Cut down the cheese. That's where most of the unhealthy calories are, and IMO most pizza places put way too much of it on. We bought pizza last night and from my slices I threw half the cheese into the dog bowl and still had more than plenty.

The crust has a lot of calories too. The thicker and denser the crust the more calories.

I'm with FOAS regarding cheese. Lighten up on the cheese, and you lighten up the pizza. Use the part skim mozzarella. Mom is correct, though, about the crust. Too thick means more calories.

One thing to watch out for is the meats you put on pizza. Any kind of salami or pepperoni is going to exude loads of fat (and salt). Better bets are shredded or cubed cooked chicken and cooked ground beef or sausage that have been well drained & blotted with paper towels.

Also, use less meat and more vegetables. And don't overdo the olive oil in the sauce.

The sauce doesn't need any olive oil and can still be very good. Use lean ham. Mozzarella isn't the most highly calorifique cheese. That's all I have on my thin base to keep camories to a minimum. Tomato sauce, ham, mozz and origano.

This will sound disgusting to many, but bad health is more disgusting.

There are actually some delicious tofu pizza recipes. They will never replace real pizzas, but they can be enjoyable if you really need to have pizza.

First eat half a slice of tofu pizza, than half a slice of real pizza. You will be very satisfied.

dcarch

Dcarch when you say tofu pizza is the tofu the crust?

Have one slice of really, really good pizza and be satisfied.

It is often say it is a bad idea to eat "low fat, low calorie" stuff as it is not as satisfying and you tend to eat more of it.

This post was edited by debrak2008 on Tue, Jan 28, 14 at 15:17

-The fastest way to cut your calories is to cut the portion size --- no matter what you are eating. Cut calories even more by making low-calorie choices for toppings on a pizza.

-You can start by making a smaller pizza. A 12-inch pizza instead of a 14- or 16-inch. I make 8-inch pizzas for two people, and that is enough for two meals. Instead of cutting a 16-inch pie into huge wedges, cut it into small squares for more servings.

-Choose thin crust instead of thick. If choosing thick crust, eat less of it (one slice). Or save your grain choices for the day for your pizza binge.

-Choose low-cal. crust substitutions like using a corn or flour tortilla, 1/2 English Muffin for an individual size, there are even low-carb crusts made with cauliflower (but who wants to go there....;-)

-Choose low-calorie ingredients. Fat = unnecessary calories, so choose low-fat meat, or cut even more calories by going vegetarian.

-If you choose a high-fat, high-calorie ingredients, use less of it and more low-calorie ingredients. If you use pepperoni, cut it into smaller pieces, pan fry it to render some of the fat content, then blot it well to remove even more. You'll still have the flavor, but less fat.

-Choose mozzarella cheese over hard cheeses, and not a lot of it.

-I make pizza just as I would any other meal by figuring the number of servings of grain, meat, vegetables and dairy it will provide as part of my daily food requirements. I don't "count calories" per se, but I do count servings. Just think of pizza as a flat casserole.

2 slices of an 8-inch pizza may include:
2 bread servings (1-oz. per serving), 1/2 meat serving (1-1/2 oz.), 1/4-1/2 vegetable serving from sauce, mushrooms, peppers, etc., 1/8-1/4 serving of dairy from the cheese.

Our daily food intake is based on the old Basic-4. Each day we have:
4 servings of bread/cereal (all of ours are whole grain and we are currently wheat-free)
4 servings (or more) fruits and vegetables
2 servings meat or meat alternative
2 servings dairy

If you follow this eating profile, you really don't need to worry so much about calories as long as you know what a serving size is and stick to those as eating guidelines.

-Grainlady

Hi Barb: I put more recipes in my veges & vegetarian Pinterest board. See link below: Need to click on the picture 2 subsequent times to get the detailed instruction.

I include pizza-recipes with lots of veges: Greek pizza from Weight Watchers, and Argentina black bean pizza is really yummy (when I was 100 lbs., I ate the black bean pizza everyday ... low in mozzarella, just parmesan (less fat)). The black-bean pizza is very low in salt.

