Last night was Make Mr. Prevention Happy Night, also known as pizza night. I wanted to try a pizza crust recipe that caught my eye…and I’m so glad I did! Keep reading 😉
One of the best things about making homemade pizza…you can please multiple people all at the same time.
Mr. P’s toppings: 2% mozzarella cheese with turkey pepperoni (*yawn*)
My toppings: pesto, 2% mozzarella cheese, pine nuts, cherry tomatoes, shallots, garlic, and parmigiano reggiano shavings
Parmesan Pizza Crust from How Sweet It Is
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp honey
3/4 cup lukewarm water
Directions:
In a large bowl combine flour, salt, yeast and Parmesan cheese. Mix with a spoon and create a well in the middle. Add in 3/4 cups water, honey and olive oil. Stir with a spoon until dough comes together. Continue to form into a ball with your hands. If more water is needed, add it by the tablespoon.
Knead dough for 1-2 minutes before placing it in a lightly oiled bowl and covering. Let rise for 1 1/2-2 hours.
Preheat oven to 425° F.
Roll dough to desired pizza dough thickness and place onto a pizza pan. Allow to rise 5-10 minutes. Pre-bake crust without toppings for 4-6 minutes. Remove crust from oven and layer with toppings. Return pizza to oven for 10-12 minutes or until cheese just begins to brown. Serves 5.
Nutrition Information (for 1/5th of crust): 276 calories; 7.8 g. fat; 3 mg. cholesterol; 489 mg. sodium; 39 g. carbohydrate; 4.8 g. fiber; 5.8 g. protein
Result: I looooved this crust! The Parmesan cheese adds such a richness…without a ton of calories. I love the whole wheat pastry flour that gives the health benefits of whole wheat without the overly dense, whole grain taste of other wheat pizza crusts. Definitely give this one a try! Yum! 😀
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Morgan of Healthy Happy Place requested I write about bone density on my blog.
Firstly, this is a great topic…thanks, Morgan. It’s a common misunderstanding that getting enough dairy servings each day is what preserves our bones, but bone health goes far beyond calcium and Vitamin D. In fact, most vitamins and minerals play some role in bone health and density.
FUN FACT: Healthy women’s bodies contain 2 POUNDS of calcium! And healthy men’s bodies contain 2 1/2 to 3 POUNDS of calcium!
- Limit alcohol — alcohol can reduce the amount of calcium your body absorbs.
- Limit sodium (2,300 milligram a day or less) and reduce the use of processed foods. There are conflicting studies on the validity of sodium’s role in bone health, but it is wise to limit sodium regardless.
- Adequate potassium (4,700 mg. for healthy adults)
- Limit carbonated beverages (study on the association between soda and bone health)
- Avoid excessive caffeine intake — caffeine can increase the amount of calcium your body loses through urine
- Calcium DRI (Dietary Reference Intake): 1300 milligrams daily for those 9 to 18 years old, 1000 milligrams daily for those 19 to 50, and 1200 milligrams daily for those older than 50
- Vitamin D recommendations: ages 14-50 years old need 200 International Units (IU) or 5 micrograms daily, and ages 51-70 years need 400 IU or 10 micrograms daily, and those over 71 need 600 IU or 15 micrograms daily
In addition to a sound diet, physical activity is a vital part of bone health. Ideally, physical activity should include both cardiovascular and strength-training.
Question: What’s one thing you think you could do to improve your bone density or bone health?
I could drink water instead of beer with my pizza, for starters 😉 And add more strength training to my workout regimen.
TGIF,
So glad you liked the crust! We love it too. ๐
The pizza looks perfect!!!! We need to have a pizza party soon, with some of the Octoberfest (Great LAkes) that I bought yesterday ๐
BTW, you should become a member of CDA! We had a great meeting yesterday, which focused on school nutrition.
Anyway, regarding the bone density, I need to do more weight-bearing exercises. I use the elliptical all the time and I have sort of given up on walking/running. This is no bueno.
That pizza looks better than take out!!!
Great info on bone health, thanks for sharing! I could use some more strength training…
Your pizza looks incredible – I love your toppings, and that Parm crust!! A whole wheat parm crust sounds perfect to me! ๐ We have BL Wheat in the fridge too – high five! ๐
Thank you for the great info about bone density – osteo runs in my family, so I’m always grateful to learn more about prevention. How much caffeine would you say is excessive/harmful to bone density? Is there an “acceptable” caffeine intake? I recently started drinking a little coffee again after being caffeine free for quite a while, and I’m a bit worried about it, so I would really appreciate your advice! Thank you so much!
