Pizza Diet: Week 4

Feelings after week 3: I think I may be done with this crazy idea... not only is it very difficult to eat pizza for every meal (I still haven't had time to make breakfast pizza), I am sad to say that I am getting a little sick of it.  So it is probably better to stop eating it now before I make myself sick so I can continue to enjoy it in the future.  My last post from Wednesday was about working out to burn off the pizza calories but I honestly think I just need to change my diet back to something normal.  I'll finish off this final week as I have some good recipes planned but this may be the end of my pizza diet...

10/29/15: I had the last leftovers of mac & cheese pizza for lunch and splurged on My Burger's BOM (Burger of the Month) for dinner because I hadn't tried it yet and October is almost over!

10/30/15: Red Baron pepperoni & sausage leftovers for lunch!  We'll see what happens for dinner as we're trying to revive Friday Night Dinner with the fam-neighbors and we rarely ever go someplace that has pizza. Update- I had steak and ribs for dinner at TGI Friday's.  They were delicious.

10/31/15: For lunch I had pizza pinwheels (puff pastry dough, pizza sauce, cheese and pepperonis!).  This afternoon, my mom and I went to see Koo Koo Kangaroo today- she plays their songs in her classroom and she knows all the words and dance moves.  They're an awesome duo who sing songs mostly for kids about cool things like pooping, unicorns and, as it turns out- pizza!  Check out this song (there's also a book) called "All I Eat is Pizza!"  It is like they were speaking directly to me.



11/1/15: I had my leftover pizza pinwheels for lunch today.  When I got home from working at Southdale, I had leftover steak and mashed potatoes and cooked up some brussels sprouts that I got from church!  Yum!

11/2/15: Tonight I made a chicken alfredo pizza with a homemade alfredo sauce, chopped up grilled chicken breast from last week and a sprinkling of Tastefully Simple's Bacon Bacon because I ate all of my leftover bacon from last week.

11/3/15: I enjoyed the last leftovers of baked potato and cheese curd pizza for lunch today.  When I got home after working at 2 jobs, I threw a Red Baron Mexican pizza in the oven.  I seriously love these Red Baron pizzas- not one that I've tried has been bad!  This pizza has spicy sauce (which I don't normally like), veggies (like green peppers and onions) and tortilla chips on it.  It was surprisingly good, especially with my favorite condiment of sour cream. 

11/4/15: Leftover Mexcian pizza for lunch and chicken alfredo pizza for dinner!  I'm even thinking about having a salad with my dinner pizza- GASP.

Conclusion: This is it, y'all.  I will eat some more leftovers and probably cook one last Red Baron frozen pizza at some point in the near future but I don't have any more pizza plans.  I was thinking about starting a mac & cheese-only diet as I'm broke and mac & cheese is cheap (also I don't like ramen) but that doesn't seem to be too good for me either.  I haven't lost any weight eating pizza (I didn't think I would) but I also haven't GAINED any weight so that's a plus.  So here's to a healthy diet of clean foods, lots of water and routinely exercising because eating pizza every day is exhausting, if not pretty tasty.

Pizza Diet: Week 3

Feelings after 2 weeks: I knew that my traveling this week would prevent me from eating pizza for lunch and dinner (as lunch has been included in most of my graduate fairs and has mostly consisted of salad or sandwiches).  I also have my monthly friend with me this week which makes me nauseated at even my favorite foods sometimes so it has been a little tricking finding things to eat that won't make me feel sick.  I still love pizza though.


10/22/15: Tonight I was in the Peoria area.  I was actually staying in Pekin and after a 25 minute drive from Peoria to my hotel, I wasn't feeling in the mood to drive back to "town".  After browsing Yelp for like half an hour at all of my restaurant options, I finally placed a carryout order from a place called Monical's Pizza.  When I got to Monical's it reminded me of a smaller Davanni's.  Monical's is a chain around Illinois, it seems, as I passed many more on my way out of the state.  I read a review that the breadsticks were like giant pretzel sticks and tasted great with nacho cheese sauce so I got those and a thin crust sausage pizza.  The pizza was nothing to be marveled at.  The breadsticks, while they did have a pretzel-like quality to them, weren't that great.  I was pretty underwhelmed.