Here is a link that might be useful: Straw's Pinterest of Veges and Vegetarian

Lots of choices. A good idea Barb to print out a few lists of good healthy ingredients. Google 'healthy foods list'. (I'll link one)
When you shop just buy one of everything you actually like and pick a few for your pizza.
Use a flour tortilla, but read the calorie count on the back. Some are 60 and some are up to 150 calories. The best ones are in the fridge section and have fewer ingredients. You don't want the added salts and sugars.
Look for the low fat low salt mozzarella in block form. Pre ground/grated cheese has additives to keep them from clumping. Just cube it yourself, 1/4 cup. Parm is best in block form, just grate it yourself, 2 tbsp.
You can load up on veggies.
A good one is to slice one small onion, or 1/2 med onion in a small sauce pan on low heat, no oil needed if on low.
Add aprox one cup frozen shopped spinach to the onion and cover to steam. Add grated or cubed very small, one third sweet potato and a grated half carrot. Steam for 10 minutes, then turn off heat and uncover. This will release some moisture.
You can stem your veggies so they are a bit separate in your pan so when you place them on your pizza it is not a big glob.

I like the sweet potato and carrot smashed around the outer edge, the onion, mushroom, red pepper in the middle with one sliced roma tomato or 6 cherry tomatoes sliced in half, cut side up.
Parmesan sprinkled on the sweet potato and cubes of mozz around/on the center veggies...
It will not be soggy if you pre-steam your veggies.
Place on parchment on cookie sheet, on rack in upper third of pre heated 400 oven. Should crisp top and bottom in 10-12 minutes.
6-8 inch individual pizza is 4-500 calories.
(avoid store bought sauces...lots of bad sugars and salt)

I make a stuffed grilled portobella mushroom that has all the flavors of pizza but low carb and mushrooms don't contribute much to the fat. You still have to watch the cheese and toppings, avoiding greasy fatty ones. A good thin whole wheat crust is also not too bad. I actually like pizzas with thin crust, sharper cheese and less of it (I'm getting kinda lactose intolerant), and with more veggies. I find the greasy fatty ones hard to choke down and even harder to digest! The basics of pizza are so yummy there is a lot of room for tweaking! I was really surprised when I made the mushroom dish, I though, "Pizza flavor without the carbs!" But then I like mushrooms on my wheat crust pizza too!

Using cauliflower, garlic, and herbs for the crust helps, too. It's more of a knife and fork meal, though.

I got so much more than I hoped for. I really like all veggies (peppers, onions, etc). It is the tomato sauce I love, but the sodium count on all of them just make me put them back down in the grocery store. I need a salt=free one, but then I have found out that the nightshade veggies are my trigger foods. I have to think hard on this.

Food on a stump, you are giving your dog clogged arteries (just joking). Thanks all. Barb

I agree that rather than try to skimp on the toppings, have 1 great slice and a salad or something else filling and healthy on the side. I love all veggie toppings and flavorful cheese, and would rather have the one great slice than any low-cal pretend stuff.

Alexa

barb_roselover_in-

I'd like to introduce you to tomato powder. Only 25 mg sodium per 2 tablespoons. I make enough sauce for a 12-inch pizza using 1 T. tomato powder, water to thickness you like (3-4 T.), Italian or Pizza Seasonings, shot of vinegar and a little sweetener of choice. You can make tomato sauce (1:4 ratio tomato powder to water) or tomato paste (1:3 ration).

Since switching to tomato powder, I have been able to eliminate any number of things from storage and make them with tomato powder, water, and a few other pantry ingredients. I purchase it in large quantities, but if you check out The Spice House, you can find it in smaller quantities if you'd like to give it a try.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Powder - Emergency Essentials

The easiest tomato sauce is whazz up a tin of tomatoes, add some crushed garlic, herbs and seasoning and simmer til the thickness youlike.

Try meatzza for yummy low carb pizza. There are many recipes online. Nigella has one.

Also CHicagoland.s Malnati restaurants have a dough less low carb pizza. I count carbs.

islay carbel, what is "whazz up a tin of tomatoes"? I have no idea what "whazz" means.

Arkansas girl, I think she meant "whizz up" (i.e., with a blender or food processor) to make a tomato sauce.

Sue

Thank you Sue!

There is an edit feature now, you could go and edit the post.

I think low calorie pizza is an oxymoron. Just eat less. I refuse to eat foods packaged as fat free or low fat unless it is simply naturally fat free or low fat. Most prepared foods that are fat free and low fat have things added that are worse for you than the regular full fat is in the first place. Also, if trying to lose weight, low carb is MUCH more important than the fat grams. So really pizza is not a food you should really be eating if you want to lose weight. But if you insist on eating pizza then make a homemade pizza with whole wheat crust, a sauce and a sprinkling of mozz cheese. I personally eat all the cheese and meat my heart desires and never gain any weight. I stay very active, but I prefer to eat low carb to maintain a trim body. I have found that carbs are the root of obesity and NOT fat grams.