{Be sure to check out the giveaway at the end}

The one recipe contest I enter every year is the Saucy Mama contest. I rarely enter them – mostly because it just doesn’t occur to me – but this is one contest where I just can’t help myself.

For starters, I took top honors the first year I entered. The second year I didn’t even place (even though that recipe is one of my most popular) and last year year I took second place. This makes year four and it’s the most fun year yet! The Saucy Mama folks love to switch things up which helps keep it interesting, fun and challenging. They’re calling this year’s contest “Skinny Mama” and it’s all about healthy recipes using their line of mustard.

Another of the requirements this year is that each recipe must adhere to the guidelines of a nationally recognized diet such as Weight Watchers, South Beach, etc. I don’t really do diet food so I’m not too familiar with diet plans in general, but I do enjoy cooking with fresh, healthy ingredients so it really wasn’t too much of a stretch. In fact, when I was deciding what to make, I completely forgot about the whole “diet” angle! Luckily, all of my recipes turned out to be low in calories, so I guess I lucked out ;-)

This particular recipe is only about 300 calories per serving. It couldn’t be easier; just pick up some whole-wheat pizza dough, slather on your favorite mustard and top with your favorite veggies! To add a fun twist to it, I made mini pizzas and let everyone put on their own favorite mustard and veggies. It was a really fun lunch and I was able to get veggies into my kids at the same time. Score.

These were the veggies I had on hand:

• assorted baby bell peppers
• zucchini
• yellow summer squash
• small purple eggplant
• tomato (yes, it’s really a fruit…)
• jalapeno

Mushrooms and onions would also be great! Next time I’ll definitely add them.

I diced most of my veggies and sliced the baby peppers for contrasting shapes (leaving the size about the same so they would cook evenly):

Everyone brushed on their favorite mustard and added their own toppings:

I baked our pizzas for about 25 minutes until they were nice and golden brown and served extra mustard at the table for passing. The Smoky Garlic Mustard was the standout here, although the Chipotle Mustard was a close second. A sprinkle of mozzarella or a few crumbles of goat cheese would be good, too – it just depends on how low you want to keep those calories! We all thought the pizza with the Smoky Garlic Mustard was great with just the extra mustard while the pizza with Chipotle Mustard was perfect with a bit of cheese.

Would you like to win some Saucy Mama mustard to try? Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered to win the 3 full-sized bottles shown below!

We tried four different mustards on our pizzas: Tarragon Lemon, Champagne Honey, Chipotle and Smoky Garlic. All were delish! And I have at least one more recipe coming tomorrow using the Tarragon Lemon mustard and possibly one with the Chipotle, depending on how that one turns out ;-)

The public will be voting on these recipes starting on Wednesday, February 29th. If you have a moment and feel that these pizzas deserve a vote, it would be much appreciated. Voting is being held here: Skinny Mama – Cooking with Mustard Recipe Contest. There are a lot of great entries already! I’d love to win but they all look so delish this year that it will be tough!