What Do You Mean It’s Not Pizza?

As you all know by now, we talk a lot about the necessity of learning to F.L.Y. in order to sustain a happy aviation marriage. F.L.Y. is my acronym for first love yourself. No, this doesn’t mean not caring about our spouses’ needs or loving them well; it means living life to it’s fullest when he’s home…and when he’s gone, so that we can love them well.

It means eating foods you love. It means doing things that fill you with joy. It means getting up and owning the day, and making the most of each moment. Because if you don’t love yourself, it is nearly impossible to love someone else. If you are new to this site and have not read the F.L.Y. article, I highly suggest you do so! It is the foundation that everything I do here is built upon. I believe embracing it will change your life and marriage (and I have already heard some pretty amazing stories from some of you to this effect!).

One important part of taking care of yourself is, as we all know, taking care of our health. Some of us are pretty good about this. To all of my running, lifting, aerobicizing, sit-upping, health food eating friends out there, kudos!

I am not one of you!

The truth is, some of us suck royally at maintaining our health, doing our exercise, and making good food choices (me!). I openly admit it because I don’t believe for one second that I am the only one who struggles with the whole ‘being good’ thing! I want to feel happy and be healthy! I want to love that woman staring back at me in the mirror.

But I also want to eat pizza and chocolate every single night and sit on my butt watching my favorite sitcoms! Sometimes more than I want the former. Please tell me I am not alone!?!?! P-p-p-pleeeeeease?

Plus, let’s admit it. This life is not always conducive to healthy habits. There is a teeny, tiny, itsy-bitsy lot of stress, our schedules fluctuate with the shift of the wind, and we spend half our time cooking for one. If you have kids, we all know they don’t count because they are not going to eat that super duper, healthy, delicious meal you whipped up anyway.

So the easiest thing is hitting the Taco Hell as you rush from Junior’s baseball game to Princess’ ballet class. The easiest thing is fixing that box of mac and cheese that the kids are clamoring for, finishing off whatever they don’t eat, and then bingeing a bag of Oreos as soon as there tiny (but cute) behinds hit the bed. The easiest thing is coming home from a long, stressful day of work, staring at a cold, very empty, very lonely house and ordering a pizza…and then polishing it all off because it can all be so overwhelming. And hey, no one is looking anyway!

Life is difficult; being healthy shouldn’t have to be.

Cooking for one is, quite frankly, a pain in the tush. It’s either entirely too much work for one person (although honestly, you are worth it!), or it makes so much food that you will be eating Tuscan veggies and rice for the next 14 days or until you turn into a Tuscan veggie. Neither option is very attractive.

Plus, if you are like me, you just friggin’ like love pizza.

Which brings me to my actual point. I know! Thank goodness, right?

I am always looking for some easy, healthy, doable recipes to share with you in order to help you (and me) F.L.Y. Yesterday my friend sent me a recipe for ‘pizza’, and I was like…heck to the no. No way; no how. That is not going to fulfill my insatiable cravings for the p-to-the-za.

But she kept on raving about hoooooooow good it was and how I should just try it once. Humph. Okay. So I just happened to have the ingredients in the fridge, therefore I thought, what the hay. I’ll give it a whirl (and keep Pizza Hut on speed dial). To say I was skeptical, however, would be putting it mega lightly.

While I was making this reportedly delectable dish, my exact words to her were, “Okay sister. You better not be lying to me.”

Well, my friends, here is my my honest assessment. It totally and completely sucks…that I have never tried out this recipe before! What do you mean it’s not pizza??!?! I seriously cannot even believe I am saying this, but it was good. I mean, it was I-had-a-bad-day-and-needed-some-comfort-food-and-was-convinced-it-wasn’t-going-to-work good! And here’s my favorite thing about it: it was also easy-peasy and used on-hand ingredients which is so very important if I am going to actually make it a staple in my chaos.

Instead of the [approximate] 350 calories and 14 g of fat I normally vacuum down per slice from Pizza Hut (and I can eat that whole dang pizza left unsupervised…so you do the math), it was a whopping 155 calories and 9 g of fat for the entire dinner! And I am stuffed. It also made exactly one serving of food but can easily make more if you can convince the pilot to try it, so no forever leftovers, no Tuscan vegefication, no problem. In fact, I liked it so much that I sat down right away and started typing because I couldn’t wait to share a F.L.Y. recipe with my favorite sisters – you!

So! Here is the rundown and the recipe for your dining enjoyment. I really hope you will try it! If I can do it, I know you can too. I am giving you the specs for the exact meal I made, but obviously you can choose any toppings you want! Just remember that leaving off all the processed meats will go a long way in keeping your fat content down and your health benefits up (and I didn’t miss them at all, says a huge bacon lover). But either way, even with a pepperoni or two, it’s still a world of difference from the fast food version!

CALORIES: 155
FAT: 9 G
CARBS: 11 G
PROTEIN: 11 G
SODIUM: 449 G

SERVINGS: 1 (you!)
LEFTOVERS: None!
DIFFICULTY: Crazy, chaotic, busy day pilot wife approved.

INGREDIENTS:

One zucchini – washed, cut lengthwise into strips (about 5)
Garlic powder
Italian season
Pizza sauce – 2 tbspn
artichoke hearts – about two pieces, chopped
spinach – as much as your heart desires, torn
jalapeños
Mozzarella cheese – about a half cup.

OTHER POSSIBLE INGREDIENTS:

Black olives
Banana peppers
Tomatoes
Pineapple
Fresh Parmesan shredded
Broccoli roasted
Mushrooms (though why anyone would eat those nasty things I cannot fathom)
Whatever other veggies you can dream up

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Place zucchini strips on a piece of foil on a pizza pan (for easiest cleanup)
Sprinkle with as much garlic powder and Italian season as you desire.
Spread pizza sauce over zucchini.
Top with whatever veggies you decided on.
Sprinkle with cheese.
Bake 400 degrees for 10 minutes then broil to make cheese all bubbly and delish.
Eat and marvel.

I am not going to do the whole silly, step-by-step picture/video thing so you can make it. I have full confidence in your ability to construct a pizza. You’ve totally got this, girls!

Seriously! That’s it. All there is to it. I cannot believe how stinking good it was. I mean, I am thinking of having it again tomorrow. That’s saying something. I know you are skeptical. You should be. I mean….we’re talking about pizza here, the glorified food of the gods. But I implore you to try it just once and see if it doesn’t make it onto your regular the-pilot-is-gone meal list too!

I love you aviation family. I hope that you enjoy this What Do You Mean It’s Not Pizza as much as I did!

~Angelia (a pizza loving pilot wife)

CHECK OUT THE JUST WINGING IT SERIES AND OTHER BOOKS BY ANGELIA GRIFFIN HERE!

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