Mmmmm Pizza!

Hey guys! This weekend I wanted to make a special and fun meal for me and the hubs. I love eating fun foods on the weekends. We both wanted pizza. I tried finding a good spelt pizza crust, but since I have been dropping at a slower rate, my carb up was not as substantial... so I dug deeper and harder, until I came across many cauliflower pizza crust recipes. WTF?! Who'd a thunk it?! Unfortunately, it also called for cheese in the crust... and I can't do dairy. It just doesn't agree with me. So I made a few changes and substitutions... I wanted lower fat and fewer carbs!

BEHOLD, dairy-free, gluten-free pizza crust!

1c cooked "riced" (AKA shredded) cauliflower

2 egg whites

1c Veggie Shreds

Mix (it will not look like dough!) and spread onto a greased pizza pan.

Bake at 350* for 15 minutes.

Ta-dah!!!!

Now this doesn't really taste like normal pizza crust, but trust me when I say it is damn good! DAMN GOOD! I topped it with regular ol' tomato sauce in a can, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, crushed red, sauteed baby portabellos and spinach, then my half got goat cheese (I can tolerate goat cheese, thankfully), while the hubs got some meat and cheese piled on, too! Then baked it for another 15 minutes.

The result?

Deliciousness! YUM YUM YUM! I may be making this weekly! It is THAT good.

And to quote my husband, who quoted Pulp Fiction, "That's some serious gourmet shit!"

Seriously. Try it.

Kale-ing me softly

LMAO!

So, this is embarrassing. I took a quick cat nap yesterday in the tanning bed (don't flame!), and what did I dream about?! Freaking kale. Who dreams about kale? KALE!! I shall take this as a sign to share this "recipe" with you... baked kale chips. Delish!

Preheat oven to 350*

Wash and pat dry kale

Line cookie sheet w/ aluminum foil (for easy clean-up)

Spray foil (I like Pam butter spray)

Place torn kale pieces on foil

Spray kale w/ more butter spray (YUM)

Sprinkle w/ your favorite salty seasoning (I am loving this Kroger brand New Orleans seasoning right now)

Bake for 20 minutes

Let cool on wire rack (or just eat hahaha)

ENJOY!! I like to top mine w/ 1 carb ketchup!

Hubby asked me why I had a picture of a bowl of weed. LOL!

The two most powerful warriors

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.”

-Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy

This is how I roll...

I heart my Planner... prep style

It looks innocent enough, right?

Notice the tabs... maybe it isn't normal...

Yes, it's beat up. This planner is probably 5 years old. I'm too cheap for a new one. LOL!

It's official folks. I am a certifiable dork.

If at first you don't succeed

Try, try again!

This week has been mentally (and physically!) rough for me! It was bound to happen sooner or later, and I will just be thankful that it happened now, while I'm still slightly ahead. Do you ever have those days/weeks when you just want to eat everything in sight? This has been my week. Monday, ravenous. Tuesday, more ravenous. Wednesday (yesterday), I caved. My mental game slipped, and I succumbed to the almighty powers of the dry roasted almond. :o) It all started innocently enough. I scurried to the grocery store during lunch to pick up necessities: nuts and wraps for the hubby, romaine and cucumbers for me. I'm a mathemagician when it comes to subbing foods in and out of my meal plan, so I ate some almonds, as I counted them, so that I could plug in x and subtract y. I was still hungry. When I got home it was dinner time and I found my grubby little fingers in the almond jar again. Damn crack almonds. It was dinner time, and there was no way I could "fix" the numbers this time. I made my salad, and didn't weigh my lettuce, cukes, or salsa... weighed my chicken, though... I don't know what the logic there was! LOL! Later in the evening, still famished and feeling like the day was screwed, I had an extra scoop of protein powder.

Today, I am feeling the effects of eater's remorse! LOL! I totally made this term up... you have heard of buyer's remorse, right? Anyways, I had to come clean, to my coach, to you guys, and I HAVE to make today better. I'm having a bit of a time digging myself out of this mental hole. I also did not want to make this blog seem like all sunshine and rainbows, because, quite frankly, contest prep can't always be perfectly smooth. I can't really pinpoint why I was so stinking hungry this week. There are just too many factors. The good news is, I am NOT hungry today.

