10 reasons not to eat pizza

1. Its passover...not that that has stopped me from forgetting other forbidden things...
2. White Flour has a glycemic index of 100 and turns straight to sugar in your body in a matter of minutes leading to the same crash associated with downing a coke
3. That white crust pizza is chock full of gluten which can be bad for those insensitive to it who don't even know...especially the kids.
4. Processed cheese...I don't even remember the last time that stuff saw a cow - if ever...and I can guarantee that cow was not fed grass or treated humanely and was pumped chock full of hormones and antibiotics.
5. Pepperoni is well...tasty but do you really want to think about what's in there
6. Tomato sauce that hasn't seen tomatoes...ever
7. What is that stuff in those shakers...
8. Bread topped with processed cheese and a poor excuse for watered down ketchup...would you really make this at home?
9. The grease that comes off on the napkins...yum, imagine that in your arteries...
10. Something I read online: the stomach gets different juices for digesting the food and the composition of the juice is based on what your breakfast/lunch/dinner consisted of. Since the juices produced for digesting bread and meat/cheese are so completely different, it makes it very unhealthy for your stomach to get the mixture of bread/meat and cheese in it. This could extend to why sandwiches and burgers on buns are also probably not so "healthy".

Reading this would send any normal person to scream, sweat and panic! What can I do? My kids demand pizza. I have a craving. Doesn't it make sense to feed a craving???

Possibly. If you live in New York - there is a wonderful pizza place called Cafe Viva. It is on Broadway between 97th and 98th streets. They have spelt pizza crust topped with tofu, pesto, caramalized onions, spinach and I think there might have even been squash on top. It is called the zen pizza. They have a series of whole wheat crusts as well without cheese or with at least fresh mozzarella and something that actually resembles basil. I love this place. Also there is this other great place called Slice on the east side at 2nd avenue and 74th street. They have organic crusts made from whole wheat or rice if you are gluten intolerant and they have soy cheese or cheeseless crusts covered with lovely veggies so you don't miss the greasy cheese. Try these instead or try this recipe for crust at home, toppings to follow:

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 C flax seed meal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• Sweetener to equal about 1 Tablespoon of sugar
• 3 Tablespoons of oil
• 3 eggs
• `1/2 C water

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 F.

1. Mix dry ingredients together.
   
2. Add wet ingredients, and mix very well.
   
3. Let sit for about 5 minutes to thicken.
   
4. Spread on pan (I put it on a silicon mat or greased parchment paper).
   
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes until cooked through, then add toppings and cook until they are done.

I would top with an almond or soy cheese, medium crumbled tofu soaked in herb pesto with oregano and fresh garlic or goat cheese, fresh ricotta or mozzarella (I've even seen goat mozzarella from farms, I got some from Dove Song Dairy delivered through the Traditional Nutrition Guild) and a fresh marinara sauce made from organic tomatoes imported from Italy (they sell these at trader joes for super cheap, so no complaints on cost here!), a bit of olive oil and 6 cloves of garlic, salt and pepper. It maybe takes 20 minutes to make this sauce. If you are a little more industrious and fresh plum tomatoes are available - blanch the tomatoes to remove the skin - cut up and put in the pot, add the oil and garlic. Cook for 30-45 minutes. Real simple! This is how sauce should be. Add fresh spinach or brocolli, even some pepperoni if you must...or sausage - but make sure its good quality.

Or head to Cafe Viva or Slice. I'll see you there (after passover...just a few more days), chomping down and satisfying my craving. You'll be happier you did!