Tuesday, July 22, 2014

pizza! and other cravings...


recently i was craving some homemade pizza so i immediately went to work on my favorite kind. there really is nothing like pizza from scratch. if you haven't tried making your own i highly recommend that you do. i got this recipe from my good friend, Lauren, a few years ago. and the dough recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks, Bountiful. when i met the authors a few months back i talked to them in length about pizza dough. though i have made pizza dough from several different recipes i had yet to find one that i could really trust (if you've made pizza dough you know what i'm talking about). Todd and Diane reassured me that they understood and that they did all the hard work for us by perfecting their recipe. i've tried their dough more than once and i really don't think i'll go back. it's consistent and reliable every time. totally foolproof. 

as for the ingredients i just mix up some minced garlic with finely chopped basil or parsley, salt and pepper, and olive oil and use that as the base of the pizza. then i layer slices of mozzarella, caramelized onion, prosciutto, and jalapeƱo. that's it! it's ridiculously easy. this pizza definitely satisfied my craving for a while. 

speaking of those pesky cravings, i have to say that i've been lucky lately. i expected pregnancy to make me crazy with cravings, but when i passed the 3rd month i actually found myself not really having any intense cravings. every once in a while i'll get hit with a random need for a certain cuisine or food item (pop tarts? yup. still haven't given in though!), but my food aversions have far outweighed my need to satisfy every food whim. i always thought that i would be the most healthy eater when i got pregnant and though i'm trying my best to be as healthy as possible and make the wisest choices, i did at first find it harder than i initially imagined. 

when week 6 came i got hit hard with around the clock nausea and it didn't really start to lessen until a couple of weeks ago. this week i found that i could go almost an entire day without feeling like losing my lunch, hurrah!! during those first few weeks of feeling sick 24/7 i had the strangest cravings for all things unhealthy. my pre-pregnancy diet was pretty balanced and healthy. i stayed far away from fast food joints and avoided processed food whenever possible. but when that sickness kicked in the only food that i could even tolerate was of the junk variety. and part of me really hated myself for it. i felt guilty for feeding my unborn baby the worst foods i could dream up, but it was either that or no food and i had to eat. eventually i forced myself to eat fruit and greek yogurt and cut back on the carbs. after that i tried to sneak in veggies into almond milk smoothies. i just needed to get the good stuff in and filter out the bad. as time went on it started to get easier. thankfully i feel like i'm back on track to my old diet. i'm into kale again! although there are still some veggies i can't even look at (like broccoli, a pre-baby favorite of mine). and last night i actually ate chicken, which was my biggest food aversion of them all. 

i'm also walking a mile with Guthrie every morning as well as doing the Tracy Anderson Pregnancy Project (which i LOVE). in addition to that i go swimming with my mom every Friday afternoon. i'm determined to stay as active as i possibly can. things are starting to feel a little bit more normal. well, besides my growing belly, but that's a welcome change.

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