Portion Sizes and Pizza with sweet potato fries

My delicious and nutritious dinner tonight (other than the glass of wine) was a flatbread pizza and baked sweet potato fries! Recipe below!

So you may be wondering why the pizza looks so big compared to the plate.  For the past year I have been eating off of smaller plates to make it seem like I am eating a full, big plate. They say you eat with your eyes! Another trick to keep portions in control is to eat cereal out of a 8-16 oz mug.  Honestly, those little changes have helped me loss weight and control my portions.  

*Tip to Watch your Portions!*

• Your palm and a deck of cards= 3 oz: amount of one serving of fish or beef
• Checkbook= 3 oz chicken
• Cupped palm of your hand or 23 almonds= 1 oz of nuts
• A baseball= 1 cup of cereal
• A tennis ball = 1 cup of pasta
• A ping-pong ball= 1 oz of cheese or 2 tbsp of peanut butter
• A light bulb= 1/2 c of fruit (1 serving)
• Small fist= 1/2 cup of vegetables (1 serving)
• 1 shot glass= 2 Tbsp of salad dressing
• Your thumb is around a tablespoon
• Eat out of a small mug or small plate

Recipe for guilt-free pizza and sweet potato fries:

Whole Wheat Veggie Pizza

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

• 1- "Flatout" 100% whole wheat flat bread (other crust options below)
• 1/8 can( 15 oz can) of "Don Pepino" Pizza sauce
• 1/4 cup of Part-skim shredded mozzarella, divided
• Sprinkle of garlic powder
• Sprinkle of pepper
• Sprinkle of oregano
• Toppings: Red pepper, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions (More additions= more nutritious and you usually use less cheese!)

Directions:

1. Each person gets their own flatbread (100 cal each). 
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Add pizza sauce and 3/4 of the cheese.
4. Add favorite toppings and than remaining cheese on top.
5. Bake for 10 min (until cheese is brown)

*Other crust options: Buy a whole wheat dough ball and flatten to a flatbread or a thicker crust. I usually bake for a couple minutes before adding the sauce, cheese, and toppings. Or make a cauliflower crust pizza. Sometimes I even make a pizza on a tortilla!

Sweet Potato Fries

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

• 1 sweet potato
• 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
• Sprinkle of garlic Powder
• Sprinkle of onion Powder
• Sprinkle of pepper
• Sprinkle of paprika

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut up a sweet potato (the skinner the slices, the more crisp they will be!). Make sure you have a good knife because they can be difficult to cut.
3. On a baking sheet, mix sweet potato slices with remaining ingredients.
4. Place sweet potatoes on baking sheet, but make sure they do not over lap each other so they can get evenly baked.
5. Bake for 30 min and flip the slices.
6. Bake for another 15-20 minutes, depending on your perfect "crispness".
7. Than enjoy these guilt-free fries!!