Poor Man's Pizza

Another recipe from the mind of Radioguy...

Wifey and I are on the low-carb diet thing, and have been for a few years now. "Believe you me," - it really isn't that bad. Smart substitutions for everyday ingredients make the low-carb lifestyle very easy. Thursday nights are our "low-carb pizza nights," that is, we get a low-carb pizza each Thursday night from Pappa Murphy's. Well, I am a big pizza fan, so I came up with something to tide me over until Thursday nights...

POOR MAN'S (LOW-CARB) PIZZA

INGREDIENTS

• 4 slices of bread (or 2 flour tortillas)
• pasta sauce
• onion, chopped
• green bell pepper, chopped
• cheddar cheese, shredded

This one is an easy-cooking meal. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spritz a cookie sheet with vegetable oil. Place the bread (or tortillas) on the sheet, and spritz them with oil. Thinly spread pasta sauce on top of the bread (or tortillas). Add toppings, witht the cheese on top. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until bread (or tortilas) are crispy and easily removeable from the cookie sheet. Serve hot.

This recipe is a winner, I think. Much more "family friendly" than the "fried spaghetti" or "burnt weenie sandwich" recipies I've been tossing about.

ANOTHER GREAT BBQ SAUCE

Here's another sauce for you BBQ nuts... This one is different from the "regular" sauce I cook/use, most notably that it does not use tomato paste or beer, and that it uses mustard as a key ingredient. I haven't got a disctinctive name for the sauce yet. For now, it's just "Radioguy's BBQ Sauce with Mustard."

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon gound thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon gound black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon ground oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt or salt substitute
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 cup blackstrap molasses
• 1/2 cup yellow mustard
• 1/2 cup dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preparation

Combine dry ingredients in a food processor and mix/grind until the mixture obtains an even consistency (ground pretty fine), then place dry mixture into a medium-sized saucepan. Add the wet ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionly (so as the molasses and sugar don't burn the bottom of the saucepan). Pour into a glass jar (I use an empty 16 oz. beer bottle with a ceramic stopper).

This sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three months. It is great with chicken, hot dogs, ham, etc.