Should You Wipe the Grease Off Your Pizza?

I don’t know about you, but we’ve been having more pizza than usual. Back to school is the new holiday season … I’m a chicken without a head. How much damage are you doing by serving dinner out of square cardboard boxes? (Off topic, we need an easier system. Throwing away pizza boxes away ruins my mood.) We know pizza isn’t necessarily healthy, but it is better than waffles with ice cream for dinner.

Pizza Nutrition Facts:

Calories in one plain slice: 275

Fat: 10g

Extra Grease: there are some non-scientific, but sound from a common sense standpoint, studies showing that depending on how greasy your pizza guy makes it, taking the grease off of the slice can save you anywhere from 20 – 50 calories (35 calories on average.) Have a couple slices and this definitely adds up calorically. Additionally, there is no nutritional value in the orange stuff floating on top, so by all means, grab a clean napkin and blot away.

How to make pizza night a little healthier:

Avoid processed meat toppings, and instead opt for veggie options like broccoli or eggplant.

Serve water instead of soda.

Put out some raw, pre-cut veggies before the pizza arrives, so everyone gets in some of the good stuff and isn’t famished when the pizza arrives.

Get a side salad and insist everyone has a little.

Sit down as you would at a normal meal, and your people will be less inclined to overeat.

Of course, you could always make your own with whole wheat crusts and mostly skim cheese, but this kind of defeats my rationale for ordering in the first place, which is I don’t have to do more than make a call and throw away the boxes. But, if you are in the mood for a healthy pizza option, AND have the time, Amy swears by these cauliflower crusts.

TRY:

Zucchini Bottomed Pizza Bites