10/23/15: I ate in the cafeteria at Millikin University today in Decatur, IL where I enjoyed one piece of cheese pizza along with mashed potatoes and a milkshake.  It made me miss caf food and at the same time, made me happy we don't have an all-you-can-eat caf at St. Kate's like we did at Winona.  I literally ate nothing but pizza for about a year's worth of lunches in Winona because I didn't love my other options (although they were vast and there were many other things I should have eaten).  The milkshake was a nice touch.  On my way home I had McDonald's breakfast (for lunch!) and Culver's cheese curds for dinner.

10/24/15: Home sweet home!  I threw a Red Baron sausage and pepperoni pizza in the oven for lunch.  I forgot to take a picture of it but it was pretty tasty.  I've actually been impressed by the Red Baron frozen pizzas.  I had LeeAnn Chin for dinner- I was really craving Chinese food.

10/25/15: I made PastaRoni shells & cheese for lunch today.  It was pretty gross.  My intent on making the mac & cheese was to use the leftovers for pizza for dinner sometime this week but since I didn't really like it all that much, I was worried about how it would taste on pizza.  The good news is that my motto remains true- if you put enough cheese on it, anything will taste good.  I used a pre-made thin pizza crust, brushed it with olive oil, put down a foundation of shredded mozzarella then topped it with the leftover mac & cheese.  I then chopped up a bunch of white cheddar Ellsworth cheese curds and sprinkled those on top with the remaining mozz.  When the pizza was done, I sprinkled my Tastefully Simple pizzeria seasoning on top and voila!  It was SO GOOD.  I impress myself sometimes.

10/26/15: Red Baron sausage & pepperoni leftovers for lunch.  For DINNER I made a delicious half & half pizza- half baked potato, half cheese curd.  I "baked" potatoes in the microwave then mashed them up with butter and a little cream.  I then dusted the pizza dough with mozzarella, smooshed the potatoes over half the crust, added bacon and cheddar cheese then topped it with Tastefully Simple Onion Onion seasoning as I had no onions.  For the other half, I tossed a bunch of cheese curds on the dough and dumped the rest of the mozzarella cheese on it.  I sprinkled Tastefully Simple Pizzeria seasoning on top of that for some extra flavor.  I enjoyed fresh baked potato pizza with a dollop of sour cream for dinner!

10/27/15: Leftover day! Mac & cheese pizza for lunch.  Cheese curd pizza for dinner.

10/28/15: Leftover day part 2!  Baked potato & cheese curd pizza for lunch.  Red Baron sausage & pepperoni pizza for dinner.   As I was falling asleep last night I realized that while I've been eating pizza as I planned, I definitely haven't been working out as planned.  I looked online to see how much I need to exercise to burn off the calories from one piece of pizza (~275 calories).  It looks like I have a lot of running (47 minutes/550 calories), biking (59 minutes/550 calories), walking (72 minutes/550 calories) to do in my near future.  One site suggested 60 minutes of fast-paced ballroom or swing dancing to burn off 290 calories (one slice).  I haven't weighed myself in a while- I'll check on that and incorporate some exercise into my daily routine ASAP.

Pizza Diet: Week 2

Feelings after a week: I'm not sick of pizza yet!  I am a little sick of making my own or eating frozen pizza though.  Making my own pizza has been surprisingly easy and usually pretty quick but I'm craving some restaurant-made pizza.  It doesn't fit into my budget this week but I'm traveling for work next week and have picked out some cool pizza places to try!  Also I weighed myself on Monday morning and again this morning (Thursday) and I've lost 2.5 pounds.  I'm guessing that is due to many factors and not just my pizza diet but I'm still kind of happy about it!

