day thirty-one...getting back into the swing of things

As of this morning I am finally home and done with housesitting. I love house and pet sitting, but I am happy to be home. There is no bed like your own. ;) Now that I am back home, it is time to get back into the swing of things.

Now, I have to be honest and confess that I have not really been working out since I began housesitting. Now that I am back home, I am going to be getting up again in the morning and attempt to work out 5-6 days a week. Not long workouts...just short 30 minute conditioning exercises or a jog. I don't know, we will see how it goes. Let's just take it one day at a time. Sound good? Good.

Breakfast
I woke up earlier than usual this morning in order to get the house in tip-top shape. Bed made, blankets folded, kitchen clean, etc. Didn't take long at all. Before I knew it, I was walking out the door and packing up my car to head home. But before heading home, I made a mocha shake. For some reason, it tasted way better than usual...less icy maybe? I opened up the new pack of mocha shakes, so maybe it is just a really good batch.

Morning Snack
After I got home, I had some time to kill before church, so I headed over to Trader Joe's and picked up some essentials for this week's lunches. I bought some romaine lettuce, pizza burgers, and some veggie burgers. When I got back home from shopping, I ate a cinnamon raisin crunch bar and began walking to church with my parents.

Lunch
I had some zucchini to use before it went bad, so I made a plate of zucchini pasta with veggie sausage. This time, however, I did not add any mozzarella cheese to it...only a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Afternoon Snack
After lunch I met up with Kiera at Starbucks and caught up on some blogging and started writing this post. While there I had a black coffee with some splenda and an ice water and later on ate some cinnamon pretzel bites. They actually paired really nicely with the hot coffee.

Dinner
I still have a couple macaroni and cheese packs left from my first Medifast order, so I thought I would eat one of them tonight. Nothing really special to report about it...except that it looks more like cheese soup rather than mac and cheese. :)

Dessert
So I tried out a new dessert tonight...it was a brownie! Wow...this was soooo good! Way better than what I thought it was going to taste like. The brownie literally melted in my mouth. I am liking this Medifast program more and more every day. Instead of getting bored with the meals, I actually look forward to them! Love it!

So anyways, I hope your weekend was a good one! Keep me in prayer as I am starting the second month of the program and that I wake up on time in the morning to work out! :D

It's good to be home and back with these two crazy cats. ♥♥♥

xoxo,
Toni

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Before you exit out of this post because you despise cauliflower, here me out. First of all, this pizza has no taste of cauliflower...it is completely drowned out by the gooey cheese and smooth marinara sauce. Trust me...this is the best alternative to pizza you will ever eat. Convinced yet? Well, let's get started then.

Step One
Gather your ingredients. You will need:

Crust:
3/4 cup of grated raw cauliflower

1/4 cup Egg Beaters
1/2 cup of light mozzarella cheese or any other kind of light cheese

Toppings:

1/4 cup light Mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup of marinara sauce

5 spinach leaves

5 basil leaves

5 slices of a roma tomato

Step Two

Using a food processor, process the cauliflower so it looks similar to rice.

Step Three

Measure out 3/4 cup and place on a paper towel and dab the cauliflower to try and get all the moisture out. You want it as dry as possible.

Step Four

Add the egg beaters and 1/2 cup of the cheese to the cauliflower and mix thoroughly.

 

Step Five

Place the cauliflower mixture onto a pizza pan or cast iron pan and make it as flat as possible. I would suggest also using parchment paper, if possible. It makes the flipping process more easy.

Step Six

Bake for 30 minutes at 425 degrees. Carefully flip the pizza crust over by using a spatula to lift all edges of the crust off the pan or parchment paper first. Then bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes until edges are really brown and crisp. Mine came out a tad burnt, which is totally fine...it tasted quite good actually.

Step Seven

Add all the toppings to the pizza. Feel free to switch it up and add your favorite toppings. I added light Mozzarella cheese, marinara sauce, spinach leaves, basil leaves, and slices of tomato.

Step Eight

Switch your oven from bake to broil and stick the pizza back in for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and browned.

Step Nine

Slice it up into eight pieces and enjoy your tasty pizza creation! Oh, did I mention you get to eat this entire pizza?! Is like your own personal pizza...all for you to devour.

I sure enjoyed mine! Down to the very last bite.

Medifast Lean and Green Breakdown:
Lean: 1/4 cup Egg Beaters (1/8 Lean), 3/4 cup of light cheese (7/8 Lean)
Green: 3/4 cup Grated Raw Cauliflower (1 1/2 Greens), 1/3 cup of marinara sauce (3/4 green), spinach and basil and tomato (3/4 green)
Healthy Fat: none...no need for it

xoxo,

Toni

day nineteen...the wonder of it all

I took this photo at Pirates Cove, Corona Del Mar, in August 2013

I woke up this morning singing the hymn entitled, Wonder of it All. How wonderful it is that God saved us. He created us perfectly in His image.

Here are the lyrics to the hymn. Just meditate on the Lord while you read each word and really know in your heart that everything—whether good or bad—is wonderful. Why? Because God is in the center of it all. And when God is in the center, it will surely turn out wonderful.

