I Love Pizza!

So, I don’t know about anyone else, but pizza is my all-time favorite food. I literally can eat a whole medium pizza by myself. This is something that I used to do, which I’m not really proud of. Today I was craving a pizza, and I almost order Papa John’s. Instead of giving in to my craving, I got my lazy butt up and made this little gem!

This pizza has cauliflower crust, which alleviates all of the unhealthy carbs and greasy mess. Here’s the recipe:

1 small to medium sized head of cauliflower – should yield 2 to 3 cups once processed
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil (crush it even more between your fingers)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (crust it even more between you fingers)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
optional a few shakes of crushed red pepper
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1 egg
optional 1 tablespoon almond meal
Desired amount of sauce, cheese for topping, and other toppings.

Place a pizza stone in the oven, or baking sheet if you don’t have a pizza stone. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a cutting board, place a large piece of parchment paper and spray it with nonstick cooking oil.

Wash and throughly dry a small head of cauliflower. Don’t get one the size of your head unless you are planning on making 2 pizzas. Cut off the florets, you don’t need much stem. Just stick with the florets. Pulse in your food processor for about 30 seconds, until you get powdery snow like cauliflower. See above photo. You should end up with 2 to 3 cups cauliflower “snow”. Place the cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl and cover. Microwave for 4 minutes. Dump cooked cauliflower onto a clean tea towel and allow to cool for a bit before attempting the next step.

Once cauliflower is cool enough to handle, wrap it up in the dish towel or cheese cloth, and wring it out. You want to squeeze out as much water as possible. This will ensure you get a chewy pizza like crust instead of a crumbly mess.

Dump cauliflower into a bowl. Now add 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon dried basil (crush up the leaves even more between your fingers before adding), 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (crush up the leaves even more between your fingers before adding), 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (not garlic salt), and a dash of red pepper if you want. I also added 1 tablespoon almond meal because my cauliflower yielded closer to 2 cups of cauli snow, this is optional and I would not add the almond meal if you have closer to 3 cups of cauli snow. Now add your egg and mix away. Hands tend to work best.

Once mixed together, use your hands to form the dough into a crust on your oiled parchment paper. Pat it down thoroughly, you want it nice and tightly formed together. Don’t make it too thick or thin either.

Using a cutting board slide the parchment paper onto your hot pizza stone or baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 8 – 11 minutes, until it starts to turn golden brown. Remove from oven.

Add however much sauce, cheese, and toppings you want. I’m not gonna give you measurements for this. You know how you like your pizza – so go for it! Slide parchment with topped pizza back in the hot oven and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and slightly golden.

Double Chocolate Avocado Cookies

Okay, I know this sounds weird, but they really are amazing. I was reluctant to try them out at first, but I assure you that you cannot taste the avocado! They are very gooey, which I completely love! I suggest you eat them cold!

Ingredients
3/4 c avocado (ripe – not brown)
1/2 c coconut sugar
1-2 tbsp honey (depending how sweet you want them!)
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1/2 c dark cocoa powder
1/2 c dark chocolate chunks (I only put in 1/4 c because mine were pretty large!)
*I also added a tbsp of peanut butter for a little extra protein! You can also substitute a banana for the coconut sugar, but I have no tried this yet.

Mix avocado and sugar together in a standing mixer or food processor until smooth. Mix the rest of ingredients together,  and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Store in the fridge and eat cold!!

Cilantro Lime Dressing

Today for lunch I made a skinny taco salad! Leafy greens, tomatoes, cilantro, grilled chicken, yellow peppers, fresh jalapeño, low-sodium organic black beans, black olives, avocado, and red onions! (You can also add cheese and tortilla strips, but this is not currently in my diet. It would also be delicious to eat this out of a taco bowl.) Today this salad was especially delicious because I made a batch of my clean cilantro lime dressing!

Ingredients

1 cup cilantro
1/2 cup orange juice
3 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp honey (I only added a dash because I was not feeling “too sweet” today)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
pinch of salt
2 tbsp olive oil

Pulse cilantro, OJ, lime juice, honey, cumin, black pepper, and salt in a food processor or blender. Slowly add olive oil while pulsing.
You may want to add more cilantro depending on how it tastes!

Delicious and Nutritious Breakfast

This morning I was craving banana pancakes! Obviously, I needed to have something 24 Day Challenge friendly, so I decided to use my meal replacement shake to help me get started! I was able to have two, filling banana pancakes without the heavy pancake batter!

Ingredients:
1 Advocare Meal Replacement Shake Packet (can be any flavor! I used vanilla, but I’m sure chocolate would be delicious too.)
1 Ripe Banana
2 Egg Whites
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup water (if needed)

How to Access the 24 Day Challenge

There are two phases to the 24 Day Challenge:

Cleanse Phase
You’ll take an Herbal Cleanse Supplement, a Probiotic, an OmegaPlex, and an all natural energy drink. These products help rid your body of toxins, and prepare your for a healthy lifestyle. Proper absorption of nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals is essential to maintaining a healthy body. During this phase YOU EAT! Usually, cleanses are viewed as liquid diets that make you use the bathroom too often. Take it from me, you feel full and there are no frequent trips to the bathroom!

Max Phase
During the Max Phase, you take the Metabolic Nutrition System – MNS. This provides sustained energy, appetite control, core nutrition and overall wellness. Along with this, you’ll have the option to use a meal replacement. Skipping meals is clearly an unhealthy choice, but it’s understandable when you’re busy and working. This meal replacement can also be used to make amazing smoothies and healthy desserts! Finally, you’ll continue to take the energy drink, which I can assure you is the best drink you’ll ever have.

If you’re interested in starting a challenge, follow the link below. You can also learn more from the website below!

https://www.advocare.com/150536171/MemberHome.aspx

Hello World!

Hello All,

This blog is primarily to help me stay on track for my health & fitness goals. By logging all of my food and workouts, I know I’ll be more likely to head in the direction of my goals. In the process, if I can help anyone lead a healthier lifestyle, I would be ecstatic!

I am currently in the process of completing my first 24-day challenge. I am on Day 6 of the Cleanse Phase, and feeling more motivated than I can remember! I began my journey in January, when the scale was telling me I was 178 lbs. I am 5’7, and previously a college athlete, so seeing that number broke my heart. I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself, and make changes in order to begin feeling like myself again.

It wasn’t easy at first, but after two months I was able to lose 13 lbs. Despite the wonderful success, I still had very little control over what I was eating. I did not think about eating half a bag of Doritos or eating 3 pieces of cake. Therefore, I knew I needed to step up my game if I wanted to really see some changes. I decided to start the 24 day challenge on June 8, 2015! After 6 days, I’ve lost 1.5 inches in my waist, 1 inch in both of my arms, .5 inches in my legs, and a total of 6 lbs!

So far, I’m weighing in at 159. I’ve made so much progress thus far, but I still have a long way to go!