No more Funk-a-ma-Junk!

Happy Sunday all!  Yup, “Funk-a-ma-junk” is totally a word because well I made it up and I have been using it all day….so, you know, I think that counts for something.  What exactly does it mean??? Well, I think it totally describes how I feel today.  I feel like this dark, gray cloud caused by my shoulder pain, the medicine and well the side effects of it all have nothing on me now.  It amazes me how much all that was dragging me down and sapping my energy…..But, today, I feel like all that “funk-a-ma-junk” is gone and I can finally get on with life.  I honestly couldn’t be happier with just the little things like I am finally able to dress myself after a month of not being able to do so and I am getting some of my range of motion back.  My shoulder is still sore, but, it’s a good sign it is on the mend.  All good things that have made for one fantastic weekend!

Saturday morning I was up bright and early to whip up TWO things for the FitBloggin’ meetup that Tracey was hosting at her Test Kitchen.

The most delicious 1 points+ Mini Cranberry Lemon Mini Muffins!  The recipe will be posted this week……

Plus a HUGE Fall Fruit Salad. 

I was able to combine the best of both worlds ~ my favorite summer fruit (watermelon) with some fantastic fall favorites.

• 1/2 Watermelon
• 1 Honey Crisp & 1 Granny Smith Apple
• 2 Pears
• 2 Persimmons
• 2 Oranges
• 1 Mango
• HUGE Red & Green Grapes
• Raspberries
• 1 can pineapple chunks in 100% juice poured over everything to keep it from turning brown

We snacked on the muffins before our walk and the fruit for dessert.  I actually made a fruit salad for home too so we could have it this week.

Here is the Local Fit Bloggin’ Crew that showed up on Saturday ~ I am sure you remember all these fantastic bloggers from our last meetup.

Good food, good times, good friends…FANTASTIC Bloggers ~ stop by their sites and you will see exactly what I mean.

• Tracey of TJ’s Test Kitchen
• Annelies for Attune Foods
• Melissa of Journey to Marvelous
• Marisol of a Dirty Martini Kind of Girl
• Deb ~ our very own personal trainer

After spending an hour walking in the sunshine, we came back for our pizza party.  Tracey was the hostess with the mostest and had 0 points+ snacks waiting for us.

She even made sure to pick up both white & whole wheat pizza dough.

We all brought our favorite pizza toppers and lined them up so we could build our pizzas.

It was so fun to watch everyone roll out, toss and stretch their dough.

They all were so serious when building their pizzas.

Keeping with my indecisive theme, I topped my 4 ounces of whole wheat pizza dough with half Trader Joe’s Red Pepper Olive Tapenade and half pizza sauce.

Then, a little of this……

and a little of that

Zucchini, summer squash, caramelized onions!, sun dried tomatoes, pickled cherry peppers, pineapple, 3 slices of turkey pepperoni, 1 ounce LF Mozzarella, olives…..

Crushed red pepper flakes!

So many toppings, so little time!

While our pizzas baked, we all “built” our salads with the salad bar at TJ’s Test Kitchen.

Mixed greens & romaine, carrots, red cabbage, caramelized onions (I was slightly addicted to them), 1 Tbsp chickpea\s, 1 Tbsp “fried onions”, 1 tsp sunflower seeds & almond slices all topped with Trader Joe’s LF Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette.

This 4 points+ salad was totally worth repeating!

The cornmeal on the bottom helps to keep your pizza from sticking, but, it totally gives your pizza a nice crunch with each bite (translation ~ no doughy middle!)

I am pretty sure I NEED to have a toppings bar every time I make pizza.  It was so fun to “build” and the flavor combination of like “everything on the counter” made for one fantastic 7 points+ pizza.

My Sunday started off in probably one of the best ways possible.  I LOST .2lbs which means I get to keep my entire 3.8 lbs lost last week ~ 4 LBS IN 2 WEEKS ~ I’ll take it!

My forever amazing leader also baked for us ~ She made the Weight Watchers Pumpkin Oat Bars (in this week’s handout) and cut them into 2 points+ bites.

They remind me of a nutty spice cake ~ super moist and cinnamony.

I also grabbed a mini Sara Lea Cinnamon Raisin Bagel (3 points+)

Plus a Chocolate PB2 sample.  I am not really a fan of PB2, but, I have to admit, I LOVED the chocolate and may just have to buy some now.

Complete with Starbuck’s coffee & a banana!

The Husband had me meet him at Starbuck’s after my meeting so we could head out for some Halloween costume shopping.

My shopping fuel was a Venti Iced Non-fat Decaf Latte with caramel drizzle.  I only drank half so I am counting it as 2 points+.

After buying everything to make both our costumes, we stopped at Chipotle. 

I decided to go with the 3 Crunchy Chicken Tacos because they fill them so much that you end up with a salad after you eat them.  I LOVE that! (15 points+ or 5 points+/taco)

3 crunchy corn taco shells with chicken, pico de gallo, corn salsa, cheese & lettuce

Dinner tonight was courtesy of Schwan’s.   They sent us their Starter Pizza Crusts and asked us to create a recipe for a unique pizza that you wouldn’t eat every day as part of the Starter Crust Pizza Contest.

I am always up for a good pizza recipe challenge!

Each box contains 2 pizza crusts and you get 1/8th of the pizza dough for 4 points+.

We LOVE all things Mexican Food and Pizza so we combined these to create a Taco Salad Pizza!

We topped out crust with 1 cup fat free refried beans, then, 1/2 cup enchilada sauce.

Then, 1 cup of the best Turkey Taco Meat you will ever eat!

4 ounces of reduced fat finely shredded cheddar cheese.  I totally wanted to add jalapeno rings at this point but knew The Husband couldn’t take the heat

Bake at 425 for 17 minutes…The crust totally puffs up and gets golden.

Layer on all your favorite taco salad toppings ~ romaine, tomatoes, sweet orange pepper rings, green onions, cilantro, salsa, avocado, etc.

Mix up your salad routine with this Taco Salad Pizza. Use a thin pizza crust so it gets crispy like a tortilla shell. The enchilada sauce adds a nice spicy kick to the pizza while the cool crunchy lettuce, tomatoes and peppers cool off your mouth. This honestly is as fun to make as it is to eat.

TACO SALAD PIZZA! (print here)

INGREDIENTS:

• 15 oz Ready Made Pizza Crust
• 1 cup fat free refried beans
• 1/2 cup enchilada sauce
• 1 cup ground turkey taco meat, cooked
• 4 oz low-fat sharp cheddar cheese, finely shredded

ALL YOUR FAVORITE TOPPERS

• 2 cup romaine lettuce, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup tomato, diced
• 1/4 cup green onion2 Tbsp Cilantro
• Jalapeno rings, olives, avocado, sour cream

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.  Preheat oven to 425. 

2.  Spread refried beans onto pizza crust making sure to leave a 1 inch border.  Add enchilada sauce, ground turkey and cheese.  Bake for 17 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted.

3.  Add lettuce, tomato, peppers, green onions, cilantro and any of your favorite pizza toppers.

4.  Slice into 8 slices and dig in!

Makes 8 slices, 6 point+ each

Nutritional information per slice

Last chance to enter to win your very own signed copy of Now Eat This!

Q’s

What would you put on your “build your own” pizza?

Night all!