Hello!
I am finally back to working on my blog. My life has been way too busy. I was involved in a very successful 8-week fitness challenge at The Workout Club in Feb and March, at the same time the Fitness Challenge was going on The CrossFit open was happening, training my clients, training myself, 3 dogs and of course raising teenagers is always fun and challenging. Just life nothing bad just busy like everyone else. The CrossFit Open was a blast. I improved from last year in everything…strength, stamina and I finally got double under's! Mark did amazing. He ended up #83 in the world for ages 50-54 and #9 in the North East. This weekend he will be performing 4 brutal WOD’s for the Master’s Qualifier(regionals if you are 40 or over). If he ends up in the top 20 he goes on to The CrossFit Games in Carson, California in July. Say a prayer all goes well!

About this recipe…if you LOVE pizza like I do you will absolutely adore this recipe. It is packed with good quality nutrients, it won't stuff you like regular pizza does because there is no white flour or yeast in it. The best part about this recipe is now they make bags of crumbled cauliflower so there is no need to have to use a food processor. This cuts the prepping time in half. You can purchase the bags of crumbled cauliflower at Trader joe's and Roche Brothers if you live near me or at your local grocery store or Health food store.
Please let me know how you like this recipe. Enjoy!

Crust:
1 head cauliflower or 1 bag of Green Giant Cauliflower Crumbles(cauliflower all crumbled for you)
1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup fresh parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon flaxseed
1/2 tablespoon chia seed
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 organic eggs, whisked lightly

This is a picture of the crust after I baked it for 20 minutes...delicious!

Toppings:
1/4 cup pizza sauce or marinara sauce
1-2 antibiotic free, organic chicken breasts cut up into small pieces
1/2 cup of chopped nitrate free bacon
1/4 cup- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup chopped yellow onions
1/4 cup red pepper
1/4 cup green pepper

STEPS:
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or
lightly brush olive oil on a pizza stone.

2) Cut cauliflower into pieces and pulse in a food processor until fine. Steam in a steamer basket.  If you are using the Green Giant crumbles follow the directions on package(cut open top and place in microwave for 4 minutes or steam in a steamer basket).

3) After cauliflower is steamed spread it out on paper towels for 5-6 minutes to get the extra water out. Let cool.

4) In a large bowl, combine all of the crust ingredients. Mix well. Transfer it to your pizza stone and spread it out with the back of a large spoon, resembling a circular pizza crust.

5) Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

6) while the crust is baking sauté chicken and bacon in a large frying pan. Remove from pan leaving a teaspoon of bacon grease. Add onions and peppers, stir fry. Drain fat.

7) spread pizza sauce on crust then add the chicken, bacon, onions, and peppers. Top with more mozzarella cheese and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

8) let cool then slice and eat. BTW...this pizza tastes better the next day. 

**You can add any toppings you like. To make the large pizza shown in the picture I used 2 bags of the Green giant Cauliflower crumbles so I doubled the entire recipe.

additional topping ideas:
-spinach, pineapple chunks, red onion, and chicken.
-ham and pineapple.
-bacon and onion.
-all veggies pizza.

This picture shows the pork stuffed inside of a baked sweet potato

BBQ pulled pork in a lettuce wrap

Nothing tastes better on a chilly winter day than pulled pork that has been slow-cooked in the crockpot. I love coming in and out of my house during the day and smelling the slow-cooked pork combined with the BBQ sauce and sliced onions. It reminds of cooking with my Mom when I was a teenager. There is something sentimental when my house smells like real, fresh, home-cooked food. It feels comfy and homey just like when I was growing up. I love providing that for my children. 

I have 2 different ways you can serve this. The first one is the pulled pork stuffed inside a sweet potato. This is much heartier and filling. If you are competing in the CrossFit Open this weekend you NEED this for strength, stamina, and energy! If you are trying to lose a few lbs or are just not that hungry than eat the pulled pork in a lettuce wrap.

One last thing... pray for me that there are no double under's in The CrossFit Open 16.2. I need 1 more week of practice. I got 35 DUS unbroken the other day so I am making progress. Tonight at 8:00 pm EST on games.crossfit.com there will be a live announcement of what 16.2 will be. Check it out if you can. I am so pumped. I love being in "competition mode." It keeps me focused.

 Thank You for reading my blog!

