pizza Archives | Eat Bread 90

June 29, 2017July 6, 2017 by Lin Carson

Flatbread: Bread is Bread! Day 85 and 86

Every culture has a version of flatbread. Originally, it was an unleavened dough that was rolled out flat and baked. Bakers around the world have taken the simple ingredients of flour, water and salt and tweaked it slightly. In Greece we have pitas, in Mexico we have tortillas, and in Norway we have flatbrød. Pizza, though debated due to the addition of yeast, is now considered a flatbread.

Flatbread vs a similar loaf bread has the nutritional and calorie profile gram for gram.

Here is a nutritional comparison of some major brands and types. I added pizza to the comparison just for fun.

Brand	Type	Serving size	Calories per serving	Sodium/Carbs/Fiber/sugar/protein
Arnold	100% whole wheat sandwich thins	43 grams	100	170 mg/22g/5g/2g/5g
Arnold	100% whole wheat bread	43 grams	100	150mg/18g/3g/3g/4g
Mission	Tortilla whole wheat	45 grams	130	280mg/22g/3g/2g/4g
Stonefire	Whole grain Naan	63 grams (half of Naan)	180	400mg/28g/4g/3g/5g
Freschetta Artisan Crust Four Cheese Pizza	Whole wheat crust cheese pizza	126g	320	670mg/38g/4g/9g/15g
Pizza calculated to match other serving sizes	126/2.9=	63g	110	231mg/13g/1.3g/3.1g/5g

Flatbreads can be eaten with any toppings you can think of. How about fresh sliced peaches and ricotta cheese for a boost in calcium. If savory is more your thing try some grilled lamb or beef on your flatbread.

Lamb Shawarma served on an Egyptian flatbread from a Portland food truck.

I made my way down to a new Piadina food truck in Portland. My bread was made fresh on the grill. It took about 15 mins to get my Prosciutto Piadina, but the fluffiness of the flatbread, paired with prosciutto and crisp from the grill is worth it. Who knew that this form of Italian street food can contribute to my bread diet?

The Prosciutto Piadina was stuffed with mozzarella, sundried tomatoes, pesto, arugala and its crust was just crispy and delicious.

So eating artisan bread, whole grain bread, sweet bread, or flatbread all count the same as far as calories.

Thinner bread doesn’t always mean better just as artisan does not always mean healthier. Just breaking more bread myths on days 85 and 86!

Here’s what I ate on Days 85 and 86 of EB90:

Food	Portion	Calories
Day 85
Multigrain Bread	9 slices (40g)	990
Crab Legs	9 oz	260
Hot Dog	1	170
Fruit Salad	1 C	204
Lamb Shawarma	100g	450
Run		-300
Total		1,774

Day 86
Multigrain Bread	3 slices (40g)	330
Bagel	200g	520
Turkey Croissant	85g	240
Beef Ribs	1pc	430
Prosciutto Piadina	50g	400
Apple	1	95
Cherries	1C	74
Walk		-200
Total		1,889

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June 24, 2017June 30, 2017 by Lin Carson

The Pizza Diet: Day 80 and 81

I’ve wondered if I went on a pizza diet, how many slices would I have to consume a day? Looking at a crust like the Boboli 12” thin crust, that would be one and a half pizzas! Yeaaaaah. I’m not really that crazy about pizza, even though I think I can totally down that much in a day.

So I did what any sane person can do. Eat an entire pizza from Pieology.

It wasn’t an easy feat, after eating half a pound of bread earlier in the day. However, I did manage to make it healthier by adding spinach and pesto. I went light on the cheese too.

Why is pizza part of my bread diet? I believe that the pizza crust is a flat bread. It’s made of four basic ingredients: flour, water, yeast and salt. However, it is much easier to eat sliced and loaf bread (for the convenience), than going for a pizza. Therefore, you will see pizza part of my diet, but not that frequently.