Here are my potential causes:

1. Stress - Wednesdays are always a high stress and high hunger day for me. Work is a bear on Wednesdays.

2. Hormonal - May be a little early for that, but the cravings and hunger felt awfully similar to PMS!

3. Fake sugar - The correlation between my increased no calorie sweetener intake and hunger levels is a little too uncanny to dismiss.

4. My body is simply mad at me for losing weight. LOL!

What am I gonna do about it? Fight tooth and nail to get back on track 110% today.

Alright folks. That's my bah humbug post of the day. It's time to fake it until I make it. Make today count!! :)

Wordless Wednesday - 9.5 Weeks Out

9.5 Weeks out!

Menu Planning Monday - This week is boring!

Hi guys! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I spent a ton of time in the kitchen playing with different loaf recipes. The result? A ton of loaves that were good, but I don't think they are worthy of posting just yet. Also, I ran out of my beloved PB2, and I may not stock back up until prep is over.

This week's menu is a B O R E! The hubs and I have decided to tighten up our purse strings so that we can build our main savings account up. I crunched the numbers, and while I am good at math, my budgets tend to work better in theory than in practice. LOL! Anyways, we are going to see if we can suffer through this week (and maybe next!) before I up our allowance. You should've seen us counting out change to pay for booze (not mine!) this weekend. LOL! We're going cash only, for the most part.

Oh yeah, back to the boring menu... tight purses and contest prep = food that isn't very exciting!

Monday - 93/7 ground turkey taco salad topped w/ salsa, homemade "fiesta" hummus, and corn

Tuesday - 93/7 turkey burgers (mine without bun), portabella mushrooms, green beans, sweet potato fries veggie shreds, Ezekiel low sodium bread

Wednesdsay - tilapia, barley (does anyone know if this is considered a wheat product?), broccoli

Thursday - buffalo chicken tenders (prep style! I'll post a recipe later in the week!), french fries (baked, of course!), random veggie to be determined

Friday - black bean burgers (no bun for me!), barley (if it's wheat-free), broccoli

Saturday - Heading to my dad's house. Seth and I made a pact to not eat out for the month of August. I'm thinking we may bring down some steaks to grill from our local meat market. YUM!

