Homemade Pizza!!

I woke up this morning and was initial in panic mode. After all the eating last night I wasn't sure how I wantedy day to look. So at first I did nothing. I starting working on sprucing up the blog, what do you think? It still needs some work but I am having fun working on it. At about 10:00 I was hungry and had to make a decision on what I was going to do. So I decided on my favorite, oatmeal porridge: 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup water, 5 egg whites and tablespoon flaxseed meal. I just love this meal and it always fills me up.

I proceed to have some leisure time with the blog and just relaxing. I decided not to go to the gym today and will go tomorrow to do a 30 minute HIIT. I worked my lower body hard on Friday and I felt my legs could use a break. So at about 1:00 I was getting hungry and decided to have this. Oh I just love beans burgers. I had gotten this recipe for Kath Eats Real Food. It was so good and so easy. 3/4 cup of black beans, 3 tablespoons wheat flour, 1 teaspoon olive oil, 3 splashes of Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder. Mash the beans and the rest of the ingredients. Form two patties and cook up in a nonstick pan sprayed with cooking spray. Oh I will definately be having this again. LOVE IT! I put it on a arnold bun with 1 tablespoon of barbecue sauce and broccoli slaw mixed with a flaxseed oil dressing. I finished up the grocery list and hubby and I did the weeks worth of shopping.

After putting the groceries away I decided to make some of my own almond butter. When I went to Costco the other day they did not have any Naturally More and I was SO disappointed. So I did the next best thing and made my own.

I roasted 2 1/2 cup of almond that were mixed with 1/4 cup pure maple syrup and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. I baked it at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. I cooled it for a little while and then threw it in the food processor. I had a few licks, ok several licks SO good. I was proud of myself I had a few licks and then put it away. I look forward to having some of it in my oatmeal tomorrow. If you haven't tried making your own almond butter give it a try. So simple and quite delicious.

I have also been dreaming of this and when I was at the store I pick up a package of lite silken tofu. After the almond butter I whipped up a batch of this for dessert tonight. One package of lite silken tofu (has 120 calories for the whole package), 2 tablespoon agave nectar, 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder. Mix in a food processor until it resembles mousse. I threw in the refrigerator to chill. Of course I had to lick the remainders.

Now does that look delicious? Hubby and I decided to have pizza tonight. Since I had been watching my carbs very closely this was never in my diet and I looked forward to start living and eating... I would have liked to have had whole wheat pizza dough but I was willing to make a sacrifice and had the regular dough and opted to have no meat and just a little bit of cheese.

The dough is so easy to make. I have a bread maker and since I haven't been eating much carbs never felt the need to use it much until I saw that it has a setting for dough. I put all the ingredients in it to make the pizza dough and the let the machine do the work. In just over a hour and half we had delicious pizza dough. It was the best! If you have a bread maker that is gathering dust you might want to pull it out and see if you have such a setting. Hubby had a pizza with pepperoni and lots of cheese and I had a pizza with onions, mushrooms, red pepper, reduced fat mozzarella and cheddar. I had a huge salad with light dressing and two pieces of pizza and of course the mousse with raspberries.

Although the morning began with a panic it has ended on a happy note. I have decided to stay clear from the scale for awhile and just start eating healthy fresh food and see where it takes me.

It is great to be back blogging and taking pictures of all my wonderful eats! Off to watching a movie with hubby.

Gloomy Monday Morning

Well it is a very Gloomy Monday Morning and it is day that I would like just sit around in my PJ's and read a good book.

But I am up and ready to start the day. Decided to start of the day with a bowl of oatmeal. I put 2 TB of raisins and 1 TB of my homemade almond butter on top. It was quite good and I didn't seem to miss the sweetness in the oatmeal like I did the other day.

I have my Strength Training Session today at 10:30 and then I will do my 30 minutes of cardio.

Gale is going to meet me at the gym and we are going to run to Costco. She isn't a member and I am so she wants to pick up a few things. If I have time I want to run over to Whole Foods, LOVE that store.

I have to admit I was SO disappointed when I got on the scale this morning. The scale was up two pound since yesterday. I have to keep telling myself it is OK. I feel great and I don't want to sabotage my great gains that I have made the last few days. I decided that I would reflect on my weight from a week ago. Last Monday I weighed 157 and today I was 154 so all is good.

Almond Butter

I was browsing blogs today and came across a recipe to make Almond Butter. I figure since I had everything in the house to make it and I was planning on buying some why not make my own. You roast the almonds in the oven for 15-20 minutes. I took a picture of the almonds once they came out of the oven. I had a try not eating them just like that.

You then put the almonds in a food processor until you they are grounded up very fine. It calls for a little oil to get the consistency you are looking for.

The picture is a little blurry but you get the idea of what the finished butter looks like.

I wasn't planning on this as my snack today but I just had to sample it. And it was quite tasty and I think it will be a good addition to put in my oatmeal, English muffins, waffle, pancakes... Just about anything you would put peanut butter on. I will definitely be making my own almond butter since it was so easy to do. I am continuing to do the Flexitarian diet today. I decided that for dinner tonight I would try Curried Quinoa Salad. Surprisingly I had everything in the house to make it. It looked so beautiful once it was complete.

I have to be honest I was a little worried about how this would be. I have never been a big fan of garbanzo beans and this recipe called for a whole cup. I am trying to keep myself open when it comes to food. It was quite good. I do believe I think I would have liked it much better with a 1/2 cup of the beans. But with the curry flavor, green onion and a little cranberries it was quite tasty. I would be open to eating it again.

I decided to go for a 4 mile walk this evening. I walked at a pretty good pace and was able to do the route in about 58 minutes. It felt good and I burned some calories too. I forgot to take a picture of my snack tonight but I had a 100 calories bag of microwave popcorn with Parmesan cheese. Can't remember the last time I ate popcorn. I have to admit I am still struggling with the whole carb thing but continue to stay open. I will be curious to see what my weight is in the morning. Hope it comes back down after the over indulgence I had on Friday.

This evening I sat down and planned out my eats for tomorrow. So I don't have to worry about what I am going to do. Day two of no meat and I have to admit it really hasn't been that difficult.