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Pizza can be quick and easy - just dial the phone and order delivery, right? Or grab a frozen pizza from the grocery store and pop it in the oven? Sure, but a typical slice of pizza is loaded with saturated fat, sodium and calories (and it tastes so good it's easy to eat way too much). The quick part of pizza is easy to see, but the healthy part is much more difficult to find.
The best way to have quick and healthy pizza is to make your own. I know that making a typical pizza crust is time consuming, but you can work around that by buying a pre-made pizza crust from the grocery store (look for whole grain crusts for extra fiber). Since you make your own pizza at home, you have more control over the nutritional content of your pizza.
Start with plenty of pizza sauce (processed tomato sauces are a great source of lycopene). Avoid the greasy sausage and pepperoni slices and add cooked chicken pieces, or go meatless and top with plenty of healthy vegetables like spinach, onions, sun-dried tomatoes, peppers and mushrooms.
Now, really, your home baked pizza sound very healthy, but what about the cheese? That's another possible problem. A little bit of cheese is good for you - it adds calcium and protein to your diet, but too much cheese gives you more saturated fat than you need. So sprinkle just a modest amount of shredded cheese on your pizza - no need to cover everything with it. Or you can try your hand at a vegan pizza that calls for rice "cheese" that's low in fat with no saturated fat.
Once your pizza is baked and ready to eat, serve it with a green salad with even more vegetables (make it easy by using prepared bagged salads and precut vegetables, or take a quick trip through the salad bar at the grocery store).
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