At least they're still good for something...

I must admit, I'm becoming less and less attached to typical women's fitness/health magazines. I suppose I'll save my rant on why for another day and in the meantime, suggest you check out this Hollaback Health post.

Anywho, that said, I still have a few active subscriptions and despite my reservations, I was still a little excited to get the new issue of Shape with Jillian Michaels on the cover. The issue itself was pretty "meh," but there was a hidden gem of a recipe: a Spinach & Egg Pizza.

I can't seem to find a link to the recipe and I don't have the magazine with me right now, but it was a pretty basic ingredient list.

For the pizza:
1 pizza crust (I used pre-made dough from a local market)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp grated ginger
3 cups baby spinach
salt/pepper to taste
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
about 3 tbsp grated parmesan*
3 eggs (I used 4)

For the "Hollandaise" sauce:
3 tbsp reduced fat sour cream (I used about 4 tbsp)
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp chopped parsley flakes
black pepper
dash of salt*

Misc:
1 tbsp chopped chives (I used one green onion)

*= Not listed in the original recipe; my own personal addition.

Pre-heat your oven to 450˚F.

The original recipe said to blanch the spinach, but I hate taking the time to blanch things, so I just gave my spinach a rough chop, threw it in the microwave for a minute and squeezed out some of the excess moisture with a paper towel (make sure to let the spinach cool before handling. Duh, I know, but I totally didn't and almost scalded my hand).

In a bowl, combine the spinach, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Roll out your pizza dough onto a pan and top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Next, add the spinach mixture.

Before cracking the eggs onto the pizza, the original recipe says to create little wells in the pizza first so that the eggs don't slide all over the place. HIGHLY recommend this tip; I failed to read it until after I added the eggs and baked the pizza.



Bake pizza for 7-10 minutes until crust is golden brown and eggs have set. (I ended up increasing the baking time to ensure the crust got cooked through. Consequently, some of the eggs got a bit overcooked...)

Meanwhile, combine ingredients for the "Hollandaise" sauce. I ended up having to add more sour cream because there was way too much lemon juice and the sauce was super-thin. I would suggest adding the lemon juice in increments until the sauce reaches the desired consistency. (It's possible the magazine suggested this too and I probably failed to read that as well).





Once the pie has cooled, slice, serve and top with sauce and sprinkle on chives (or green onions).



Busted the yolk to spread the yolk-y goodness all over the pie.

The verdict? Incredible! I wasn't sure how well pizza would go with ginger, eggs and a sauce loaded with lemon juice, but the result was an incredibly clean, refreshing and delicate-tasting dish. Whoever came up with that recipe definitely knew what they were doing! I'm excited to make it again; tastes of spring and summer while still satisfying your craving for pizza. I cut this into 8 medium-sized slices and assigned 2 slices per serving. The original recipe said to slice the pizza into 12 slices and listed one slice as a serving. Whatevs.

Things to do differently next time:
-make the wells for the eggs.
-bake the pizza *without* eggs for a few minutes so the crust has more time to reach [my] desired texture and also so the yolks don't get overcooked.

I'm really pleased with how well this meal turned out. A unique blend of ingredients and simple assembly made this a fast-favorite!

"I'm giving you a no-honk guarantee."

Warning: You might want to grab some cheese to go with this whine. Man, the past few days have been pretty bogus, lemme tell ya. Plenty of personal drama to go around, topped with anxiety about Saturday's 5K. It's gotten to the point where all I can do is laugh. And one of the things that always makes me laugh is Wayne's World. 

Seriously. It's been one of my favorite movies since it came out. Fun Fact About Tam: I wore a Wayne & Garth "Extreme Close-up!" t-shirt to school in like, the 4th grade. Frequently.

Anyway, to help deal with stress and get in some last-minute training for the race, I decided to go for an outdoor run after work yesterday. Pretty much one of the worst runs ever. I wasn't even trying to go fast or long, I was just trying to run and enjoy it. Sigh.

Started running out of breath almost instantly. I thought "How the hell can this be? I've been spinning and hittin' up the weights to challenge my muscles and boost my endurance! Why is this happening?"

Then the wind started to kick in. Then some cyclists came out of nowhere and scared the shit out of me and I barely had enough air to gasp because I had already been panting for several minutes. Decided to take some walking breaks, which helped a little. Then my insides turned into spit and phlegm, apparently. That was fun.

The cherry on top was when my facial moisturizer (applied earlier in the day) started leaking into my eyes along with sweat. It felt like someone sprayed Tilex in my face. Guess I should re-think what kind of beauty products I use, heh.

Came home in a worse mood and with a bigger headache than what I had before I went outside. And apparently I triggered allergies I didn't know I had, because I've been sneezing and coughing ever since.

Pretty sure I've made this face on more than one occasion this week.

BUT, in retrospect, my joke of a run was kinda funny. And I'm already starting to find my current personal drama kinda funny because it's just one thing after another.

I'll just keep rolling with the punches. And I'll probably keep running too, because it's just the nature of the beast that some runs are better than others. But will I still show up at Saturday's race?

Considering how stressed out I've been lately, I think it might be smart to just let this one go. It's one thing to have a bad run when you're by yourself, but to turn into a psycho-hosebeast in public? Well, I think I'll pass. I know I haven't been running outside nearly enough, but I'm confident that will change soon. Who knows?

So there's my "oh, poor me, my life's SO hard" rant. Just needed to get it out and move on. And watch Wayne's World when I get home.

Meatless Monday.

Last night's dinner was simple, delicious and meat-free, so of course I had to share in case you're still looking for some Meatless Monday ideas.

Last week, I downloaded an awesome Real Simple recipe app for planning meals based on ingredients and time. It came in handy last night, seeing as it had been the ultimate Lazy Sunday with no real desire to cook in sight. Still, I thought it wouldn't hurt to look for some inspiration and a few taps later, I came across Fettuccine with Artichokes and Beans.



My modifications: significantly less oil (less than 1 tbsp for cooking the garlic and about the same for tossing with the pasta at the end), added crushed red pepper flakes, used about 1 tbsp Italian-style breadcrumbs (instead of making my own) and used 9 oz. of Ronzoni Smart Taste spaghetti. Also added my preferred amounts of salt, oregano and black pepper.

I was glad we decided to pick up some canned artichoke hearts at the store the other night! This meal really was a breeze to make and so delicious. Goes great with a little grated parmesan cheese sprinkled on top!