Pizza alternatives

I'll have to look those up in cafe frisco! 

I respect your recommendation about maintenance...and agree. Maybe some wishful thinking, trying to speed up the process? For now I'm buying into the concept that post op (unlike an alcoholic) I can't avoid food and I'd rather find an alternative(s) to pizza that fit my tool and new lifestyle.

As others talk about sweets or ice cream or bread or whatever...my whatever is PIZZA.

Common sense says to just avoid the temptation while I'm in my liquid diet. I know that the temptation to eat my favorite food after not eating for a week and knowing a few days later I'll never be able to eat 'a few slices' again is not an environment I want to put myself in. Either I cheat and feel horrible (honestly very unlikely) or I whine, rant, and avoid the issues that put me into this situation. Neither sounds enjoyable. Can't bail on Mom either. Guess I'll man up and face it. 

Thanks again for the suggestions and all the meal ideas you so beautifully capture. 

I love Frisco's post and would agree that avoiding it all together is ideal. 

I recently made pizza on a pounded flat chicken breast.  Exactly like it sounds...pound that sucker to a flat consistency...saute in olive oil until cooked almost through.  Add pizza toppings and put in oven and allow it to finish cooking.  If you cook it completely on the stovetop it dries out to much in the oven so you really want to let it finish in the oven instead.  It was great.  Not exactly the same as a true crust, but it worked for my weight loss plan.

I used to LOVE pizza - hand-tossed, all meat pizza.  It's just not something I can do post-op.  To stick to my plan, I've done the pounded chicken breast with pizza sauce, toppings & cheese.  Pretty good to fight those pizza cravings.  I also like to microwave turkey pepperoni into a crisp and dip into pizza sauce with a side of string cheese.

I do a low carb version...basically it is crustless.  

It uses a cream cheese egg mix to make a "crust", bake, then add topings and bake again.  I've also been known to pull the cheese off pizza and discard the crust if I was out somewhere.  I get funny looks...so I really don't do that often.  

try this one

http://www.food.com/recipe/low-carb-pizza-84516

The other thing I have done is pizza stuffed mushrooms. I got large mushroom caps, put some sauce in it, added cheese, diced olives, cheese, and diced peperoni and baked. They were YUMMY!

Google chicken crust pizza, it's very similar to the cauliflower crust pizza instead you're grounding up chicken, mixing seasonings & cheese. I find this to be a good substitute if I absolutely must have pizza. 

I've never been that big a fan of the pizza crust itself so I use ground meat to make a "crust". I just use ground beef, pork, turkey or chicken to make the crust. I sma**** down flat and shape to either round or square, bake in the oven for 20 min or so at 350 degrees. Pull it out and top with some sauce and pizza toppings and a little bit of mozarella cheese and put back in the oven for 5 min or till the cheese melts and ta-da pizza. I only do this once in awhile but it takes care of that pizza fix.

IMO, nothing will ever replace pizza.  There simply isn't a substitute that you will enjoy as much as you did the real thing.  HOWEVER, there are some great recipes/ideas posted here that are very tasty and can hopefully take your mind off of the real thing.  Good luck with mother's day.  Maybe you could go over after everyone has eaten?  I know that probably isn't a viable option but perhaps while everyone is munching on pizza you can sit it out. 

I used to use a Tumaro Low Carb Tortilla (check the flavors, as there is a substantial difference in carbs/calories- I think I used the Salsa one).  Use that as the crust, and locate a tomatoe suace that does not use sugar in it and then use it sparingly.  The cheese can be a lower fat version, or even full fat.  Pepporoni- use the turkey pepporoni.  Fresh veggies can be added without adding a lot of calories also.  The crust turns out like a thin crust/crunchy pizza.  Super fast to make, and a great alternative to the higher calorie option.  No way could I have polished off a full tortialla worth either.  If you weigh and measure your toppings you will have a very clear idea of the protein and calories.  There are a variety of valid opinions on whether or not to include something like this in the weight loss phase.  I personally chose to find alternatives to my favorite foods, but only when I could healthy it up enough that it would work well in my overall plan.  Consequently, when I made this my calories and protein targets were met for the day. I am not a huge pizza fan, so for me this was just a once in a while thing.  Now my version of cheesecake (greek yogurt, sf jello cheesecake pudding, protein cinnamon cookie crumb crust) was a different story- made that all the time.