I’m not at all Irish and don’t usually celebrate this day whole lot, but someday I’d like to get more into it and make green foods and eat corned beef and cabbage! I really want to make this recipe for corned beef and cabbage soup…
If you plan to celebrate today, be safe and have fun!
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This weekend was sure a lazy one for me and I loved it.
A few scenes from the weekend…
A humongo salad loaded with lots of goodies!
Cheering on Kevin and Dana as they ran the Get Lucky half-marathon. I decided to sit out the 7k this year. I signed up and everything but just wasn’t feeling ready for it or up to it so I decided just to spectate this year. I had a blast!
The boys did great!
A beautiful baby shower with tons of delicious food.
Vietnamese take-out…
And pizza…
As you can see I wasn’t really in the mood for much meal prep this weekend. We ordered more take out this weekend then we usually do in about 2-3 months! It’s definitely okay to have this kind of weekend every once in a while if you ask me.
We watched a couple of movies, and had a quiet, relaxing, and fantastic weekend. How was yours?!
How often do you order take out? What is your favorite take out food?
Our go-to is usually Chipotle, but every now and then we will go for Chinese or pizza.
I don’t have a post for you all today but I absolutely couldn’t let the day go by without linking you to Becky’spizza post today!
She used my sweet potato crust recipe and amped up her pizza by adding sunny-side up eggs to the top! I am loving that idea and the pizza looks phenomenal.
Go check it out! Maybe it can be what’s for dinner tonight?!!
I had a fabulous weekend really, packed with family, beautiful walks, great food, and home projects. Here’s a quick little recap of what was happening around mi casa this weekend.
Friday
I was feeling exhausted after work but brought myself to walk for 35 minutes. Dinner was simple but tasted SO good! It was sautéed broccoli, zucchini, onions, and green beans with diced chicken, apple, and gouda sausage! The dish was very flavorful thanks to the snausage sausage.
Saturday
I met my cousin Betsy out at Target Field in Minneapolis for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Our local news anchor Diana Pierce kicked off the event. Senator Amy Klobuchar also spoke, and I saw local sports reporter Eric Perkins on the walk and said “hi”! To any locals, you might know some of these folks. 🙂
The weather was beautiful and the walk was so much fun. We were led through the streets of downtown Minneapolis and into Loring Park (which is where I was last weekend!)
Bets and I made a pit stop at Caribou on the way back of course. Because of this, we didn’t win the race. 😉
There are so many people affected by Alzheimer’s, my grandma being one of them. It is a horrible disease that needs to end! They are researching like crazy to find the cure, and I pray they do. I can’t wait to do the walk again next year to support the research and end Alzheimer’s.
This weekend I solidified my obsession for these Blue Diamond Salt n’ Vinegar Almonds that I got from the Summit last weekend. I’ve looked in CVS and Target so far and I haven’t been able to find this flavor anywhere yet. I should have grabbed ten bags at the Summit. Seriously these things are awesome! They are tangy and salty. MMM…mmmm!
I dragged the Fall decorations up on Saturday. Our house is looking mighty festive!
In the evening we had a bunch of family over for dinner at our house. I finally got to wear my ZeeBee Threads t-shirt dress! I paired it with a zebra print scarf, grey leggings, and actually had to wear a long black cardigan too because it was CHILLY! This dress is so incredibly comfortable. I was so happy to be comfy yet still be wearing a cute outfit at the same time. Ya’ll know I’m all about comfort.
I was overly excited for dinner because we were getting pizza. I should really look back on the blog to determine the last time I actually ate real, not gluten-free, not cauliflower pizza crust… just real original legit pizza. My system has been cooling down quite a bit and I wanted to try this one treat to see how I held up.
The results: I think I felt fine—I didn’t feel any different really! Not that I will make this a common meal but it’s good to know I can handle it every once and a while. It tasted just as good as I remembered too!
Sunday
I am beginning a project freezer clean out and dug this up from the freezer: gluten-free lemon blueberry bread. I topped it with some almond butter and called it breakfast.
After breakfast we ran our errands and got a few groceries but not too many because we are going on VACATION at the end of the week! I am realizing I haven’t said much about this yet. More to come on the vaca 411.
This week I plan to eat food from the freezer primarily. We have loads of frozen veggies, frozen meats, leftover soups, chili, etc. It will feel good to begin cleaning out the freezer! PROJECT FREEZER (and fridge) CLEAN OUT!
For dinner I made a batch of yellow quinoa and topped it with sautéed broccoli, zucchini, onions, chicken, and fresh tomatoes, olives, and hummus. A Mediterranean-inspired dish! My fav.
It tasted as good as it looked!
