So, it's no secret I love autumn. In fact, as autumn rolls around and the leaves begin to fall, it brings up another love of mine: college football. I mean, I think it was probably one of the first sports I understood. I love so many things about the game--sunshine on my face, bundling up in warm clothing, the strategy of the game, seeing rising before they get to the NFL, cheering/jeering/roaring in a group of 60,000 plus, and tailgating.
Ah, tailgating is just a huge part of the whole football game day experience--the deciding on the menu, prepping for it the night before, getting up early to get out to your spot, grilling out, playing cornhole, tossing the football, catching up with friends, listening to music...it's just a jovial time. When I was a young child, my family and I tailgated for Wake Forest football games. I loved it. We'd come up with some yummy food, set out our chairs, and proceed to people watch/play/take in the game day atmosphere. I thought everyone did that. I was wrong. When I was in college, we didn't tailgate. Even when my parents came to visit for games, we just walked to the stadium. It wasn't really a big deal back then to me. I didn't dress up or do anything special for the games. I just showed up. Sadly, I felt I'd just outgrown my love for the family tailgate. It was when I moved to South Carolina and saw the SEC and its style of tailgating which opened my eyes. Now THAT was nothing like I'd ever seen before. People dressed up and went all out. It was a true event. Unlike just being something I did on an afternoon in college, this was a whole day/night affair. But, these days, I've not been tailgating much due to my team not being super close and my chronic fatigue syndrome. However, just because I'm not out there under a tent tossing a beanbag, I still enjoy having the game day experience in my living room. And the only thing better than tailgating with a group of people to cheer your team onto victory is a group of people getting together to share game day FOOD! Tonight is no exception--it's Championship Week in college football with huge implications for the upcoming playoffs. And I can't wait. I'm prepping pizza for this event....won't you join me?
So, my life has been forever changed by Simple Mills (@simplemills). Since 2014, when I went dairy free, soy free, and gluten free, I've tried a lot of gluten free pizza crusts. And they've all been....interesting...full of fillers, preservatives, and refined grains. While there have been some happy surprises (ever tried a quinoa pizza crust? So goooood!), I kinda thought pizza was in my past. Until now. This company uses real ingredients, simple ingredients, and was so darn easy to make. I even substituted flax eggs for regular eggs and it worked beautifully. I'll be adding their mixes into my regular food rotation for sure!!
Since my dough issue has been resolved, my attention turned to another important pizza component--the toppings!!
I have been obsessed with Brussel sprouts lately. So, I wanted to create a pizza to highlight them. In fact, I used the recipe I cooked on turkey day as my topping. A combination of caramelized onions, roasted Brussel sprouts, and tart cranberries made this a quite delectable experiment.
I made this pizza into one huge flatbread, instead of the two flatbreads the box suggested. I just cut these into squares to serve. Plate them up, sit down, and grab the remote. You've got some eating (and cheering) to do......touchdown!!!! ?
Click here for printable recipe: Roasted Brussel Sprout Flatbread
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