Pizza got its start in the Italian town of Naples, a port city with a large working class during the 1700s and early 1800s. Historians believe the need for an inexpensive, on-the-go food was why these flatbreads with toppings sold so well. Pizza (an Italian word for pie) soon spread through Italy. The first recorded pizza restaurant in the U.S. was in 1905 in Manhattan: G. Lombardi’s. It took quite some time, however, for it to move around the country and evolve into the dish we enjoy today.

So where can you find the best slice of pizza in the U.S.?

Well, according to a Travel+Leisure survey, try Phoenix, AZ! It was voted the best city for pizza. However, if you’re looking for something a little closer to home, find it on this list of the best pie by state, or here is a top 10 list of pizza joints around the country.

Here’s what I ate on days 70 and 81 of EB90:

Food	Portion	Calories
Day 80
Chocolate Brioche	1	250
Whole grain Artisan	3 Slices	400
Butter	2 Tbsp	200
Nicoise Salad	2 C	350
Pizza	6 oz	990
Pineapple	3 oz	41
Cherries	1C	74
Run		-400
Total		1905
Day 81
Spelt bread		600
Raisin bread		600
Ricotta	1/4 C	100
Red Beet Salad		250
Ham and Cheese	4 Slices	160
Coconut water	2 C	100
		1810

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June 13, 2017June 28, 2017 by Lin Carson

I’m Puffed Up about This Bread! Days 69 and 70

It was nice to have my appetite back, so I started my day with a large stack of french toast with whole wheat bread. Do you know why this popular dish is called french toast?

It actually has nothing to do with location. This breakfast dish can trace its early forms all the way back to the Roman empire! During the 15^th century in England and France, it was called “pain perdu” or “lost bread”—due to the fact the recipe called for stale bread. Many believe French toast got its name from a 17^th century U.S. innkeeper, Joseph French.

A wholesome stack of French toast made with whole wheat bread, topped with fresh strawberries and maple syrup.

I also challenged myself to three quarters of a pizza from a store-bought, ready-made pizza crust.

Yes, I believe pizza is a bread, and it belongs to my bread diet (even though it took me almost 70 days to realize this).

I layered the pizza generously with vegetables and gave it a light topping of mozzarella and pepperoni. It was delicious, but my goodness, I wouldn’t recommend eating this much pizza in a sitting!

My homemade pizza with onions, mushrooms, broccoli, mozzarella, pepperoni and my homemade pizza sauce.

On another note, here’s an interesting concept. Instead of soaking your grains and then baking them, how about skipping the soaking step and just use puffed grains instead? Ancient Brands Grain sent me three delicious loafs of bread filled with puffed wheat and the texture was great.

There was no ‘unsoaked’ hard kernels that stuck in-between my teeth, and the product visually looks like whole grain.

Ancient Brands Grain specializes in organic and conventional ancient grains, such as quinoa, amaranth or millet. After carefully sourcing grains, they use patented puffing equipment. The end result is a grain with consistent texture, a good flavor profile and high in nutrients.

One of the breads I ate was a partially puffed emmer—an ancient grain also known as farro. I’ll tell you what, I’d be puffed up to eat this bread any day!

Nutritious slices of whole grain bread made with partially puffed emmer.

A densely textured whole grain bread with partially puffed durum wheat.

Here’s what I ate on Days 69 and 70 of EB90:

Food	Portion	Calories
Day 69
Bagel	1(100g)	210
Butter	2 Tbsp	200
Pizza	300g	900
French Toast with Whole Wheat Bread	4 slices (40g)	600
Cherries
Berry Cream Cake	1 slice	150
Total		2060

Day 70
Raisin Bread	2 slice (40g)	180
Whole Grain Emmer Bread	3 Slices (60g)	210
Whole Grain Bread	4 Slices (50g)	440
Butter	2 Tbsp	200
Lemon Curd	2 Tbsp	120
Cherries	1C	74
Waffles	3	400
Steak with caramelized onions	100g	209
Asparagus	1 C	27
Pineapple	3 oz	41
Berry Cream Cake	1 slice	150
Strawberries	1C	50
Calcium Supp

Total		2101

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