I’m so sorry I’ve been away for a while (more health issues, sigh) – I’m so happy to be back, reading and catching up on one of my favorite blogs – yours! ๐
Ooh, I remember this crust!! I’ve been wanting to make it!
I love how your pizza is divided into “his and hers” sections ๐
I feel like osteoporosis and bone density are huge issues for women, naturally, but I thought I’d point out that it’s not their issue alone. My husband got a Dexa scan and found out that he has ostopenia, the early stages of osteoporosis. It’s important for everyone to get enough bone-building vitamins and minerals and do plenty of weight-baring exercises to keep bones healthy. ๐
YUM! The pizza crust looks great. I love homemade pizza! In order to improve my bone density, I could limit my alcohol drinking. I may have a glass of wine while making dinner so no bigger, however, I definitely binged drank this past weekend and it is still catching up to me ๐
Homemade pizza crust is the best! I think I could improve my bone density/bone health is to limit my caffeine.
This is great, thanks! I try to get my calcium from leafy greens and beans since I can’t eat dairy ๐
That does look delicious, and your toppings look great! I had a question — is it OK that I don’t take any supplements (vitamins, etc.). Everyone is always telling me to take them, but they upset my stomach, and I feel like a balanced diet could give me all of the nutrients I need, right?
I have to say your toppings definitely sound amazing. Sounds like a restaurant perfect pizza, and I’m talking one of those really good pizza specialty joints.
That pizza looks delicious. Some nights I REALLY crave pizza, you know? And delivery just won’t cut it ๐
Love the info, as usual. I’ve never been a vitamin-taker except for the chewable Flinstones vites when I was little, haha. But I feel like maybe incorporating more bone strengthening foods and exercises into my routine could help ๐
I just learned last year that even though you stop growing around age 18 (for girls), your bones continue to build up density until you are 30. So I’m taking full advantage of the next 7 years and stocking up as much as I can. I think I’m doing pretty good on the food front, I just need to increase my bone building exercise!
Looks yummy! How come you only got 1/4 of the pizza! ๐
It was pizza night for us as well. But ours was a down and dirty white flour crust with greasy sauce. At least I only had a little cheese and some meatless greens on my side. Hubster went all the way over the “dark side” with sausage ๐
Bone health: good nutrition. limit the “cheat days”. incorporate weight training in with a daily aerobic routine.
I love thin crust pizza and yours looks delicious! Great info on bone health, thanks for sharing, Nicole! Happy Friday! ๐
thats pretty low in sodium!! nice!
thin crunchy crusts are the best- this looks like a fabulous meal <3 <3
xoxo
Yeah, your topping are MUCH better and tastier ๐ Especially those Parmesan shavings – I’ll bet they added a great bite!
Thanks for the great info about building and maintaining bone density! I think a lot of women (and men!) are confused about bone density. Or they don’t think about it at all, even though it’s so important! Thanks also for including non-dairy sources of Ca ๐
Have a great weekend, Nicole!
That crust sounds delish! I have never attempted making my own crust. I really should give it a try.
I have started to include more weight training in my workouts!
Have a great weekend, Nicole!
I never thought to add Parmesan to my crust – great idea! I am making Mexican pizza tonight – can’t wait!
The pizza looks great. I have to say, though, that I’m looking for some folks to please me — not the other way around. ๐ My days of altruism are over. Kind of…
I saw this crust on Jessica’s blog–you just reminded me I wanted to try it–glad you enjoyed it! Have a super weekend Nicole!
This pizza crust does sound great. I agree with you…the amount of people you can please with one pizza is astounding. xo
I haven’t made that type of crust before!! It looks amazing!
Have you ever heard of using cauliflower as a pizza base? I’m going to try that next
Wow…CHEESY crust!! That’s like double the cheese on pizza. I LOVE that!
I think I probably need to get my period…how does a female’s menstruation play into bone density?
Yum.
I think I could pay more attention to my sodium intake. It’s one of the few things that I don’t pay attention to and I’m sure I eat way too much.
Pizza looks so lovely, adding cheese and honey in the pizza dough is something new, will surely try it next time..
I went with regular all-purpose wheat flour that I had hanging out in the cupboard, but left everything else the same in the recipe. And…YUM. I’m already planning our next pizza night!
Your pizzas always look good! Interesting facts about bone density. Lucky for me I’m doing most of them…..now ๐
Pizza is actually modern Italian for pie. The origin of the term is murky but is said to be derived from an Old Italian word meaning “a point,” which later evolved to the Italian word pizzicare, meaning “to pinch or pluck.” A Neapolitan dialect of the word first shows up in print in 1000 A.D. in the form of picea or piza, assumably referring to the way way|the method in which} the hot pie is plucked from the oven.