, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, monk fruit, and collagen peptides.
3. Melt the ghee or coconut oil in a separate bowl. Once it's melted, add the milk to the ghee while whisking the mixture.
4. Add greek yogurt, eggs, and vanilla to the ghee/milk, and whisk until well combined.
5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
6. Fold the blueberries into the mixture and stir gently.
7. Pour into the greased baking pan and throw in the oven at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes (top of the oatmeal should look brown/crispy when it's done).
8. Serve warm with a little bit of syrup poured over it or just eat it alone!