I am honestly not sure what happened on 10/14/15.  It is possible that 10/15/15 is supposed to be 10/14.  Somehow I lost a day here... oh well.

10/15/15: Last night when I got home from work I made chicken-bacon-garlic pizza.  I failed to season the sauce so it was a little bland (that is my weakness in cooking, it seems).  But the crust got nice and crispy so that was a plus.  I accidentally grabbed two containers of this pizza for lunch and dinner today (instead of mixing it up with different leftovers) but it was still good warmed up in the microwave!  I cut the pizza into fancy squares and forgot to take a picture of the whole thing so here's a picture of just a little slice.

10/16/15: On Friday I had some delicious brick oven leftovers for lunch. Then I got home and I was really hungry so I made chili pizza. Eileen (my roommate) made chili and it smelled DELICIOUS. My other roomie Amanda suggested I make a cornbread crust and top it with chili and cheese. My roommates are culinary geniuses and the pizza was delicious. I ate one piece before Liz came over and we ended up at Mesa (her first time!!). It was glorious. 

10/17/15: Chili pizza leftovers today. I think for lunch and dinner... I can't recall. Then Amanda and I went out and she ended up buying a pretzel the size of our heads. It wasn't pizza but it was SO good. 

10/18/15: Today I enjoyed my last chicken bacon garlic leftovers for lunch and chili pizza leftovers for dinner. Then I wanted more cheese (which is funny since Amanda is reading a story now about how cheese is basically as addictive as cocaine, according to science). So I used my new Tastefully Simple pizzeria seasoning on a flat bread topped with perfect Ellsworth cheese curds. Damn good cheesy cracker bread and the pizzeria seasoning is just the flavoring this needed! 

10/19/15: I had pizza leftovers for lunch (cleaned out my fridge!) then began my journey south to Illinois for graduate fairs.  I had Culver's for dinner.  Definitely not pizza but it was pretty delicious anyway...

10/20/15: In Galesburg, IL tonight I went to Baked Pizza and ordered their deep dish-style pizza.  I took it back to my hotel room and ate half of it.  There is something about all that melty, crusty, wonderful cheese that makes the Chicago-style deep dish something to be admired.  However I definitely ate too much and felt uncomfortably full afterwards.  I probably won't be eating deep dish again anytime soon.  Baked the restaurant was adorably cobbled together with vintage tables and chairs, a cool chalkboard wall and records everywhere (not sure if they were decoration or meant to be played).  They also had a cool gallery of art in the back "party" area.  I was the only one in there the entire time I waited for my pizza to be made (about 30 minutes) but then again, it was just barely 5:00 p.m.

10/21/15: In Galesburg, IL for night two, I asked some college reps where I should go for good pizza.  They suggested Baked, which I informed them I had been to the night before, so their second choice was Pizza House.  Pizza House was a cute little place with very friendly wait staff.  I wasn't feeling super great so instead of ordering a pizza, I got a "pizza burger" sub sandwich and mozzarella sticks.  The mozz sticks were clearly prepackaged but were still good.  The pizza burger was what I expected from this "mom & pop" shop- bread, lots of sauce, crumbled meat (I think it was just hamburger) and cheese.  Luckily, there was lots of cheese.  Unluckily, I really don't like pizza sauce all that much and the bread got soggy fast so I basically ate the cheese off the sandwich and finished my cheese sticks.  So healthy, I know.

Pizza Diet: Week 1

10/7/15: I was shopping for a few supplies for a cupcake decorating class I was set to teach on Thursday.  I had $6 to spend.  I was responsible enough with those $6 that I was able to find the cheapest frozen pizza that still looked okay to eat.  I believe it was like $3.24 and I got 3 meals out of it.  #winning.  I decided if I buy frozen pizza I will try to always get the same toppings/crust combo to compare and find out which is my favorite.

Brand: Roma
Type: Original crust, sausage
Size: 11 inches
Cost: $3.24
Review: This was your run of the mill frozen pizza.  It certainly wasn't anything special but it served its purpose and tasted okay.

