PB (take two)

 Another pizza bianca. Since when did I become Iron Chef of Italy? Gotta admit, though, as I'm munching on my master creation, I think I may have outdone the Cooking Light recipe. It's vegetarian, not cooked in bacon fat, and tastes better (adjectives were never my strong suite).

Changes:
1/2 cup ricotta cheese + 1tbsp garlic & herb goat cheese
toppings: sauteed onions, sauteed spinach, & roasted red peppers (plus 1/3 cup part skim shredded mozzarella)

Now I need my family come home to help me finish it because I am scary close to running into my room and wolfing it down (while watching season 2 of Portlandia).

Christmas break, all I have is free time, and I've successfully made two pizzas and a beet salad...

On a more productive note, I have started taking self defense classes and am proud to say I am officially a white belt. The "kee-ai"s never get any less awkward, and my half-moons are atrocious. The way I fold my belt, however, is pristine to say the least.

And to leave you in assurance that I am not without faults (although it's still hard to convince most people), I have eaten half the pizza while writing this post. 

Hope everyone had a fabulous New Year's Eve! Mine was laden with Moscow Mules and Almond Champagne

not pictured: myself

Pizza Bianca (And Some Tips on Portion Control)

I tried this fabuloso recipe almost a week ago. 4 stars (only because my execution wasn't spot on). It's from Cooking Light and was a family favorite (minus my brother who is allergic to mushrooms).

Click here for the recipe

And now for my words of wisdom:
1. Spend hours cooking for yourself and only make enough to eat one portion
2. (And/or) Make a pizza for your family (and only make one pizza) so that you can politely devour your portion, allowing everyone else to have their designated portion - everyone is not quite full but you have practiced portion control!
3. Drink water, and then drink water, and then drink more water. Then go to the bathroom and then drink more water.
4. Drink more water.
5. Full of water? Drink more water.

No, no. If you want real food and health tips click along to my health and food blog. Mentions of food on this, my personal blog, are mentions of fat, grease, and all that makes life worth living. This pizza is GOOD good good. The toppings are cooked in bacon fat BUT the cheeses are low-fat. Best of both worlds. And if you peak at the nutrition facts you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Make this to eat half  by yourself before January 1 rolls around and magically you're committed to being healthy and active (winks all around)

Winning.

What a great blogger I am, keeping everyone in eager anticipation for a week and a half waiting for another blog post about my life and all that happens after breakfast.

I have not yet discussed (1) my trip to San Diego, (2) Christmas... (3) Cutie Tesday #2, (4) pizza

San Diego:
Last.... some rando day of the week... my mom and I made the strenuous journey down south to Cardiff by the Sea to spend some quality time with my nephew/mom's grandson. Seeing my sister and brother-in-law were added bonuses.

above left: Luke still trying to figure out if he likes this "getting burped" business

above right: My scarfed self, Mary (big sister) + Luke (her offspring), Mom (the reason any of us exist at all)

family: click here to view the entire album

We enjoyed a not light lunch at Amaya at  The Grand hotel in Del Mar, and then went back to my sister's house to start making dinner. My kind of day. We were even graced with Jake's presence (Mary's husb, Luke's father), and I shared my collegiate wisdom by telling him to go to bed early and finish his work at 5 am.

boring stuff boring stuff boring stuff.... CHRISTMAS DAY!!!

mine was great, how was yours? I drank coffee

and posed for the camera

and got a food processor! First thought: "Now I can make pesto!" And really, who doesn't look at a new food processor and think "pesto"?

And then I made a pizza:

Twas good. Not made with the food processor. Will be mentioned in a post to come.