Monday, April 7, 2014

Grace Through Pizza

Today's post is by guest writer Jacob Fields, a candidate for ministry in the North Texas Conference.  Enjoy!


Grace through Pizza
 

 Confession: I am a bit of a glutton. I really like food. If something tastes good enough I often eat past the point where I know I’m going to regret it. When it comes to food, most of the Methodists I know are not very Wesleyan… myself included. I mean isn’t it written in scripture somewhere that “Thou shalt have a potluck every 5th Sunday”?

Believe it or not, John Wesley identified physical wellness as a means of grace. John actually published a book about health called Primitive Physick. We can understand that taking care of our physical bodies might help us to encounter God when we consider that God took the time to create us in our physical bodies. Scripture makes many references to taking care of our bodies. In fact, a large number of Levitical Laws are directly related to matters of personal and community health.

So exercise can be a means of grace by way of personal wellness, but if we limit our wellness to exercise alone then our health will also be quite limited. What we eat can be even more important for our health both physically and spiritually. When you work out, or when you eat healthy do so with a mindset of lining your will up with God’s.

I find that with how much I like food, and given that personal wellness is a means of Grace, it is important that the food I cook is both tasty and healthy.

Today I would like to provide you with one of my favorite quick and healthy recipes so that you might experience God’s Grace through pizza.
 
Flatbread Pizza
Ingredients:
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Shredded Cheddar Jack Cheese
Low Sodium Tomato Sauce
FlatOut Artisan Thin Crust Flatbreads (Spicy Italian)
Mamma Mary’s sliced Pepperoni
Parmesan Cheese

Step 1:
Preheat Oven to 350. Then place FlatOut Artisan Flatbread on a baking sheet. Add 2 tablespoons (each pizza) of Low Sodium tomato sauce on the flatbread. Spread sauce evenly almost to the edge of Flatbread.
You can see in the picture I make 2 at a time because my wife and I can both have a whole pizza for less than 500 Calories.
 
 

Step 2:
Sprinkle 1/3 cup of Shredded Mozzarella Cheese over the tomato sauce of each pizza. Then place 8 pepperonis onto the pizza in whatever pattern your heart desires.
 
 
Step 3:
Sprinkle 1/3 cup of Shredded Cheddar Jack Cheese on each pizza then garnish the edges of the crust with parmesan cheese.
Place the pizzas in the oven on the center rack for 10-12 minutes. 
Understand that because of the crust a typical golden brown color is unlikely. It is easier to notice the parmesan turn to the typical golden baked color.
 
Done
When you take the pizza out you want to make sure to let the crust cool. If you try and cut or pick up the pieces too quickly you will notice the crust is still soft. The crust gets more firm as it cools. Enjoy eating every bit of this low calorie and delicious dinner.


 

Guest Post by Jacob Fields
My name is Jacob Fields. I am a seminary student at Perkins Theological School and a candidate for ordination in the North Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church. I am married to a wonderful woman named Kim who is the mother of my son George and pregnant with our next one. I am thankful to Nancy for allowing me to guest post. If you enjoyed reading my article or eating my recipe feel free to let me know or check out my website at www.jacobfields.org.