10/8/15: Today I had the Roma leftovers for breakfast (2 slices) and dinner (2 slices).  I had some chicken tortilla soup for lunch as it was still sitting in my fridge and I didn't want it to go to waste. Like most frozen pizza, it is always better fresh from the oven as opposed to leftover the next day when it is sad and not so crispy anymore but I'm used to that.  I'll have to find a way to jazz up those leftovers!

10/9/15: I received a coupon a few months ago from Davanni's at Cleveland and Grand for a free solo pizza if I spent $5 or more.  I ended up taking an order for a coworker so I got my pizza for free on her order... it worked out nicely for me.  I ordered my favorite white pizza with sausage and ate 2 pieces for lunch and will eat the other 2 pieces for dinner.  I'm a little hungry already (I usually finish the whole solo pizza) but I'm working on my portion control as well (it is hard with pizza!).  I should have eaten a fruit or something but I didn't have anything on me.  I'll be sure to buy some at the grocery store this weekend!  Also more mints to keep at my desk because the white pizza is very garlicky and I have to talk to people all day and night... I also meal planned and wrote up a grocery list for the next week and I'm excited about all the pizza goodness that I will share soon!

10/10/15: I walked a 5K this morning for the Making Strides for Breast Cancer walk.  So yay for exercise!  Of course then I got home, went grocery shopping and had Pizza Rolls for lunch (no picture because they look so unappetizing).  But I only ate 8 pizza rolls instead of the whole box (16) so there I go again with my moderation!  After helping some friends move in the afternoon and catching up on my Must-See-TV, I made Tasty's pizza monkey bread (see the video here!).  It was delicious.  Jaci and I enjoyed it while discussion graduate school and life.  It even tastes good as leftovers!  The biscuit-to-filling ratio was a bit off so I'll increase the filling the next time I make it and you better believe I'll make it again.  Yum!

10/11/15: I had some leftover pizza money bread for lunch today.  For dinner, I made my cheesy-spinach-pesto flat bread.  I didn't find naan flat bread like the recipe called for, instead I found some boring pizza flat breads.  I then failed to read the directions about having to pre-bake the flat bread for extra crispiness so the pizza was a little soggy.  BUT it was delicious and if you put enough cheese on anything, it will be good (in my opinion). 

10/12/15: This popped up in life today.  It is as if BuzzFeed caught wind of the best idea I've ever had then ruined it with its weird suggestions like putting Spaghetti-Os on pizza or using a granola crust (I've decided that doesn't count).  Still, the timing was kind of funny.  For lunch today I had leftover spinach-pesto pizza with heirloom carrots... and a handful of candy corn for dessert.  That was after eating 2 pieces of cinnamon bread, 3 cinnamon sugar donut holes and a chocolate croissant for breakfast.  I have a lot of work to do in the breakfast department... For dinner I was going to make a fancy pizza but it was freaking cold outside with a sad drizzle of rain so I wanted grilled cheese and tomato soup.  I made pizza grilled cheese (cream cheese, pepperonis and mozzarella) which was deliciously enjoyed with the tomato soup.  It was just what I needed!

Yes, I put butter in my tomato soup.  My dad passed down his love of butter to me and I inherited my mom's high cholesterol.

10/13/15: Today I enjoyed my last bit of pizza monkey bread with my leftover tomato soup for lunch.  For dinner I enjoyed Red Baron Brick Oven Meat-Trio Pizza.  I realized after I bought it that there was ham on the pizza as part of the meat trio and I really don't like ham but the pizza was good, despite the less than favorable topping.

Brand: Red Baron
Type: Brick oven crust, Meat Trio
Size: 11 inches?
Cost: $4ish
Review: This was surprisingly good for a frozen pizza.  I don't usually love thick crust but there were lots of toppings and it was tasty!

Ridiculous pizza-themed things that I need

 A ton of tanks, shirts and sweatshirts

Assorted items

And this may be a necessity: http://www.belovedshirts.com/products/pizza-belovesie

The Pizza Diet: So what if I'm a crazy pizza obsessed person?