There's the wonder at sunset at evening

The wondrous sunrise I see

But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul

Is the wonder that God loves me

The wonder of it all

The wonder of it all 

Just to think that God loves me

Oh the wonder of it all 

The wonder of it all  

Just to think that God loves me

There's the wonder of spring time and harvest

The sky, the stars, the sun

But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul

Is the wonder that's only begun

The wonder of it all

The wonder of it all 

Just to think that God loves me

Oh the wonder of it all 

The wonder of it all  

Just to think that God loves me

Breakfast
Since I woke up singing such a beautiful hymn, I was in a very good mood to say the least. And the calorie burn cappuccino only made my morning better...until I burned my entire mouth. PS...don't you love the new red cups from Starbucks! I haven't liked the past couple designs, but this year it is very sophisticated and...well...just cute! :)

Morning Snack
As always, the cappuccino kept me quite full, so I had an apple cinnamon oatmeal muffin...made in a mug. I think I microwaved it just a tad too long because it was a little dry. But other than that, I loved it. Notice my Christmas fox mug? I am busting out the Christmas stuff early! I love Christmas! You will see that soon enough.

Lunch
I almost made another pizza burger salad, but had some green beans to eat before they went bad. So I made a pizza burger with green bean "fries" and marinara as dipping sauce. Delish!

Afternoon Snack
Pretzels were on the menu for this afternoon. I didn't reorder them on my next order (which shipped out today!) but maybe I will next time. I am beginning to like them...as I am running out of them. Go figure.

Dinner
I had to eat on the go tonight and so I took a picture in the back of my car. Surprised it didn't come out blurry!

Dessert
Dessert totally hit the spot tonight. I ate it in the middle of church, and it was perfect! It didn't make crunching sounds like last week, so that was a plus!

That's all I have for today! May your day be extra blessed and remember what is the wonder of it all!

xoxo,
Toni

day seventeen...who do you please?

I will keep it short and sweet tonight, but I just have one question to ask you. Who do you please? Is it yourself? A spouse? Parent or sibling? Your flesh or your spirit? Tonight at church we read a verse in Romans 8 that said, "So them, those who are in the flesh cannot please God" (Romans 8:8). This hit me like a ton of bricks and made me really think about who I am trying to please. It was only last month that I was living a life solely devoted to my flesh and feeding my sin of addiction to food. I did not realize at the time that because of my fleshly desires, I could not please God. Really makes you think about who you are pleasing.

I can say with confidence now that I am living wholeheartedly for the Lord and am walking in His steps more than ever before. Through this Medifast program, I have been able to deny my flesh those things it longs for and instead fill up my spirit with the things of God. And with the Lord's help I am able to walk in His ways and please Him.

Breakfast
Sunday's seem to be my late start day. I tend to sleep in, which causes me to eat my breakfast later on in the day throwing my meal times way off. This morning I woke up and had a pineapple mango smoothie around 10am.

Lunch
I went to church around 11am and didn't get home until about 1pm, so it was definitely time for my lean and green meal for the day. I made a new dish today that I think you guys will love. Sundays from now on are going to me my "try new things" day. And hopefully by Monday or Tuesday I will have the recipe for you all. So today I made spaghetti using zucchini and added some marinara sauce and sausage to it...oh, and a little bit of melted cheese. Delish!

Afternoon Snack #1
After two or so hours, I ate my first snack of the afternoon. I had some pizza bites and drank lots of water. For some reason these bites are super dry, resulting in me drinking about 24 ounces of water. But I see it as a good thing!

Afternoon Snack #2
I then had a smores crunch bar as my second snack of the afternoon. I can't tell you enough how much I love these. They are so stinkin' good! I could easily eat these everyday, all day.

Dinner
I ate a tad late today, because I had to wait until I got home from church...which was around 9pm. I will be honest, I don't like eating too late because I feel kind of gross in the morning. I don't know what it is. But...I have to complete my meals for the day even if that means eating late. I will just have to wake up earlier on Sundays in the future so I don't have to stay up late.

Dessert
I tried to pick a small, light meal so it doesn't sit in my stomach too long as I am going to go to sleep for the next 8 hours.

Remember to feed your spirit rather than your flesh so you can please the Lord and not yourself or someone else. God is the only one who matters.

xoxo,
Toni

Meatless Meatball Casserole

I have another recipe for you all! Now, before I begin explaining how to make it, let me first say that you can substitute the meatless meatballs for any kind of meatball you like—it does not have to be vegetarian.

With that said, let's get started!

Step One: Gather your ingredients

What you will need:
1 1/2 cups of cauliflower
1/4 cup of marinara sauce
1/4 cup of light mozzarella cheese
6 meatballs
1 teaspoon of olive oil
pepper and other spices you may want to add

Step Two: Pour a teaspoon of olive oil in the cauliflower bag and cook in the microwave. While that is cooking, place the meatballs in an oven safe dish and being baking (follow the directions on the bag). I baked my frozen meatballs for 10 minutes.

Step Three: Puree the cauliflower using either a food processor or an immersion blender. I used the later and it worked like a charm. Oh! and before you blend, make sure to add some spices that you like. I just added pepper and garlic flakes.

Step Four: Once you have the cauliflower at a desired consistency, spread it evenly on the bottom of an oven safe dish.

Step Five: Once the meatballs have cooled, cut them in half.

Step Six: Place the halved meatballs evenly on top of the cauliflower puree.

Step Seven: Pour the marinara sauce evenly on top of the meatballs and sprinkle the cheese on top of that.

Step Eight: Put the dish under the broiler and bake it for about 4 minutes. Keep a close eye and make sure to switch sides so the cheese evenly melts. You want it to bubble and brown a bit.

Step Nine: Let it cool so you don't burn the top of your mouth and enjoy your delicious faux potato and meatball casserole!

Medifast Lean and Green Breakdown:
Lean: Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs (6), 1/4 cup of light mozzarella cheese
Green: 1 1/2 cups of cauliflower, 1/4 cup of Trader Joe's marinara sauce
Healthy Fat: 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil

Lastly, I know it looks like a lot, but the dish I used was fairly shallow and small. But it will fill you up and keep you full for pretty much the rest of the day. :)

xoxo,
Toni