Pizza & Friends

Pizza is good, but pizza with friends is even better!!

Two of our friends recently moved to Alaska, so we invited them over for a little get-together.

After our pizza creation on Wednesday, we just had to recreate the pizza for our friends!

Last night when I went to make the pizza dough, I ended up accidentally baking it in the oven. Let me explain . . . I was trying to expedite the rising process, but ended up leaving the pizza dough in the warm oven for too long and the pizza dough started to bake–oops! So I had to find a recipe for tonight that didn’t require 2+ hours of rising.

This recipe for Pizza Dough came from Allrecipes.com and for being a quick-rising pizza dough, it was a good one!

After preparing the pizza dough, Craig topped it with Homemade Pizza Sauce and crumbled pork sausage on half of it.

Toppings used:

- small amount of shredded cheese

- sauteed zucchini

- sauteed onion

- sauteed mushrooms

- more shredded cheese

- garlic powder

The beauty after baking in a 500 degree oven.

My plate of 2 pieces of pizza and spinach salad.

My afternoon snack was this Nature’s Path Pomegran Cherry Bar.

I liked this bar, but not as much as the Orange Chocolate or Blueberry Flax & Soy one. I still do appreciate the soft texture.

There is another new product in my cupboard, and it is a good one!

I had seen sunflower butter at Target before, but it was around $8 for a jar but that just seemed like too much for me.

One day, while shopping at Natural Pantry though, I came across this jar of MaraNatha Sunflower Seed Butter for about $3.80. That was more in my price range, so I decided to give it a try.

During the first couple bites, I think my eyes told my brain and taste buds that I was going to be eating almond butter, so my first reaction wasn’t all that enjoyable, but as I continued to eat my piece of toast slathered in this new nut butter, I found myself liking it more and more. And now even craving it!

It tastes just like sunflower seeds, which is a good thing seeing the ingredient list is simple and straight-forward.

Bonus: less fat and more protein than peanut butter or almond butter (PB & AB: 16 g. fat, 7 g. protein)!!

I don’t have any big plans for the weekend, but I’ll be sure to update you with the highlights! :)

Nothing Better

There’s nothing better on a cool fall day than a hot, steamy bowl of oats! :)

After a chilly run outside this morning (It was 42 degrees outside and 62 degrees in our apartment! I was chilly!) this bowl of oatmeal was just what I needed!In my oatmeal:

1/4 cup old-fashioned oats

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon oat bran

1/2 banana, sliced

- chia seeds

- agave nectar

- dash of salt

On top:

- almond butter

- Homemade Granola

I wish I would have waited about 5 minutes until the sun came up more to take these pictures so they weren’t quite so dark!

Running

For a week and a half, I have been battling some pain in my right arch and it has put a damper on my running. :( I’ve cut back my mileage, taken some days off, but this morning it was still bothering me. So after 1.5 miles, I stopped and walked the rest of the way home. :(

I really miss my daily runs, but I’ve tried to enjoy the cross-training and break from running. I’ve enjoyed riding my bike and a little more personal time in the morning. While it is hard to take this break from running, any time I am injured, I am reminded why I keep doing what I love!

Work

Work has been leaving me really drained at the end of the day! It is amazing how much energy it takes to “be on a stage” all day long, which is what I feel like when I’m teaching. That’s a really hard thing for me to do because I am an introverted person, and it forces me to be someone I’m really not.

And now working full time, I am left with very little time to blog, which also makes me sad. I would love to be able to blog twice a day, but I am struggling to blog once a day. I have yet to figure out a good schedule for myself.

Well, that’s enough with my woes, it is time to smile because it is Friday!