I came up with this grand idea this summer- all pizza, all the time.  When I mentioned it to my boyfriend at the time, he seemed to think I was crazy.  I decided to put off my grand plans since eating only pizza might have been tricky for date nights and things.  Fast forward to last week when I was discussing my love of pizza with a grad school rep during the fairs I was attending.  I mentioned the pizza diet idea and he thought it was fantastic.  Yesterday I packed a salad for lunch and after forcing myself to eat it, posted on FB about how much I hate salad.  A friend named Jackie asked why I eat salad if I hate it and it was like a light bulb clicked on.  Why DO I eat salad if I hate it?  I literally always want pizza.  So the pizza diet idea is back and in full force.

Also this is just plain funny- I found this on my Timehop this morning AFTER I had written this whole blog post so really the pizza diet is just meant to be.

I did some research this summer to see if anyone else has tried such a "diet".


Here is a man who took it very seriously and was told by his doctor it was okay but he also worked out a ton.

Here's a guy, with diabetes, who apparently only eats cheese pizza because he is a vegetarian but hates vegetables.

This one is my absolute favorite as it is more of a humor piece and more of what I intend to do- eat pizza in various forms. 

So according to the first page on Google when you search "Pizza diet" there are only a handful of people who have discussed this idea on the internet and none of them are women.  Obviously this is a niche I need to fill.

About me!
Age: 27
Favorite food: Pizza (duh).  Also cheese.
Favorite restaurant pizza: Tie between thin crust sausage from Detello's and thin crust white from Davanni's
Favorite at home oven baked pizza: Totino's party pizza
Favorite delivery pizza: Topper's Old School Sausage & Pepperoni
Favorite Mesa pizza slice: Tie between the Southern Gentleman and Mac & Cheese
Fun pizza fact about me: I was in a pizza eating contest a couple years ago!  We had 12 minutes to eat as many pieces of thin crust cheese as we could.  My goal was to beat at least one of the two other women in the contest with me.  I ended up eating 5 slices in 12 minutes (and finished my 6th slice in the 2 minute buffer at the end but it didn't count).  I beat one woman who only ate 4 slices (mission accomplished).  The other woman, who I came to know as professional competitive eater Molly Schuyler, ate 41 slices and won since she ate two times as many pieces of pizza as the second place winners.  She's a badass and she fascinates me.  But even after stuffing my face with as much pizza as I could in 12 minutes and watching the disgusting methods of competitive eating going on around me, I never lost my love of pizza.

Me at the start of the competition, my full pizza and my pizza nails indicating the number of slices I ate in the allotted time frame.

This is a common sight at my house.  Stacks on stacks of pizza boxes, though the Papa John's one isn't mine because that is gross.

My plan:

• I'll post on here as much as I can (or as much as I remember) with recipes, reviews and overall thoughts.  
• I've decided to move on from trying to get to all the MN breweries (I'm honestly trying to quit drinking...) and instead try to hit up as many pizza places in town that I possibly can so there will be restaurant reviews galore here.  Maybe I'll finally start Yelping!
• I also fully intend to workout as part of this new diet plan as eating pizza and doing nothing else is a pretty stupid idea so I'll also try to include what I've done to workout during the week.  
• Additionally, I know that I won't be able to eat pizza EVERY DAY.  For example, I'm on a roll of trying the Burger of the Month at MyBurger and don't want to give up my streak.  Plus I'm pretty sure my parents aren't always going to feed me pizza if I go over to their house for meals.  So I understand that it isn't feasible for me to eat ONLY pizza all the time.  But by golly I'm going to try.

Feel free to check out my Pizza Diet Pinterest board.  I'm pretty sure my first pizza will be the spinach and pesto flatbread pizza as I have all of the ingredients readily available.  From there who knows what will happen!  I'm not sure when exactly I'll start since I have a million things going on between now and forever but I'll find a time to start this historical project.  I hope you will follow along!