Yesterday I tried two new recipes and they were both a huge hit so I thought I would share them all with you. I found them both on Pinterest (seriously love that site). If I had used the recipes I found on Pinterest exactly how they were I would have just linked you to them for copyright reasons, however, I changed both of the recipes as I went along to suit what I wanted to I will post them here for you.
Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus
1 can chickpeas
1 package sun dried tomatoes (I found them in the produce section of the Superstore)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 package sun dried tomatoes (I found them in the produce section of the Superstore)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
1. Peel the skins off the chickpeas (you can do this by gently squeezing them out of their shell. It took my husband and I about 5 minutes to do the whole can and we had never done it before).
2. Rinse the chickpeas and put them in the food processor (I used a blender which I feel was MUCH harder to do and the most time consuming part).
3. Cut up sundried tomatoes into small pieces (I used scissors since it was too tough to cut). Add them into the food processor.
4. Chop finely 1/4 c. cilantro and add to food processor.
5. Add pepper and salt to taste.
6. Add 1/3 c. oil.
7. Blend until smooth. *Up until now the items have only been sitting in the food processor, not blended already*
Now that being said: as I mentioned I used a blender since that was all I had and it wasn't going to well so I slowly added a bit of water to keep things moving. I also feel like I could have gotten away with a lot less oil and a bit more water. I really don't even like hummus but this was a big hit!!! I had it with cut up veggies. YUM! Next time I think I will add some roasted garlic to this dip!
Cauliflower Pizza Crust
1 head cauliflower
1/4 c. flour (you can use regular/whole wheat flour or a gluten free flour like coconut flour - I used regular white flour)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp Italian seasoning - I just used what ever spices I had in the pantry
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp yeast
2 large eggs
1. Place cookie sheet in the oven and preheat to 475F. I used a round pizza cookie sheet.
2. Use a cheese grater or food processor to grate the cauliflower into very small pieces.
3. Place the cauliflower in a bowl and microwave for about 4 minutes on high. Remove from microwave and dump into a clean tea towel. Let cool for a few minutes. roll the cauliflower up and make sure it is in there good and secure so you won't loose any. Over the sink, squeeze the cauliflower like you are wrapping a candy (in opposite directions). I had my husband do this part for me since he is stronger and he wore the silicone oven mitts as the water was coming out was quite hot. You want to get as much water out as possible.
4. Mix cauliflower and all other ingredients into a large bowl - then mix with your hands. I mixed for about 3 minutes since I didn't know what the "dough" was to look like. It was very sticky to my hand and I thought FOR SURE this was going to be an epic failure (but it wasn't). Then I put a piece of parchment paper on the counter and put the dough onto it and pressed it into a pizza crust formation (scraping the dough off my hands as I went as it was quite sticky).
5. Remove the hot cookie sheet from the oven and put parchment paper on it then return it to the oven to cook the crust for 8-10 minutes (or until golden brown). While crust is cooking chop and prep pizza toppings.
6. Remove crust from oven and top with your choice of pizza toppings. I used pizza sauce, green pepper, onion, mushroom, pineapple, a small amount of "light" old cheddar, and some feta. Some chicken would have really made the pizza better as well.
7. Bake until cheese is melted (about 6-8 minutes).
I was concerned that this wasn't going to turn out - but it was SO good. Granted it was a lot of work, but in my opinion it was worth it. The dough only made enough for one pizza so if you were wanting it for more people you would need to adjust the recipe to the amount of people you were making it for. I am still drooling over this and if I didn't have a yummy dinner already planned for tonight I would be strongly inclined to make it again.
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Yesterday reminded me of something very important and that is how I feel when I make healthy choices. There is not one part of me that feels bad when I make healthy food choices. I feel so strong and confident which moves into all areas of my life especially my workouts. I had a great session with my trainer yesterday and pushed myself hard (did a few next exercises I wasn't found of, but got to push myself). Granted we may have chatted a bit too much during the session to but it was fun and I definitely got a good workout done ;).
I also know that when I have healthy foods on my meal plan that I like and am excited for it makes it MUCH easier to stay on track and not eat unhealthy foods - for example, if there is something I really like for dinner that night and we are asked to go out to eat instead I am much more likely to say no thanks when there is something good for dinner that night. I do realize that this does take a bit of extra planning - but in the long run it is totally worth it! You are worth it!
