I found this recipe on instructables.com, but the original pizza crust is meant for a 9×13 pan. I don’t need one that big. I basically cut it in about half…but the original calls for 8oz of cream cheese… I had one of those 3oz blocks in my fridge. So rather than go out and buy another one… I used what I had and it worked out rather well. With all this cheese and egg, it’s not only high in protein, but it’s a darn good gluten-free pizza alternative if you’re looking for something to fit that bill.

I topped my pizza with some homemade sauce, pepperoni, onion, some of my pickled jalapenos, some left over chicken and some mozzarella cheese. It turned out rather well. Now, tween the crust and what’s on top… there’s a LOT of cheese in this. This ain’t something I’ll be doing every week… but this could become a nice alternative to other pizza option. Yes, I could do tortilla crusts, but this had a nice thickness too it like a real, pan-style pizza.

I may have to try a full size batch of this next time but make maybe 3 smaller sized crusts and see how they hold up to freezing. That way you can make these up ahead of time to have on hand for when the urge for pizza hits.

One way to cut down on the overall cheese would be to use this crust to make some “goat cheese” pizza or use a light amount of feta or other strong cheese. You can then use less cheese on top and still get some decent flavor. I may also try incorporating some flax in to the next batch. Hit up my recipe site for the specifics on this as well as some “in progress” photos.

Ok, so a couple weeks ago I wrote about the pretzels and cookie bites. Like I said before, the folks at Kay’s sent me out a box of samples to try out and tell you all about. This last week I munched on some of their flavors of Protein Chips.

Now, I have to confess, when I first tried these out over a year ago… I didn’t like them. The had a decent flavor, but they were.. I dunno.. hard, dry, like a too-thick cracker or something and just didn’t do anything for me. I think I still have a partial package sitting in the back of my cupboard somewhere.

So yea, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to these, cause while I have no problem telling you all what I think, I wasn’t thrilled about writing a bad review. Well… silly me.

I don’t know when it happened, but they’ve changed how they make these things… and I love ‘em. They’re more of a… puff. Real light, airy, crispy and crunchy. And the flavor is still .. actually might even be better than I remember. The weird thing is, I think the picture on the package is what they used to look like, not so much what they look like now. And of course once I opened them I was too busy munching on them to think of taking a picture.

They’re pretty much the same texture I enjoyed with the cookie bites… but a savory flavor instead of sweet. And like the other stuff, they’re “high” protein, gluten free, no trans fats, and overall a pretty decent snack.

The Crispy Parmesan and the Chili Nacho Cheese were my favorites.. the Lemon Herb was.. it was ok, but not one I would likely buy for myself. The other flavors, I’ll be getting some more of. There’s a couple of small stores not too far from me that carry their stuff. If you can’t find Kay’s Naturals products at a store near you, you can order them through their website or other online venues.

Next up I’ll let you know what I think of their cereals!

I’ve tried a few Kay’s Naturals products over the last couple of years, and have pretty much enjoyed them – they’re gluten free, have some nice protein (via soy protein) in them, typically pretty low in fat, not too bad on the carb front, and the ones I’ve had have been pretty good. Well recently someone from Kay’s contacted me on Twitter and wanted to know if I would like some samples to do a review on… and well, I figured, hey.. free stuff, right? Why not?

Well, I got home the other day to find a box on my front steps, and when I opened it.. it was full of lil packets of some pretty good stuff. About a dozen in all actually. I’ve been trying to decide the best way to tackle this… cause even if I ate one package a day, we’re looking at a couple weeks worth of snacking here. So maybe I’ll just hit up a few at a time as I check them out.

One of the first ones that caught my attention was the “Honey Flavored, Almond Filled Protein+ Cookie Bites”. 100 calories, 3g fiber, 2.5g fat and 10g of protein in this 1 ounce package.

I had them with my lunch… and well, they’re good.  I could taste the almond more than the honey… but they didn’t make me think cookie at all. Maybe it’s cause they weren’t overly sweet or anything.

When I first opened the package my first thought was “shredded wheat”. That’s kinda what they looked like to me. But they’re not wheat… They’re very light and airy, they have a good crunch to them. I don’t know what they would have been like in a bowl of milk, but they did remind me more of a cereal than a cookie. Maybe sort of a grown up, healthier version of Cookie Crunch cereal?

There’s only one store near me that I’ve found Kay’s Naturals… and I haven’t seen these there before, but I’m going to ask next time I go, cause yea, I could see having these again.

The one I have found, and have bought on a regular basis are the Cinnamon Pretzel Sticks. They’re 120 Calories with 10g of protein, again from soy, and of course gluten free.

My favorite way to eat these is dipping in peanut butter. There’s must something bout that mix of cinnamon, crunchiness and peanut butter I love. I’ve often packed this as a snack to have when out for a day of bike riding or paintball. That said though, just like the Cookie Bites do not remind me of any sort of cookie, these really don’t remind me of pretzels in any way except the shape (sticks). Maybe it’s the cinnamon?

Well, it’s likely more the texture. To me, pretzel sticks have almost a flakiness to them that these don’t.

If you’re looking for something that’s gonna be a substitute for your typical salty, crispy pretzel sticks… I’m not sure this is gonna do it for you – but they are worth trying out on their own merits.

They also have the Jalapeno Honey Mustard Pretzel Sticks, same basic stats. I’m still undecided on these. the texture and such is the same as the Cinnamon Toast ones, which is neither good nor bad, but I’m not sure I care for the flavor. Don’t get me wrong, anyone that knows me, knows I love me some hot peppers. But I dunno… on their own they just haven’t impressed me all that much.

I still have a bunch of other stuff to check out, including some cereals and their “protein bites”.

If you can’t find Kay’s Naturals products at a store near you, you can order them through their website or other online venues.

all images copyright Kay’s Naturals

Being a guy, and a soon to be former fat dude, I miss chips.

I miss a lot of stupid things but we wouldn’t have been pouched if we didn’t, now would we?

This is a protein serving that isn’t bad at all and it is portable. You can take it anywhere. It wont melt or spoil and I really like them.

Kay’s Naturals make several chips and cereals that act as meal replacements. I just had a Jalapeno Honey Mustard Pretzel Sticks and it was good. I can take these hunting or fishing and not sweat it.

The numbers look like this. Calories 120, Total Fat 5g, Sat fat 1.5g, Sodium 150mg, Total Carbs 9g, Fiber 3g, sugars 2g, Protein 10g.

That is on plan for my Doc. I buy mine at Max Muscle near me, but you can go online  http://kaysnaturals.com/ and buy them there if you want.