Tag Archives: salad

Try, Try Again

Posted on by

10

If you don’t succeed the first time, try, try again!!

I have been on the hunt for the best pizza dough recipe, and I do believe I have finally found a darn near perfect one. . . . I can’t guarantee it is the best one, but after I try every recipe out there, I’ll let you know! ;)

As you can see, I’ve tried a fair number of recipes already:

Basic Pizza Dough

Indian Pizza

KG’s Homemade Pizza Dough (another great option!)

Vegan Pizza

Zucchini & Mushroom Pizza

But tonight’s recipe took the top award thus far!

Tonight’s recipe “Best Pizza Dough Ever Recipe” comes from the blog 101 Cookbooks and can be found here.

My pizza:

- dough

- organic extra virgin olive oil

- Muir Glen Organic Pizza Sauce

- seasonings: salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano

- organic, fresh baby spinach

- organic fresh basil

- sliced tomatoes

- fresh mozzarella cheese

This is my absolute favorite combination of toppings!! :D

Now I just need to figure out how to get the dough a lot thinner!

I also had some of this Italian soda, but I forgot how sweet these beverages are! Too sweet even for my sweet tooth!

~~~~~~

Now backing up to this morning. . . .

My breakfast (pre-run) was a homemade English muffin with peanut butter and banana slices.

(English muffin recipe to come tomorrow!)

About an hour later, I was out the door for a 6 mile run that I completed in 54 minutes.

It was slow going today. I was feel pretty sluggish and the snow made the conditions feel like I was running on the beach.

When I got home, I spent a good 20 minutes stretching, foam rolling, and trying to massage my tight muscles.

After a shower, I made myself some recovery food: protein + carbs!

A protein berry smoothie: milk + yogurt + banana + frozen berries + protein powder

And for some carbs: a piece of toast with a little butter!

Random tangent: This is the heel of the loaf, and I love eating the heel toasted!

Craig and I then went to watch his cousin compete in a Jr. ROTC drill competition for high school. I haven’t had much exposure to ROTC or the drill competition, but it reminded me a lot of marching band–minus the instruments. Yes, I was a band nerd. . . and darn proud of it!!

Afterward, we picked up some essentials and food for the week at Target and Fred Meyer.

A late lunch included a large salad piled high with: organic baby spinach + red bell pepper, carrots (locally grown), mushrooms, olive oil, honey, and kosher salt, plus a little cream cheese off to the side for some protein.

Love all the flavors! :)

Craig and I are spending the rest of the evening watching the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Question

What are you favorite pizza toppings?

What movie have you seen recently that you would recommend?

Could Not Live Without Them

Posted on by

5

Variety is the spice in my life. . . .

- I rarely wear my hair the same way two days in a row.

- I used to change my outfit multiple times in one day as a kid.

- I hardly ever run the same route two days in a row. (I alternate between 5-6 different routes.)

- I enjoy rearranging our furniture.

- I’d rather eat 4-5 things to make up a meal rather than 1-3.

And the variety in today’s salad featured 11 different items:

1. mixed spring greens

2. red bell pepper

3. celery

4. green onions

5. tomatoes

6. deli turkey

7. Havarti cheese

8. pear

9. pepitas

10. avocado

11. nutritional yeast dressing

~~~~~~~

I was feeling much more energized this morning after yesterday’s fatigue, so out the door I went for a run! :) I was pretty depressed last night, so this was a much-needed run!

I seriously don’t know how I would live without my running. . . . or my husband for that matter! Both are pretty good at cheering me up!!

I covered 6 miles in 53 minutes–on the slow side because of icy roads. :( I cannot wait until summer!

~~~~~~~

Something new I tried this week:

These are the perfect little dessert to curb my post-dinner sugar craving. Only 100 calories per bar!

Tonight I baked some bars (which I will share with you tomorrow), and pretty soon Craig and I are going to run few errands. Nothing too exciting, but I don’t mind.

Questions

What is something you could not live without? (water, air, food, etc. don’t count!)

What was one new food item you tried this week?

Vegan Pizza

Posted on by

8

This morning it was snowing when I peaked outside before my run, so I knew it couldn’t be super cold. (It was 12 degrees.)

I ran 4 miles in 35 minutes. My legs felt pretty fresh, and I avoided any moose encounters. (I almost ran right past one yesterday!)

When I saw it was snowing this morning, I made sure to put my YakTraxs on.

I have found they work really well for providing traction on loose snow–or even packed snow. They slip on easily over my shoes, and I’ve never had a problem with them falling off. I have the “walker” version.

They aren’t really meant for running on icy conditions though. If you run on ice often, I would suggest trying studs or screws in your shoes.

~~~~~~

Dinner

I am continually amazed at how many dishes can be veganized (It that a word?).

When I came across Angela’s recipe for vegan pizza, I was very curious and excited to see how it would turn out!

I knew it was going to be a pretty time-intensive process, so I made the pizza dough and pesto on Sunday.

The pesto called for nutritional yeast. While I’ve seen a number of other bloggers use nutritional yeast, I’ve never used it myself. I am excited to experiment more with it!

As soon as I got home tonight, I chopped the veggies, roasted them in the oven, and then assembled everything together.

Overall, I was happy with how it turned out, but I would make a few changes next time.

  • I ended up only using about 1/3 of the pesto, which is fine because I know we will be able to use it in other dishes. So that’s for of an FYI.
  • Also, I would eliminate the sauteed garlic and oil spread on the crust because it just caused the crust to become soaked with oil.

Other than those couple of changes, the pizza had a great flavor, and I didn’t even miss the cheese. (Although cheese on pizza is still good!)

I also had a side salad with:

- spinach

- zucchini

- yellow squash

- shredded carrots

- tomatoes

- parmesan cheese

Instead of a traditional dressing, I added honey and kosher salt like Kath often does. I was a little skeptical that it would actually be good, but I was pleasantly surprised at how the sweetness of the honey complimented my salad!

And T minus 2 days (plus one day of grading) until break! Can’t wait!!! :D

(And I know Craig is excited as well because then I won’t be as stressed out, and I can actually spend time with him in the evenings!)

Question

Do you send out Christmas cards/letters/pictures to friends and family?

I’m currently working on mine: a photo and letter. Normally they would in the mail by now, but I got a little behind.