The Red Carpet

Ok, I promised the recipe for a great
pizza sauce.

I took this one from the Southbeach Diet
basically and just enhanced it a touch.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup tomato puree
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried thyme

Directions:

Combine all in small saucepan and cook over low heat for 15 minutes, or until sauce thickens.

That is the basic recipe for one pizza.
I use light sauce and slices of tomatoes
on the pizza, so this is plenty for two
pizzas the way I do it.

I also add garlic in one of two ways.
The easy way is to just add garlic
powder and stir in before cooking.

My favorite way is to add about 2
large finely minced garlic cloves to
the mix and then cook the sauce.
~Yummy~

I also like to take about a 1/4 cup
of Olive Oil and heat it slowly with
several finely minced garlic cloves.
Just sautee' until the garlic is soft.
Use a low heat so you don't burn the
garlic!

Now when your pizza dough is ready
to add the toppings,
brush the garlic/olive oil mixture
on the raw dough before spooning on
your pizza sauce.

Garlic gives everything a "kick" that
is so good!

Enjoy the show!

The Envelope Please...

And the winner is...

Whole Grain crust Pizza!

Yeah, I know, pizza on a weight loss
diet?

You bet!

As with many occasions, it is customary
for my friends and I to get together
and EAT! The Academy Awards are no
different. Any reason to get together
and have a little party.

I am officially down 23.5 pounds and don't
want to blow it. I've found many ways to
eat some of the foods I love by adjusting
the original recipes.

I made my first pizza ever from scratch
during the Superbowl. I was the only
calorie counter at the event, but the
pizza was a huge hit. I thought I would
share the recipe with you.

The key to the whole thing is a whole
grain wheat crust.

INGREDIENTS

* 1 teaspoon white sugar (can substitute honey)
* 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
* 1 tablespoon good quality Extra Virgin olive oil
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups whole wheat flour
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water.
Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for
about 10 minutes, until foamy.

2. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture,
then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup
of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together.
Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the
remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour
has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes
smooth, about 10 minutes.
Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface.
Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm
place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

3. When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a
lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust,
or leave whole to make one thick crust. Form into a
tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes,
until doubled.

4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch
any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently
pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the
circle has reached the desired size, place on a well oiled pizza pan.
Top pizza with your favorite toppings, such as sauce, cheese,
meats, or vegetables.

I added some garlic powder, oregano and basil
to the flour mixture to give the dough a
nice flavor.

Then using low fat cheeses sparingly I
heaped on the veggies and used very
low fat ham slices cut to bite size piece
for the the meat. It is fine to use
veggies only.

For the veggies I used green and red bell
peppers, fresh mushroom slices, sliced
black olives, a few fresh basil leaves
scattered about, chopped onions and on one
of the pizzas some jalapeno peppers.
We love those here in Texas!

You can use any veggies you like. I'm
going to put some fresh spinach on one
of them this time.

Until tomorrow where I share my low fat,
low calorie pizza sauce...Bon Appetite!

Tear it up!

It would seem that the torn rotator
cuff problem might not be such a huge
problem after all.

After meeting with an orthopedic surgeon
late last week, I received a shot of
Cortisone in the wounded shoulder. About
2 days later I was once again able to
raise my arm and was able to reach behind
me with it. It's been quite a few months
since I was able to do that.

So now it's time to head over to the Wellness
Center and get signed up.

It's taken a few months, but I've managed
to drop 20 pounds by dieting alone. I know
that even though I could probably continue
along this same path, I'll never get as
healthy as I would like to be unless I
add some exercise to the mix.

It's a challenge to work out with injuries.
After all, it was being injured and unable
to move about as much as I needed to that
contributed to the greatest part of the
weight gain in the first place.

So I have found a great place to work out.
Granted it cost much more than any other
place in town, but it has a therapeutic pool.
With injured joints, working out in water,
warm water at that, will be a Godsend. I'm
particularly interested in the fact that
there is a treadmill IN the pool. I can't
yet see in my mind's eye how that will work
but I'm excited to give it a try.

The biggest hurdle I have right now is to
put myself in front of other people while
wearing a swim suit! Just the thought of
it makes me cringe with fear. I bought one
anyway. A nice little one piece number
in black of course.

So, I'm all showered and ready to go out
into the world, sign on the dotted line
and commit myself to a workout program
that will hopefully speed up the weight
loss and get me back into shape aerobically.

And I'll watch Biggest Loser tonight with
a renewed interest no doubt.

Stay tuned for the photos...I hate to do
it, but what better way to stick with it
than to have the world watching?

A Shift in the Thinking

Another Tuesday night, another round of
Biggest Loser.

It's no secret that I'm a fan and find the
show to be a great source of inspiration.

But how many seasons have I sat and watched
every single episode knowing I need to make
a change in my lifestyle while sitting on
the couch eating pizza, or corn dogs or just
plain unhealthy foods? Too many.

Tonight it was so different. I was getting
hungry for dinner and got me a little plate
with one stick of celery, a few black olives,
some pepper rings, about an 1/8 cup of
walnuts and about two tablespoons of hummus.

A smile came to my face as I realized the
difference. A couple of months back there
seemed to be a shift in my thinking. I was
losing weight, slowly, finally. And just
by what I was eating alone. Exercise is
still the missing factor, but that is all
about to change.

Stick around, subscribe to the blog and keep
your eyes peeled for photos and videos!

A recipe break: Homemade Hummus

If you happen to be a fan of hummus like
I am, you probably get tired of buying
those little containers at 4 bucks a pop.
And it's so easy to make.

12 oz. can of chick peas (aka garbanzo beans)
2 to 4 cloves of garlic
1 to 2 TBL. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 TBL. Tahini
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper (optional)
Lemon Juice

Drain the Chick Peas and place them in
a food processor. Use the pulse button
to get the peas all ground up pretty
evenly. Stir any larger pieces of
the sides and add 1 to 2 Tablespoons
of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Blend

Add a tablespoon of Tahini, the juice
from half a lemon (more if you like),
2 to 4 cloves of lightly chopped garlic
(according to your taste) and if you
like a little zip, bang, pow, put in
just a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Close the lid and let all the ingredient
blend for about 2 minutes.

That's it. It's easy, it's fast,
and it's good for you.

Until next time...