We tackled a few projects around the house, relaxed a bit, watched some of the Emmy’s, and called it an early night on Sunday. It was another fabulous weekend for the books!
I am pretty pumped about a new gadget that has joined the counter in our kitchen. We have a NutriBullet! It can make smoothies, dips, soups, and even has a milling blade attachment so you can grind your own spices, seeds, etc. Besides the fact that this bullet literally whips up a smoothie in seconds, I also love that it is super easy to clean. The blender works great and all, but it can be a little tedious to clean and it takes longer.
Yesterday, I just had to use it, so I made a smoothie for Dana and myself. I don’t have the exact measurements but I included pineapple, strawberries, banana, kale, flax-seed, aloe vera juice, and water.
It’s maybe not the prettiest smoothie you have ever seen but it was delicious! I am hoping I stay on this smoothie train for a while to get me out of my breakfast rut of peanut butter and banana. The fridge is stocked really well right now so I think I should be able to maintain a creative week of eats as long as I put my mind to it.
Aloe Vera Juice
I realize I have mentioned this aloe vera juice for a couple of weeks now and not really said anything about it. As you may recall, I am tackling a laundry list of natural remedies to try to combat this colitis thing. Along with those, I am always teaching myself to deal better with stress, I am sticking to a gluten-free diet for now, I have eliminated refined sugars (as best as I can), I am beginning to include fermented foods into my diet to help aid in the digestion process, and I am taking my prescribed GI meds.
I continue to do my research and found that aloe vera juice came up in a lot of my findings. There is still more research that needs to be done, but some have found that aloe vera juice can help heal wounds (think about applying aloe vera to sunburn), and it can also reduce inflammation. It can also help boost the immune system. I am only taking a very small amount of it, and the taste is pretty unpalatable, so I have found that putting some into my smoothie masks the taste completely and is easier for me to stomach. (Note: I consulted with a medical professional before beginning aloe vera juice).
So that’s my little bit about aloe vera juice and btw I am feeling SO well. Moving on to dinner…
I was inspired by this recipe to make Carrot Crust Pizza! I have experimented with cauliflower crust pizza and veggie nut pizza crust, but never carrots. I can’t wait for the day when I can get my fingers on a good ol’ fashioned piece of pizza, but until that time comes, I’ll be making substitutes!
I began by washing six medium-sized carrots. I chopped them into big chunks and added them to a microwave safe bowl. I added about 1/3 cup of water, covered the bowl with plastic wrap, and microwaved for about 8 minutes or until I was able to pierce through the carrots with a fork.
Next, I food processed the carrots until almost smooth. I scraped the carrots onto a thin kitchen towel (you could use cheesecloth as well), folded up all four corners, and wrung out the liquid from the carrots into the sink. This was a major arm workout! There is a LOT of water in carrots.
I put the carrot mash back into the bowl and added one egg, 1/4 cup of cheese, and one grated garlic clove. I gave it a good mix.
On a baking pan lined with parchment paper, I spread out the carrots into a 1/4 inch layer. I spritzed the top with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Next it went into a 400°F preheated oven for about 28 minutes.
I removed the pizza from the oven when the outsides were starting to crisp up, and the center of the pizza was firm.
Then I added the goodies! I added marinara sauce, cheese, red bell pepper, onion, olives, and mushrooms. Back into the oven it went for about five minutes. I finished by putting it under the broiler for three minutes.
It was delicious! The crust wasn’t as crispy as I thought it would be, so I’m wondering if it should cook even longer? Either way, I really truly enjoyed this dish!
¼ cup and ½ cup cheddar cheese, shredded and divided
1 egg
1 garlic clove, grated or minced
olive oil
salt and pepper
½ cup marinara sauce (no-sugar added)
1 Tbsp parmesan cheese
toppings of choice
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place parchment paper on cookie sheet. Set aside.
Place carrots in a medium microwave safe bowl and add ⅓ cup of water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 7-9 minutes, or until carrots are fork tender. Remove from microwave and let cool slightly.
Once cooled, place carrots in food processor and pulse until pureed.
Scrape carrot puree onto cheesecloth or thin kitchen towel. Gather all corners and wring out excess water from the carrots into the sink.
Add carrots back to the bowl, add ¼ cup cheese, egg, and grated garlic clove. Mix well.
On prepared baking pan, spread carrot mixture to a ¼ inch thickness. Spray with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake for 27-29 minutes or until outer crust begins to turn golden, and middle of pizza is firm.
Remove from oven and add sauce, ½ cup cheddar cheese, parmesan, and toppings. Bake for 5 more minutes.
Turn oven to broil and broil for 3-4 minutes.
Remove from oven, slice, and enjoy warm!
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Have a great day my friends!
Question of the day: Have you ever had any strange pizza? Have you made any yourself?