Check out more weekly menus over at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

~~~RANDOMNESS~~~

PREP: 10 weeks out. So, I got my goal weight from my coach. I know a couple of you were curious... 118-120. Before my carb up, I was at 124.8, so I don't have a whole lot more to lose. That being said, my abs still haven't made an appearance. That is definitely my trouble spot! I also would not be surprised if once I got to that range, we would need to go lower. That is just how I am feeling currently, but I'm not the expert and I fully trust my coach.

THE BASEMENT: This craphole is still a major stressor for me. Slowly but surely I am making some progress. At least now my posing area is free of clutter.

FOOD: Check out the crazy concoctions that I made in the kitchen over the weekend!

A muffin with a PB Chocolate surprise center!

PB Chocolate loaves

A meusli loaf for hubby... He said it was really good, so I will share the recipe later in the week. :)

And my attempt at a PB Banana Loaf recipe that my dear friend Kathie requested.

FRUGAL FUN: Check out the goodies I got at CVS for $1.07 this weekend!

I love Extra Care Rewards!

Blueberry Muffins - Contest Prep Style

What?! Okay folks, here's a muffin recipe that is Ah-mazing! I can't really do these now, though, because I seem to be having dairy and wheat issues that I was not aware of. Seriously. Did I mention I already weigh LESS than I did dehydrated and depleted last prep? Yeah, I had no idea the affect that wheat (maybe not wheat, but I'm not willing to add it back in until after prep) and dairy had on me. *sigh*

Ingredients

1c dry oats

1/2c oat flour (ground oats)

1/2c unsweetened applesauce

1t baking soda

1/2t baking powder

2 egg whites

4scoops BSN Lean Dessert Protein Powder, Whipped Vanilla

140g frozen blueberries (unsweetened)

Mix all ingredients except blueberries.

Fold in blueberries.

Pour in muffin tins and bake on 350 for approximately 20-25 minutes. Cooking time may vary.

Servings: 12

Calories: 130.8

• Total Fat: 1.7 g
• Cholesterol: 17.7 mg
• Sodium: 216.8 mg
• Total Carbs: 12.2 g
• Dietary Fiber: 1.9 g
• Protein: 17.3 g

Eat and enjoy!

Now who's ready for the weekend?! I have a date with a sweet potato (or two).

Thinking Out Loud

Hey party people!! So, I was thinking while on the treadie this morning... I am going to stop posting my weight daily. I really don't think any good can come out of it. I have a pretty darn healthy relationship with the scale and food, and I don't want to give myself a complex! :) That being said, I have been given more food. It has made me so hungry! That being paired with our gym being closed this week has really thrown my schedule for a loop. I don't like working out in my dungeon basement. LOL! Boy will I be thrilled to get back on my normal schedule! Tonight we are going out of town to lift back and shoulders. Gotta get in what we can fit in, and with our lack of equipment at home, there isn't THAT much we can do.

On the non-workout front, I decided to go back to school this semester. YOWZERS! I have a B.S. in Mathematics & Computing... that and $5 can get you a pizza. Seriously, while I had a blast in college, met my DH, etc., I am constantly reminded at what a waste of money my degree was/is. I decided on an Associates in Radiography... a quick fix. I talked with an advisor on Monday, and it turns out that I only need one prereq (A&P II) before I can apply to the program by the deadline of May 21, 2010... so I'm going to sit this semester out. Who knows what will happen by then. I'm so bad about changing my mind! Do I feel like this is what I was meant to do? No. Is it my passion? No. Obviously I have my doubts, so I am happy that I can mull over it a little while longer. I want to help people. Honestly, I would like to be ballsy and just get my PharmD. That's what I REALLY want to do, but shit. I don't want to have to wait until I'm 40 to start trying to make babies. LOL! And, making babies while attempting to complete a doctorate sounds like a piss poor plan.

So... yeah, I've rambled about all kinds of crap that isn't even fitness related. LOL! This is what is on the forefront of my mind right now.

I shall cut myself off now. :o) At least tomorrow is Friday. Hip, hip! HOORAY!

Better Late than Never! Honest Scrap Award

Hi guys!! I've had a hectic hectic schedule. In fact, so hectic that I didn't even get in the door until WELL after midnight... more about that later. :)

I have been meaning to get around to this, and Melissa, I am so sorry I didn't get to this sooner. :( Please accept my apologies. I am blushing! Thank you Melissa and Becca for choosing my blog.

... and so I copy paste...

This award is:

"bestowed upon a fellow blogger who's blog content or design, the givers opinion, is brilliant. This award is about bloggers who post from their heart,who often times put their heart on display as they write from the depths of their soul".


The rules to accepting this award are:

1)Brag about it
2)select 7 blogs you find brilliant and link them to the post
3) list 10 honest things about self

