Tofu Pizza Crust and Rest Days

Rest days, no matter how annoying they are sometimes, are important. Just saying. I've been starting to feel the load of running, running, running and my body doesn't necessarily like it. My shins hurt, my quads are tight, I can hardly walk up the stairs... and yet my mind says GO. Luckily, I have a very understanding coach who knows that breaks are sometimes just what the doctor ordered. It seems to be a pretty common problem among serious athletes, even in high school, to want to stretch the limits and never admit that they CAN'T or at least SHOULDN'T do something. But guess what? It's OKAY to have those days. It's even necessary once in a while.

We, as humans, need to understand that there are limits to our lives and abilities. It's just how things were meant to be. Whether you push yourself in school, at work, on the field, or at a gym, just remember that it's fine to not be fine. Some days are the kind when you need a nap. Some are the kind when you need to scream into a pillow and cry. And don't worry... that still leaves plenty of days for you to smile and skip and work your behind off at practice, if that's what you like to do. But a rest won't kill you. And remember: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

With that sentiment out of the way, we can move on to the fun part of the post. Or at least it's usually MY favorite. THE RECIPE! After seeing a lot about cauliflower pizza crusts and even making one myself, I decided it was about time for another sort of pizza to make its way to my repertoire. I have nothing against real dough, except it usually takes FOREVER to make... with the yeast and the kneading and such. So, I opted for a super crust full of flavor and protein and TOFU.

TOFU PIZZA CRUSTS

3 oz firm tofu, crumbled up. DRAINED NOT PRESSED!

1 tsp. flax seeds, ground

1 tsp. nutritional yeast

1/3 cup diced mushrooms

Onion Powder

Celery Salt

Basil

1 tsp oil (optional)

1. Combine all ingredients and stir well. Don't worry if things don't hold together as well as would be expected... the microwaving ought to take care of that.
2. Lightly butter or spray a microwaveable plate and place mixture onto it. Press together with fingers to form one large pizza crust.
3. Microwave on HIGH 3-5 minutes until you can get under it with a fork or spatula and flip it without tons of crumbling. Microwave other side up for 1-2 minutes until it holds together well.
4. Top with sauce/veggies/more yeast/soy cheese and enjoy. I put a big slice of tomato and pizza hummus on mine. YUM!



Spicy Pizza Hummus in 5 minutes!

Another recipe! Yea! This one is inspired by Katie's pizza hummus... in fact they're pretty similar, so I can't take a whole lot of credit. But nutritional yeast... wow. What great stuff! That's all I'm gonna say. It really punches up the flavor of this, and I think I may start sprinkling it willy-nilly everywhere! And this hummus... I love it. I eat it even without things to dip, that's how good it is. It truly tastes like you're eating a pizza, except the texture is nice and creamy and you get a little zing from the spice that I added. And another plus? It's REALLY healthy, between the beans for protein and fiber, the tomatoes for vitamin C and lycopene, and pretty low calorie, too (only 150 for a BIG half cup that will fill ya right up!)

Without further ado, I present to you:

SPICY PIZZA HUMMUS

1/2 cup cooked garbanzo beans, drained if from can

1/4 cup no salt added tomato sauce

2 T. Nutritional Yeast Flakes

1 teaspoon Sundried Tomato+ Rosemary Spice (or mix your own)

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon Siracha chil sauce or spicy buffalo sauce (for buffalo pizza flavor!)

Dash Garlic Salt (opt)

Finely Chopped Tomatoes/Pepper (opt)

1. Put everything into a blender and blend for 2-3 minutes. Then puree for an additional minute. I allowed some bean chunks to stay in mine because I thought that added something (hence the veggie chunks, also)... And you're done! EAT UP! YUM!!!

Cauliflower Pizza and Cleaning the Cupboard

Hooray! I did it! My OCD has been temporarily assuaged, until another family member comes along and moves something, of course, but I'm hoping that doesn't happen.
Just like Sonia and Heather challenged today, I reordered my kitchen cupboard. It looks a ton better and should help me cut down on some waste from buying extra packages when I already have some lying around!

See Everything in disarray? The open packages? The similar items on TOTALLY different shelves? Well, it bothered me. It may not look so bad, but IT WAS!

 So, after an intense hour in which I took out empty packages, combined half-full ones, sorted goods by use and flavor, and cleaned some disgusting sticky/moldy junk out (yes...I know. It made me sick to think that was in our cupboard. Maybe take a peek at what's hiding in YOURS...) it was much better.

You can't tell that much has changed in this picture...but it has

The Canned Foods all sorted out

ORGANIZED!

Nuts and Nut Butters...

And a nice little section for the Asian Food!

 I also discovered some nifty things that I didn't realize we had. I'm going to have to find uses for them, obviously :)

Sour Cherry 'Spoon Fruit'

Tikka Masala Mix- okay, so not 'weird' but I could do so many things with this...

Well, after cleaning everything out, my stomach was telling me it was time for dinner. Something that had been intriguing me for quite a while was Cauliflower Crust Pizza. Since we had a head of cauliflower on hand, I decided to give it a try. HOWEVER, I neglected to check and see if we had every ingredient necessary (no eggs or cheese, which make up a good portion of the ingredients!) so I had to make some modifications. Surprisingly, they worked! I felt so proud and creative I almost cried. I'm learning how to actually cook! I never thought I'd see the day!