Ingredients:

1, 6-7 lb Pork Shoulder
2 tablespoons of Garlic Powder
2 tablespoons of Smoked Paprika
2 tablespoons Onion Powder
1 tbsp Chili Powder
1 Tbsp Dry Mustard Powder
2 Tbsp Coconut Sugar or 3 NuStevia
1/4 tsp Sea Salt(optional)
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
2 Yellow Onions, thinly sliced
Store bought:  Anne's organic BBQ sauce (I would buy 2 bottles just in-case you need more) or Trader Joe's all natural BBQ Sauce..see below.
3.5 cups of homemade BBQ Sauce

Steps:

1. Mix together, in a small bowl the garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, chili powder, dry mustard powder, coconut sugar or NuStevia and pepper. 
2. Rub the "dry rub" mixture all over pork until it is well covered. Place in the refrigerator for minimum 2 hours or even better over-night. 
3. Slice onions and place in bottom of crockpot. 
4. place pork that has been in the refrigerator for 2 hours or over-night on top of onions.
5. Cover pork with BBQ sauce.
6. Cover crockpot and cook on low 8-10 hours.
7. Shred with a fork.
8. Serve in a lettuce wrap or if you want a heartier meal serve on top of a  baked sweet potato.
**it is perfectly ok if the pork is in your crockpot closer to 10-12 hours. It will shred easier.

Baked Sweet Potato:

1. stab potato with a fork. 
2. place on cookie sheet and cook for 45-60 minutes at 375 degrees F.
3. Scoop out a little of the sweet potato and stuff the potato with the pulled pork. 

I am thrilled for you to taste my latest cookie dough square recipe. As you know I LOVE anything with a chocolaty taste without all the artificial ingredients. Just 1 small square mid- afternoon does the trick. It will warm your heart. The coconut cacao bliss is one of the key ingredients here. 100% organic Artisana Raw Coconut Cacao Bliss gives this cookie recipe the delicious taste of raw chocolate coconut butter. It is vegan and sugar cane free, it has the highest quality of pure raw ingredients. If you are looking to make this sugar free omit the enjoy life chocolate chips and use 85% cacao chips instead and omit the coconut sugar and use stevia or NuStevia.

Hazelnuts and Pecans are loaded with health benefits. Hazelnuts are rich in protein, fiber, iron, calcium and vitamin E. They are also very low in sodium and sugar. They do not have any cholesterol. Pecans are full of age-defying antioxidants (bonus!), they have more than 19 vitamins and minerals which include vitamins A, B, and E, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium and zinc. 

Tonight at 8 pm on games.crossfit.com Dave Castro will announce The CrossFit Open WOD16.2. This is the second workout of 5. I am sooo excited and anxious to see what it will be. My husband, son and I are all competing. We are hoping to do respectable. I will give 150%. This is our 5th year competing and each year we get fitter, faster and stronger! So much fun. If you are not sure what the CrossFit Open is about please click here

This is where Mark and I we stand in the NorthEast right now. Believe me, it will go up and down each week. Not bad for middle age! Lol

Ingredients:

CRUST: 

1/2 cup  raw pecans
1 cup almond flour
6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2 tablespoons Coconut Cacao Bliss
2 NuStevia or 2 Stevia
1 tablespoon raw organic honey
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Cookie Dough:

1 can full-fat coconut milk
4 tablespoons cacao powder
1 tablespoon coconut sugar or 2 NuStevia
2 tablespoons raw organic honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon coconut cacao bliss
1 tablespoon coconut butter
1/4 cup enjoy life chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Steps:

1. Grind pecans in a food processor until course, place in the bowl.
2. Add almond flour, coconut oil, honey, NuStevia, cinnamon, and coconut cacao bliss. Mix well.
3. line a 9x5 baking dish with parchment paper and spread the crust ingredients evenly. Set aside.

Cookie Dough:

1. Pour entire can of coconut milk in a saucepan. Cook on low heat for about 15 minutes. 

2. In a separate bowl add cacao powder, coconut sugar, honey, vanilla extract, coconut cacao bliss and coconut butter. Stir well.

3. Add all ingredients in step #2(cacao powder, coconut sugar etc.)  to warm coconut milk that is in the sauce pan. Keep on low heat while stirring constantly as it melts and thickens a bit.

4. After coconut milk mixture (cookie dough) is melted together and thickened a bit stir in 1/4 cup chopped pecans and 1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts. Remove from the pan and pour mixture on top of the crust.

5. sprinkle the remainder of the pecans and hazelnuts on top then add 1/4 cup enjoy life chocolate chips.

6. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F.

7. Let cool completely then keep in the freezer for 2 hours until firm.

8. Slice and serve!

**store in the freezer. When ready to eat a square, take one out of the freezer and let it sit at room temp for 10 minutes before eating.  How can you resist this? Look at this picture. Look closely at the crust...OMG, I can't even tell you. Dee-lish!