1) Brag about it.

Y'all, I'm giddy because I was chosen by not only one fantastic Blogger, but TWO. You all sure know how to make a girl feel good, and I am so glad that you all enjoy my blog. You should see my cheesy grin right now. :D

2) Select 7 blogs you find brilliant and link them to the post.

Now, this, have you all SEEN my blogroll?! This is not an easy task. LOL! Can I skip this part? pretty please?

3) List 10 honest things about self.

Here goes...

1) I hate talking on the phone. I am a texter/emailer all they way.

2) I talk like a hick. Kentucky y'all. :) I don't have as Southern of an accent as some of my friends, but when I go out of state, it really catches people off guard. I have been told that it does not go with how I look.

3) I love frosting, LOVE LOVE LOVE frosting. It's ridiculous. When I think of cheats, I imagine cupcakes with piles of frosting swirled on top. I will buy Lofthouse cookes and just eat the frosting part off and toss the cookie.

4) I have been cutting my own hair for the past year or so. (LOL!)

5) I don't have many girl friends in "real" life. I tend to hang with the dudes.

6) I have fugly feet. My second toe is of freakish lengths. LOL

7) I want to live on a beach. Like ASAP.

8) While it seems like everyone else finds competing very stressful and all-consuming, it's like a mental get away for me. I totally love the process and it helps me escape from my every day job. I actually think it helps keep me sane... or at least somewhat sane. You all know I'm a loon. :o)

9) I have health food store envy. We don't have jack around here.

10) I don't really get the post-show rebound thing. Remind me after this season. I hope I still feel the same way. LOL!!

I know these aren't the deepest honest truths, but I hope they tell you a little bit more about me.

126.2 - Waiting for my carb up

I am looking forward to my carbs tomorrow. Boy oh boy! I'm gonna eats me a ton of sweet potatoes... I may even have them for every meal! LOL!

As you can see, my sticky point wasn't so sticky. Usually getting below 128 is pure torture. One of my best pals (who constantly "hears" me whine about belly aches and bloat LOL!) suggested that I may be intolerant to certain foods, and gosh darnit, it looks like she is right. We've got it narrowed down to two things right now, and you know what? I don't miss either! I was eating this "junk" every day. Now wonder I couldn't get lean. I was always bloated and smooth looking. I'm so happy, and I am feeling so much better!

More details to come once I come to a finite conclusion as to what the main culprit is.

Have a wonderful weekend guys! Sorry I have been a bad Blogger buddy. I've been a little preoccupied and stressed. I have something big in the works. I'll share next week once it is concrete. :)

127.6 - Interrupting my regularly scheduled program...

Hey guys! I'm interrupting my regularly schedule program for...

nothing...

I'm exhausted. LOL!! I think I will take a nap on my lunch break. :)

129.6 - Tasty Tuesday - Black Bean & Corn Enchiladas

Hi guys!! I wanted to share with you one of my favorite recipes from Cooking Light!

Black Bean & Corn Enchiladas

Yield

8 servings (serving size: 1 enchilada)

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 2 cups diced zucchini
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen whole-kernel corn
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 cups Enchilada Sauce, divided
• Cooking spray
• 8 (8-inch) whole wheat tortillas
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese, divided

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 cups zucchini and corn; sauté for 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat, and stir in beans.

Spread 1 cup Enchilada Sauce in the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon about 1/2 cup zucchini mixture down center of 1 tortilla; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons cheese, and roll up. Place seam-side down in baking dish. Repeat procedure with remaining tortillas, zucchini mixture, and 14 tablespoons cheese. Spread remaining 2 cups sauce evenly over enchiladas.

Cover with foil; bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover; top with remaining 1 cup cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until cheese melts.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

348 (27% from fat)

Fat:

4.2g (sat 1.8g,mono 1.5g,poly 1.5g)

Protein:

16g

Carbohydrate:

47.2g

Fiber:

7g

Cholesterol:

20mg

Iron:

3.3mg

Sodium:

878mg

Calcium:

260mg

However, I must admit, I do not follow the recipe exactly. I build my enchiladas lasagna-style. This really cuts down on prep time! I've tested this recipe with whole wheat tortillas, corn tortillas, and home made flour tortillas -- the flour ones were hands down the best!

Check out more Tasty Tuesday recipes and meal ideas at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

On to other things...

