Pizza, pizza!!

Trader Joes is probably my most favorite grocery store, EVER! I love the atmosphere, variety and friendliness of the entire store. If you haven't been to a TJs, you need to pack your reusable grocery bags and head over there NOW!

Ok, now with that out of the way (!), dinner last week was an impromptu home-made pizza. After watching a food show about pizza, I had the bug for a Caprese pizza. So, to Traders I go!

They have dough (Garlic-Herb, whole wheat, and plain), pizza sauce and all the toppings one could dream up! Seeing as how I am trying to be more mindful about the products I purchase, the food I consume and how my food is created/fed/butchered, etc. I opted to buy my own basil plant ($2.99!!) and chose the whole wheat dough. Now, confession time. I. Do. Not. Bake. Have I discussed this before? I think I have. Yeast has a mind of it's own and I cannot control it. I do not like that. So, buying my own dough was a big step. Maybe someday I'll actually MAKE my own. Anyway...there were many worries in my mind about cooking my own dough, but I manned up and it was FABULOUS!

The dough was sweet and cooked just perfectly. I did spray the pan with a tiny bit of cooking spray and the flour from rolling it out was just enough. I used the entire container of sauce and it wasn't over powering for this pizza. The mozzarella was amazing, the fresh basil was

a bright flavor and the tomatoes were perfect! It was an all-around wonderful dinner!

Cook vs. Baker

I'm definitely the former as opposed to the latter. Baking terrifies me. There's chemistry involved. Your measurements have to be a lot more exact and precise than in cooking. You can't 'ad-lib' as much in baking as cooking. If I don't have a shallot, I can add an onion; but in baking, if I only have 1/4 cup of flour, I can't sub baking powder. When I try a recipe for the first time, I try to stick to it and not interject my own opinions, however, once the trial run is complete, I'm off and running! One of my favorite recipes doesn't call for a red onion, but hello? It totally needs it. I've added it since day one.

There's a popular WW substitution in baking that involves a can of pumpkin instead of oil and eggs. I like the cookies, other people aren't such a big fan. But if I can have 3 WW cookies over 1 normal cookie, I'll take the 3, thank you very much. The cookies don't taste like pumpkin at all. I've used a spice cake mix as well as a chocolate and no pumpkin flavor. They're of a more cake-y consistency than a crispy cookie which suits my chewy preferences.

Anyway, baking. Today, I applied the pumpkin substitution theory to an Apple Bread mix from Trader Joe's (which is my fav store, btw). The first time I made it a few months ago I totally spaced on putting the eggs in! I don't bake, I'm trying to tell you this. The bread was fine though. I was a bit apprehensive today, but then I figured I couldn't mess it up more than not putting eggs in it, so what the heck? The verdict? It's delicious! The sub was pumpkin minus the butter, eggs and milk! Very moist and full of flavor. I like pumpkin, so if it did taste pumpkin-y, I didn't mind, but some people may be hesitant. Don't be!

Applesauce is another popular sub for oil or eggs. There's a great slow-cooker chocolate cake recipe that uses applesauce. As far as baking goes, those are the only tricks I know. Cooking, I can hook you up! My most popular subs are ground turkey for beef, low sodium sauces/soups, FF soups (unless you're making a casserole, in which case, you do need some of the fat to hold it together), a butter flavored yogurt instead of actual butter, PAM as opposed to coating the pan with olive oil. One sub that I refuse is turkey bacon for real bacon. I read or heard somewhere that turkey bacon actually has more sodium because they have to add it to the turkey to preserve it whereas real bacon has salt naturally. If I'm going to splurge on bacon, give me the real stuff!

Sick exercise

The BF was really sick a few weeks ago and of course, it came about 3 weeks into his consistent gym workouts. This was a major wrench in his program. I was sick with a 24 hour bug this past week, and it fell on my Couch-to-5k run day. Of course. This sparked a good convo with the bf:

When you're sick, should you maintain your normal workout regimen?

I'm sure you've heard of people who run every day and haven't missed a day in 5 years. I heard of one woman who only missed 3 days in 5 years and those were the days she was giving birth. What the heck?!

I am not one of those people.

Not that I look for excuses, but I am a firm believer that the body needs rest. However, if I was the birth-runner lady, that amount of physical activity is normal for me and my body is used to running every day. In this instance, I do believe she should maintain her running. For all I know, she only ran for 5 minutes a day while she was pregnant (although, probably not).

In the case of the bf, he was just starting his work-outs and therefore, taking a day or two (or week) off, wasn't the worst thing for him. Once he builds up, I think he will miss his walks and work-outs. I miss my work-outs when I'm sick. Although, I did not miss my run yesterday. I could barely walk and think. I needed the time off.

Do you work-out when you're sick? Does the intensity vary? I'm really curious about this.

Sick

I hate being sick. It's like a full-time job to recover. Meds every 4-6 hours, drinking water, sleeping, peeing...so much! This sick is different. All intestinal. Even worse.

When I'm sick, I don't feel like eating. I have to force myself to eat and try to recover. For example, today I have had the following: Sprite, Saltines, soup and some oatmeal. Water, of course. I have no desire to eat.

I always feel that after being sick is the best time for me to jump back on the wagon, because I'm not viewing food as anything more than fuel. It's not something I desire or use for comfort. It's strictly nourishment. This is how I know that I can change my mind about food. If I was sick and still craving and eating, I know I would have a deeper problem. I am aware of my food and how I feel towards it. Does this make sense?

How do you feel when you're sick? Do you eat? Part of it may be laziness, too. I don't want to cook anything therefore I'm not eating much because I have no energy. Do you have staple foods you eat when you're sick? Does your significant other help you or do they leave you alone?