*Updated!!* Fake Out Mexican Pizza

Thanks to one of my coworkers, I became obsessed with Mexican Pizzas from Taco Bell.  With my new attitude on food, the 570 calorie menu item is just not worth it in my book.  However, I still craved this yummy treat, so I decided to find a healthier alternative for nights when my craving just couldn’t be quieted with a healthy snack. 

Mexican Pizza

1 whole wheat low fat tortilla
1/2 cup fat free refried beans
1/4 cup 2% milk sharp cheddar cheese
2 packets mild border sauce (the packets of sauce from Taco Bell)

Toast the tortilla.  The best way I’ve found is to use a toaster oven set to “toast”, but you can use a pan with a little nonstick cooking spray or the regular oven as well.  The toaster oven (as well as the regular oven I assume) removes more of the moisture from the tortilla, therefore making it crispier.  Spread the toasted tortilla with the beans and top with the cheese and sauce. 

It’s not exactly the same as the fast food mexican pizza, but it helps satisfy a craving when I have one.

Oh…and it’s just 290 calories for the whole thing.

UPDATE!!!!!  10/17/09
OK, so I hated coming home from a long night at work to wait on a tortilla to crisp up in the toaster oven.  Plus, the flavor of the tortilla was not quite right when compared to the Taco Bell Mexican Pizza that I was trying to duplicate.  I remembered seeing some sort of round, crispy, tortilla like disc thing at the grocery store, so I wrote it on my handy, dandy list and made a point to look a little more closely at the ethnic aisle the next time I went to the grocery store.

TADA!  I found tostadas!  Mmm, mmm, good!  Tonight I tried out my mexican pizza and it was PERFECT!  The tostadas are 155 calories for 3, so one is just a little over 50 calories.  One tostada with 1/4 cup beans, 1/2 oz cheese, and 1 border sauce is the perfect size for a snack and it ends up being right around 150 calories.  I’m guessing Taco Bell uses tostadas in their pizza, because the taste was almost identical!  Try it!  You’ll like it!  I promise.