transformation of a junk food

i have to say, i absolutely LOVE how pizza night has become "clean out the veggie drawer" night!

i was diagnosed with hyperinsulinemia about 8 years ago and so since then pizza has been one of those "no-no" foods to only splurge on once in a while...

BUT NOW

NOW
my husband and i can agree on this one
very important part of his life
(haha)

here's the breakdown: 

i've slowly but surely been "cleaning" up what we use for the crust... the latest was a flatbread from our local downtown market sooooo no preservatives or anything (yes, there is an ingredient list- not assumption) but still probably not the healthiest thing.
(we've also used the Flatout flatbread before, again, being "healthy" but LOOK at the ingredient list!! ummmm, there's a LOT of things i don't think are supposed to be in there :/ ...no more!)

NEXT time i'm gonna try my hand at homemade... can't wait! i've tried making my own crust before via the bread machine but it never really turned out right (it seems due to our FL humidity maybe?) and now i've got a new method (which i'll get into another day) that i'm itching to experiment with.

ooooooh, but the TOPPINGS!
let's see....
spinach, yellow squash, fresh tomatoes, scallions, green peppers, fresh basil, and of course cheese and pepperoni
can we say YUM?!
(most all veggies courtesy of the veggie co-op i recently joined- yippy!)

so a few things i haven't really gotten into yet is dairy and meat
(tomato/pasta sauce is next on the list to make)

ALTHOUGH

i USED to be the ALDI-money-saving-at-all-costs wife buying frozen meat that ate who-knows-what while being raised and packaged in who-knows-what in the store. BLECH! 

(my husband actually encouraged this one)

so NOW i'm settling on Perdue Fit and Easy chicken which is:
1. raised cage-free
2. raised on vegetarian diet
3. has no artificial additives or preservatives

and i just grab a BUNCH to freeze when it's on sale. every once in a while the store brand organic chicken isn't too expensive so i get that when i can. as far as ground meat i 99% of the time use ground turkey or chicken for tacos, lasagna, meatloaf, patties, etc. SOOO much healthier than beef and there are good all-natural varieties available at reasonable prices.
again, SALE= stock up and freeze

(oh yeah, turkey pepperoni and turkey bacon are GREAT options too! lower in calories and fat, good amount of protein and still very good!! ...the hubby says so!)

ps- if you season enough 1- hubby won't even notice or
2- at least won't complain too much ;)

eventually i'd like to check out this place to get my meats- LOCAL, woohoo!!!- but i just discovered it a few days ago and currently don't have any freezer space. this is also an option for anyone interested if you are at all close to I-75 in TN and states south of there.

obviously i'm still workin' through my game plan in the meat department...

so anyways, the concept applied to our new way of enjoying pizza is

"stuff your fav foods full of veggies wherever you can"

and NO food is off limits! (really.)

ENJOY!!!