Jamie, over on Your Lighter Side posted a link to a low carb pizza crust ages ago which I had been meaning to try but never got around to it. It seemed to labour intensive for the amount of energy I have at the moment (zilch!!) so I kept putting it off. When I got home from work today I did the unthinkable…I had me a lil lay down!!! I think I may have even closed my eyes!

Rejuvenated, tonight had to be the night to finally make that pizza! I had the energy and the ingredients and besides, I was craving pizza! Now normally one would make this with meat but, like I said, _ I _ was craving pizza, so that means no meat was going to be on this culinary delight. I used Yves Ground Chicken in place of the meat and I had a gazillion different cheeses hanging out in the fridge so I pulled out Oscar Senior and got to work shredding cheeses: Cheddar, Monterey Jack and Mozzarella. I dumped the cheeses into a bowl and loaded the “chicken” into the processor, ground it up a bit, added the cheese and mixed the two together; I then pressed the mixture into a lightly oiled 9″springform pan, popped it into the oven for 18 – 20 minutes.

After baking for 18 – 20 mins, I pulled the crust out of the oven and let it cool while I was making a salad.
Next I spread about 2 ounces of Tomato Paste on the cooled crust, sprinkled generously with Italian Seasoning and a bit of garlic powder.
Then came the toppings:
Mushrooms, sliced
Tomatoes, diced
Green Pepper, diced
Spinach
Yves Ham Slices, cut into strips
Lotsa mozza!
Some more Italian Seasoning

Put it into the 375F oven for 18 minutes, turned the heat up to 425F and continued baking for another 8 minutes.
Pulled it out of the oven, let it set for about 10 minutes while I finished cleaning up all my prep dishes.
Served it up with a salad.

So Mother Hubbard’s Cupboards are still a bit on the bare side and coming up with a meal is getting to be a bit challenging! To add to that, whatever I do make? It needs to be Low Carb. Now you have to understand that prior to January 31, 2012 I just cooked whatever I wanted: pasta, rice, potatoes…oh, Potato Soup and Bannock! Home made Mac and Cheese!  Spanish Rice with Enchiladas…Burritos and Mexi Fries! Carbs were not so much an issue but expanding waist lines were beginning to be.

I digress. But the point remains that I can cook up a high carb meal pretty easily because I still have heaps of ingredients in the cupboards and freezer.  And low carb is a whole new way of thinking for me too. I can no longer just think about what to make for dinner and head to the kitchen, thought processes ticking; now I rely on a recipe of some sort even if it just to follow basic guidelines.

Alright, so last night as I lay in bed I began thinking about what I was going to cook for dinner tonight (because that is how it works when the cupboards are bare and I am changing the way I cook) so I borrowed my iPad from my husband and started scanning for a low carb recipe using 1.5lbs of shrimp, because I had that in the freezer, and came across  Jennifer Eloff’s  Curried Shrimp recipe; as I read the recipe and each ingredient got a “Yup, got that” I was relieved to have part of the meal prepared. I had a look at Jennifer Eloff’s Mock Rice but didn’t like the looks of it alongside my lovely Curried Shrimp. I recalled seeing numerous posts about Jamie’s Mock Rice on Your Lighter Side and hopped over to Jamie’s recipe for Mock Fried Rice. The perfect accompaniment to the Curried Shrimp!

1.5 lbs Large Frozen Shrimp, pre-cooked
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 medium Onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 1/2 Tablespoons Curry Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
Dash of Pepper
1 teaspoon ground Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Chili Flakes
3/4 cup Coconut Milk

In colander thaw frozen shrimp under cold running water and drain completely; set aside.

In a saucepan heat oil over med-high heat and add onion, cooking until slightly softened; add garlic and continue cooking until onion is soft and translucent.
Stir in curry powder, ground cumin, chili flakes and salt and pepper.
Gradually add coconut milk, stirring constantly.
Bring to a boil, stirring often.
Add shrimp, continue stirring and cook until heated through.
Serves 4 – 6

Jamie’s Low Carb Fried Rice.

1 large head Cauliflower
2 cups Water
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Cook whole, large cauliflower in a pot with a tight fitting lid; bring to boil, reduce heat to med-high and continue cooking for about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat, drain and cover cauliflower with cold water; drain that off, repeat.
Fill pot again with cold water and let sit while preparing the Curry Sauce.
Once sauce is simmering (do not add the shrimp until 5 minutes before ready to serve.) come back to the cauliflower.
Drain cauliflower.
Cut into chunks that will fit into the feeder tube of your food processor.
With the grating attachment, put cauliflower through the processor.

Once all the cauliflower is processed, heat olive oil in a large pan over high – medium heat and add half the cauliflower.
Season with half the onion powder, some salt and pepper and cook for 6 – 8 minutes, stirring often.
Plate, the repeat with the second half of the cauliflower.

Serves 6