Notice the scale increase? My stomach has been a wreck the past 24 hours. :( I'm going to start elimating things from my diet to see what the culprit is. I was in a lot of pain yesterday, and today I feel a lot better, but far from good. It hurt so bad yesterday that I actually hurled! :-O Gotta get to the bottom of that! I wasn't even nauseous... just hurting.

Also, coach wants me down to 125 by September 1st. Yowzas. 128 is a very sticky weight for me, so I'm toying with the idea of a rewards system. Look for those to pop up in the side bar soon! I have many things that I "need" (*ahem* want), and this will be just the incentive I need to get them for myself. I will keep them all fairly cheap ($20 and under)... but I want to make the 125 weight a good one. Any ideas?

I hope everyone's week is off to a great start.

128.6 – Menu Planning Monday and More

Heya folks!! Shooo, this weekend was a busy one. I spent so much time organizing. FUN STUFF! I really do enjoy it, and boy oh boy did it wear me out.

First things first… Menu Planning Monday!

Monday: Chicken, broccoli, baked potato (me), fried mashed potato patties (DH) using leftover mashed potatoes and Italian bread crumbs… this is an experiment. LOL!

Tuesday: Crab Muffins (leftover from last week… I made ½ the recipe as crab cakes and half as muffins), salad

Wednesday: Sloppy Joes (on a whole grain English muffin for me, DH gets his beloved buns), green beans, baked beans (DH)

Thursday: Fish of the day (Mahi Mahi), baked potato, salad

Friday: Chicken, pasta salad (I may have another carb source), broccoli

Saturday: Pizza Night!! Homemade, of course. Choose your own toppings! J

Sunday: Taco night, using shredded pork. Served buffet style! Fun! (This also helps me prep veggies for the week, since I like to keep a salad tray filled for convenience.)

Weekly Recap

Last week was smooth sailing!

It really couldn't have gone any better! I hit quite a few PRs in the gym, survived the ranging hunger from hormonal bliss (ha!), and even dipped down to the lowest weight of this prep yet… albeit by .2 pounds. Yes that is POINT two pounds… 2/10, 1/5, whatever. It's still a milestone, even though there is no reason to celebrate just yet.

Week of 07-26-09 to 08-01-09

Weight Loss: 3.2 pounds

üWorkouts

üDiet

üGoals

Weekly Goals

I'm going to keep most of last week's goals rolling. They were just what I needed.

** Drink 150+ Ounces of Water Daily

** Abs 2x

** Diet and Training 100% on Point

** Two Scoops of Protein Powder Supps/Day Maximum

** Run/walk 3x (as part of triathlon training) NEW!

**Yoga 1x NEW!

**Pilates 1x NEW!

**At least 5:00 stretching after every lifting session NEW!

I've been thinking, not only do I suck at endurance, but my flexibility is L A C K I N G majorly! So, starting slow, I want to incorporate yoga, and I want to finish off each workout with AT LEAST five minutes of stretching. I always enjoy stretching, so dammit, I gotta just do it.

Motivation

For all you Virgos out there, here's today's horoscope. I get these in my inbox daily from www.tarot.com. I get a kick out of reading them, sometimes they are silly, sometimes they are eerily on point, but today I found this one highly motivating! That's why I'm posting it here. J

Monday, Aug 3rd, 2009 -- Your key planet Mercury is now at home in your sign, raising the bar on perfection even higher than usual. The messenger planet remains in critical Virgo until August 25, setting you up for success if you can achieve excellence. But you also can be disappointed in yourself if you fall short of your unrealistic expectations. For now, trusting both your perceptions and your logic will steer you in the right direction. Listen to more about today with Rick Levine's

Weekend "fun"

It is amazing how bare the cupboards and refrigerator looks once everything is organized! Sheesh! And yes, I keep junk food and packaged products in the house. Don't hate. hehe

The sad part? We JUST bought groceries. Wow. Seems so empty! I apologize for the crappy pic quality. I get a little pic happy w/ my cell phone! LOL!

What else did I do?!

I tried to tackle this monster. YIKES!

My dad was kind enough to dump a lot of boxes on us several weeks ago before he moved. I guess we will be having a yard sale soon. I don't know what to do with it all. This was our first weekend home, (for me… hubby has been on summer vacation), and this has all just been sitting in our basement… and weighing heavily on my mind. I hate messes like this!

See that big ol' mirror propped up against the wall? That little cubby is where I usually practice my posing and walk... but it's blocked right now... another reason why I gotta get the basement cleaned up! :)

Does anyone have any tips? I hope to finish organizing and cleaning it up by the end of next weekend. It is a bit overwhelming. A lot of it is childhood stuff that I hate to throw away/sell/donate… a lot of it is old décor that was my mom's stuff before she passed… it's sentimental stuff like that that I really don't know what to do with… Ideas?

Alrighty, I have rambled enough. Let's make today a great one!

PS - I promise this blog looks pretty when I hit preview, but when I "Publish" it all gets jacked up! Very very frustrating.